Well played, Marvel Unlimited!

Played HORRIBLY tonight, but got those steps and calories in, which is what matters.

A bunch of people have asked about the thick leather rings I was wearing in the video of my #config2023 talk. Here’s the story of those rings.

Ahem.

A few people asked about it, so… Let’s get a pickup game of 🏀 going at Config! Still getting details sorted, but looks like it’ll be Wednesday at 5:30pm Pacific. DM me if you’re interested and I can share more details as it develops. Pack your 🏀 gear!

I’m a big fan of what Ritesh Gupta is doing with Useful School for people of color. If you wanna hear more about what he's up to, join the free event he’s doing with Mother Design later today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/mother-design-meets-ritesh-gupta-tickets-647107234157

Solid role player tonight: lots of pick and roll, catch and shoot, and a few surprise moves.

Grill deep clean done… now time to enjoy the spoils!

Cookin last night. Paying for it this morning.

I’m literally shaking with nervous excitement as I write this. I’m over the moon to share Design System University with you today! It’s officially open for enrollment. https://designsystem.university/

I’m opening the doors to Design System University in 3 days. I’ve launched hundreds of websites, apps, and products in my career. It’s still nerve-wracking every time. In today’s newsletter, I’ll share my top tips for overcoming the launch jitters. Join here: https://danmall.com/newsletter/

It was great being able to hang out with design system royalty tonight @jina.social @danmall.bsky.social renderATL

Shot well tonight.

I’ll start worrying about AI when it can arrive at concepts like the FedEx logo on its own. Here’s the result even with a specific prompt (“a logo with the letters ‘FedEx’ set in the Futura Bold typeface with an arrow in the negative space between the ‘E’ and ‘x’”).

So super duper inspired by @raq.bsky.social’s talk today at Design System University. She shared so much of her great wisdom!

In less than 24 hours, I’ll be interviewing the amazing @raq.bsky.social about design systems, her career path, doing design at scale, and much more. Make sure you RSVP for what’s sure to be a great conversation! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fireside-chat-with-raquel-breternitz-tickets-635343317967

Played average last night.

When I ran an agency, my DMs were from employees who wanted to know how to leave their jobs and start an agency. Since I shut my agency, my DMs are from owners who are considering shutting theirs. Reminder: you don’t know what your boss/employees are DMing their network. Plan accordingly.

I was cookin tonight!

After hundreds of conversations and months of iterating, my new Design System University finally has an updated site today that shares more about how you can level up in design systems! https://designsystem.university/

I can’t believe I haven’t read “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” before now. Incredible story and visuals. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ At this point, I should just have a standing order to read everything Tom King writes.

My new favorite thing is logging into my kids’ Google Docs when they’re writing essays for school and typing things next to their cursors like “Hi, it’s Jesus. Repent of your sins.”

Solid runs tonight.

I’m almost finished building my first full site with Framer, and I’m a believer. Aside from a few initial gotchas I had to get used to, it’s the closest I’ve seen to the software design tools I think we’ll be using in the future. I’ll share more soon, but ask me anything!

I learned a new word this morning: Vicissitude: a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant. Don’t let anyone tell you that comics rot your brain.