Inspiring UI Designers to Check Out

In the dynamic field of UI design, learning from industry leaders can significantly sharpen your skills and expand your creative horizons. We've highlighted five outstanding UI designers who have made a mark with their innovative approaches, problem-solving abilities, and visually stunning work. Whether you're just starting out or are an experienced designer, studying their methods can offer valuable insights to help you refine your own craft.

Claudio Guglieri

Claudio Guglieri is a Spanish designer with a strong influence in UI design. Besides being a designer, he's also a lecturer and director, currently based in San Francisco, California.

With over 20 years of experience, Claudio has worked on digital products for major brands. His interest in design began in his childhood in Spain, where he drew comics and built websites for his friends' metal bands. By 2004, he turned this passion into a career.

Claudio's career has taken him to cities like London, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. He has worked for big names like Microsoft, where he contributed to creating Fluent Design, a design system for Windows. He even shared his insights in a TEDx talk in 2018.

Now, Claudio is the Head of Design at Opal Camera Inc., a startup focused on cameras for video calls. He leads the design for their brand, products, and marketing.

Claudio's work has earned numerous awards, including European Design Awards, One Show, Webby Awards, and an Emmy for his work on the Nickelodeon App. He also holds several design patents.

What sets Claudio apart is his belief that design is about understanding people. He sees great designers as part strategist, part researcher, and always in tune with culture. This mindset has helped him create designs that are both attractive and user-friendly.

Tobias van Schneider

Tobias van Schneider is a German-born designer who grew up in Austria and now lives in New York City. He's not just a UI designer—he's a multi-disciplinary creative who's made a big impact in the design world.

Van Schneider is the founder and creative director of ✣HOVS, a studio that creates its own products and sometimes works with big names like NASA.

He's also the co-founder of Semplice™ and Carbonmade™, tools that have been helping designers for over 20 years.

What makes van Schneider stand out is his desire to design everything around him. He sees being a designer as having "a strong urge to design absolutely everything" in his surroundings. This approach has led him to work on a wide range of projects, from branding space missions to creating digital products.

Van Schneider's career has been shaped by his curiosity and self-taught nature. He's worked with major companies like Red Bull, BMW, Google, and Spotify, always bringing his unique perspective to each project.

One of van Schneider's most well-known projects is mymind™, which he describes as his "peaceful escape from the chaos of the internet." This tool reflects his belief in creating products with a strong point of view.

Van Schneider's approach to design is refreshingly down-to-earth. He believes that tools are just tools, and that the best tool is whatever helps you get your idea down fastest. He values a warm, cozy work environment and finds inspiration in the act of complaining—turning negative energy into positive, productive energy.

For aspiring designers, van Schneider's journey shows the power of following your interests, continuously learning, and not being afraid to redesign the world around you. His work reminds us that design isn't just about making things look good—it's about reimagining and improving our surroundings.

Dann Petty

Dann Petty is a freelance designer based in Nashville, Tennessee, whose work is deeply influenced by his love for outdoor activities, particularly surfing and snowboarding. His journey into design began unexpectedly, rooted in his passion for cars and the need to create an online magazine showcasing his favorite rides.

Petty's entry into design was self-driven. At 16-17, he taught himself Photoshop to design a website for his car magazine when he only had a developer. This experience hooked him on design, leading him to design school to further his skills and grow his company.

What sets Petty apart is his unique style, heavily inspired by surf and snowboard culture. He describes his designs as typically featuring big typography or large photos, with minimal copy. "I like to use as little copy as possible and let photos do the talking," he explains. This approach reflects his belief that typography is the most crucial element of good design.

Petty's career has been shaped by his presence on design communities like Dribbble and Behance. He credits these platforms, especially Behance, for bringing him many exciting projects and even job opportunities. His work caught the attention of Evan Williams, leading to a position at Obvious Corp.

When not designing, Petty is likely to be found surfing or snowboarding. These activities serve as his getaway and source of inspiration, significantly influencing his design aesthetic. He views design as "50% thinking, 40% doing, and 10% happy accidents," emphasizing the importance of space and time for creativity.

Petty's approach to client work is relationship-focused. He believes in clear communication and establishing a collaborative environment from the start. This approach has led to mostly positive client experiences and many friendships.

For aspiring designers, Petty offers three key pieces of advice: brand yourself and stick with it, choose a style and maintain it, and approach design communities like Dribbble with professionalism and respect.

Petty's journey shows how personal passions can shape a unique design style and career path. His work reminds us that design can be deeply personal, drawing inspiration from our interests and experiences outside the digital world.

Matt D. Smith

Matt D. Smith, known as MDS in the design world, is the owner and Design Director at Studio MDS, a small independent design studio in Athens, Georgia. His impact on UI design extends far beyond his studio work, with contributions that have shaped industry standards.

MDS's journey into design began with a love for drawing as a child. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a BFA in Graphic Design in 2005, but his real passion for digital design was ignited when he taught himself ActionScript 2.0 and became involved in the Flash community.

What sets MDS apart is his creation of the Float Label Pattern for digital input fields, now a design standard in Google's Material Design Guidelines. This innovation showcases his ability to solve practical UI problems in elegant ways. He's also the creator of the Contrast app for checking WCAG 2.0 color contrast ratios and Flowkit for creating user flows in design tools.

MDS's approach to design is deeply rooted in problem-solving. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the 'why' behind every project before starting the design process. "Starting in Photoshop is a good way to create art, but not solve a problem," he says. Instead, he begins with extensive questioning about the problem at hand.

For MDS, the role of a designer in our digital lives remains fundamentally the same as in the analog world: to communicate visually. He stresses the importance of understanding what needs to be communicated and why. This philosophy is evident in his current work on Shift Nudge, an intensive interface design course.

When it comes to UI vs UX, MDS sees them as deeply intertwined. He prefers to call himself simply a designer, handling both aspects. "The UX is the design in its entirety... The UI is a smaller portion of the broader picture that deals specifically with the parts people touch and click," he explains.

MDS is a proponent of continuous learning for designers. He believes that understanding various aspects of design, from user experience to front-end development, helps designers connect dots easier and gain a better understanding of digital products overall.

For aspiring designers, MDS emphasizes the importance of constant reading and gradual progression. He's a fan of Sketch for UI design and Adobe Illustrator for wireframing, even creating a blog series on rapid UX design with Illustrator.

MDS's career trajectory shows the value of adaptability in the design field. From his early days making "awesomely bad Flash websites" to becoming a respected figure in interface design, his journey underscores the importance of continual learning and problem-solving in design.

Pablo Stanley

Pablo Stanley is a designer who defies easy categorization. He's an artist, YouTuber, podcaster, illustrator, designer, and entrepreneur—a self-described "modern renaissance man." Based in San Francisco, Stanley has made a name for himself through his versatility and seemingly boundless creativity.

Stanley's journey began in Mexico, where his childhood experiences continue to influence his creative work. He's best known for creating web comics like "The Design Team" and "Stanley and Rupert," which humorously depict the life of designers. These projects showcase his ability to blend humor with insightful commentary on the design industry.

What sets Stanley apart is his constant drive to explore new creative avenues. He's the co-founder of several design-focused startups, including:

1. Blush: An illustration generation platform
2. Lummi: The best free stock photos and royalty free images powered by AI
3. Bueno: A platform for building virtual worlds

Stanley's approach to design is deeply rooted in empathy and humanity. He believes that as AI and automation become more prevalent in design, the human touch will become even more valuable. "With so many things being automated and generated, there will be a need for something that feels 100% organic, human," he explains.

For Stanley, typography is a crucial aspect of design. He considers it one of the tiny details that designers should obsess over, stating, "If you would just focus on typography for your designs, you would be able to make your designs stand out. 80% of the web is about text."

Stanley has also expanded his educational efforts through courses like "Master Gorgeous UI Design," available on the Together platform. This course is designed to help designers refine their visual design skills, connect with a vibrant community, and develop a distinctive aesthetic vision. The course covers essential topics such as typography, layout, color harmonization, and visual storytelling, all aimed at helping designers elevate their projects and careers.

Throughout his career, Stanley has maintained a playful approach to creativity, encouraging others to treat side projects as outlets for fun and experimentation. His work and teachings underscore the importance of curiosity, versatility, and the human element in design.

For those aspiring to follow in his footsteps, Stanley’s advice is clear: stay curious, explore different creative avenues, and always strive to bring a human touch to your work. His career is a testament to the power of curiosity, empathy, and the relentless pursuit of creativity in the design world.

These five designers bring diverse approaches to UI design, each offering unique insights into balancing aesthetics with functionality, solving problems creatively, and keeping the user at the forefront. While their styles and techniques vary, they all share a commitment to excellence and continuous growth.

As you explore their work, think about how their strategies could inspire your own design journey. The goal isn't to replicate their styles but to broaden your perspective and push your creative boundaries. By learning from these industry leaders and continually refining your skills, you can contribute to the evolving world of UI design and perhaps even inspire the next generation of designers.