Welcome back. Lately, I've noticed a trend of designers dismissing new tools and ideas without truly exploring them. It's made me wonder: How often do we let skepticism morph into creativity-killing cynicism? The truth is, every game-changing product started with someone willing to try something new (like this Twitch icon whose tweet changed my entire life). So this week, I'm challenging myself—and all of you—to approach our work with open minds and a willingness to experiment. Who knows? Your next "crazy" idea might just be the one that changes everything.

—Tommy (@DesignerTom)

The Wireframe:

• The design-builders you need to know
• The simplest way to start designing on the side
• How to overcome the fear of creation

Celebrating Design-Builders

You know that feeling when someone uses something you've created?

For designers, that’s oxygen. But we can't rely solely on our day jobs for that creative high—that's where side projects, passion ventures, and play come in. They help build and refine our skills, breed innovation, and most importantly, bring pure creative joy.

Today, we’re celebrating designer-builders…starting with a little story time →

My Design-Building Background

Let’s take it back to 2015:

Out of a passion for gaming, I created StreamPro.io, a livestream overlay editor. Now Streamlabs.com, owned by Logitech, this workflow is now standard operating behavior for livestreamers—a wild testament to where "just for fun" projects can lead.

These days, I'm channeling my creative energy into education and media. But I never stopped building in my free time:

• I'm the self-proclaimed "forever DM" for my friends' D&D campaigns (just leveled up my DM wardrobe), crafting entire worlds and intricate storylines—all organized in massive Notion workspaces.
• I created a Slack group for 180+ design creators, quickly becoming my favorite place to hang out, collaborate, and share ideas.
• I'm constantly tinkering with new tools and technologies, whether it's experimenting with AI in design or building small web apps to solve personal pain points.

My story isn't unique. Everywhere you look, designers are channeling their creativity into passion projects, side hustles, and "just for fun" experiments. A few I’ve been loving lately:

“Just For Fun” Design Projects

• ​Fons Mans’s Playlists.design: A curated collection of Spotify playlists for designers, by designers. No grand business plan, just a cool idea that resonates with our community. Check out my featured playlist!
• ​Erik Kennedy's gradient generator creates beautiful, accessible gradients with just a few clicks. It's a perfect example of solving a common design challenge with a fun, free tool.
• ​George Hatzis’s Visu.info transforms movie data into slick infographics—just a fun project for data nerds and movie buffs.

• ​Soren Iverson creates design mockups for hilarious, “unhinged” UI features. These got so popular, he turned them into a book called “Can You Imagine?” (and is selling so many copies, he can’t fit his car in his garage).

Designers-Turned-Founders

If you’re looking to get out of the 9-5, know that your design skills are transferable—and you’re fully capable of building a highly profitable product. But don’t just take it from me. A few design founders I seriously admire:

• Designers Jorn van Dijk and Koen Bok turned their prototyping tool into a powerful no-code website builder—a little tool called Framer that I seriously believe will change design forever.
• ​Hunter Hammonds is the epitome of a design entrepreneur. He founded talent marketplace Landed, subscription-based design agency Off Menu, and ViralCuts. He does it all—and builds it all out loud.
• Former web designer Nathan Barry built ConvertKit to solve his own email marketing challenges. Now, ConvertKit sees over $10m in yearly revenue.
• ​Karri Saarinen, previously a design lead at Airbnb, created Linear out of frustration with existing project management tools.
• ​Steve Sewell, a designer turned developer, was frustrated with how his designs were being implemented—so he built Builder.io, a powerful visual CMS that bridges the design-development gap.
• UX researcher Tregg Frank created Divinate to democratize user research by leveraging AI to make user testing more accessible and actionable.
• ​Juan J Ramirez, a product designer at Netflix, developed Brainglue.ai as a side project—a brilliant tool that uses AI to help designers organize thoughts and generate ideas.
• ​Kyle Barber, former Product Designer at Tinder and Facebook, built Inflight to address the inefficiencies he saw in design feedback processes. His solution enables real-time, contextual feedback to streamline design workflows.

These success stories showcase how designers can leverage their skills to create tools that solve real problems in the industry—and even turn them into multi-million dollar companies.

The Spectrum of Design-Builders

Between the just-for-fun creators and the founders of major products, there's a whole spectrum of designer-creators doing amazing things:

Community Builders

• ​Grace Ling transformed a small Discord server into one of the largest online design communities, Design Buddies, with over 25,000 members.
• ​Fons Mans created the curated 10x Designers community to help designers level-up their skills with expert AMAs, workshops, and a unique "accountability pod" system.
• ​Jesse Showalter is the digital design YouTuber. He shares weekly educational design videos and created Design Champs, a creative hub for designers looking to upskill.

Education and Content

• An absolute powerhouse in design education and one of my favorite designer-creators, Ridd produces in-depth design podcasts (that I frequently cite in this newsletter) and hands-on Figma training.
• ​Ioana Teleanu has carved out a niche with her new AI newsletter UX Goodies and co-hosts the popular Honest UX Talks podcast, skillfully breaking down complex concepts for designers.
• Ioana’s podcast co-host, Anfisa Bogomolva, also runs IntoUX.design, a thriving community for connecting with and learning from UX professionals.

Agency Founders

• ​Amy and Jennifer Hood are sisters who’ve made a name for themselves with bad a**, bold branding at Hoodzpah Design.
• ​Grace Walker combines her freelance design work with educational resources for other freelancers.
• ​Juhi Chitra leads Studio Sense, which offers design expertise specifically for Indian startups.

The bottom line? Whether you're creating for fun or building the next big thing, you're adding value—to yourself, to our community, and to the world. So go ahead, start that side project. Launch that app. Write that newsletter. Your next creation could be the one that changes everything.

Together with Framer​

Make $$$ Using Framer

The no-code web design platform Framer can help you launch your own website design agency. Framer’s robust offering lets you quickly and easily build out your designs. Using Framer’s tools, you can:

• Earn passive income from selling website templates
• Build and sell whole sites to clients—no coding necessary
• Construct products on top of Framer’s platform for Framer users to buy
• Apply to Framer’s Partner Program and earn commission on referrals

Ready to build your design business? Start creating today.

News, Tools, and Resources: Design Builders

• Intimidated by kicking off a design side quest? Start small—create templates, then sell them on Cedric’s template shop, canvas.supply.
• Aleks’s This Week In Design newsletter just got acquired—and if that isn’t inspiring you to start a newsletter too, I don’t know what will.
• I’ve been loving Campsite, a new comms tool for remote teams by Brian Lovin.
• If it wasn’t obvious, I love everything Soren does—and his latest step-tracking app Stompers is no exception.
• Want to become a design creator…but don’t know where to start? In this article, I break down how to build an audience in 90 days.

The Fear Factor: Overcoming Barriers to Creation

While we celebrate successful designer-builders, it's crucial to address the fears that hold many back from launching their own projects. Let's break down common barriers and how to overcome them:

1. Fear of Criticism: Even successful creators face criticism. Focus on the value you're providing and the joy of creation. Start by sharing with a trusted circle before expanding your audience.
2. The Taste-Skill Gap: Many creators struggle with the disparity between their taste and their current abilities (what Ira Glass refers to as "the gap”). Remember: This gap is a sign of good taste, not failure. Keep creating, and your skills will catch up to your vision over time.
3. Perceived Technical Limitations: Tools like Notion, Framer, and Figma have lowered the technical bar significantly. Pick one tool aligned with your goals and start experimenting.
4. Perfectionism Paralysis: Done is better than perfect. Set a launch date and stick to it. You can always iterate post-launch.
5. Imposter Syndrome: Every successful designer-builder started somewhere. Instead of asking "Am I good enough?", ask "What can I learn from this process?"

Remember, creating is a journey. Each attempt, successful or not, teaches you something valuable. So take that first step: Start that project, share that work-in-progress. You never know what opportunities might arise.

UX Tools Job Board

• DoorDash is looking for a Staff Product Designer to lead Shopper Experience—how Dashers use the app to shop at grocery and retail stores.
• Join the team at Goodreads as a Senior UX Designer, delivering experiences to delight its community of readers.
• Want to help Figma build the future of Figma AI? Join the team as a Product Designer for its AI pillar.

Have you built something cool recently? Hit reply and tell me about it—I'd love to feature more creator-designers in future newsletters!

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