I grew up in Hackney in East London, next to Broadway Market. If you know London, you might know it's somewhere people love to visit and hang out now – a big difference from the 90s! I also lived in Newport Beach, California, where my mom's from, for a few years as a kid. Now I'm in Amsterdam getting ready for my official move from London to the Netherlands!
Broadway Market, London | Samuel Regan-Asante
Newport Beach, California | Gustavo Zambelli
Amsterdam, Netherlands | Eirik Skarstein
All I want from life is to connect with others, solve problems and express my creativity. When I discovered there was a job where I could do all three, I fell in love. I jumped straight in and haven't looked back.
I chose the UI Bootcamp as I just completed a UX diploma and wanted to switch focus to my UI skills.
I picked Memorisely because I wanted to learn from Zander and be part of the community he's built. His incredible energy and ability to break down and explain Figma techniques drew me in.
It's a space I can finally have all my design questions answered in an open, non-judgemental environment.
I love the community we've created by learning together and giving each other feedback and support. Nothing makes me happier than being able to give back to others and be part of something.
A great extra thing I picked up is ideas on how to organise and lead workshops online. Little things like having assigned post-its, so each person has their own space to communicate.
The number of things to learn can feel overwhelming sometimes, and if you start looking online for answers, you often find conflicting advice. As a new designer, you don't always have a natural instinct on what path to take, and sometimes just knowing where or how to start can feel like climbing a mountain.
Meditation followed by yoga, journalling and a quick Dutch lesson. After showering, relax into the day with a cup of tea and design articles, then list out what I'd like to get done.
Typically I have 3 or 4 focus blocks in my day of a few hours, where all my notifications are turned off, and I have a specific goal(s) I'm working towards. Outside of this time, I check messages, go for walks, do errands or life admin – anything that switches up my thinking for a while.
On days we have a live class, I either catch up on classwork or do my day-to-day work for a few hours before. After, I write up my notes and apply what I've learnt to the design I'm working on to help make it stick.
After a year of travelling to keep to the EU visa rules, I've just moved into a flat in De Pijp and have this little space to call my own as I build my dream setup.
Workflowy – a note-taking app I love for its simplicity.
Bloom – a CBT journalling app I use to check in with myself.
Medium – my go-to for reading design articles from independent voices.
Loom actually. I hadn't used it before Bootcamp, and now I see how many ways I can use it for UX and UI work. I especially love it as a tool to give and receive design feedback or explain concepts to developers. Everything we do is rooted in communication, so anything that helps us do that is a win.
Nothing gives me focus and energy like drum and bass. I've got a lot of favourite producers, but it's always a Liquicity Yearmix by Maduk or a Metrik live stream that gets me through the day.
