Figma Config Conference 2024 - Creative Review by MAGNETIC Design Team

Welcome

back to STOKE Sessions. We're on season two episode nine. Today, we're

gonna be reviewing the recent two thousand twenty four config conference by Figma. We had a bunch of our creative professionals here at Mag join the conference for

the two days.

Wanted to get a quick review from them while the iron is hot and the conference has just ended. There's a bunch of inspiration,

a

bunch of cool

new new features to check out within Figma, and just a ton of really cool convo.

So I hope you guys enjoy the episode. Let's get started.

You.

Why don't we open it up, you guys?

Why don't we just get into it? Like, what's the number one takeaway from each of you that, you you came out of the conference from? I know, you know, we've had a chance to talk through it a little bit. I've gone through some of the slides that were put together, post show. But what for each of you were some of the big takeaways from from config twenty twenty four?

I guess I'll go first. I mean, first of all, it's amped and inspired. I think that, a lot of times, it's almost not even almost about the features released, but, just hearing the talks of motivational speakers of, creative journeys and whatnot. But, product wise, Figma slides was a big one for me. Also, implementation of AI and just renaming layers. I I know a lot of people have been keeping out geeking out about that, and it seems so simple, but those ones stuck out to me for sure.

What's up with you, Thomas?

I was so impressed by the the new the new UI.

This is not a ton changed, but just the initiative to put you in flow state is is so cool. I think that's the most ideal thing you could hear from a company that's building software and programs like this.

And then like Manny said, there was just no shortage of inspiration. I mean, everybody that spoke on the stage was so inspiring and and so honest.

There was a few people, but one was the Simone, I think it was how it's pronounced. And then I I don't know how to say her last name. That one's Swedish. It's Gertz or something like that. But she was amazing. And, and I could probably watch her speak for hours, but, there was one quote she said that stuck with me.

And and it was, necessity is the father of invention and low standards is the mother.

And Yeah.

I think it was I have to write that I'm gonna have to write that down somewhere.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's it's I mean, you guys all hit on some some pretty heavy points there. I think as creatives, like, one of the hardest things is to clear your brain, clear your desk, clear your whole workspace of distraction. Right?

And in twenty twenty four, it's hard to think of, but, realistically, Figma and, like, even our jobs, like, one of our biggest competitors is social media and all of the different information outlets that are out there. Right? Like, it's the biggest distractor to getting into a into a solid flow state, which is critical to producing real raw creative and, producing anything. And I think it's it's interesting.

Like, it's it's one of the hardest things to do is to just start and to get something out on paper. We we've talked about this before, but it's like, you know, progress not not perfect and, you know, done over perfection. You know, done is always better than perfection. I think that that quote definitely resonates with me as well.

I think any any creative or, you know, business executive or founder or startup, you know, aspiring startup founder, can probably resonate with that where you've gotta get started. You've gotta get something down. You've gotta get your blank slate cleared and start getting things on paper to really make progress on anything. That's really cool.

For sure.

Manny, you you touched on another one, which is interesting to me. I mean, this is something we started Mag in, what, two thousand six. And I think ever since then, it's been you know, when you're working with a group of creatives, everybody's got their own process. Everybody's got their own way of going through things.

And especially when we talk about getting into flow state, it's like once you get into flow state, one of the last things you're thinking about when you're going through, you know, back in the day, whether it's a Photoshop file or an Illustrator file or whatever it was that, you know, even in video production when you're working with a bunch of different, layers, like naming those layers and getting into a position where you've got a team that can open up any file and work cohesively and get into flow state on someone else's file quickly. Like, one of the biggest things is making sense of all the layers, all the folders that are locked up in these, you know, creative files, which is really interesting. And you mentioned that, one of the updates and one of the features is that AI is now helping to make sense of that and helping to name the layers, within your Figma file. Right? Can you can you jump into that a little bit more?

Yeah. For sure. I mean, there's a there's a lot to touch on there, but I think that one of the biggest takeaways was their implementation AI into Figma overall, and how it can affect. And just to Burns' point earlier, I think that, like, the coolest thing about Figma is it's one of the only companies that I feel like whenever they come out with renew releases or features, they're like direct feedback from users. Like, every tool they come out with isn't for the sake of just building it to build it. It's like, oh, we heard you, and we're implementing how to make your day to day life easier.

And so AI wasn't just like, here, like, let's hit the nail. I mean, they do they it can create you new images for your designs, like, great, but it can also translate copy into different languages for you. Like, oh my gosh. That's a huge help Practical.

It can rename all your layers so other psychopaths like myself can get their job done earlier. You know? I feel like Yeah. Either you're completely don't rename your layers or all of your, all of your frames are, you know, forty pixels apart and completely organized and all your layers are.

And so, but it I mean, AI can also, like you said, get over the hurdle of, like, the the fear of jumping in and getting started, with the implementation of, like, AI design. You can type in a prompt, like, give me an app design with a map and a product selected for a bakery in Los Angeles, and then boom, it can kinda get you going on the right track. So, I think that, like, it's really cool that they heard their audience. They saw the opportunity to implement these AI tools as a a compliment to designers and not like anyone you know, the talk has been are we gonna get replaced?

Is this gonna happen? It's like, no. Like, this is how we can use it to our advantage. And so, that was a lot of really cool implementation they did with this drop.

And how about how about suggest auto layout, man? Holy cow.

Oh, yeah.

I mean, we I unfortunately or unfortunately, but I I just recently kind of got down framing so that when you do hit auto layout, it doesn't fall apart.

So I don't I it wasn't like something that I was needing at this point. But if you don't if you don't wanna bother trying to frame everything, if you just wanna get something laid out and figured out creatively and and just throw stuff at the wall, you can now hit suggest auto layout, and it frames things in all these different boxes for you for almost perfectly as long as it's not, like, a really big design and and makes that something that you can immediately hand off to dev that's that's gonna translate to code.

And Yeah. It's so crazy.

I mean, full full transparency, I mean, us as an agency, we switched over to Figma now. I think we're going into year two, of it. And so we previously were full adopters, of XD. And once, that was getting displaced and bought out or, you know, they bought out Figma, or we're going to, you know, we switched over to keep up with the industry, and I think that all of us went through the learning curve of, like, understanding how frames are the new artboards and how you can nestle auto layouts within auto layouts within auto layouts.

It just was like a new concept to us. So, I think that the fact that you can enable this suggest auto layout now and take your stuff, it kind of gets over the hurdle of not understanding, and then you can reverse engineer it. So I think that was yeah. Thomas, if if we had had that, maybe it would have helped us a little earlier in our adoption of Figma.

For sure.

But would have saved It would have saved me a few months of, of learning for sure.

But The in the inception of auto learning.

Yeah. Yeah. For sure, man.

Matt, I was gonna go back to something you were saying, but just really quick if I can.

We are talking about, kind of, like, getting over the curve, getting started, and all the inspirational speakers. One thing that it reminded me of is, they had so many, like, big names speaking and talking, but, like, one of the biggest, like, tips I got was from someone within you know, they have in, people introducing new talk new speakers, by internal people at Figma. So whether it's just, like, product managers or product designers, I think it was really cool that they use their in house team to be a part of a conference and and to introduce people.

Well, in passing, one of those people said, one thing that they did, as a team building exercise, and this was just off the cuff.

And I was like, oh my gosh. That's a really cool idea. And he wasn't even like a speaker or anything like that. He just had happy to say this. He's like, we, asked everyone to show their old student work and to, like, have this team going after cyber. It was like, just to show that, like, dude, everyone was crappy at one point.

No.

Like Everybody starts somewhere.

Right?

Everybody starts somewhere. Yeah. So it was, like, really cool to see, like, you hold people in such high esteem. Like, oh my gosh.

They kill logos. They kill motion graphics. But, like, if you look at the old student work or what they were doing when they first started, like, everyone had to start somewhere. And so it's just kinda cool to, like, humanize everyone to realize, like, dude, like, we're all here to help each other.

We're all, like, human. We all grow and, like yeah.

But she has huge There wasn't over there was a theme carried throughout of that almost the whole time.

Like like, you know, letting go of perfectionist ideas. Like, letting go of perfect, and and nothing's ever finished. I kept hearing those kinds of ideas thrown out a lot, and I think that's why the overall thing was so inspiring because we all battle that stuff all the time. I mean, that blank page anxiety is really strong.

And perfectionist I mean, if you're a perfectionist, you can always justify not being done or not finishing something.

Hundred percent. I think that that applies to, like, all creative industries. Right? Like, a musician. I I think you both dabble in music. How do you know when a song is done?

Right.

How how you know? It's, like, such a subjective thing. You can always keep noodling on it. You can always keep, you know, changing things, updating things, adding things.

But it's it's interesting too because I think I think as designers and as creatives, we go through this this process of, like, get everything out there, get it all out onto the page, then clean it up. And I think one of the most sophisticated things you can do as a designer is to make things simple. And, usually, the process of going through that, which, you know, if if anyone watching or listening to this is a is a creative, you've been through it. You know, you get it you get everything out on your art board, and you start, you know, changing things, making moving things around, getting things kinda framed up like you talked about, Thomas.

But, the act of removing things is one of the most important parts. Right? It's like, how do you how do you know when you're done removing things? How do you get to that critical layer?

And I think there's there's obviously, you know, a process and questions you can ask yourself and and, ideas that you can bounce off of colleagues and and other creatives. But it's a the creative process is always so interesting, and flow state is, like, one of the coolest things to me to talk about. I'm so glad that Figma took it upon themselves to rip down some of the barriers and rip down some of the walls of, like, listen. Everybody starts somewhere.

No one's perfect. Nothing is perfect.

What we're really trying to trying to get into is just get people into their creative zone, get them into that flow state quicker so that they can be effective and be efficient. So it's it's really cool to hear. I'm I'm curious too.

You know, obviously, Adobe is a is a huge company in our in our world.

I think they tried to purchase Figma at one point not too long ago, and Figma kinda held their ground with it, which is which is also cool to see.

But They were they were stopped by the monopoly law. Right? Isn't that what halted that That's right.

Yeah. I think so.

They they it was gonna be too much of the market, so they got halted. Yeah. And Adobe had to pay them for for, for, like, you know, time wasted in the deal.

Pretty wild.

Yeah. I'm I'm grateful, though. I think Figma's got, like, a lot. I I think they have an amazing team, so I'm actually really excited that that didn't work out. And I'm not sure that we would have jumped to Figma. Otherwise, I mean, it it was sort of what catapulted us into Figma, essentially.

The the question that I was gonna ask is, I'm curious to to hear from each of you, like, what's the what are some of the big differences that you see between the Adobe products? Obviously, Adobe has released a bunch of AI into their into their applications, all over the place. Like, what are some of the big differences, and have you obviously, we haven't been able to tinker with any of these tools yet. I don't think they're released into the actual, production app just yet. But, for what you saw in config twenty twenty four, what were some of the, like, big differences that you saw there between Adobe products and some of the, like, generative fills and things of that nature and what what Figma is launching?

I think for

me, it's like I said it before, it's designed for designers and developers. Like, there's an emphasis on community.

Like, you can even have the ability I think in Adobe, there's certain ways around this to get different stylings. But in Figma, you can pull in, like, Apple's UI kit right into your file and start dragging elements of, hey. I need their, you know, bottom menu bar or icons or whatever it is for this project. And so there's this, like, easy, cohesive collaboration of a one stop shop where I can not only get assets from other companies I might need, but I can also design this website.

I can also build vector logos. I can also hand it off to dev. I can also pull in collaborative things from the community of people who designed out cards and created these prototypes and hover effects that I can just glean off one another. So it feels like this, like Thomas said, like, ecosystem of creative collaborative unity pushing each other forward, not like or sometimes Adobe's, I think, feels like, well, I gotta go to illustrator for this, and I gotta go to Photoshop for this, and I gotta go.

And you piggyback so much to be a part of the full suite where Figma says, how do we make it a one stop shop? How do we let you be successful all in here and empower you to do everything you need to do right here?

So Yeah.

That's all really well said. I don't know if I could say anything. I would I would just add that that it feels it feels better. I don't know if that makes sense. Like, bay based because of all the stuff Manny just said, it does feel like you're part of something and not just using a product or or, like, paying a subscription for something you need to get your job done. It's it just feels really good.

Feel like it's built for you.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. For the community. Yeah. It's really cool.

What, I mean, that that kinda spurs, like, an interesting question because, obviously, you know, dating myself, but but growing up and learning, like, Photoshop, learning Illustrator, there there's a huge learning curve to that.

Getting into programs like, you know, video programs, whether that's Final Cut or, Premiere or any of the, you know, any of the animation three d, tools. Like, the learning curve for those things are so massive. What would you guys say the learning curve is in comparison to Adobe products or any of that? Like, getting in and being being effective within Figma? Do you guys see, like, a big difference in that, or do you think it's, you know, a lot of the same rules are applicable? Or what are what are your thoughts there?

Thomas, I'd like to jump on this one first. No. I was gonna let you go.

Well, it's kinda it's kinda it's it's hard to say because, their learning curve is for us from the Adobe program. So it's not like we're coming to this from scratch, and a lot of it trans translates.

So it it I have to say that it hasn't been very difficult. I mean, I had a harder time learning after effects with which is within the Adobe family versus learning Figma. And it's, I think a lot of that had to do with with beginning XD, starting to learn XD definitely helped. But, I don't know.

The the the again, back to the community thing, they there's so much available to learn from and so many tutorials and templates. It's like, there's just no roadblocks in in learning Figma. It's really just about how much time you can spend doing it. Yeah.

So, yeah, I don't I don't the learning curve is almost nonexistent. It's like, and it's actually really exciting.

Yeah.

Yeah. It it actually it it brings up something I was gonna ask you guys, and this is kind of off topic, but me and a couple people debate this all the time.

Growing up, I was the type of kid when I got a video game. I had to, like, explore every setting, every feature. I had to go, like, make sure I knew the buttons. Was my aspect ratio right?

Was it the darkness, contrast, color corrected before I started my mission? My brother was like a run them and run them and gun them. Like, just start start and sprint to the finish line. I'm like, dude, you gotta slow down.

You gotta, like so that it's just a big thing for me, like, with anything, even I'd see it with programs. Like, with this new UI three, I know I'm gonna need time to, like, explore. If I click this, oh, look at now these features come up over here or you know what I mean? I gotta understand the playing field in order to know how I can break the rules and, like, figure out the system.

And so for me, the learning curve was a little different, especially since, you know, there's frames instead of art boards. There's auto layout, which helps, like and if you nestle them, you can do thing, like so it took me a little bit of time, but I think that that's just my personality. I think that, like, if you're new to design and new to starting this, it would make sense.

There's also, like, a trust factor for me. I'm so used to, like, vector goes here, web goes in XD. You know what I mean? That, like, it was hard for me to realize, like, no.

I can't set up files for print in XD, and there's plugins to help me do that for CMYK. I can help you know, I can build logos in here, and this is why and how. So, yeah, I think that there is a learning curve, but I don't think it's something so substantial that anyone should be afraid. It's start by starting and just jump in.

You know?

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's really cool. It goes along with the whole, the whole kind of thesis of the of the conference as well. You know? Like, everybody's gotta start somewhere. Everybody's gotta learn. Everybody's gotta, you know, make mistakes.

Everybody's gotta have their bad work before you get into your good work.

It's so so so interesting to me, Manny, to hear that about, like, video games. Like, when you say that, I think of when I started playing, like, Mario Brothers or Contra or some of those, you know, Dungeons and Dragons, like, old school games.

Again, dating myself.

But Did you have settings, or was it just, like, hey.

I don't think so, man.

There was no contrast. It was black and green.

The settings It was Okay.

Yeah. Just the color settings on the TV.

I mean, I mean, to be fair, I was like tomb raider and, like, halo and stuff, so maybe the settings weren't as robust as now. Now I'm lost in games, dude. I feel like the old man. I'm like, there's too many side quests and add ons and just let me play it again. You know?

Dude, you know what's gnarly too about, like, just the the world that we live in right now? My thirteen year old son, Jake, he plays, like, Fortnite quite a bit. And seeing the way that his, like, his eye eye patterns when he goes through that game, I'll sit and watch him play. And the things that he can pick out, like, he'll pick out some dude that's trying to snipe him from, like,

three miles away and be able to see this.

And I'm going like, dude, how do you even know that's there, dude? But I think it's a it's a product of the, you know, the social world that they live in and the amount of distractions. Like, watch a watch a young kid, watch TV, and they've usually got two different devices that they're tinkering with while they're watching a a movie and still taking in all the information. So I think, I think we're on the precipice of, like, a a fundamental change in that sense where, we're gonna start seeing people go, okay.

Cool. We need to slow down and go back to, like, you know, singular inputs, of information and entertainment. And I think Figma's taken a really big stance on that by trying to create, like, a distractionless environment for people to get into that flow state and and

make some really cool things.

I think one person, Ubud, was talking about, there was a there was a presenter, and I'll look up her name, because I I I didn't think to bring her up. But she did a great job talking about how she, got contracted to do the motion graphics for the Super Bowl, and, talking about how the sprint and deadlines were so intense because you don't know the teams until two weeks before the Super Bowl. So you kinda gotta, like, start creating stuff, and and she hired an illustrator. And despite this heavy deadline, she still was on a system of breaks. Matt, you might know it, or Thomas called, like, puh podo something where it was, like, twenty five minutes on the clock, five minutes off the clock.

Oh, yeah.

What and so I

was like I forget the name the name of that, but there's somebody makes a product that's like executives use it all the time where it's like, hey.

Set a fifteen minute clock. Don't do anything else for fifteen minutes, and then reset the clock and do whatever you need to do. It's for for people that are, you know, changing gears a lot and have to make critical decisions in short amounts of times.

Pump Pomodoro or something?

Pump, yeah. I don't even know.

It's a it's a way of working instead of just working, like, a straight eight hour a day.

You could, like, break that I think, well, I think it's just talking about being more efficient with the twenty five minutes you're on, giving yourself those five minute breaks to stretch your eyes, to get up, to walk, to get fresh air, like, five minutes off. And then twenty five minutes more on, you'll be more efficient with that time that you're actually expending.

You know, it depends on what you're working on too.

I mean, I I've I've used that for myself when I'm in, like, critical situations where I've got a lot of decisions to make in one day and a lot of things where I need ten minutes of really focused time or twenty minutes of really focused time. But I think also with creatives and, you know, some of the work that that we do within Mag, you need the four hours or you need the three hours of, like, really focused time. And, I remember when I was managing our development team here at Mag, flow state and, like, focus was one of the biggest things. And I you guys remember this too. You're all sitting in the room, and we had everybody in the office on fourth Street here in Temecula.

And, you know, you'd see people that are just, like, grinding and just, like, so locked into their screen, and then somebody's like, yo. You wanna play a game of a ping pong? And just you could see their eyes, like, unfocus from their screen and go, woah. Like, where am I?

You know? Yeah. Yeah. The time that it takes and I don't know what it is today, but I used to research this and be, like, really, really, you know, focused in for myself on when my developers were in that flow state.

But the time that it would take for them to get back into the point where they can be productive again was something like fifteen to twenty minutes. So it took a long time for them to build to, just yeah. It it takes a while, especially, I mean, if if anybody writes code or anything like that, or, like, even video work is really hard to get back into too and to re to reset your brain into key frames and timelines and, like, with code, you're trying to reset your brain into, like, all of the different variables that you've got locked up in different files and everything.

It takes takes, like, fifteen to twenty minutes to do it. So getting into flow state and being productive, like, you have to have those highly creative, people locked in for, like, multiple hours at a time to really be productive at anything.

Yeah.

On that note, I saw Sorry.

Go ahead. I was gonna say on that note, a word of warning to designers and people who, like, zone out like that. I went to the optometrist recently. They're like, you're the wells the wells to your eyes that, like, are supposed to, like, moisturize your eyes, yours are drying up because you're not blinking enough in a day.

And it's like, I'm I'm all for I'm all for pixel perfect designs, but when you're, like, locked in, like, left, right, left, right, left. You know what I mean? I'm like Yeah. Gotta remember the blink, man.

It's gotta be cool. Yeah.

I thought this wasn't, like, a very, like, health, you know, dangerous job, but, apparently, like, your eyes can go, your back can hurt, like, stand up desks and, you know, taking care of your eyes is serious as designers and developers. Right?

Deal. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

Getting the getting the right glasses and making sure that you've got you know, I always, like, freak. We were just talking about this before we started the episode, but, like, the glasses that I wear have, like, the, you know, the blue light blocking from the screen. And, like, if I don't do that, dude, my eyes just go I'll go to the optometrist, and they'll be like, dude, you gotta change something in your life right now. Because I'm like, Good stuff.

So, yeah, I was just gonna say anything no. Here we go. You go. There you go.

No. You go.

Thomas, what were you gonna say, Ray?

Thomas.

Yeah. Before we got too far from it, I was gonna comment on on the flow state situation and, like, especially something involved, like, using after effects or code. I find myself leaving notes to my future self to, like, this is where I was. This is what I was thinking. So, like, there'll be, like, a like, I'm in Memento or something trying to remind myself, like, this is where you were, and this is how you were thinking about this.

Anyway, that's all.

You're gonna That's a huge shoot.

Take it to that level.

Huge thing in in in development, software development or, web development. I mean, you you'll see I still look at sites that we produced, like, four years ago, and I'll see notes in there from developers that haven't worked with us for, like, three or four or five years.

And And there's, like, almost conversations, you know, again, getting into, like, multi person atmospheres where you're working with teams, and you guys see this all time between the two of you and and the rest of the design team all over the world.

You guys have to leave, like, kind of, like, mental progress for people that are gonna pick up a job and work on it later.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey. Going going back one more thing before we get too far is Emoni Larissa.

That was her name who worked on the Super Bowl campaign, and her work was incredible. I think she's like a two two time Emmy award winning motion graphics designer and has worked on music videos and all all kinds of insane stuff. And she was just she had a great talk, but especially I'm like, yo, like, nobody's too cool. Like, let's not be too cool.

Let's just, like, meet one another and, you know, help each other get really cool jobs. And I was just like, man, like because sometimes they're just persona of, like, I have to seem so so and so or keep my chin up at ease and prove myself. And it's like, bro, we all love art. We all love Figma.

We all like designing, developing, creating stuff. And so it's like, let's just keep it real. And one thing she was talking about is, like, how in the sprint of this deadline for the Super Bowl, she's like, I could do these illustrations, but why not lean on someone more, like, professional at this than me? And so she introduced this other illustrator she used for these and how collaborating with this illustrator who she was impressed by enabled her to do her job better.

She's like, let's use resources. If I'm not great at something, let's just hire someone who is. And that reminded me of Thomas. Like, you and I and the team here at Mag, I've done that multiple times.

And I always say our best projects, I think, are when, like, we all, like, kind of lean on one another. Maha Black, for example. I that was, like, a pivotal time where we realized, like, me and Thomas saw, dude, I will take this side of it, the branding, the logos, but I need you to create this iconography and illustration. So, like, I can't draw with crap, but Thomas can knock it out of the park, and he does day after day.

So by him helping to, like the vision got pushed so much further, and it was so much more successful because we are collaborative instead of one person siloing it and banging their head against the wall trying to do it. And so it was just cool to see that, like, that little thesis or idea that we have in NAG, people are using it, and it's not just us. But even on Super Bowl level campaigns, same thing. Like, lean on each other and collaborate.

And so that was really cool to see.

So dope. I love that. Maha Black is is will always be one of my favorite projects that I've seen go down at Mag. I don't think it's had anything to do with it, but, that that was just so epic to see. It's still like, I still wanna order one of those shirts and one of those beanies.

Yeah. Or resurrected, man. It was great.

Yeah. Speaking of which, I wanted I wanted to give just really quick, and then we can we can start wrapping up. But I wanted to give a a quick, shout out or, like, opportunity, almost like a little, Easter egg here in the pod.

I wanna give five people who listen to this that don't work at Mag, aren't, you know, directly affiliated with Mag an opportunity to get some Mag swag. You'll see Manny's wearing one of our hats. I've got one of our hats on. We've got a bunch of shirts, and some accept But I wanna I wanna give the op. If you're if you're watching, listening to this, take a quick screen cap of it, wherever you're at and tag us on Instagram. I'm gonna I'm gonna lock it into just in Instagram, but tag us on there at magnetic, the e is a three.

And give us a quick shout out, and we'll send you some Maggear. It's available for anyone else at, magnetic supply dot co. But some of Manny and Thomas's artwork is on there on some shirts, on some hats. We've got some cool stuff, and we're just starting to get some, some new swag rolling.

So if you're seeing this, take a quick screen capture. You can tag us in a story, tag us in a in a reel, tag us in whatever you want, and, we'll get a DM over to you and get some fresh swag over to you.

So, Nick, do it.

Yeah. I just wanted to give a quick shout out on that. Hopefully, people got to the thirty minute mark here and actually got to got to hear all the content.

But, yeah, let's let's already. I know. I know. It's a little bit more of a up with with a few, pointers for people, whether you're an aspiring creative or you've been in the game for a bit or trying to get into a new field, within the creative industry.

What are some pointers from each of you? Like, we've talked a lot about creative flow state. What are some pointers from each of you that help you get into flow state, both individually and also with a within a team environment. Right? Like, we've talked about having multiple creatives, multiple developers on a project at the same same time.

What are some of the tricks that you guys use to get into flow state and get into that that place where you can, you know, let your raw creative, flow through?

For for me, it's, leaning on my treasure trove of inspiration that I collect day in day out. I I can't turn off design. I'm sure if you're in this position, you're watching this video probably the same way. So I'm constantly grabbing screenshots, saving fonts, and things like that.

So for me, it's just constantly building up my idea box of things I wanna implement. And so when it's time to, like, bust out, a new project, I reference that. Like, what are some of those serifs I wanted to try try out? What are those southern sans serifs I wanna try?

What are some of those key art visual aesthetic stylings that I wanted to try and implement? And just, yeah, just throw paint at the wall and and see what sticks. Don't. I used to, you know, handicap myself by being too afraid to start and just realizing that v one isn't gonna be final.

So just get v one, v two, v three, v four all out of the way and just get started.

And and in terms of a team aspect, it's communication. Right? Like, make sure everyone's aligned at the very beginning. Make sure that there's an open line of communication in clear understanding of, like, what the expectation is, what is the motivating drive for the client, what is the goal, what is gonna differentiate ourselves, and using tools like I love all these digital tools, but just sketching and just, you know, just making sure that you're not forgetting the fundamentals.

And so by doing that, leaning on your own experience and what you've collected and are inspired by, and then these tools that we're, you know, trained to do, whether it's just pen and paper and just getting sketched and, yeah, I think that that's what really gets the the the wheels spinning. And then before you know it, dude, you're knee deep and you don't wanna stop and you're like Yeah. No. The day's over.

No. Like, let me pick up back up. So, I love it. That's that's what gets me going.

Yeah. I, I have I have recently been repeating to myself, do the work. That's the phrase I've kind of been leaning on lately, and it really it helps me, like, I get back. So, I mean, obviously, first off, you didn't need to have direction, and, we we always do at at Magnetic.

I mean, it's really rare that we're, with an empty plate. So that much is usually taken care of, but then the most important thing for me is just repeating that mantra to myself, like, to keep focused, do the work. What's the work that you're supposed to be doing? Do it.

And it kinda it comes from, Pablo Picasso has a quote that I really love, and it's, inspiration finds us all, but it has to find you working.

Mhmm. And that's almost always the case.

So, I mean, you know, it it's you're really just kinda chasing that feeling that Manny was just talking about where it's like, I can't stop. But you don't get there without starting.

So do do the work. That's what I've been do trying to do.

Dude, you guys are getting all philosophical on me, and I love it.

I love it. Yeah. For for me, I'll just throw one in there too. For me, it's, throwing distractions away from yourself. So, for me, like, having a really clean workspace, whether that's your digital desktop on your computer, your application that you're gonna be working with, your physical desktop that your computer is standing on or wherever you're at.

For me, a really big thing too is, like, turning off applications like Slack, turning off my phone or getting rid of it, leaving it in a different room.

Those are the things for me that are just, like can be the most distracting where I'm starting to get into something, and then I see, like, oh, there's a email that came through or there's a Slack message that's on fire or my phone's blown up or whatever it is.

Getting rid of all of the distractions that constantly consume our brains, for me, just, you know, it's it's a it's a really cool thing. Taking, like, a digital detox to, social media is such a distraction, and, obviously, it's a necessary evil for people in the creative industry because we work in social media. So there's a certain amount of it that you kind of have to be plugged into, but, you know, taking a little bit of a detox from that and letting your brain be free, is such a such a big deal and not having all of the external, you know, factors, whether it's, you know, economic or political or whatever the case is.

Such a big deal for me, but super psyched. I appreciate that. I love that quote from from Picasso, and I love the the mantra that you're using there, Thomas, of just do the work. I think that's so important, and it ties in perfectly with what what the conflict, message was all about.

It was like, dude, get started. Start by starting. Get something on the page and then get into it. Just fall in love with it.

You know?

Yep. Yep. Distractions are a plenty. So it's harder than it seems, you know, to just to stay focused.

Yep.

Cool. Cool. So why don't we end on, one thing everybody's stoked on, and, we can go around the table. Thomas, I don't know if you wanna go first, but one thing that you're super stoked on, inside work, outside work, life, new pair of shoes. What is it?

I'm stoked.

I'm I'm going to San Diego.

First Colorado in about two weeks, then San Diego. I'm really excited for those trips. We can see family. We're doing a fundraiser, and, I'm gonna be doing I'll be mixing visuals at, a couple events in San Diego. So just really excited to just, get out of my zone and and switch it up.

Are we gonna have a surprise appearance in Temecula?

No. Schedule's kinda tight.

Not this time. I got a nephew. No.

I got a nephew's birthday. I have a nephew's birthday, a a show. Yeah. It's just gonna be too tight this time, but next time for sure.

No worries. Next time. Manny, what's up with you?

Fourth of July coming up. So Yeah.

Grill it some grill it out, some fireworks America.

Yeah. We're we're going down with some family to the beach on in, Galveston in Texas. We've never done that before. So we we got a birth so we got a birthday party that we're going down there for, so that'll be fun. And recently, the kids have taken to fishing, which I'm stoked on. I love fishing.

Nice.

And my three year old daughter has been asking, go fishing. I'm like, do you even know what like, okay. So I finally took her, and she loves it. And she wants to be out there all the time.

So I'm like, dude, let's lean into this. So we're finding ourselves, like, fishing at every opportunity. Even it's, like, seven in the morning before work. Like, let's go fishing really quick.

We got a lake maybe fifteen minutes nearby. So that's been pretty fun just like taking the kids out fishing. They don't mind the silence and just sitting there and casting, and I'm like, alright. Let's do this.

So that's been fun. Cool.

Dude, I love that. I love that.

Super good. Well, I appreciate all of you.

Appreciate all the insights here on the config twenty twenty four conference. I'm really excited to see some of these features launch and get them into production within Mag and see them in production in other agencies and creative environments. So thanks for all of the input, you guys. We will see you on the next round.

Thanks, Rob. Later.