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Getting Better with Figma: One Design at a Time
Figma is a powerful design tool that allows designers to create, collaborate, and share designs in real-time. The fact is that it's an industry standard, and with me being part designer/part engineer, I think it's time I get more comfortable with it.
Figma is a powerful design tool that allows designers to create, collaborate, and share designs in real-time. The fact is that it’s an industry standard, and with me being part designer/part engineer, I think it’s time I get more comfortable with it.
I take pride in my “design chops,” as I genuinely feel I have an eye for it. You can teach people as much as you want about color theory and typography, but I’m a firm believer that, based on how our brains are wired, we all have different strengths and weaknesses.
It’s time I start leaning into one of my strengths more — my creative side!
Being a former musician (violinist and violist), music was my creative and emotional outlet! While web design is not a 1:1 replacement, it lets me flex those creative muscles; this is part of the reason I’ve leaned into Frontend Engineering.
With that, I’ve never gotten very comfortable with design tools. I used Photoshop at a previous job and figured out enough to get by. I own V1 of the Affinity suite of products and have used it to get what I need out of it. I’ve used Figma to the same extent. However, I’m tired of limping through creating something, or not being able to create the effect I want.
By the way, I highly recommend the Affinity suite for a one-time charge rather than paying for an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription.
So I’m going to start doing more in Figma. I’ll start with making my own basic designs (which I’ve done before); however, I think I’ll be better served by copying others’ designs. Of course, I’ll also be adding proper attribution to the original designers as I certainly do not want to be accused of stealing their work.
There is no goal to do one per day, but I’d like to do at least four three week so I can see progress. I also plan to write a short blog (or micro-blog, if you will) about each design I create or copy. If you’re in a similar boat, I encourage you to jump on board and do the same!
I’ll be sharing my progress on X/Twitter and LinkedIn. If you’re interested in following along, feel free to follow me on those platforms!
