Design Hacks Newsletter

Hey Harry,

Last fall, I went alpine climbing for the first time in years. And I was reminded of the most important lesson climbing has taught me.

[PSA πŸ“£ Live Redesign Session at 12:30 Pacific today! Register here, then come learn the logic behind a myriad of design decisions πŸ˜€]

When you're on the side of a cliff, it's REALLY tempting to look down. And maybe someone with a limbic system of steel can look down, no problem.

Not me.

If I look down, sweat pours out my palms. I start thinking about how high up I am 😟. I start calculating exactly how much more work I have to make it to the top 🧐. My mind goes into overdrive 😬

It's terrible.

But you know what? There's a trick.

Don't look down.

(Crazy, eh?)

Instead: focus on the very next step, right in front of you. (Because, at the level of climbing I'm doing, the hard part isn't the next step – it's what's between my ears!)

Focusing on the very next step takes some conscious discipline. But it's the most simple, practical thing you can do – in so many domains. So here's a question for you.

What is the very next step of your design journey?

Because if the next step on your design journey is getting better at the hard skills of digital design, consider signing up for one of my courses, which close tomorrow at midnight. Here's what they're about:

If you don't need to improve at these right now, no worries πŸ™‚

But if you do… here's a brief rundown on each.

Landing Page Academy

​Landing Page Academy will help you confidently design visually stunning, high-converting landing pages. First your visitors say will say "whoa!" – then they'll say "take my money!" πŸ˜‰

Landing Page Academy isn't just about how the design looks, it's also about how the design accomplishes a business goal.

And that never goes out of style 😎

And the frameworksand tactics in Landing Page Academy get results.

In addition to being a full-length video course, Landing Page Academy comes with a library of design resources…

The Landing Page Worksheets (☝️☝️☝️): a massive 44-page set of cheatsheets that help with every stage of the LP design process. Includes questions, fill-in-the-blanks, checklists, brainstorming aids, links to relevant course videos, and more.

The Visual Interest Table (☝️☝️☝️): an organized technique catalog for adding visual spice to your landing pages – with notes, example screenshots, and how-to's.

If you've ever thought...

  • "How could I make this headline look more interesting?"
  • "This background is so boring..."
  • "My buttons feel so plain..."

Then you'll love the Visual Interest Table β™₯️

You can get $250 off if you enroll in one of the other courses too 🀫


Learn UI Design

​Learn UI Design takes you from total beginner to confidently designing beautiful apps and sites. It's everything I wish I had known when I first started as a designer:

  • Color
  • Typography
  • Whitespace
  • Grids and alignment
  • Icons & imagery
  • Design process
  • Responsive design
  • Accessibility
  • Creating a portfolio
  • Presenting your designs (and getting good feedback)

There are 54 lessons containing over 36 hours of video content, plus over two dozen homework assignments, a student community to post your work and get feedback, and a 41+ hours vault of redesign videos of student submissions.

It's the most practical curriculum for visual design on the planet, and it will take you from total UI beginner to being able to confidently design any app or site your boss, client, or co-founder can throw at you.


Learn UX Design

​Learn UX Design is a comprehensive online video course for those looking to build usable, intuitive web/mobile/desktop apps. It covers everything:

  • Design patterns for common problems – forms, nav, errors, etc.
  • Rapid wireframing & user flows
  • User research (that your boss won't nix)
  • Usability testing (with a live demo)
  • The top heuristics for simple, intuitive design
  • Selling the value of research to your team

It's the manual for creating software that doesn't need a manual 😎.

As a bonus, the Full Access Plan comes with UX Project Vault, where I show real-world UX projects from start to finish, including:

  • πŸ’­ Concepts (including why I did/didn’t select them)
  • πŸ—£ Feedback
  • πŸ“£ Presentations
  • πŸ›£ My annotated thinking through the whole design process

It's all in a giant Figma file, for your easy perusal πŸ™‚


All of these courses come with:

  • Lifetime access to additions and updates
  • Instant access to all videos and resources
  • A student community with feedback and mentorship

All are are backed by a no-questions-asked, 30-day refund policy. On the fence? Try a course out – and then take 30 days to decide if it's worthwhile investment.

Any questions on the courses? Or any random design topics? πŸ˜› I'll be answering every one.

Best,
Erik D. Kennedy

PS. Don't forget to attend today's Live Redesign Session at 12:30 PM Pacific πŸ”₯