The Design Club
The design industry in the city is thriving more than ever before and communities are coming together all over London to share their experiences, work and ideas. Recently I’ve been trying to mix-up my workflow and wanted to hear more about how other creatives tackle their day-to-day design challenges. As soon as I heard about The Design Club I just had to go.
The talk was hosted at the Marvel HQ office in Shoreditch providing a great setting for the talks. I was welcomed by a busy room of friendly faces, free stickers and a surprising good selection of craft ales.
‘We’re the creative community, figure out whats next.’
The idea of The Design Club is to bring together designers of all disciplines and experiences for original talks from leaders in the Industry. Speakers share their work, careers and distinct perspectives on the industry. I had the pleasure of hearing talks from Tom Cavill & Joyce Li.
TOM CAVILL
Chief Design, Officer Bricklane.com @tomcavill
First up was Tom Cavill, he’s a co-founder and designer at Bricklane.com which is a startup that’s created a simple way for first home savers to access the property market.
Tom gave an honest overview of his experience in a startup company. He talked about the challenges of being a designer with a seat at the table of a fast-growing company in a traditionally slow-moving industry. There was a real focus on the experiences you have as a team starting out.
Tom used a graph to represent the ‘lows, creamy middles & highs’ of having your own startup company.
One of the things I took away is that if the people you invest with have the right passion and drive then chances are you’re onto a good partnership. Clearly something you need to get through all the ‘lows, creamy middles & highs’ of having your own startup company.
JOYCE LI
Product Lead, Moodnotes
@missjoyceli
Next up was Joyce Li who is product lead for Moodnotes, a CBT-based mood journaling app that helps people improve thinking habits. The result of a collaboration between UsTwo and clinical psychologists. Joyce talked about the process of creating the product that allows users to increase self-awareness, and enhances their mental wellbeing.
“This concept is going straight on Dribbble”
As well as being the production lead at Moodnotes Joyce also works at UsTwo. An award winning studio who build digital products, services and businesses. They produce some inspiring work and are well worth checking out www.ustwo.com
What inspired me the most about Joyce was her drive to create a great product that would help improve peoples lives. She embraced the inevitable issues of not enough time and unpredictable team resources to push the app forward. Like any project you’re passionate about it’s important to put the hours in and work as a team.
There was a real feeling that Joyce’s ever evolving team were passionate and had real will to make the product a success. The team consists of UX, UI, iOS, Andriod, Project Managers, Designers, Testers and ‘all the rest’. It brought back the importance that you have to work as a team on tight timescales to get the work done.
“We always sketch together, everyone.”
I certainly got my design community fix through my first trip to The Design Club and will be sure to return for more in the near future. It’s a great way to become more involved with the design industry and gain more of an insight on the scene. It made me realise that everyone’s passions and motivations are bespoke and to realise them you must have drive and dedication.
A big thanks to everyone involved in The Design Talks team talks.
