You’re Not a Designer Until You Do This

Issue #6 - Portfolio, product design, brand identity, and why most designers are skipping the hard part (but you won’t).

Author

Murtuza Banani
May 06, 2025

Hi Fellow Designer, 👋

This week in Designer Mints, we’re diving deep into what makes a designer stand out in 2025.

From building a standout portfolio to mastering color systems, understanding the product design process, and even turning your Figma files into code, we’ve got it all covered. Plus, there's a complete brand identity tutorial, an inspiring free Trello template for web design workflow, and powerful startup guides for launching your freelance business.

Don’t forget to read “Thoughts From The Author” right after the weekly links, and feel free to share Designer Mints with your friends. 🙂 

Let’s keep learning, building, and moving forward—one pixel at a time 👇

💡 Your Weekly Design Picks

Here’s your collection of curated links for the week:

📑 Top 5 Reads for the Week

▶️ Top 3 Watch for the Week

🤑 Freelancing $$$

🤩 Portfolio to Inspire

  • Elegant Seagulls
    Award-winning digital agency with jaw-dropping web design and motion graphics.

  • Outloud
    A creative collective with a punchy portfolio packed with attitude, style, and clean UX.

⚒️ Top Tools & Resources to Try for the Week

  • Lovable
    A tool that turns Figma files into working code for developers—without the headaches.

  • Endless Tools
    A growing directory of tools for designers, marketers, and makers to save time and boost output.

🧐 Thoughts From The Author

Being a designer isn’t just about having good taste or knowing the tools—it’s about being a student of the craft.

Design evolves constantly, and the only way to stay relevant is to keep learning, exploring, and growing alongside the industry.

But here’s the truth:
Staying updated is one of the hardest parts of being a designer,
and it’s also the part most people quietly skip.

Why? Because it takes discipline. Time. Consistency.
But skipping it means slowly falling behind while the design world moves forward.

You don’t just design screens—you design solutions.
And for that, you’ve got to keep exploring the industry, tools, and paths that align with your goals.
Whether you're diving into brand identity, learning to build better workflows, or picking the right UI font, every bit of learning moves you forward.

So treat every scroll, every click, and every week like a small step toward mastering the path you’ve chosen.

Because the more you grow, the more valuable your design voice becomes. 💡

❤️ Sharing is caring (and helps us grow!). Please pass this along to someone who’d love it.

🥳 Suggest Content

Spotted a tool, article, case study, or trend that inspired you this week?
Send it my way!
I’d love to feature community picks in upcoming issues. Let’s make Designer Mints even better together. 💌

Reach us at [email protected]

🤝 Share with a friend

If this newsletter gave you value, a spark of inspiration, or just something fun to explore, pass it on to a fellow designer. Let’s grow this community one minty-fresh issue at a time.

😎 About The Newsletter

Designer Mints is your weekly go-to for handpicked design inspiration, tools, and UI/UX insights—delivered every Tuesday at 10 AM CT. Whether you're into UI, web, graphic, or digital design, we've got you covered with all the creative insights you need—delivered straight to your inbox.

No fluff. No filler. Just the good stuff to keep your creative edge sharp.

If something resonates or if you have any suggestions, please let me know by reaching out at [email protected].

Or if you just want to say hi—I’d love to hear from you. 🙂

Thanks for being part of this from the beginning. I hope this becomes your favorite email of the week.

Happy Designing,
Murtuza Banani