Yesterday's personal website email had more responses than I've ever had before. Thanks for replying. This is my take on the difference between the three paths and where to start. (play at 1.2-1.5x speed) If you didn't respond Reader, I'd love to hear what you want from your personal website. Personal Serendipity: You feel intellectually isolated and desire to expand your social circle, increasing luck and serendipity in your life. Professional Pivot: You're bored with your current career,...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Yesterday at 11:05 am I hopped on a 15-minute call with a reader who came across an article I wrote online. This person was forwarded my personal website article and then booked a time to chat from my site. For some of you, this flow isn't unique. Yet, this serendipity engine feels like magic to me. This past week, three strangers have reached out this way. In the past year, 87,700 people have visited my personal site, and I have had hundreds of calls from people worldwide with little effort....
4 months ago • 1 min read
Josh Spector's new logo Over the past few months, I worked with Josh Spector to overhaul his visual branding. Nothing was off limits. Socials, website (not live yet), YouTube thumbnails, podcast cover art, and everything else. For Josh, it was a long time coming. However, for the past 4+ years, his visual brand has remained untouched even though his newsletter and business were growing. For Josh, the value of his content and business were outpacing his packaging and pricing. He was...
4 months ago • 1 min read
I was 11 when my brother and I stopped sharing a bedroom. When we got our rooms, our parents embraced our creativity and let us paint our rooms however we wanted. I painted alternating white and baby blue stripes on two of my walls. I took a paintbrush fully dipped in baby blue for the other two walls and whipped it at the wall like an anxious pitcher making his first start in the big leagues. I personalized everything. Maybe you're the same, Reader? Now, as an adult, I still love to...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Good morning from Wisconsin! I'm Nate, and you're here because you want to make better design decisions in your life and business. I was recently asked about what helpful tools I use that could help a non-designer out. Here are 12 that I regularly use: General Design Exploration: Figma and Canva still dominate here, but I prefer Figma for design exploration by creating layers and depth effects more simply. Simply, there is no better tool to scale up your custom-designed templates across...
4 months ago • 2 min read
The other day, I was asked to design the cover art of a brand-new podcast show. I can't wait to show you when it's done. But like most people, I open up Spotify to research podcast art to see what's out there, looking for different ways to differentiate. While looking for examples, I kept bumping into art like this: Now, I have never listened to this show, and I'm sure they're nice and smart. But I can tell there was some struggle in designing this cover. This is what pond design looks like....
4 months ago • 1 min read
Good morning from Wisconsin! I'm Nate, and you're here because you want to make better design decisions in your life and business. Buttons, Baby It’s 6:26 am. It’s dark in the living room, which is technically a family room, as my three-year-old likes to tell me. Maybe I call it that out of laziness. I still call long-sleeved shirts spun with anything from wool to cotton “sweaters.” But then there are the details that matter. The sketchbook paper I use has a specific weight of 80 GSM. The ink...
5 months ago • 2 min read
Good morning from Wisconsin! I'm Nate Kadlac, and this newsletter is for creators and non-designers like you to make better design decisions in your life and business. The Design Flywheel Effect Last month was great for business. I presented a slide deck workshop to a marketing consultancy. I hired a designer to take the lead on a new client project. I closed the new Dollar Design community by filling all 7 spots. I sold six digital products (that are not publicly available online). I...
5 months ago • 1 min read
As I write this, my 9-month-old daughter's sweaty, heavy head is buried into my chest. Lately, I've noticed she is the belle of the ball in social situations. She can smile non-stop for hours in a group of strangers while being passed around. But put her in a room by herself, and her sweaty, heavy head is full of tears and screams. I can't relate. I love to be alone. But if she were awake right now, she would be screaming because Dollar Design closed (we filled all seven seats early). Now,...
7 months ago • 1 min read