Pilcrow #15
Iced espresso, interviews and side projects
Hey friends, hope you’re all doing well!
We’ll soon pass the 200 subscribers mark, and this is just mind-blowing! I really enjoy writing each week about what I’m working on, diving into topics, and exploring the works of talented designers and engineers.
The format did evolve and will evolve again in the future for sure, if you have any suggestions, feel free to use Substack’s comment section! 🖤
Here are today’s topics:
What I’m working on
Thoughts on having a side project
Tool(s) I’m currently trying
Interesting works of the week
What I’m working on
This weekend I focused on improving the waiting page for Moodboards.gallery and put together some design foundations: colors, text styles, and some components.
For the new ones here, Moodboards.gallery is a website I’m working on, where designers reveal their inspirations through interviews. It’s still “In Progress”, but I encourage you to play with the grid + the draggable inspirations, and of course sign up to know where it’s available (hint: soon).
I designed these in Figma and implemented them yesterday evening/night, it was great to be able to level up a bit the overall style of this project. I also continued to work on the interview page template — still in the “Explore designs” part.
Thoughts on having side projects and their positive effects on your day job
I wanted to dive a little bit into what I saw a few days ago on my Twitter feed, a tweet from my friend Aleks and its reply from David Hoang:
Aleks: “Getting upset that your employee has a side hustle is the weirdest thing ever.”
David: “It's so ridiculous and comes from a place of fear. I encourage everyone on my teams to have a side project. It fills the well of energy and you bring so much learning back to the day job.” My only two caveats to people: 1. Don't let it affect your performance at work 2. Don't build a direct competitor your day job That's it!
Call it how you want: side project, side hustle, freelance, etc — things that you do in your free time, related or not to your job, it could be anything: provide digital services, create digital products, participate in an association, sell stuff on Etsy, create YouTube videos about your favorite hobbies (and remember, it’s ok if you do nothing).
I agree 300% with what David said, if you respect what your 99-page-long work contract is saying, there are a ton of positive impacts to starting a side project. We tend to see our energy as a life level in video games with a slow linear decrease through the day. As doing a physical activity helps your body provide more energy at a specific moment (the one you used to practice sports), I think it’s the same adaption with our brain and how it builds new connections.
Yes, of course, you’ll encounter new difficulties too, but you’ll learn new tools and things, meet new people, maybe make some additional bucks and put yourself outside the so-called comfort zone. And it’s great for your brain. And guess what? All this new knowledge may lead to better ideas or new approaches at your current job. When it’s done properly, it’s a 100% win-win situation for you and your company.
Tool(s) I’m currently trying
I can't wait to play with Lovers Magazine's recent launch: Spaces. I have been reading these interviews for years, and I can wait to see how they approached the open-positions/careers page for product-led teams.
Interesting works of the week
That’s all, friends — have a great Sunday! 🖤