Happy Friday!

Welcome to TWID - the only design newsletter on the internet written (from the bottom of a very deep well) by me.

As Mariah Carey finishes thawing, and we approach the end of Q4, many people find themselves filled with the holiday spirit (or something).

I love this time of year because the world seems to slow down, & for about 3 weeks everyone is kinder to one another … except for in the cesspool that is design twitter (ily all).

Thanks for being here, let’s get into the sauce 🥫

WK49

Software design is broken

Broken or not, software design has gotta be the best job in the world (not willing to discuss this any further, but let’s continue).

Andy’s question led to my favourite design twitter discussion of the week – even if it hurt my feelings a little bit.

I think we can all agree that, like every other space ever, software design isn’t without its problems – lots of which were brought up in the replies & quote tweets.

The whole thread is worth a read, but here are a couple that really resonated with me.

Too real. It’s ok Parker, we’re all a little broken (according to my therapist this makes for good lore)

Soleio went straight for the throat, implying that designers should code™. This is a topic I have a lot of thoughts about, and maybe I’ll talk about it one day.

That day is not today, but I will say one thing - being able to imagine something you wish to create & then seeing it through to production all by your lonesome sounds like a truly transcendent experience.

Unfortunately, for now – I’ll have to stick to only making “pictures of apps” 🥲

@google’s masterclass in UX

No, I’m not talking about Gemini .. but rather this incredibly thoughtful navigation experience from the greatest design minds behind your favourite megacorp.

I mean, Google hasn’t had the best year in terms of inspiring UI. Remember the whole gmail fiasco? I’d find a link, but I’m really hungry so there’s no time, hope you understand.

In all seriousness, Dan kinda hit the nail on the head here. Tough.

✨ This week’s sponsor

Play - A better way to design mobile apps

If you’re designing a mobile app, we’re building Play for you. Play combines a familiar design canvas with the power of Apple’s native iOS elements, access to device hardware, interactions that use Core Animation, and SwiftUI code generated in real-time based on your designs.

Available in the App Store on macOS & iOS.

Design subscriptions with a twist

Trust me, I get it.

Ripping on “design subscriptions” is a dead horse that’s been beaten for far too long. And I promise that we’ll let it rest in peace, but this week we saw a real “twist” ↓

I honestly don’t know if this is bait, but that’s fine. Here we are.

Brett has definitely popularized this model, and I’m sure is at least party responsible for the countless design subscription copy cats popping up every week.

I’m not here to comment on Brett’s business specifically, but rather on the concept as a whole. Design as a service has introduced a lot of dark patterns and people are starting to get really annoyed.

Aside from the constant race to the bottom, another thing that virtually every one of these design subscriptions seem to have in common is their incredible popularity. 

They’re so popular in fact, that they literally cannot keep up with demand.

Anyways, if you’re looking to start your own unlimited design practice. Here’s my free master class on how to productize yourself. You’re welcome.

@dannpetty’s epic challenge

In other news, Dann continues to be awesome & a gift to the design community. This time, he comes with a fun(?) challenge.

30 days to design and launch a portfolio might seem ample, but I think I’d have better luck creating a microwave using rare metals I mine & process myself.

I’m with Angel – working on a portfolio is my own personal hell. But if there was a time to do it, now seems pretty good.

@figma improves variables

Christmas came early for some (aka those of us that made the switch to variables). If you’re not excited by this update, it’s fine I’m not judging you. At the end of the day, we’re all just doodling 🤨

This update is really dope and I’m excited for the new possibilities this unlocks. But…

Nicholas is asking the real questions (and you can too, Figma is doing a Q&A on this topic next week).

Design Dopamine 💊

This week, Design Dopamine is once again being used to spotlight a talented designer that you might not have heard of.

Introducing Erin Fleming.

Spotlight → @erinfleming__

Erin is a digital designer, sharing some incredible web design work in her “100 days” of design challenge.

I accidentally stumbled upon one of her tweets, but eventually ended up scrolling through her entire post history… and I recommend you do the same.

That’s a wrap for WK49

Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed this issue (or hated it), please let me know in the comments (or tweet at me).

Also, be sure to check out Play - the sponsor of this week’s issue for a big forehead kiss.

If you have an idea for how I can improve TWID or want to suggest something for next week’s issue, be sure to tag @twidfyi on twitter

Love you all, have a great weekend

- @aleksliving