Newsletter issue: #152
Read time: 1m 35s

The platform wars and the battle of the ecosystems has begun.

Figma just went full Thanos on the design world with:

“Fine, I’ll do it myself.” snaps fingers 🤌

They dropped FOUR new products at Config 2025.

The 4 we’re used to are Figma Designs, FigJam, Figma Slides and DevMode.

They expanded from 4 to 8 tools overnight.

This isn’t your typical product update. It’s a full-on declaration of war.

Figma is no longer content being your UI design tool – now it wants to be your entire creative universe.

The new additions?

• Figma Sites: Turns designs into actual websites (Framer is sweating)
• Figma Draw: Advanced vector illustration that’s eyeing Illustrator’s lunch
• Figma Buzz: Marketing content creation (Canva just felt a disturbance in the force)
• Figma Make: Vibe coding with AI (because of course there’s AI)

My LinkedIn feed is having a meltdown:

“OMG FINALLY ALL IN ONE PLACE!”
“Feature bloat incoming…”
“Is this… good?”

When I quit my cushy job in 2020, the world of design tools was much simpler then. One tool did one thing.

Are we witnessing the Adobe-ification of Figma? Everything bundled into one subscription, whether you asked for it or not?

Maybe Figma’s still salty after the $20 billon deal fell through?

Or maybe Figma's pushing these new tools to juice up their IPO numbers. They want that sweet "AI company" valuation premium before going public. Smart play.

But the bigger question isn't just about features, pricing, or their IPO.

It’s about what designers actually DO.

Are we supposed to be design specialists or creative Swiss Army knives?

I’ve lived both worlds. From being a digital marketer, to a product designer, to managing a 20+ team, to now running my small creator business.

What I learned: Tools change. Skills compound.

​When I was jobless in Vietnam in 2014, I built my first website in Wix because I had to. That scrappy skill led to my first UX role a year later.

The expansion of design tools isn’t just about Figma (Canva is the perfect example). It’s about us – what we make, how we work, and who we become.

The #1 skill now is learning to learn tools at our disposal.

Stay sharp.

Stay dangerous.

Here’s how you can use the (new) Figma to transform your workflow.

Read the full breakdown

🔥 NEW

The goings ons

Happenings & shenanigans in the (design) world and beyond

YC’s released their request for startups calling for “More Design Founders”. Are we finally getting our seat at (and to build) the table? I'll write about this soon.

​Sir Jony Ive spoke at Stripe Sessions, and every designer (myself included) was instantly reminded of their design crush on him.

OpenAI bought WindSurf, the second biggest AI-assisted IDE (after Cursor), for $3 billion!!! And this might be the real reason, training data. Is that why Figma Make exist? Farming design training data?

I wrote about how to find your unfair advantage as a designer (also included a link to my free personal branding masterclass, go grab it).

Tune into next week’s livestream on How to Design with Mindfulness. Honestly, I could use a bit more chill.

This is new addition to this newsletter.

Let me know if I should keep writing this (or nah)