🤿 oh fuddggeee

I’ve probably learned more about visual design from MDS than anyone in the design community.

So I wanted to go deep into the creative process behind the all-new Shift Nudge website to see how he explores visual ideas.

He takes us through his Figma file that is full of very good concepts that didn't ship.

And he even shows us how he built his own Mosaic tool in v0 which became the core motif of the site 👀

So if you're interested in seeing the windy creative process behind one of the truly great designers today then I think you're going to enjoy this one.

Watch on Youtube, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts 👇

🤝 WITH GENWAY

Alright here’s the thing… you don’t need another dashboard. You need to talk to customers 👀

So I want to introduce you to Genway AI

You can think of it like vibe researching to validate your ideas quickly

Just draft your questions, select an ICP, and their AI agent runs interviews on your behalf by pulling from a panel of global participants.

Set it up in the morning and get actionable insights by lunch time. It’s validation at your fingertips.

And you can try it out free for 14 days just click the link to get started 👇

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS

What I learned from MDS’s creative process

1 — Creativity is rarely linear

MDS follows whatever is pulling the most curiosity in that moment. Sometimes that’s pixel icons, gradient backgrounds, typographic layouts, etc.

His Figma files are full of little side quests.

For example, while he was still figuring out the core visual direction he took the time to explore mobile nav menus.

I rarely get to this level of detail early in the process but hey… if it works for him maybe it’ll work for me too 🤷‍♂️ 

Another example that stood out was this set of pixel icons.

He spent a lot of time on them (especially the Figma one) and they never even shipped. But that rabbit hold ended up launching him into v0 which eventually became his WebGL Mosaic effect.

2 — Build your own cmd+D

I paid a lot of attention to how MDS constructed his vibe coding environment.

Each hover effect comes with its own set of parameters below. It’s almost like he’s building a little version history to easily duplicate and make changes.

This also allows him to say things like “make 4 wildly different options”, play with the output, and then follow up with something like: “make 4 more based on #3”.

Then you can easily save the concepts you like to your pre-made version history dropdown.

3 — Slop in slop out

I’m tired of designers pointing at AI tools and saying they output slop.

They’ll make whatever you want them to make. Sloppy prompts = sloppy results.

Stop looking to AI to replace the design process and instead think of it as a tool you can bend and shape to tap into new levels of creativity. And if you need inspiration for what this looks like then watch what MDS does 👀

🤝 WITH RAYCAST

So I got a new computer recently… and what do you think was the first app that I installed?

If you’ve been listening to this show for a bit, you probably guessed that the answer is Raycast.

At this point it’s an extension of my fingertips and the core way that I use my computer.

And I’m not alone… I see this sentiment from people I look up to on Twitter all the time so if you’re still on the fence, just do it.

Download Raycast and thank me later. Click the link to get started 👇

Meet the Dive partners 

I made a list of my favorite products and asked them to come on as sponsors of the newsletter/podcast. They said yes 🥹

The #1 way to support Dive Club is to check them out👇

Framer​ → How I build my websites

Genway → How I do research

Granola → How I take notes during CRIT

Jitter​ → How I animate my designs

Lovable → How I build my ideas in code

Mobbin → How I find design inspiration

Paper → How I design like a creative

Raycast ​ → How I stay in flow while I work

Thanks for reading! I'm working hard to bring you the best design resources on the planet 🫶

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