Design like you give a damn
If design school and Medium posts left you inspired but under-skilled, welcome to the intervention. 101 tips. 800 exercises.
Format
Hardcover
Pages
448
Size
21 x 27 x 3 cm
About this book
Every designer says “practice more.” Nobody tells you how. That gap is why this book exists.
Design like you give a damn is a practice guide packed with 101 sharp tips and over 800 timed exercises you can do in thirty minutes or less.
This book breaks the big, scary parts of design into tiny workouts you can repeat until they stick. Some days you’ll be sketching at speed. Others you’ll be stripping screens to grayscale, rewriting your case study as a tweet, or critiquing an app in three slides. You’ll design for aliens and ghosts, rebuild classic flows from memory, and stress-test your own work until it doesn’t break.
The four parts of the book mirror the career of a working designer. One trains your raw product design craft. Another rebuilds your portfolio for the ten-second scan it will actually get. Others keep you staying creative and puts you through interview drills, where you learn to think out loud, argue trade-offs, and show judgment under pressure.
I've made it simple. Pick a page, set a timer, and go. Each exercise is fast, but the compound effect is what changes you. By the time you’ve run a few dozen, your process is tighter, your portfolio sharper, and your interviews calmer.
This isn’t a book you skim. It’s one you live with on your desk, in your bag, pulled out on commutes or between meetings. Each page is a rep. This book is your training plan.
What you'll learn
You’ll practice this book instead of just reading. Across four sections, you’ll put in reps that sharpen your craft, career, and confidence.
You will sketch 8 ideas in 8 minutes, wireframe 10 flows in 10, and redraw entire UIs from memory.
You will strip designs to black & white, rebuild components from rectangles and circles, and reverse-engineer classics.
You will design home pages like movie posters, rewrite case studies in one tweet, and sequence your projects to hit hard in 10 seconds. All things that make your portfolio impossible to skim past.
You will critique apps in three slides, record 60-second teardowns, and practice structured answers under time pressure.
Inside the book
What people say
“This book doesn’t just talk about design — it shows you how to think like a designer. The frameworks inside helped me restructure my workflow and present my ideas with far more clarity.”
— Alex M., Product Designer
“I’ve read a lot of design books, but this one stands out for its honesty and practicality. It feels like having a mentor guiding you through the messy parts of the creative process.”
— Sofia R., Freelance Designer
“Clear, insightful, and refreshingly real. This book gave me tools I could apply the very next day in my projects — and the confidence to push my work further.”
— Daniel K., UX/UI Lead
Design like you give a damn
If design school and Medium posts left you inspired but under-skilled, welcome to the intervention. 101 tips. 800 exercises.
Format
Hardcover
Pages
448
Size
21 x 27 x 3 cm
About this book
Every designer says “practice more.” Nobody tells you how. That gap is why this book exists.
Design like you give a damn is a practice guide packed with 101 sharp tips and over 800 timed exercises you can do in thirty minutes or less.
This book breaks the big, scary parts of design into tiny workouts you can repeat until they stick. Some days you’ll be sketching at speed. Others you’ll be stripping screens to grayscale, rewriting your case study as a tweet, or critiquing an app in three slides. You’ll design for aliens and ghosts, rebuild classic flows from memory, and stress-test your own work until it doesn’t break.
The four parts of the book mirror the career of a working designer. One trains your raw product design craft. Another rebuilds your portfolio for the ten-second scan it will actually get. Others keep you staying creative and puts you through interview drills, where you learn to think out loud, argue trade-offs, and show judgment under pressure.
I've made it simple. Pick a page, set a timer, and go. Each exercise is fast, but the compound effect is what changes you. By the time you’ve run a few dozen, your process is tighter, your portfolio sharper, and your interviews calmer.
This isn’t a book you skim. It’s one you live with on your desk, in your bag, pulled out on commutes or between meetings. Each page is a rep. This book is your training plan.
What you'll learn
You’ll practice this book instead of just reading. Across four sections, you’ll put in reps that sharpen your craft, career, and confidence.
You will sketch 8 ideas in 8 minutes, wireframe 10 flows in 10, and redraw entire UIs from memory.
You will strip designs to black & white, rebuild components from rectangles and circles, and reverse-engineer classics.
You will design home pages like movie posters, rewrite case studies in one tweet, and sequence your projects to hit hard in 10 seconds. All things that make your portfolio impossible to skim past.
You will critique apps in three slides, record 60-second teardowns, and practice structured answers under time pressure.
Inside the book
What people say
“This book doesn’t just talk about design — it shows you how to think like a designer. The frameworks inside helped me restructure my workflow and present my ideas with far more clarity.”
— Alex M., Product Designer
“I’ve read a lot of design books, but this one stands out for its honesty and practicality. It feels like having a mentor guiding you through the messy parts of the creative process.”
— Sofia R., Freelance Designer
“Clear, insightful, and refreshingly real. This book gave me tools I could apply the very next day in my projects — and the confidence to push my work further.”
— Daniel K., UX/UI Lead
Bring your design practice to the next level