The Toptal Design Blog is a hub for advanced design studies by professional designers in the Toptal network on all facets of digital design, ranging from detailed design tutorials to in-depth coverage of new design trends, techniques, and technologies.
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Drawing on more than 25 years of design and motion graphics experience, Toptal designer Danny Rubyono explains how he makes enticing promo videos that compel viewers to action.
Danny is a visual and motion designer who has created promo videos for companies such as AT&T, Intel, Microsoft, and Verizon. He is also the owner of Duro Compagnie, a collective design boutique that specializes in motion graphics for healthcare, cyber security, finance, the military, and the environment.
Design systems increase collaboration, ensure consistency, and accelerate design and development cycles. Toptal product designer Molham Bakir lays out how—and shares insights and tips from his experience building them.
Molham is a product designer who specializes in building design systems. His clients include Snap Inc. and e-commerce websites Dubizzle and Mumzworld, the largest online baby shop in the Middle East.
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Knowledge workers spend most of their workdays using digital tools. These low-friction UX strategies help reduce techno-stress and increase healthy user engagement.
Rodrigo is a product designer who specializes in creating early-stage digital products and services for companies in fintech, healthcare, and insurance. His contributions to Yerbo, a healthcare product whose clients include Nubank, Gitlab, and Pandadoc, improved user burnout scores and helped the platform achieve a 20% exercise activation rate. Rodrigo holds a bachelor’s degree in graphic design and an MBA.
Searching for a design job is never easy—and it’s even more challenging if you’re new to the country and culture you want to work in. Here are steps one designer took to build a successful design career in America.
Elena is a multidisciplinary product designer and educator from Ukraine who now works in New York City. She has worked for numerous companies in the US and Ukraine, including fashion-technology startup CreateMe, healthcare startup Outcomes4Me, and EPAM, an enterprise software company used by Google, Salesforce, and Adobe. She holds a bachelor’s in architecture from Lviv Polytechnic National University in Ukraine and speaks four languages.
Brand designer Bari Keenam shares how he turned a tricky logo redesign into a brand overhaul that helped his client establish an emotional connection with its customers.
Bari is a brand designer with a user-centric approach to brand ideation. With a background in engineering and marketing, he excels at problem-solving and brings diverse perspectives to brand creation. Bari teaches typography and UX design at the Lagos Engineering Career Expo and the Àṣà Coterie design community.
Telemedicine has exploded in recent years, expanding access to healthcare services. But it’s missing an indispensable element of medical care: touch. Enter haptic technology.
Kiran is an award-winning Toptal UI/UX designer and expert in healthcare UI/UX. She led the development of VR and AR products for Janssen pharmaceuticals (now Johnson & Johnson) and has also worked on biosensor-based apps that improve users’ sleep patterns and prevent intoxicated people from driving.
Minimalism is a prevalent design approach, but putting its principles into practice is challenging. Follow these minimalist UX design strategies to build frictionless digital products that help users reach their goals.
Ravi is a UI/UX designer and certified IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner. He has designed mobile products in the healthcare, finance, and sustainability sectors, and was a senior UI/UX designer at IndiaNIC, a leading web and mobile solutions developer with a global client list that includes McDonald’s, Cartier, Adidas, AstraZeneca, Gulfstream, and Best Buy. He has a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering.
Online design games are perfect for practicing tricky tools and techniques, boosting core UI/UX skills, and keeping pace with a rapidly evolving industry.
Susanne is a product designer specializing in lean UX, interactive media, and front-end development. She has extensive experience working with clients in AI, aviation, and healthcare and serves as a product design consultant for Lantum, a workforce management platform used by the National Health Service.
Enterprise tools can be fraught with features and interactions that exacerbate mental health disorders. These UX solutions improve accessibility and help everyone have a better workday.
Danae has over 15 years of user-focused design experience, producing digital products for international clients such as Subway restaurants and the Cambridge Dictionary. She specializes in blending user research, prototyping, and development with business strategy to create elegant, effective products.
The health and wellness industry is booming, creating opportunity—and a competitive market. Wellness businesses can apply these branding best practices to stand out and connect with customers.
Pilar is a UX/UI designer and illustrator with deep expertise building brand design and strategy for yoga, health food, and fitness companies. She holds a postgraduate degree in UX/UI design and bachelor’s degrees in fine arts and advertising and public relations.
Toptal experts share their insights and best practices for designing motion effects that enhance e-commerce UX and increase conversions.
Emily is a UX writer and editor whose work has been featured in UX Magazine, Usability Geek, Justinmind, and other noteworthy publications.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, there are times when making products harder to use can be beneficial. Here’s how to use positive friction to enhance UX security and user trust.
Nenad is a digital product designer and security expert who specializes in identity verification, e-commerce marketplaces, and fintech platforms. He has led design teams at creative agencies, IT firms, and startups, and has presented at conferences and events, such as UX Belgrade.
Animation can make data more comprehensible, engaging, and useful, especially on mobile. When animating data visualizations, designers should use motion design principles—and avoid common pitfalls.
Daniel is a senior product designer with expertise in UI/UX, mobile, and motion design. Previously, he was the Principal Product Designer for the animation platform LottieFiles. His background as both a designer and an engineer gives him a unique perspective on technology and creativity.
The global NFT market relies on designers to support artists, Web3 platforms and marketplaces, and major global brands. Toptal designer Gabor Molnar offers insights from his experience breaking into this emerging field.
Gabor is a 3D generalist and designer in the fast-paced world of crypto and NFTs. He is a creator of the NFT collection Omnimorphs and a consultant for other NFT brands. He is also a product designer with a background in business economics, user experience design, user interface design, and branding.
Designer Gemma Busquets shares how she created a responsive website and 20+ engaging charts and graphs for the software development platform’s annual report.
Gemma is a designer and creative director with over 15 years of experience in UX, data visualization, and branding. She has taught data visualization for 7+ years at the university level and has directed a master’s degree program on the subject. Gemma’s portfolio includes collaborations with GitHub, Coca-Cola, Nike, Visa, and Seat.
Designing fintech products requires more than great UX/UI skills—you need to understand finance too. Here’s what designers need to know to get started.
Gints is a fintech product designer with deep financial expertise and a decade of experience designing websites, trading platforms, dashboards, and mobile apps for fintech companies, banks, forex, and crypto trading companies around the world.
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