Why he's the most trusted man in design

There's this [music] breed of designer that is so good at what they make. They basically are the marketing for [music] it. >> Nelson, Noah, >> Brodzky, Diago, Costa. I only know a base dash because of Tom. >> I call them tool benders. [music] They'll push whatever tools exist to their limits, then immediately jump on the new ones just to make something dope. >> If it's just like lock in like I'm in Figma, something like perplexity for instance, I forgot to run granola. I'm going through the loom and I literally have raycast notes open. Dude, Tolen is >> so good. >> But Michael Rittering Rid has been talking to the best designers, [music] interviewing them, digging into the tools and workflows they use every day. And while everyone's still processing what's happening right now, dude's already cataloging what's next. And this whole time, [music] he's been one of them. In fact, Rid inspired me to try and spot the next something. But I think that next something is Rid. So, I flew to Kalamazoo, Michigan to find out. Yeah, Kalamazoo, population [music] 73,000. I spent two days just watching him work, sitting [music] in on how he finds patterns, designers, tools, these dope [music] little design details before they're everywhere because Rid is a trend spotter and I wanted to [music] know how is he always this early. In one month, Rich and I went from completely laughing at the idea of moving to Calamazoo, Michigan, which we had never heard of. We looked at Zillow one time. We were like, that's kind of interesting, you know, like [music] cuz this property was pretty overgrown and you couldn't see it. So, we had no idea the house was even here. And I ignored it cuz I was like, that's crazy. It looked like a massive project. And my dad was the one who was like, "You should go look at that house." We went and looked at it and it was like, "Oh my god." We walked past this like 500 times. We had no idea that there was even a house here. >> Kalamazoo, home of Western Michigan University, Gibson Guitar, and apparently the first outdoor strip mall. Not exactly your typical tech hub. [music] His family moved here for work during co and then everyone else followed. >> My sister moved here. Then we had some other family friends move here. wife's parents moved from India. [music] My grandparents moved here from Colorado. Like, we don't have a big family. Everybody lives in Michigan now. [music] Like, everybody lives here for the first time. Like, we haven't lived together since I was a little kid. And now I'm like, I think I live here. I think I live in Michigan. Never thought I would say that, but I think I live in Michigan. [music] So, he accidentally built roots here, but that doesn't explain how he got so good at spotting [music] what's next. To understand that, I had to actually watch him work. He's built a [music] couple things. There's Dive Club, this design podcast where he talks to some of the best designers in the world. >> My name is >> about [music] their work and their process. It's basically a master class disguised as a podcast. >> We're going to talk about the responsibility that designers have to shape this. >> And then there's Inflight, a tool that's trying to fix how [music] design teams collaborate in this new future. And I want to show you just how [music] interesting Rid's vision for this actually looks. >> What if instead of reviewers making their own LOMesque video, it felt a little bit more like having a conversation instead? >> I thought I was going to watch him grinding alone in Figma. He kind of struck me as someone who just gets into that flow state and goes. >> He will incessantly tap. He will tap with his feet, tap with his hands, but specifically with his feet and he has like ticks. There's always a rhythm in his brain that he's tapping to. I'm sitting down here and just like like there's just a marching band coming through the house. Oh, Michael's in his flow state. Let's not interrupt him, Josephine. >> And he definitely gets into a flow state, but he's not in it alone. >> I'm Red. This is Kyle. We've been designing products every day for 15 years. >> We both just had very similar problems in in our design careers and getting feedback was at the top for both of us. So, we we both had kind of different perspectives on that, but it was very clear that we were both interested in the same problems. >> Yeah, that's a whole other product in itself. >> Design feedback currently sucks. Like, everyone knows that. What if we show it after this really immersive layout that shows like a prototype up here and the flow chart and we have the video cursor going or or it could say like or it could say like no more blank and then fill in the blank. Like if we had a if we had a really clear one two three value prop. What if this like slid underneath into the dark mode and then the project feed is below it and then you see this card turn into an update inside of the feed. >> Turn into implies a lot of regulation, but more just like trying to connect the dots. We use language. We probably use like similar language >> where all of a sudden you see this and now it becomes Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Um sorry. [laughter] I love when you know what it's going to be and you like your brain like I just stopped talking and jumped. >> These are two designer co-founders and some might say that could be a disaster. >> Kyle was the exact person that I was supposed to meet and collaborate with. I kind of get initial thinking, push things forward, create a bunch of prototypes, get a bunch of bad ideas out there. And then whenever I loop Kyle in, I feel like we're really quickly able to That's the part where collaborating with another designer is huge. Oh my gosh, it's amazing. The the ideation, the how quickly we're able to get to the next set of ideas has been really life-giving. >> And he's right, they move through ideas very quickly, and they're not afraid to ditch one, even if it's exciting. >> We went down so many rabbit holes that were really interesting, like really, really cool versions of the product. How much throwaway work have you guys produced? >> Oh, dude. >> Stupid amounts. Yeah. So much. >> It's our [music] Figma is >> We're on V8. >> Really cool, actually. Oh, man. We had the coolest designers. Like 15 of the most respected designers in the entire community were ready to go. I will be your initial marketplace. Like it was going to be the launch. the go to market of that person was going to be, as Kyle would probably put it, biblical. >> Yeah, >> it would have been so dope, dude. It would have been so dope. >> I still love like I hope someone does that. R and I are constantly able to kind of challenge each other and it feels like an iron sharpens iron moment where it's like never quite good enough. >> I think that >> I don't want to like lean on Slack. >> I don't want to show I don't I don't even want to show a Slack logo. >> Okay, cool. >> I want to design a component that is very obvious. Every day the product gets slightly better because we'll each push each other in our own ways. Like he'll push me on visual identity, I'll push him on product and UX and it just keeps leveling up day after day. Interesting. Okay. >> Rid has this inviting way of working through [music] ideas. And it seems like he's kind of always been this way, designing in public, pulling his viewers, working through ideas with whoever will engage. And not just friends, family, too. We made the inflight launch video. He we just sat down, did all the creative direction. He's jamming it, bringing all these ideas to the table. And within uh six hours, we already had a lead investor for a seed round because the video that he made was so good. >> My name is Jake [music] Hayden. I am a I guess you could say a freelance filmmaker, content creator, videographer, who who knows what the actual title [music] is. I make videos. I know Red because I married his sister. I'm sort of the producer behind a lot of the visuals of the dive [music] club brand. So, our in-house animations, I do setting up the cameras. Uh, anything that we do inhouse that is that's visual, I'm sort of in [music] charge of >> recognizing what other people are exceptional at and then getting out of their way. I think that's part of it, too. >> Working with Rid is really, really [music] fun. Both of us are good at operating in that chaotic startup kind of like what the heck is happening [music] this week and we text all the time at like midnight and it's like oh we need to change this for tomorrow and we're both good at working in that [music] environment. I think one thing that a lot of people don't know about Rid is [music] that he is a super incredible musician which is really frustrating cuz he's good at everything. He can just sit down at a piano at a family gathering and just [music] start absolutely shredding like it's nothing and then get up and then go and join a conversation about football like nothing just happened. >> I don't think he's motivated by money at all. I think he's motivated by helping [music] and giving and doing stuff that he really enjoys and being able to pay the bills with it. This is going to sound like a silly story, but it was really impactful for me [music] where I felt very clearly that God told me to go get on my computer. And at this time, I kid you not, I'm designing a notification [music] screen for B2B SAS, which was my first startup, you know, and I'm just designing this notification component system, just crying, [music] like just crying at my computer. I was taught in that moment that moving pixels around on a computer can be this act [music] of worship and connection. And that was a pretty big deal for me. And I have adopted [music] this phrase that I've kind of taken with me forever, which is like everything that I'm trying to do is like with my creator, for my creator, and through my creator is kind of how I operate. I came here to watch Rid's work unfold, [music] but I didn't expect to be so impacted by his faith, his [music] family, because for Rid, purpose and work, they're not separate things. I think purpose is the [music] filter he runs everything through. But I needed to understand where does it all come from. >> By the time he was 11, I just asked him one time, "So, what do you want to do when you grow up?" "Well, I'm I'm going to play football." I said, "Yeah, I know. Besides that, I mean, uh I just wanted what are you going to do when you grow up?" He said, "What do you mean? I want to be an NFL quarterback like John Elway." But he was serious. he wanted to be this NFL quarterback. And then by the time he's a senior, he's thinking they're going to rule the world. He rolls out at a quarter quarterback keeper and the the opposition broke his bones and he was out for the season where it was supposed to all come together for him. Not only did he lose his scholarship, he also lost his dream. You know, he comes out of college. We always thought, you know, he's going to be able to do anything maybe, but but now we realize we don't know his future. He felt rescued by God, like he didn't deserve it, but he was rescued [music] by God. And after that, something changed. His his life became one of giving and investing and and building up other people. >> He has all this clarity, but he came with a cost. That was my identity for my early and mid20s was I am a founder and I worked incredibly hard. All I did was just grind and figure out how to make this thing happen. But it was quite a dark place to have a company go to zero hurts. To have it go to zero after you've basically given your entire early 20s to it and had nothing to show. 1 hour before the rehearsal dinner for my wedding, our lead engineer asked to have a Zoom call and told me he was quitting. The company basically failed on my honeymoon. That's how I started being married. That's the [music] filter. He knows what it costs to bet on the wrong thing, to give everything and end up with nothing to show for it. So I think now when he champions something, whether it's a designer, a new tool, a design pattern, it's not casual. He [music] has considered it and that conviction born through his failures and grounded in his faith. I think that's what makes his lens different. >> Super tired of the whole taste and craft thing. It is the fact that we keep talking about it. It's like there's obviously something there. >> It comes down to taste. >> It's taste. >> The issues of taste. >> I define taste as >> It's funny. This designer I used to work with, he was probably my mentor in a lot of ways. Like we'd go on walks all the time together and [music] his thing would just like every house we passed you'd have to say something you liked and disliked about it. >> Mhm. >> And I thought it was awesome cuz like when everyone talks about taste like it's like having an opinion on nearly everything. Like the best designers I feel like you could ask them their opinion on a chair, cars, like they'll just say why they like or dislike things. >> Having [music] an answer to the question why more than others >> totally why is this like cuz the taste is understanding what you think should exist, right? And then being able to repeatedly answer why. [music] And then the craft is executing against that taste. >> Yeah. >> Why is this the way that it is? Why is this here? Why does this move this way? And then having the answer to why repeatedly. >> Yeah. >> What should exist? [music] That's his filter, not what's trending or what looks cool. It seems kind of obvious when [music] I say it out loud, but I think it's his conviction that allows him [music] to keep it front and center. What should exist? That's a very good question. The art of asking questions is really fascinating. How does a professional UX designer differentiate themselves? [music] There's a lot of alpha to be had in going super nerdy into how to ask questions because you understand how to tap into the thing that someone's interested in talking about and how to ask good follow-up questions. What are some of the north stars that you're aiming at right now? >> He treats asking why like a skill he can practice. And if there's one thing an athlete knows, it's how to put in the reps. Every week on Dive Club, he's doing reps, asking questions, [music] asking better questions. And when you practice asking why for years, >> I literally like dog food my own podcast and I pay attention to when is my when is my attention slipping? What did I not like about that question? Like I've it's become a craft in itself. >> He's not guessing [music] who's good. He can tell you exactly why someone is worth spotlighting. [music] >> Well, you you know who's kind of like the one that really woke me up to shaders and and dithering this year? >> Tom. >> Tom. Tom. >> I only know a base stash because of Tom. [music] >> Yeah. Yes. >> There's like every once in a while you see someone and you go to their page and you're like, "Wo, I've [music] individually saved like your last three things of work." Like I saw our portfolio and I was like, "Dang, [music] this is really good." And then later I saw something else that she made and I was like, "Dang, that's really good." [music] And then I was one of the judges for the Jitter Contra hackathon and I'm looking through this animation and I'm like, "Wow, that's really good." And I didn't even connect the dots. It was all the same person. [music] And at that point, I'm like, "This person's amazing at design." Like Gunner Gray did the shaders for the voice animation. That's enough for me where it's like, I don't have to see his Figma files. I see that thing in Prada. I use it every day. It's dope. [music] You know, like that's a really cool thing. And there's probably even a story about it because he didn't even write code before making that. >> I like this uh this guy Gabriel Fulan. We've worked with him a little bit at Inflight, too. But his motion stuff is like I just like his style. Like I'm not going to it's not experimental, but it's just like very utility and like [music] beautiful. I think um he has a very like subtle way of adding like joy to like small things that probably shouldn't be joyful. [music] >> You know, it's like one of my favorite things to do is to find a designer and at least to me feel like I was kind of early, [music] you know? Oh, look at this person. And then to take whatever my little mini Twitter [music] spotlight is and put it on someone just feels good. >> And for him, it's not a popularity contest either. >> It's not all about virality, but the fact is virality is a pretty good signal, man. >> It is a good signal, >> you know? Like if something pops off, it's probably pretty good. >> Yeah. >> And I think actually if you don't understand why it's good, you should probably take a little bit of time to figure out why people liked it so much, you know? >> Yeah. >> I think this is just how he shows up in the communities he's part of. >> I don't 100% understand him. I don't know exactly what he's doing. [music] I I don't know if he's uh in trouble or if he's on the verge of something amazing because I can [music] never really tell because he has the same mood during all of the wins and losses of his life. All the things and the dreams and everything, it's all put in some sort of perspective and all I get from him is kindness and acceptance and love. >> Being a father is hard. You know, I mean, you know, if I have two hours of [music] time on a Saturday, I'm going to work on inflight. You know, it's amazing. There's what else would I possibly be doing? It's so much fun for me to just [music] be designing and making things. That's a slippery slope because I fit every little chunk of time that I have into what it looks like for me to be creative on the internet. I'm always moving pieces and running simulations in my brain constantly. And that's tricky to be a father because I I mean gosh people ask about work life balance. I'm like what? Like I don't there's no line, you know, like what's the line? I have no idea. I tell myself this story of how I'm doing the [music] investment now where like when I think about what I want the rest of, you know, the next couple decades to look like. I'm 33 now. Dude, I would love to be in my 40s and be a full-time dad. I would love it. My wife's a genius. PhD, statistician, all kinds of different companies that she wants to build to get to the point where we could switch and I could just be a dad and probably do some type of homeschooling, be involved in my kids' education in a way that's really hands-on. Like that's the kind of stuff that I fantasize about for the next decade of my life. [music] So then it's easy for me to say this season is heads down season. I definitely don't want it to come across like I'm doing it well basically cuz it's really hard actually. [music] He wants to check the box, build the thing that actually works this time and then maybe maybe he can stop. That's the tastemakaker's dilemma. [music] What it is like as a spouse to get married and then have your partner basically just go into depression immediately. [laughter] That's what happened. Man, she's been a rock. I don't there's just no way that I could have done any of this without her. Like doing Empire was a big decision. [music] We had it good, dude. Like I was working 20 hours a week just talking to people on the internet, making enough money to pay bills, and just being a dad. For the first year of Jos's life, I had basically no schedule. I was just a dad, just chilling. Year and a half. I also think she knew how much it meant to me to have another shot. So, we were talking in the kitchen. I was trying to be really clear like what this means. I think she just wanted to make sure that this was going to be healthy for me [music] and Kyle provided a lot of security for her. It was definitely a gear up and get ready cuz it's coming. She's a freaking champion. I thought I was going to learn all about curation, how he spots [music] designers early, sees trends months ahead. And yeah, he does that. But after watching him work, what makes him different? It's not just his technique. I think it's his [music] filter. And I think it's because when you know who you're serving, your [music] faith, your family, the community of designers, I think you see things a little differently, things [music] other people miss. You notice people solving real [music] problems, not just the ones with good engagement, when you have a reason that's bigger than [music] clout. You don't need San Francisco for that. You don't need funding or followers. You just need to know who it's for. [music]

This is a series about design, creativity and the people behind dope work. I flew to Kalamazoo, Michigan to spend two days with Ridd, the designer who spots design trends before they’re trends. When he posts something, it usually blows up within a year. I went there to learn his curation process. How he finds the designers, tools, and ideas early. It turns out the technique is the easy part. What actually makes him good at this is something deeper. And it completely changed how I think about tastemaking. CREDITS Produced by: Tommy Geoco / Enjoyers Media Directed by: Tommy Geoco Written by: Tommy Geoco Editing: Sam Chapman: https://samchapmanfilm.com Agustin Eguia: [https://agustineguia.com](https://agustineguia.com/) Crew / Special Thanks: Bernabe Bolanos: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVTzreDyO1vBPKOhO23LfFQ Chandor Sandhu: https://x.com/yoChanders Kevin Crawford: https://soundofsightaudio.com/ Adam Stuart: https://www.instagram.com/adnastu/ Jake Hayden: https://www.youtube.com/@jakehayden998 Tom Fox: https://catalog.tomfox.site/ CHAPTERS: 00:00 - The toolbender design breed 01:28 - The accidental roots 02:50 - Watching the work 07:44 - Jake as a secret weapon 09:14 - The purpose 10:34 - The end of a dream 11:43 - The failed founder years 12:51 - The taste philosophy 14:01 - The art of asking why 15:02 - A collection of toolbenders and tastemakers 16:47 - The reality of being a dad 19:50 - What I learned ABOUT TOMMY GEOCO I spent 15+ years in tech and design. Former military. Father of five. Now building a weird little media + product studio rediscovering soul in creative tech. LINKS: UX Tools: [https://uxtools.co](https://uxtools.co/) Dive Club: https://www.youtube.com/@joindiveclub Inflight: https://inflight.co/ Podcast (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgUMsheG88s&list=PLQ2ljYiRguo8tP6tZXv0qWkzHmQF42lXV Podcast (Apple Music): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-play/id1829478829 Podcast (Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/show/3zDPTGHDSHgBekUxZQxUAN?si=2bcd212c472e464f FOLLOW ME: X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom Instagram: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertom LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco SPOTLIGHT WORKING FROM: Nelson Noa: https://x.com/NelsonNoa Tom Johnson: https://x.com/tomjohndesign Inga Hampton: https://x.com/ingapng Gal Shir: https://x.com/galshirart Lee Black: https://x.com/mrblackstudio Tatiyana Tsiguleva: https://x.com/ciguleva Brotzky: https://x.com/ciguleva T. Costa: https://x.com/tcosta_co Daniella Marynova: https://x.com/hellodaniella Gunnar Gray: https://x.com/gunnargray Gabriel Foulon: https://x.com/GabFoulon Bernabe Bolanos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4AanUjBF14 Kat - the Poet Engineer: https://x.com/poetengineer__/status/1970882987752665269/video/1 Samraaj Bath: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_7uo0EJtGo SirCollectaLot: https://www.instagram.com/sircollectalot/?hl=en Chortshoard: https://www.instagram.com/chortshoard/?hl=en SPECIAL THANKS TO MOMENTS FROM: CBS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y03eFMmOKY Latent Space: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGEnr0Jba0g Stripe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLb9g_8r-mE Linus Ekenstam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeZ5j0A8cQc