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Jonathan Haines posted thisFor all those who are excited to head back to Hawkins, I would love to call your attention to Kyle Lambert who is crushing it with these Stranger Things posters. What can this teach us about design? By deliberately channeling the legendary style of Drew Struzan (the artist behind the iconic posters for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Goonies, etc), Lambert instantly transports us back to the 1980s blockbuster era, when the Netflix show takes place. Design elements like typography, color grading, and illustration style are powerful, often underutilized tools for building an emotional bridge to your audience's past. Are there other brands that are crushing it at the nostalgia game? Another one that comes to mind is Tootsie Roll, where Mr. Owl has returned to tell a new generation of kids how many licks it takes to get to the center. Share yours below. https://lnkd.in/ennAR9bu
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Jonathan Haines shared thisBy now, you may have seen Apple TV's new intro. They have not-so-quietly made a statement in a world increasingly dominated by CGI and AI-generated visuals, that craftsmanship still matters. It's like a pendulum. A couple of decades ago, having good CGI in a movie was a big deal (remember when the first Avatar came out, or Jurassic Park if we want to go back farther). And now, because we can't get through one day without someone mentioning AI, Apple decided to be the contrarian and show the world that even in tech, things can still be done like this. As much as AI has changed (and improved) my design workflow (hell, it even helped with this post), there is something to say about the way old backgrounds look in Disney movies compared to what they look like now, or even just the feeling that someone out there took the time to create something with love and care, as opposed to with prompts and credits. In Apple's case, this is a powerful business statement. They are a powerful tech company known for their hardware. You could even say that they perfected their hardware about 5-6 generations ago. No one gets excited about iPhone releases like they did back in the day. But hey, now there's some buzz about Apple TV in a way that takes some spotlight away from Netflix and Hulu. Major props to the teams who brought this beautiful, analog vision to life. https://lnkd.in/e2kePEymApple’s New TV Intro Has Zero CGI — Here’s How They Filmed ItApple’s New TV Intro Has Zero CGI — Here’s How They Filmed It
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Jonathan Haines posted thisEvery week, there’s some new cool wave of AI that changes the landscape of the design world. It’s both incredible and frightening, because it makes it hard to know the extent of how much we, as designers, should be upskilling and where. I think one of the most interesting changes has been what AI has done to Design Systems. Sure, AI has an uncanny ability to help scale, but it’s actually turning the need for designers who can maintain systems into something much greater. These are two of the biggest changes I’ve felt in working with Design Systems: 1️⃣ The bloat problem - AI is incredible at generating volume. It can spin up 50 color tokens, endless component variants, and complex variable structures in seconds. But volume is not value. Without a human to curate, you end up with a bloated system full of "zombie" components that no one uses. Design Ops is shifting from librarian to custodian because we’re spending less time building and more time cleaning up the mess AI generated. 2️⃣ Figuring out how to document - AI is great at generating a Source of Truth because it’s such a powerhouse when it comes to documenting. It can describe component usage really well, but it may need a human to help it describe the nuances of when to use a certain component. AI, as we know, is an accelerator, but it lacks judgment. It can write the docs and build the variants, but it cannot do the governance (yet). Have any other Design System designers experienced this clean-up process?
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Jonathan Haines posted thisThe integration of Gemini 3 Pro into Figma Make is the biggest workflow shift we’ve seen since auto-layout. But for designers, what does this mean for our workflows and creativity? Obviously, AI is a double-edged sword. It can make a human obsolete, or it can enhance a good idea. It really just depends. In my brief research of how this Gemini news will go down, here’s what I see: ✅ Pros (Speed & Scale) - Super fast A/B Testing - Generate 3-5 distinct design variants (e.g., different styles, layouts, or interaction models) from a single prompt in minutes, not days. Does this mean we get close to real-time user testing and data-driven iteration like never before? - More ways to close the Design-Dev gap - Since the prototypes are code-backed, does this mean better conversation between designs and devs? Developers can flag code-related issues early, saving huge amounts of time in the handoff phase. - Creative Breakthroughs - When hitting a creative block, we can ask the AI to "generate a different layout" that can instantly provide novel angles and ideas, pushing us past our familiar design patterns. But that one also leads us to the first con below. ❌ Cons (Quality & Control) - Design System Drift - This is a big one for me, since I work a lot in design systems. From what I can tell, it seems like the AI still struggles to stick to complex, nested design systems. I’m hoping this is wrong, but the ability to create crazy different things means breaking an already established system. - Code Bloat - Similar to the above, I’m curious if the newly written code would be optimized or would it require a human hand to be rewritten. - The Dribbble-ing effect - Back in the day, sites like Dribbble and Behance were places of inspiration. Now there’s a ton of pretty screens, but many lack good cohesive UX (i.e. when glassmorphism became king). I am curious if the AI-ing of Figma will make good, human UX design that much harder to find. Just a bunch of thoughts. It’s obviously much too soon to really know how this will affect a designer’s life, but one can speculate. I would love to hear what you think.
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Jonathan Haines posted thisImagine the scene: You’re a kid on a Saturday morning, and the moment you wake up, all you can think about is throwing open the door and running outside. You're anticipating a day of boundless, outdoor energy. But then you pull back the curtain, and the world outside is a wash. Rain is pouring down, showing no sign of stopping. The door to your ideal Saturday is slammed shut. This is probably the disappointment of what a large chunk of the internet felt today with the Cloudflare outage. Services like Twitter/X, Canva, and ChatGPT were knocked offline, forcing millions of users and businesses to scrap their digital plans entirely. It’s a forced pivot, but it’s not the end. Think back to the kid analogy: The rain didn't ruin the day. It just rerouted the energy from throwing a baseball to building a pillow fort. This is how a forgotten bucket of Legos became a masterpiece. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. It takes true creativity and resilience to look at whatever the storm is and figure out an even better, more enduring way to spend the time and energy. The ability to pivot is how we build new paths when the old road is underwater.
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Jonathan Haines posted thisDesigners, help me out. Does the “UI/UX Designer” actually make sense? UI is literally part of UX. It’s like saying “I’m a Tire/Car Mechanic” or "I’m a Steering Wheel/Car Driver” But companies keep mashing them together like they’re two separate jobs. It ignores all the strategy, research, flows, testing, and decision-making that happen way before pixels. And it signals that design is still being treated like decoration instead of product thinking. A better way to think about it: 👉 If you need someone who can handle the whole product experience, call them a Product Designer. 👉 If you want someone focused on structure, flow, and problem-solving, that’s a UX Designer. 👉 If you want someone who makes things beautiful and consistent, that’s a UI or Visual Designer. I would also mention that I feel like titles like this are pretty malleable and some days I feel more one than the other, but in the case that you need to understand what a person does, maybe the suggestions above are a good start. Thoughts?
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Jonathan Haines shared thisFor any designers wanting to jump on board the Affinity train. Pope Phoenix has got you covered with a few cheat sheets.Jonathan Haines shared thisThe other day I released a cheat sheet for the Vector Studio for #Affinity. Many of you asked if or when I would release cheat sheets for photo well today is the day. Not only that, I updated the vector sheet and added one for the Layout Studio as well. As always let me know if you have any questions. I'll do my best to answer as many as I can.
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Jonathan Haines shared thisLast night, after the news of #ZohranMamdani's mayoral victory, President Trump posted an images on the White House Instagram that resembled the New York Knicks logo with the words "Trump is your president." In addition to being a masterclass in trolling, this was a callback to last month when the Knicks issued a cease and desist to Zohran's team after he was parodying the logo for his campaign. This got me into a bit of research rabbit hole, because I was unaware with how much political campaigns love to use brand logos to drive their campaigns. Why do they do this? They already have their own branding? I'm pretty sure every single New Yorker can identify the tri-colored text of Zohran's campaign. And the red MAGA hat is synonymous with Trump. From what I can gather, it feels like it's making a connection that the voter may assume is there (even if it isn't). Upon seeing that Knicks logo, it FEELS like the Knicks are endorsing a particular candidate, even if that isn't the case (it's even risky when you consider copyrights). What do you think? Is it tying politics to popular culture? https://lnkd.in/ebaWiCJCPolitical campaigns love copying brand logos. Here's whyPolitical campaigns love copying brand logos. Here's why
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Jonathan Haines shared thisThis is a pretty unique shift for a company. This past summer, Grammarly bought #Superhuman and now the company is rebranding itself... as Superhuman. So, Grammarly, the AI writing assistant, becomes just one offering in a larger ecosystem. This is the AI effect. Now, this new "Superhuman Suite" bundles four products together: Grammarly, Coda (an all-in-one workspace for teams, acquired in 2024), Superhuman Mail (an intelligent email app, acquired in 2025), and the brand new AI assistant, Superhuman Go (no affiliation with Pokémon GO - sorry, Pikachu). In terms of positioning, the company can now do so much more. Instead of just being an AI writing assistant, it's now an AI productivity platform for agents and apps. I think it's so unique that they dropped their name. Unique, sure, but worthwhile, yes. Even the name Superhuman speaks volumes about the breadth of what the different offerings can do for you (other than just... ya know, help with grammar).
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Jonathan Haines reacted on thisJonathan Haines reacted on thisSomeone called me an “influencer who never designed a day in his life.” I took it personal. Son, I’ve been designing since you’ve been in diapers. So I put up an archive of my greatest hits from the last 28 years. (Check out the full archive at the link in the comments.) I’m gonna start sharing more stories about the behind-the-scenes of a lot of these projects. Because what’s more interesting than the shiny end result is all the factors that had to come together to get that end result: the client constraints, the team, the price, the timeline, the disagreements, the risk-taking. What do you want to know about 28 years’ worth of design projects? Ask me anything.
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Jonathan Haines liked thisJonathan Haines liked thisTomorrow, my Make More Money Quest members are getting a fireside chat the rest of the internet won’t. TJ Pitre spent 15 years building Southleft, LLC into a design systems consultancy. A few weeks ago, Figma brought him in to lead their AI and design systems work. An interesting and unique part of this deal: he kept his company. Most people never hear how a deal like this really comes together: what the process actually looks, how the conversations go, what factors get weighed on both sides. On Wednesday, my members get TJ for an hour unfiltered with Q&A peppered throughout. If you run an agency doing $100k+ and you don’t have a place to hear or participate in a conversation like this, you’re missing out. P.S. - If you want to be part of these kinds of conversations, DM me “QUEST” and I’ll tell you more.
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Jonathan Haines reacted on thisJonathan Haines reacted on thisOn January 31, 2025, I wrote these lines in one of my newsletter issues: “If all goes well, I’ll be launching my new website in the next week or two. Fingers crossed! 🤞🏽” Fool! Today, 16 months later—only 71 weeks late on my prediction—my new site is live. Check it out: https://danmall.com/ I made it for you. I want to help you get your flowers. I think being a designer is one of the greatest jobs in the world. We help change things for people to make their lives better. That could mean helping a person pay a bill faster through a streamlined user interface so they can get back to more important things in their lives. Or it could be shipping an application that helps millions of people around the world learn to read in a more effective way. But we live in a world that increasingly makes this harder and takes it for granted. Our work doesn’t always get recognized for the value that it has. We sometimes don’t a good job of reminding people of value it has. Over the last 28 years of my career, I figured out how to withstand and confront some of these things and I’d love to share those tips and tricks with you. My new site is built around 4 pillars: 1️⃣ The Business of Design accepts that even great design doesn’t speak for itself. We have to get good at understanding, quantifying, and articulating value so that others can see it for what it is. 2️⃣ Causes need champions, and design is no different. The Design Leadership section helps you figure out how to lead the most important person in this crusade: yourself. 3️⃣ Process & Craft touches on all the things that go into the final output, because the way you work matters just as much as what you make. 4️⃣ The Personal section share stories about my own experience along the way. I compiled everything I’ve done in my career around these areas into this site for you, in the way that works best for how you want to consume it: → If you like reading, there are dozens of articles for you. → Prefer to listen? Check out all of my podcasts around the topic. → Wanna watch instead? There are interviews and instructional recordings. → Hate the way I talk about it but still wanna learn? I recommend the books that helped me learn about it too. Over the next few days and weeks, I’ll tell you more about the site, the content on it, behind-the-scenes of how it was made, and how you can best make use of it. Whaddya wanna know? How can I help you get your flowers?
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Jonathan Haines liked thisJonathan Haines liked this“𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿... 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴.” 👋 That’s how I introduced myself at Config this year. I said it half-jokingly. What I didn’t expect is how much it would resonate — or how quickly it would move people past the small talk and straight into the real stuff about where they’re at right now. And I’m not just talking about burnt out ICs. So many VPs and execs pulled me aside this week to quietly confess that they too wanted out. “How did you decide what to do next?” “Where did you find the courage?” And the most perplexed: “𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗺 𝘀𝗼... 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆?” 😅 So many are eyeing the door right now. Looking at other roles or disciplines to move into. Secretly telling me about business ideas they'd never shared out loud before. I get it. I’ve been there too — lost, burnt out, and not sure where to go next. What I wish someone had told me then is this: 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿. We tie so much of our identity to being “a designer.” But we’re also humans who grow and change. In my case, I was so ready to develop new muscles, but I wasn’t ready to leave design altogether — that felt too scary at the time. And the truth is I still love design and being part of this wonderful creative community. So I started exploring the edges: design ops, design recruiting, building Design Humans™ to help companies hire amazing designers. 𝗜 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿. 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻. I just found a different way to contribute to it. And even though I thought I wanted out, that’s right around when work started becoming fun again. 🥹 So if you’re feeling stuck, maybe you’ve just outgrown the shape of your role or the way you’re structuring your work. Or maybe you've just been working on the same thing in the same environment for too long. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁? 𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗼𝗿 𝗴𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 — at least for a chapter. Going independent might sound risky. But it actually puts you back in control because it teaches you to keep moving. You learn to keep your relationships warm, stay visible, and never be more than a conversation away from the next thing. That movement is the protection. Plus you can live where you want. You don’t need a novel business idea to get started. And you’re not beholden to a single company. So start small. Courage is a muscle — you don’t just wake up with it one day. You build it slowly, rep by rep. And your first rep can be tiny: all you need is one person you’ve worked with before to bring you in for a few months. Or even smaller — get curious about the roles adjacent to the one you’re in now. You don’t have to blow it at all up. And you don’t have to leap right away. You just have to start and trust your curiosity to guide you to what’s next. #design #config #config2026 #designjobs #designcommunity #freelance #freelancers
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Jonathan Haines liked thisJonathan Haines liked thisExcited to report that Hang is actually a sweetheart. 💙 Linkedin friends meeting IRL. 🥹
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Jonathan Haines reacted on thisJonathan Haines reacted on thisThere were SO many highlights from #Config this week, but one I’ll remember for a long time was hosting our very first Baseline Design dinner. Getting to spend an evening with so many people we’ve admired over the years was really, really special. It feels surreal that Baseline has grown into something that can bring people like that together, and I’m so grateful that those who joined wanted to spend the evening with us. Really proud of our team, and couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead. ❤️
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Jonathan Haines liked thisJonathan Haines liked thisTuning into 🐱 Catt Small 👩🏾💻 ‘s talk at Config 🙌🏼 Because yes, hello — the canvas is absolutely not dead. #config2026
Experience & Education
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Volunteer Experience
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HTML, CSS, and JavaScript Teacher
Code Nation
- 1 year 5 months
Education
- Introduce high school students to the fundamentals of HTML, CSS, Javascript and jQuery through ScriptEd’s Foundations Course
- Occasionally attend hackathons and workshops to act as mentor to high school students -
Social Media/Communications Manager
The Global Sourcing Council
- 7 months
Environment
1) 3S Awards - Applicants / Awareness / Partner Engagement / Online Voting
- Call for submissions via social
- Directly reaching out to companies via social
- Partner with other marketing opportunities (SDSN, SDSN-Y, SDG Media Zone)
2) Editorial Calendar - Create / Manage
LinkedIn
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletter
3) Newsletter - Create / Disseminate 1/wk
Campaigns via Emma -
General Council Volunteer and Public School Speaker
Sports & Arts in Schools Foundation
- 1 year
Education
Assist non-profit with special events as well as speaking to NYC students about the importance of staying healthy
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Alumnus/ Volunteer Chaperone
Companions of Xavier, Xavier High School
- Present 17 years 2 months
Disaster and Humanitarian Relief
Collaborated with Habitat for Humanity in assisting community’s need for homes
Acted as Alumnus of Xavier High School, chaperoning a dozen students for a week-long trip
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Volunteer Teacher
Peace Games
- 9 months
Education
Acted as role model to 1st and 5th grade classes at a New York City public school to teach and promote peace
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Yuvaraj Muthu (Yuvi)
The only design skill you cannot outsource, automate, or fake is taste. People assume senior designers are defined by better tools or years of experience. But here’s the truth you learn only after decades in this craft: Seniors aren’t valuable because they work faster. They’re valuable because they decide faster. Tools can be learned. Trends can be copied. Templates can be downloaded. But taste, the instinct to choose the right direction in seconds that’s the real difference. Taste is the ability to remove what doesn’t matter, spot what others miss, sense when something feels wrong without needing a meeting, and make judgments that save teams hours, days, even weeks. It’s the invisible force behind clarity. The quiet guardian of consistency. The reason teams trust one person to say, “This works.” AI can generate options. Juniors can explore variations. Only taste can choose the one path worth walking.
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Benoit Chabert
Most companies hire designers backward. They obsess over resumes and run generic interviews. Here's the system that helped us hire 3 top designers from one posting: Great designers often have messy resumes. The best portfolios come in random formats... Traditional interviews often miss what matters. We discovered this after years of costly hiring mistakes. Design is about judgment and clarity, not credentials. It's about thinking under constraints, not interview performance. So, we built a system that reflects how design works: Step 1: Portfolio first. Always. We ignore resumes initially. Just the work. Figma files, Notion docs, Google Drive decks - the format doesn't matter. Step 2: Filter out, don't select in. Clear criteria to disqualify saves time. No B2B SaaS experience? We move on. Step 3: Give context before we take time. Candidates get a video explaining Pixel One first. The interview focuses on their thinking, not us talking. Step 4: Only interview candidates we're genuinely excited about. If their work doesn't excite us, we pass on it. Keeps the bar high. Step 5: Paid exercise with a time cap. We respect their time by paying for it. Clear constraints, real problems. Demonstrates how they operate under real-world conditions. We watch for: • How they structure thinking • How they factor client needs • If they explain choices clearly • Whether they consider business logic Step 6: Trial first, then full-time. Every offer includes a 3-month trial. Both sides evaluate fit before going permanent. The results? From 200+ applicants, we hired 3 of our top 4 candidates. All three are still here 18 months later. Our designer retention jumped from 60% to 95%. New hires ship work 3x faster. Client NPS increased by 40 points. Do you want the exact design exercise we use to spot top designers?
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