I teach designers how to get the respect they deserve. I share tips, tricks, and tools about design systems, process, and leadership.
Stretch and Warm Up
Reading time: around 1 minute
As an adult who still attempts to play sports, allow me to extol the virtues of stretching and warming up before you play. I wouldn’t dare step on a basketball court without foam-rolling my calves, alternating between various yoga stances, and form shooting around before playing in a competitive game. Yes, I am that guy on the sidelines. If I don’t do these things, I’m all but guaranteed to hurt myself.
When I observe a designer go directly from a meeting to Figma to design a screen for a website or an app, I morph into a design dad. I shout, “Stretch first, kid! You’re gonna hurt yourself!”
Before diving into a project, take time to stretch your design muscles. Gather raw materials, brainstorm, or trace others’ work. When warming up, I use the same actions as designing something of my own—changing opacities, zooming in and out, assembling elements, copy and pasting, moving things around—except that I can move faster because I’m not creating something new. I’m priming my brain and my muscle memory for when I do these same actions on the slightly more difficult assignment of designing something of my own.
(This was an excerpt from my recent article on Shortcut, Figma’s blog. Go read the full version of “Dan Mall’s 10 principles for a worthy design career.”)
—Dan
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📗 For the last two years, I’ve been writing a book about design systems, and I’m so excited that it’s finally out in the world! Announcing Design That Scales: Creating a Sustainable Design System Practice, now available for pre-order from Rosenfeld Media!
🏛️ I’m taking a class where I have to ask my network a few things. If you have a minute, especially if you’ve been following me for a while: What do you see as my unique ability? Are there any values that I commonly express?
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Dan Mall Teaches
I teach designers how to get the respect they deserve. I share tips, tricks, and tools about design systems, process, and leadership.
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