#020 - Matthew Smith @Whale

Pablo Stanley is a designer, artist and and musician based in Mexico. We discuss the creative side of his childhood gang, the importance of having fun with your team, why he left the Robotos NFT community, monetizing his AI stock site, and the importance of details in all aspects of design. Pablo is one hellavulla creative individual and the perfect guest to wrap up Season 3, representing the creator positivity and passion I want celebrate on the Yo! Podcast. Oh and if you hear punk rock snippets throughout the interview, it's from Pablo's band, The Dead Stanleys.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/pabloSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:Sure! Here are your timestamps with brackets around them:(00:00) Vinyl play(01:05) Pinta Tu Culo(06:40) Sponsor: Webflow(07:45) Should digital designers spray paint(11:03) Intermission: No Context(12:47) Q: Vijay Verma - Designing for Zombies(14:14) Q: Notorious PNG vs Layer Slayer(15:03) Master Gorgeous UI Course(18:07) Perils of outsourcing(23:18) Dead Stanleys: Cien Años(23:37) Course Promo(24:59) Teaching Details(29:59) The Decline of Websites(36:48) Show Them(39:21) Q: Josh Lou(39:48) Serious Fun(42:58) Dead Stanleys: Vincent Vega(43:15) Musho.ai (will AI tackle details)(49:28) AI-built Transparency(52:42) Intermission: Overrated Underrated(54:16) Leaving Robotos & NFT Community(01:08:59) Lummi & Monetization(01:19:19) Q: Miggi - Burnout Advice(01:21:22) Following Pablo(01:23:25) Outro(01:25:34) Buttsss

Rasmus Andersson is a seasoned designer and software developer integral to startups like Spotify, Facebook, Dropbox, and Figma. Rasmus also dedicated thousands of hours to creating Inter, one of the world's most loved typefaces, used by NASA, GitHub, Pixar, and more. In this episode, we dive into his next chapter, a fun and ambitious operating system called Playbit. We also discuss quality AI use-cases, what makes a great programmer, how to get started with your first typeface, and what are the signs of upcoming burnout if your are working in a startup.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/rsmsSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) Loading VHS(01:19) A delivery for the King(03:36) Intermission: No Context(05:58) Programming advice(13:26) Sponsor: Webflow(14:41) Playbit discussion starts(15:09) Q: Jorn van Dijk (Framer)(15:43) Productive product building(22:42) Venture-backed positive stress(25:30) Q: Yann-Edern Gillet (Linear)(25:49) Operating Systems vs Apps(30:51) Q: Ridd (Dive)(32:02) Our Future with AI(43:28) Intermission: Overrated Underrated(46:00) Online Privacy(49:15) Promo: Show Them(49:32) What's left for Inter(53:08) Q: Vijay Verma(53:54) Crafting typefaces(58:39) Q: Soleio(58:51) Inter in the wild(01:00:24) Q: Roy Quilor(01:00:43) Letter spacing advice(01:01:32) Inter serif pairing(01:04:18) Q: Pedro (Raycast)(01:05:06) Startup health advice(01:15:49) Making coffee for ABBA(01:16:54) Outro(01:19:30) Ejecting VHS

Vijay Verma is a talented designer renowned for his intricate Figma art and his extensive portfolio of free digital resources. In this episode, we explore his humble beginnings as an electrician in India and his rise to become one of the most beloved designers in the Figma community. Additionally, we have a special case study where Vijay walks us through his character design process, complete with a bonus time-lapse recording he sent after the interview.Please note that Vijay speaks quite fast, and this is a media-rich episode. Therefore, I highly recommend watching the interview on YouTube with subtitles on. If you're tuning in elsewhere, simply head to https://yo.fm/vijay to fully experience the talent of Vijay Verma.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/vijaySponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) Intro(01:19) Tiranga(03:48) Discovering Photoshop(04:47) Intermission: No Context(06:41) Figma Art vs UI Design(08:40) Sponsor: Webflow(09:58) Money vs Community(13:25) The Colorful Ghost(21:06) The Ice Tent(24:21) Intermission: Overrated, Underrated(25:44) Platform ROI(28:30) Home or Away(30:05) Config 2025(31:02) Where to follow Vijay(31:49) Outro(32:04) Bonus: Ghostly time-lapse

Gal Shir is a multitalented artist with disciplines in painting, NFTs, and brand identity. Gal's passion for creating joyful art is contagious, and he has grown a following of millions across social media platforms, each eagerly anticipating his next creation. We delve into his new chapter of helping young brands define their visual identity, his YouTube success and burnout, what makes a good logo, the delight behind creating fun NFTs, and the clever SEO tactics he used to grow his Color Hunt side project to 30,000 unique visitors a day.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/galSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) The Artist(01:23) Born to Draw(04:03) Intermission: No Context(05:33) Reviving Dribbble P1(07:35) Sponsor: Webflow(08:42) Reviving Dribbble P2(09:23) Inspiration(09:58) YouTube Hiatus(12:49) Burnout Signs(14:53) Cameo: Vijay S3E6(15:12) Freelancing or Content Creation(17:17) Branding advice to younger self(19:55) Current Gal.sh focus(23:00) Favorite Rebrand(25:35) Intermission: Overrated, Underrated(26:35) Creating NFTs(30:19) Why create delight?(33:19) Income Streams(34:39) Color Hunt(38:09) SEO Tactics(40:26) Color Scheme Ingredients(43:21) How to break a design rut?(46:01) Outro (Art is Hard)

Mike McAlistair is a designer, software engineer and course creator from the Midwest, USA. For nearly two decades, Mike has been crafting quality WordPress products, achieving significant success when WP Engine acquired his Array Themes and Atomic Blocks. Following this success and leveraging his shipping experience, he created the Liftoff course to help creators bring their products to market. Today, we delve into his new Ollie WordPress block theme, how he plans to monetize it, AI shortcuts and his preference for the long road, his passion for space photography, and what the first order of business would be if he took over at WordPress.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/mikeSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) AI vs Human Touch(02:54) Milwaukee(05:04) Intermission: No Context(07:02) Aliens Exist (WP UX)(07:25) Sponsor: Webflow(08:29) Ollie Block Theme(14:34) Salvage WordPress(19:01) Aging UI in video tutorials(21:53) Ollie Pro(27:49) Future of WP block editors (feat. Noel Tock)(31:18) Me or We (feat. Patrick Posner)(32:27) Step away and get paid(35:38) Intermission: Overrated, Underrated(36:53) Liftoff Creator Course(39:05) Promo: Yo.FM(39:50) Course Distribution(53:10) Space Photography(56:55) No Shortcuts(01:01:18) Where to follow Mike(01:02:06) Outro (Art is Hard)

Grace Walker is an independent web designer, developer and course creator. For years she has been delivering high quality websites to her clients and has earned her a reputation as an S-tier freelancer in the Webflow community. We delve into her new Fast Forward Freelance course, the tech stack behind it, the transparency behind her Twitter annual reports and we get creative with a fun case-study on how Grace would execute a local deli website redesign from concept to deployment.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/graceSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) From Calgary to Cape Town(01:03) Calgary: No place like home (02:37) Cape Town: Bucket list(03:34) Intermission: No Context(05:01) Fast Forward Freelance(10:58) Cohorts vs 24/7 sales(12:50) Sponsor: Webflow(13:55) Cohort promotion benefits(14:25) Course Tech Stack(17:45) Future courses?(20:05) Family planning(21:08) Cameo: Mike McAlister S3E4(21:40) Transparency earning reports(28:14) Intermission: Overrated, Underrated(29:21) Minimalism vs Essentialism(30:02) This week at home(31:12) Case-study: Designing a local deli website(37:15) Losing control(38:00) Why follow Grace?(43:19) Carving your own path(45:37) Outro(47:02) Behind the scenes

Rogie King is a larger than life designer who rides the intersection of art and code. For decades he has carving up digital screens, producing the most delicious pixel treats. Each layered with subtle details and personality. We chat about his designer advocate role at Figma, what makes a good community, how to get started with your first Figma plugins, what he'd do if he took over Dribbble and we rank the all time horror film greats in a brand new intermission called Rogie's Fright Night.Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/rogieSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) The Pixel King(01:10) The horse-headed crocodile(03:54) Moving to Salt Lake City(05:16) Sponsor: Webflow(06:20) Introvert Extrovert(08:26) Intermission: No Context(10:46) Scary Fast Figma(11:59) Designer Advocate?(18:59) Figma community(23:08) How to start a community(25:17) Who is doing community right?(27:11) Collecting Disney pins(28:40) Rob birding and nerding(31:05) Cameo: Yo! Grace Walker (S3E3)(31:15) How would you revive Dribbble?(35:35) Creating Figma plugins(45:22) Intermission: Overrated Underrated(47:34) Hunting and eating your own meat(53:10) The Sandwich Generation(60:01) Find your people(62:37) Where to follow Rogie(64:00) Bonus: Rogie's Fright Night

Dann Petty is a freelance designer, educator, event host and prolific maker with a big portfolio of side projects. His energy is infectious and you can just see he is having so much fun with his work. We chat about freelancing, what it takes to say yes or no to opportunities, his favorite client gift, the creative process behind his fun tech ads, and I put Dann on the spot to design a freelance portfolio from scratch. Watch the full interview on YouTube:https://yo.fm/dannSponsor:A massive love-filled thanks to Webflow who encouraged me to go all-in on the video format. They are the full season 3 sponsor Chapters:(00:00) Yo! Returns  (00:56) The Right Hander  (01:49) Intermission: No Context  (05:20) Design Full-Time P1(05:59) Sponsor: Webflow  (06:48) Design Full-Time P1(08:12) Creating Courses  (09:35) Rob from the Edit  (10:58) Yes or No  (12:41) Design Commercials  (16:40) One Page Love Sponsorships (18:15) Cameo: Yo! Rogie King (S3E2)  (18:46) Dreaming of Snow  (20:06) Dann's Inspiration  (21:09) Intermission: Overrated, Underrated  (22:57) YouTube vs Twitter  (26:54) Outsourcing Video  (28:32) Cameo: Yo! Grace Walker (S3E3)  (29:35) How to Design a Portfolio  (32:11) Anxiety  (34:07) "Can I get a health talk"  (34:56) How much is enough?  (37:43) Where to follow Dann  (38:47) Art is Hard.

Traf is a Canadian designer and digital craftsman, with an impressive portfolio of online creations. His journey skyrocketed in 2020 when his minimal iOS12 icon pack became a viral hit. He amassed a staggering six-figure sum in just six days, and has since raked in upwards of $400,000. Now paved with runway, Traf further leaned into his passions, collaborating on NFTs, forging innovative more digital products and more recently launched a course on how he builds with Framer. We rap about the the tech stack behind his online course, working solo and staying lean, his dedication to minimalism, creator mental health and why he's so bullish on the potential of Framer.

Matthew Smith (@whale) is a successful entrepreneur and product designer. He has worked with figures and organizations like Seth Godin, the Gates Foundation, and the US Postal Service. In 2014, he co-created Really Good Emails, which quickly became the world's premier source for email design inspiration. In 2021, driven by his pursuit of meaningful work, Smith co-founded Bunsen, a niche creative studio aiding science-oriented companies with strategy, branding, and messaging. We rap about our inherent desire to curate online inspiration, strategies for effective sales pitches to clients, and just how to find an industry you'll love working in.