19

Design community slack groups?

5 years ago from , UI Designer

Hey there DN community!

As a freelance designer, Slack is generally my go-to for all design related advice (and sanity) but lately I've noticed a general lack of activity on my primary slack group and the other groups I am a part of are mostly just people shamelessly self promoting. I was wondering if anyone here knew of any quality slack groups that are focused on design, have a tight knit community that isn't just shameless self promotion and dribbble invite requests, but actual conversations about design and community support for the solo designer like myself.

Thanks for your time!

14 comments

  • Mark Radanovich, 5 years ago

    Hey Gene,

    That's definitely a pattern I've noticed with a lot of Slack communities (and I think plenty of other people have noticed as well).

    There is a well-knit Slack community that I help run, called United Designers, that's very active and doesn't have much of the problems you've outlined above. We try to keep it close-knit so people know each other and are comfortable to have design conversations as often as possible.

    If you're interested, feel free to check out our site to signup: https://uniteddesigners.chat/

    9 points
    • Anders Houston, 5 years ago

      +1 for United Designers, Good group of people with more of a community centered around design as opposed to design community vibe.

      As my company's only in-house designer I definitely feel like this slack provides a good sense of support from when I want to vent about a client to when I need feedback on one of my designs.

      3 points
    • LUKASZ WIECZOREK, 5 years ago

      +2 for UD. lot's of great things happening. I've been in the industry 16 years or so and I feel like I still learn a lot from here. Highly recommend the group!

      4 points
  • Tony GinesTony Gines, 5 years ago

    I've been a fan of some of the groups on Spectrum.chat. The Figma community there is especially active. https://spectrum.chat/figma

    3 points
    • Gene StagheimGene Stagheim, 5 years ago

      I normally use Sketch, but I've heard some good things about Figma - is spectrum similar to slack? It seemed like more of a message board from what I saw.

      1 point
      • Michael RurkaMichael Rurka, 5 years ago

        Correct! It's like a well designed forum in the form of a chat. From my understanding, Spectrum differs in that it is public. (might be some private tiers, though)

        1 point
  • Femke vsFemke vs, 5 years ago

    My podcast co-host and I run a community for our podcast Design Life FM. There's little self promotion and most conversations are discussions around design or people looking for advice, sharing interesting resources etc.

    There's just under 100 members so it's very tight knight too :)

    You can check it out here: https://designlife.fm/community/

    1 point
    • Charli Prangley, 5 years ago

      Co-host here! As Femke said we have very little self-promotion, and we actively encourage deeper discussion about issues we're dealing with as creatives. I'm often frustrated at the surface-level conversation in most communities, which is why we try to go a level deeper.

      0 points
  • Shannen Sapar, 5 years ago

    Hey Gene! I've been a part of The Designership slack group and it's my go-to channel for design questions and discussions (sorry DN). You can learn more about the ship here: https://thedesignership.com/ :)

    1 point
  • Chris Gallello, 5 years ago

    This isn't Slack, but Designer's Guild is fantastic - they don't allow for self promotion. Most of the posts are questions that spur some great discussions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/designguild/

    1 point
  • Ste GrainerSte Grainer, 5 years ago

    I compiled a list of design and development related Slack teams last summer.

    It looks like a couple have cropped up since then that I should add.

    0 points
  • Josh Chambers, 5 years ago

    Thanks for asking this question! I tried a few Discord groups, but couldn't find a good group of people. Sooooo much grossness.

    0 points
  • Manisha Goenka, 5 years ago

    Designer hangout by Jake is an ever growing community with tons of resources and great culture :)

    0 points