Designers Guild
Founder, Community Leader
2014-Present
Designers Guild
Founder, Community Leader
2014-Present
Designers Guild
Founder, Community Leader
2014-Present
Designers Guild
Founder, Community Leader
2014-Present
Designers Guild
Founder, Community Leader
2014-Present
Concepted, launched, and scaled Designers Guild to 20,000+ cumulative members, helping advance the careers of thousands of designers in 100+ countries.
Concepted, launched, and scaled Designers Guild to 20,000+ cumulative members, helping advance the careers of thousands of designers in 100+ countries.
The opportunity
In September 2014, I didn’t know of an online forum where fellow designers and design managers could help each other grow their design careers. Dribbble, Behance, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a standalone website weren't the right places for this.
Launch
I launched Designers Guild (DG) as a Facebook Group with around 100 of my designer friends in Silicon Valley. On a late night, I quickly put together a logo, then launched the group.
The opportunity
In September 2014, I didn’t know of an online forum where fellow designers and design managers could help each other grow their design careers. Dribbble, Behance, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a standalone website weren't the right places for this.
Launch
I launched Designers Guild (DG) as a Facebook Group with around 100 of my designer friends in Silicon Valley. On a late night, I quickly put together a logo, then launched the group.
The opportunity
In September 2014, I didn’t know of an online forum where fellow designers and design managers could help each other grow their design careers. Dribbble, Behance, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a standalone website weren't the right places for this.
Launch
I launched Designers Guild (DG) as a Facebook Group with around 100 of my designer friends in Silicon Valley. On a late night, I quickly put together a logo, then launched the group.
After studying other design communities, I noticed a few common problems: designers giving low quality advice, or forums that acted as hubs for recruiting or self-promotion. Having a high quality design community with high quality content required intentionality.
Quality content
Only professional designers and design students are allowed into Designers Guild, to ensure that any advice given in the group comes from a place of experience as a designer. I helped set the bar for quality discussion by personally posting useful or thought-provoking design content and questions, and nudging others to do the same. I steered group members away from doing blatant self-promotion, instead only seeking to share the most valuable design content they knew of, or to otherwise provide helpful advice to designers.
After studying other design communities, I noticed a few common problems: designers giving low quality advice, or forums that acted as hubs for recruiting or self-promotion. Having a high quality design community with high quality content required intentionality.
Quality content
Only professional designers and design students are allowed into Designers Guild, to ensure that any advice given in the group comes from a place of experience as a designer. I helped set the bar for quality discussion by personally posting useful or thought-provoking design content and questions, and nudging others to do the same. I steered group members away from doing blatant self-promotion, instead only seeking to share the most valuable design content they knew of, or to otherwise provide helpful advice to designers.
Quality people
I was deliberate in setting a high bar for the type of designers who joined Designers Guild, starting with how I added 100 of the most talented and accomplished designers I knew in Silicon Valley as our first members. One or two years in, Tanner Christensen, a Product Designer at Facebook at the time, joined. He became very active in Designers Guild, and I invited him to first be a group Moderator, then a group Admin - my peer in running the group. His involvement was key to Designers Guild becoming one of today's largest and most useful communities for designers.
Membership metrics
Within a matter of weeks of launching, more people showed up, and rapid growth happened. Designers Guild now has over 20,000 designers in 100+ countries across our family of Facebook groups. Over 2/3 of all members engage with the group on a monthly basis.
Quality people
I was deliberate in setting a high bar for the type of designers who joined Designers Guild, starting with how I added 100 of the most talented and accomplished designers I knew in Silicon Valley as our first members. One or two years in, Tanner Christensen, a Product Designer at Facebook at the time, joined. He became very active in Designers Guild, and I invited him to first be a group Moderator, then a group Admin - my peer in running the group. His involvement was key to Designers Guild becoming one of today's largest and most useful communities for designers.
Membership metrics
Within a matter of weeks of launching, more people showed up, and rapid growth happened. Designers Guild now has over 20,000 designers in 100+ countries across our family of Facebook groups. Over 2/3 of all members engage with the group on a monthly basis.
Quality people
I was deliberate in setting a high bar for the type of designers who joined Designers Guild, starting with how I added 100 of the most talented and accomplished designers I knew in Silicon Valley as our first members. One or two years in, Tanner Christensen, a Product Designer at Facebook at the time, joined. He became very active in Designers Guild, and I invited him to first be a group Moderator, then a group Admin - my peer in running the group. His involvement was key to Designers Guild becoming one of today's largest and most useful communities for designers.
Membership metrics
Within a matter of weeks of launching, more people showed up, and rapid growth happened. Designers Guild now has over 20,000 designers in 100+ countries across our family of Facebook groups. Over 2/3 of all members engage with the group on a monthly basis.
Quality people
I was deliberate in setting a high bar for the type of designers who joined Designers Guild, starting with how I added 100 of the most talented and accomplished designers I knew in Silicon Valley as our first members. One or two years in, Tanner Christensen, a Product Designer at Facebook at the time, joined. He became very active in Designers Guild, and I invited him to first be a group Moderator, then a group Admin - my peer in running the group. His involvement was key to Designers Guild becoming one of today's largest and most useful communities for designers.
Membership metrics
Within a matter of weeks of launching, more people showed up, and rapid growth happened. Designers Guild now has over 20,000 designers in 100+ countries across our family of Facebook groups. Over 2/3 of all members engage with the group on a monthly basis.
Building out the team
As Designers Guild grew, Tanner and I identified the need to bring in additional moderators and admins. We recruited David Martinez, Brad Monahan, Stedman Halliday, and Ivy Mukherjee to join us on the leadership team to help run things and build out the strategy, vision, and execution of what the future of Designers Guild is.
Building out the team
As Designers Guild grew, Tanner and I identified the need to bring in additional moderators and admins. We recruited David Martinez, Brad Monahan, Stedman Halliday, and Ivy Mukherjee to join us on the leadership team to help run things and build out the strategy, vision, and execution of what the future of Designers Guild is.
Building out the team
As Designers Guild grew, Tanner and I identified the need to bring in additional moderators and admins. We recruited David Martinez, Brad Monahan, Stedman Halliday, and Ivy Mukherjee to join us on the leadership team to help run things and build out the strategy, vision, and execution of what the future of Designers Guild is. Jenée Jernigan would later join the leadership team as well.
Graphic by Stedman Halliday
Graphic by Stedman Halliday
Community feel
Tanner, David, Brad, Stedman, and Ivy have worked diligently with me to help ensure Designers Guild is a positive, inclusive, safe space for designers to feel supported in. We have taken swift action when occasional members show very poor or prejudiced behavior, banning them from the group. With a group as large as ours, even amongst designers, there are a few bad eggs. But most designers are lovely, empathetic people. Designers Guild's positive community feel ensures that the vast majority of members have a great experience.
Member commenting
A large part of the Designers Guild experience is the advice and responses that members share in the form of comments on posts. Many comment threads contain helpful tips and wisdom that people take action on.
Content curation
Designers Guild's admins and moderators help set the bar for the type of content we want to encourage more of, and it has a ripple effect on the community. Many community members understand what content fits the spirit of Designers Guild, and help curate the content by flagging content that doesn't belong, which alerts the admins and moderators immediately, so we can take swift action.
Building out the community
Designers Guild has expanded to include Designers Guild Women of Color, where women of color designers help each other navigate their careers, and Designers Guild for Justice, where designers and cause leaders collaborate to discuss causes ranging from human rights to the environment.
Community feel
Tanner, David, Brad, Stedman, Ivy, Jenée, and I worked diligently with me to help ensure Designers Guild is a positive, inclusive, safe space for designers to feel supported in. We have taken swift action when occasional members show very poor or prejudiced behavior, banning them from the group. With a group as large as ours, even amongst designers, there are a few bad eggs. But most designers are lovely, empathetic people. Designers Guild's positive community feel ensures that the overwhelming majority of members have a great experience.
Member commenting
A large part of the Designers Guild experience is the advice and responses that members share in the form of comments on posts. Many comment threads contain helpful tips and wisdom that people take action on.
Content curation
Designers Guild's admins and moderators help set the bar for the type of content we want to encourage more of, and it has a ripple effect on the community. Many community members understand what content fits the spirit of Designers Guild, and help curate the content by flagging content that doesn't belong, which alerts the admins and moderators immediately, so we can take swift action.
Building out the community
Designers Guild has expanded to include Designers Guild Women of Color, where women of color designers help each other navigate their careers, and Designers Guild for Justice, where designers and cause leaders collaborate to discuss causes ranging from human rights to the environment.
Community feel
Tanner, David, Brad, Stedman, Ivy, Jenée, and I worked diligently with me to help ensure Designers Guild is a positive, inclusive, safe space for designers to feel supported in. We have taken swift action when occasional members show very poor or prejudiced behavior, banning them from the group. With a group as large as ours, even amongst designers, there are a few bad eggs. But most designers are lovely, empathetic people. Designers Guild's positive community feel ensures that the overwhelming majority of members have a great experience.
Member commenting
A large part of the Designers Guild experience is the advice and responses that members share in the form of comments on posts. Many comment threads contain helpful tips and wisdom that people take action on.
Content curation
Designers Guild's admins and moderators help set the bar for the type of content we want to encourage more of, and it has a ripple effect on the community. Many community members understand what content fits the spirit of Designers Guild, and help curate the content by flagging content that doesn't belong, which alerts the admins and moderators immediately, so we can take swift action.
Building out the community
Designers Guild has expanded to include Designers Guild Women of Color, where women of color designers help each other navigate their careers, and Designers Guild for Justice, where designers and cause leaders collaborate to discuss causes ranging from human rights to the environment.
Community feel
Tanner, David, Brad, Stedman, Ivy, Jenée, and I worked diligently to help ensure Designers Guild is a positive, inclusive, safe space for designers to feel supported in. We have taken swift action when occasional members show very poor or prejudiced behavior, banning them from the group. With a group as large as ours, even amongst designers, there are a few bad eggs. But most designers are lovely, empathetic people. Designers Guild's positive community feel ensures that the overwhelming majority of members have a great experience.
Member commenting
A large part of the Designers Guild experience is the advice and responses that members share in the form of comments on posts. Many comment threads contain helpful tips and wisdom that people take action on.
Content curation
Designers Guild's admins and moderators help set the bar for the type of content we want to encourage more of, and it has a ripple effect on the community. Many community members understand what content fits the spirit of Designers Guild, and help curate the content by flagging content that doesn't belong, which alerts the admins and moderators immediately, so we can take swift action.
Building out the community
Designers Guild has expanded to include Designers Guild Women of Color, where women of color designers help each other navigate their careers, and Designers Guild for Justice, where designers and cause leaders collaborate to discuss causes ranging from human rights to the environment.
Community feel
Tanner, David, Brad, Stedman, Ivy, Jenée, and I worked diligently to help ensure Designers Guild is a positive, inclusive, safe space for designers to feel supported in. We have taken swift action when occasional members show very poor or prejudiced behavior, banning them from the group. With a group as large as ours, even amongst designers, there are a few bad eggs. But most designers are lovely, empathetic people. Designers Guild's positive community feel ensures that the overwhelming majority of members have a great experience.
Member commenting
A large part of the Designers Guild experience is the advice and responses that members share in the form of comments on posts. Many comment threads contain helpful tips and wisdom that people take action on.
Content curation
Designers Guild's admins and moderators help set the bar for the type of content we want to encourage more of, and it has a ripple effect on the community. Many community members understand what content fits the spirit of Designers Guild, and help curate the content by flagging content that doesn't belong, which alerts the admins and moderators immediately, so we can take swift action.
Building out the community
Designers Guild has expanded to include Designers Guild Women of Color, where women of color designers help each other navigate their careers, and Designers Guild for Justice, where designers and cause leaders collaborate to discuss causes ranging from human rights to the environment.
Impact
Designers Guild has become a community that tens of thousands of designers depend on for navigating and leveling up their careers.
Impact
Designers Guild has become a community that tens of thousands of designers depend on for navigating and leveling up their careers.
Impact
Designers Guild has become a community that tens of thousands of designers depend on for navigating and leveling up their careers.
Cumulative members
Cumulative members
20k+
20k+
20k+
20k+
20k+
Countries represented
Countries represented
100+
100+
100+
100+
100+
Monthly active users
Monthly active users
66%
66%
66%
66%
66%
Request to join if you're a designer!
More Case Studies
Executive LeadershipExecutive, Leadership, UX, AI
Leading thru COVIDLeadership, Retention, UX, AI
Homepage RedesignLeadership, UX, AI, Redesign
App UX TrainingLeadership, UX, AI, App, Ops
Product ProcessCollaboration, UX, Process
Yahoo.com Ad RevenueUX, AI, Web, Mobile, Tablet
Search PersonalizationUX, AI, Web, Mobile, Tablet
AnimoodlesUX, Illustration, Industrial
Designers GuildHighest Engagement Facebook Group for UX
Designers Club#1 Clubhouse Design Community
Ness UX + BrandingUX, AI, Branding, Research
Apple iOS DesignUX, Web, Mobile, Tablet
