Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

Become a Better Designer with Side Projects - B...

Avatar for Tim Smith Tim Smith
September 06, 2013
Design
6
640

Become a Better Designer with Side Projects - Blend Conf

Avatar for Tim Smith

Tim Smith

September 06, 2013
Tweet

More Decks by Tim Smith

See All by Tim Smith
Let's Learn CSS Grid - FEDC
Avatar for Tim Smith ttimsmith
0
140
Let’s Learn CSS Grid - EE Conf
Avatar for Tim Smith ttimsmith
1
200
Let's Learn CSS Grid - BeerCityCode
Avatar for Tim Smith ttimsmith
2
200
Let's Learn CSS Grid
Avatar for Tim Smith ttimsmith
1
330
Become a Better Designer with Side Projects
Avatar for Tim Smith ttimsmith
5
820
Work to Live, Don't Live to Work
Avatar for Tim Smith ttimsmith
0
360

Other Decks in Design

See All in Design
FigmaのFigmaファイルから学ぶTips & Tricks
Avatar for Hiroki Tani hilokifigma
0
710
大きな変化の中で、わたしが向き合ったこと #もがく中堅デザイナー
Avatar for 弁護士ドットコム bengo4com
1
1.3k
DESIGNEAST 2025 A-3
Avatar for Shigeru Kobayashi _kotobuki_
0
100
数理的アプローチで挑むスマホUIのデザイン改善：タップ成功率推定ツール「Tappy」の社内活用事例 / Improving Smartphone UI Design with a Mathematical Approach: In-house Use Case of the Tap Success Rate Estimation Tool "Tappy"
Avatar for LINEヤフーTech (LY Corporation Tech) lycorptech_jp
PRO
0
880
[2025.6.30 もがく中堅デザイナー、キャリアの分岐点] なんでもやる系デザイナーのもがきかた
Avatar for Takahiro Hayashi taka_piya
1
4.2k
企画を動かすデザイナーの思考！「広げて絞る」アプローチ。
Avatar for Hikida Kan hikidakan
0
190
1年目デザイナーが実践する、チーム貢献のための2つのアプローチ
Avatar for kinomi kinomidesign
0
120
Liquid GlassとApp Intents
Avatar for touyou touyou
0
440
アプリ360onWeb使い方と裏ワザ？紹介！
Avatar for ikejun360 ikejun360
0
320
「キャリア」のプロダクトをつくる私の「キャリア」への向き合い方 / JAM de NIGHT DESIGN SESSION Vol3
Avatar for Visional Engineering ＆ Design visional_engineering_and_design
1
760
不確実性の時代にみんなで試したFigma × MCP × Cursor ハンズオン
Avatar for PERSOL CAREER Dev | techtekt techtekt
PRO
7
1k
見過ごさない誠実さ_アクティブバイスタンダーとIntegrityが支えるアジャイル文化 / integrity-and-active-bystander
Avatar for Aki spring_aki
1
140

Featured

See All Featured
Templates, Plugins, & Blocks: Oh My! Creating the theme that thinks of everything
Avatar for Michelle Schulp Hunt marktimemedia
31
2.6k
Principles of Awesome APIs and How to Build Them.
Avatar for Keavy McMinn keavy
127
17k
Evolution of real-time – Irina Nazarova, EuRuKo, 2024
Avatar for Irina Nazarova irinanazarova
9
1k
The Cost Of JavaScript in 2023
Avatar for Addy Osmani addyosmani
55
9.1k
I Don’t Have Time: Getting Over the Fear to Launch Your Podcast
Avatar for Joe Casabona jcasabona
34
2.5k
For a Future-Friendly Web
Avatar for Brad Frost brad_frost
180
10k
Product Roadmaps are Hard
Avatar for C. Todd Lombardo iamctodd
PRO
55
11k
Building Applications with DynamoDB
Avatar for Matt Wood mza
96
6.7k
Improving Core Web Vitals using Speculation Rules API
Avatar for Sergey Chernyshev sergeychernyshev
21
1.2k
Sharpening the Axe: The Primacy of Toolmaking
Avatar for Bryan Cantrill bcantrill
46
2.5k
GraphQLの誤解/rethinking-graphql
Avatar for sonatard sonatard
73
11k
ReactJS: Keep Simple. Everything can be a component!
Avatar for Pedro Nauck pedronauck
667
130k

Transcript

  1. Become a Better Designer with Side Projects

  2. Hi! I’m Tim Smith Designer, Broadcaster & Coffee Addict ttimsmith.com

    · @ttimsmith
  3. None
  4. None
  5. None
  6. None
  7. None

  8. I Have A Lot of Side Projects

  9. Each of Them Have a Purpose

  10. Today’s Agenda

  11. Today’s Agenda • Why did I start these side projects?

  12. Today’s Agenda • Why did I start these side projects?

    • How they’ve helped me develop skills

  13. Today’s Agenda • Why did I start these side projects?

    • How they’ve helped me develop skills • Why it’s important for you to have a side project

  14. Today’s Agenda • Why did I start these side projects?

    • How they’ve helped me develop skills • Why it’s important for you to have a side project • Trust falls

  15. The East Wing

  16. None

  17. My learning had gone stale

  18. My learning had gone stale work sucked

  19. My learning had gone stale work sucked job sucked

  20. The East Wing Saved Me

  21. Tim Likes to Teach

  22. Anyone Can Learn

  23. Sounded Like a Fun Idea

  24. $$$$$$$

  25. What I’ve Learned

  26. Content with Lots of Personality 1

  27. I Stalk My Guests

  28. Not Like This

  29. Have a genuine interest

  30. Create Something You Can Be Proud of. The Audience Will

    Follow

  31. Use Time Wisely 2

  32. Time Management? Whaaaaaaaa??

  33. Don’t Waste Time Spend it on Things That are Worth

    It

  34. For Me

  35. None

  36. My family

  37. My family faith

  38. My family faith friends

  39. My family faith friends work

  40. Push the Limits of Your Knowledge 3

  41. Hi! I’m a Designer! I’m addicted to Photoshop, but I’m

    scared of code. —A Lot of Designers “

  42. You Cannot Reach Your Potential Without Knowledge of the Medium

    (aka The Browser)

  43. Decide In the Browser. —Chris Coyier “

  44. Everyone Has Their Limit

  45. None

  46. How Do I get on iTunes?

  47. How Do I get on iTunes? create an iTunes Feed?

  48. How Do I get on iTunes? create an iTunes Feed?

    create a member system?

  49. I Know Enough To Be Dangerous

  50. Why Have a Side Project?

  51. You’ll Be More Valuable to Companies

  52. You Can Help Other People

  53. Make Great Friends

  54. These Things Make You a Better Designer

  55. Thank You! ttimsmith.com · @ttimsmith