Design Resources — By Designers, For Designers

Three years ago, Jenny and I embarked on a journey to document our approach and philosophy to brand and user experience design and everything in between. We did in the form of a book, and called it Making Things Special. We expected the book to fade into obscurity. It would be something nice we could point to that we’d accomplished; an esoteric reference known only to us and a few friends and clients. But that’s not what happened.

The reaction we got to Making Things Special was overwhelmingly positive. The book was about how designers need to navigate their broader organizations and play a significant leadership role. That challenge was not just one we had faced, but one that countless designers all over the world had faced in trying to improve the work they do before it eventually touches customers. After that, we started work on a second book, one about the Art of User Experience Design. Essentially, what do you do next? But another book didn’t seem like enough, we wanted to bring the messages from the first book and the sequel to a broader audience. Over the last year as we finished that book we concurrently invested in an in-house video production studio, and started bringing the content into video form. We produced ten talks, all featuring animated version’s of Tom Chang’s adorable illustrations that made the book itself so distinctive. By the end of our journey we had not only the two complete books, and ten videos, but also a slew of art assets that designers might want to use in their own work. The collection was starting to feel substantive. And today we’re proud to unveil it as the new Making Things Special — a set of pep talks, books, and art assets for the modern designer.

You can browse previews of all the content, and even see one complete talk for free. The whole Jackson Fish Market team has worked really hard to make these videos have the most polished of any design training videos on the web. We think of them not just as training but as motivational talks you can use for yourself, show to your team, or show to management to help achieve your goals. The books are available to all subscribers as complete PDFs. And the royalty free art assets are also ready for you to incorporate in your work however you desire.

Subscriptions are offered in two flavors: An introductory annual subscription for $49.99 (normally $99.99) and a lifetime subscription for $99.99 (normally $299.99). There are a limited supply of the latter, so hurry. Both deals expire soon.

This is just the beginning of our Making Things Special journey. We’re thrilled to have you come along for the ride. We’ll be adding new content once a month, and with your feedback and support, the possibilities are limitless. Thanks so much for checking it out and spreading the word on social media to all your designer friends.