From Designer to Creator: Building Independent Products

For most of my career, I worked as a designer inside other people’s ideas. That was fulfilling in many ways, since design at its best is about solving problems, and client work offered plenty of those. But at a certain point I realized I wanted to shape more than just the surface. I wanted to create my own projects, on my own terms.

The transition from designer to creator is subtle but profound. As a designer, you are often refining someone else’s vision. As a creator, you are responsible for everything: the idea, the execution, the launch, and the audience. It is liberating and it is terrifying.

Projects like Method or Curated Supply grew from this shift. They were not commissions, they were experiments, ways to test ideas, build something tangible, and learn directly from users. That learning is the real reward. You see what resonates, what falls flat, and what needs to be reshaped. Unlike client work, the feedback loop is personal. If it fails, it is yours. If it succeeds, it is yours too.

Becoming a creator also changes how you think about design. It forces you to zoom out. Suddenly you care not only about typography and interaction, but about distribution, pricing, and sustainability. Design becomes inseparable from business, storytelling, and community. And that is what makes it exciting. It is design as a holistic practice, not just a craft.

Independence is not easy. It requires patience, resilience, and the ability to let go of perfection. But it is deeply rewarding. For me, it has meant shifting from executing ideas to building ecosystems. From contributing to others’ visions to articulating my own. And I would not trade that shift for anything.