🤿 space icons

Today's episode is with Tommy Smith who recently landed a new role as a part of the Dive Talent Network.

So we're doing a deep dive into what makes his portfolio so effective:

• Making his side project a first-class citizen

• Positioning himself as a new design engineer

• Adding personality by experimenting with Rive

• Highlighting what matters most in his case studies

• Flexing his craft muscles and nailed the finer details

• + a lot more

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

I’ll share some of my favorite details below 👇

🤝 WITH MOBBIN

Big news: Animations just launched in Mobbin

So you can see how world-class apps use motion to guide, delight, and create seamless experiences

It’s just another reason why Mobbin is an absolute cheat code for your entire design team. We use it all of the time and I can’t wait to start sending animation ideas to the rest of the team.

Click the link to check it out 👇

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS

Why Tommy’s portfolio works

1 — He pushes past “clean”

Tommy admitted the previous version of his website was trying to do too much. So he stripped things back and landed on a more minimalist layout.

But there are a lot of designers nailing the minimalist aesthetic right now.

That’s why Tommy’s little Rive avatar goes such a long way. It gives the page instant personality.

2 — He leads with his side project

Tommy treats his side project Chrono as a first-class citizen on his website (with 3 separate entry points on the home page!).

This way he can position himself for the kind of work he wants to get hired for next:

👆 if that sentiment resonates, I have good news: side projects are now more than enough to get you noticed.

I had never heard of Bally Live (his previous employer) so his resumé didn’t exactly jump off the page. But all it took was one look at Tommy’s interaction work in Chrono for me to confidently put him in front of teams.

3 — He demonstrates care + attention to detail

One tiny design detail that stood out to me was the hover state on his page navigation 👀

This blur transition and X translation doesn’t come out of the box. That’s the mark of someone who cares.

4 — He showcases his ceiling

We talked about the interactions in Chrono, but even in his website there are details that show me Tommy’s craft abilities.

First is the theme switcher. I had a visceral reaction clicking this for the first time.

Second is the progress component in his case studies. It’s a clever component to begin with, but he made it feel good. The way he staggered each animation is what makes this impressive imo.

5 — He focuses on what matters in his case studies

If you haven’t been listening to Dive Club, I’ll give you a spoiler: hiring managers are tired of bloated process case studies. They want to see the work.

Tommy knew this, and it shows:

His Chrono case study is packed with interaction details that I can easily click to view full screen. Videos go a long way here.

Even when he showcases static mockups for Bally, he uses consistent device frames + makes it easy to view all of the work in a full screen carousel. Genius.

And when Tommy does lean on text, he keeps it clean with only two font sizes and enough color contrast to ensure the headings pop.

He even made a little Highlight component to draw attention to specific achievements:

6 — He positions himself as a generalist

Hiring managers want people who are curious and can wear as many hats as possible.

So not only does Tommy showcase his frontend and animation abilities…

He even has a case study dedicated to his own icon set, “Space Icons”.

By this point, I know if I hire Tommy, I’m getting someone who can move the needle across the board.

If you want to go deeper, Tommy walks us through his process and his journey growing as a design engineer in the full video 👇

👥 FEATURED RESOURCE

How to get hired at today’s top startups

Whenever companies I like start hiring, they usually ping me to see if I know anyone great…

So I put together a list of the most talented designers and builders to recommend to my favorite companies (including some seriously cool stealth startups).

You only talk with companies you want to meet and the whole thing is designed to be an easy way for talented designers to see what’s out there without having to be public about it.

So if you’re open to new opportunities, take a second to claim a spot in the new talent network 💪

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

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