Shpetim Ujkani

I’ve added a few but I’ve removed and reduced even more. These past few years since we chatted I’ve removed quite a few tools and streamlined my workflow — especially physical tools / devices. I feel like this is a natural process — the more you work on design the more you tend to focus on a few essentials. Even though we have the Macs in the office, I’m mostly on my MacBook and iPad, which I’ve been using for sketches and explorations more and more these past few years.

On the software side, Figma remains my go-to, but also added a few other tools like Google Slides and Apple Notes. However, this past year I've also integrated AI tools like Gemini and NotebookLM into my workflow. As a designer, being able to bounce back ideas with Gemini or throw a large white paper at NotebookLM so it can summarize and synthesise, that has been immensely useful and an interesting addition to my workflow.

In addition to devices and software mentioned above, the office itself has changed slightly. I love the idea of personalizing the workspace, so whenever we travel we tend to buy things we can put up on our bookshelf or throughout the office — like the Fushimi Inari wall tapestry — I love them because they are like these “easter eggs” that add more story to the space.

This generally has evolved for me, as it should, but a few basics are still there. I’m a strong believer that as creatives and designers our jobs require a lot of outputting — create, explore, connect — so we should be mindful about the input side of it — you can’t tap from an empty well. With that in mind, I’m very conscious about interests outside of work and that has been fuel for my creativity, problem-solving and generally avoiding burnout throughout these years as a designer. So not relying only on that spark, but more like making sure there’s some kind of process to constantly and consistently nurture that creativity well.