“Every artist is a cannibal, every poet is a thief,” Bono sang way back in 1991 on U2’s album Achtung, Baby. As art — and design — continue to evolve in this modern day, the suggestion of thievery still rings true. Where, exactly, is the line when it comes to…

Whether AI will affect design is not a question of when or if — it already has. The real question is how much and how extensive will these impacts be? It’s not every day we’re thrust into a defining moment for the future of our craft. Designers, much like journalists…

A conversation about values and expectations — From time to time at Design Dept., we get together to discuss topics we’ve been thinking about or struggling with. Often, these are issues that have come up in our own lives that we’re also hearing others bring up in workshops or coaching sessions. Recently, we talked about the way…

Unlocking the business value of design — As creatives, we know why and how our pixels matter. From simplifying the complex to motivating behavior change, user centricity is at the core of what we do. But the organizations we design for are not in the business of aesthetics, they’re selling solutions. To further amplify the visibility and…

Instead of optimizing for speed, optimize for ROI — Saying yes to going fast is a pretty common trap in our industry. It’s easy to fall into. Six months from now, you can look back and point to a whole bunch of things your team accomplished. You met those “urgent” PM goals. You moved some metrics up and to…

Your priorities have to change with the weather — Leadership, like life, has its seasons of sunny days and blustering squalls. The trick of weathering both the calm and the storm is learning to adjust and understanding what to push forward and what to pull back on. Four priorities for leading in the calm When sailing is (more) smooth — the company is doing well, the…

4 ways to stand out from the crowd — The current job market is standing-room-only. It’s messy. It’s fast. Job descriptions open and close faster than a San Francisco real estate listing. You can be the best of the best, but you have to get there early. Hiring managers are inundated with hundreds of applications, and every one of…

It could make all the difference — Investing in yourself or in your team is never a bad idea, and the worst of times is actually the perfect time to do so. 2023 is turning tech on its head: layoffs looming, headcount shrinking, budgets tightening, and AI overshadowing everything with the undeniable assertion that capital-c Change is nigh. The hits keep on coming with no sign of stopping. Those who are still standing will have oversized shoes to fill — and oversize…

The complexity of cross-functional alignment — As creative leaders and managers, relationships are our creative mediums — the major channel through which our work gets done. With peers, with your own team, with a cross-functional team or partner, relationships are always humming in the background. When you transition from maker to manager, the complexity of these…