Welcome to Better by Design!

Nice to meet you. I’m Pat, and this is my home for writing on the Internet.

What’s my writing like? Well, I’d say it’s what you would get if Seth Godin and Derek Sivers had a design brainchild. 😇

Better by Design is where I channel my love for well-crafted things and document lessons to help you achieve top-tier work as a creative business person.

I know that design can often feel like a black box and that in our modern, data-obsessed world “quality” can seem like a hopelessly subjective pursuit.

But I’m here to tell you that great designs have tangible characteristics that can be recognized, harnessed, and repeated.

That’s why each week, I put my skillset to the test to help you level up your craft and create work that’s deserving of the label Better by Design.

Now let’s get creating! 🥳

“What do I get by subscribing?”

I publish once per week on Sundays, usually alternating between two series.

• Design Practice

  • My blog-style series. I share what I’ve learned from a decade-plus as a designer, engineer, and brand strategist and what I’m learning about entrepreneurship as a Creator.

• Design Sense

  • My product & design analysis series. I break down what makes good designs successful in an approachable format.

By default, you will get all posts. But you can toggle each series on/off individually in your Substack settings if one isn’t your cup of tea.

I value brevity and aim to keep posts succinct (<5 min or 5-10 min).

High signal, low noise.

“Why should I care what you think?”

My unconventional background as a liberal arts kid turned advertiser, turned engineer, turned designer gives me a unique multidisciplinary toolkit that’s finely tuned to analyzing products and brands to uncover practical insights.

• I started my career as a brand strategist at the world-renowned ad agency Leo Burnett.

• Then I designed and built consumer finance applications as a software engineer at American Express.

• And finally, I honed my craft in UX design, designing three billion+ dollar cyber-security products: Tenable, Signal Sciences (acquired by Fastly), and JupiterOne.

“Where should I start?”

There’s a lot in the archive, so here are a few articles to get you going.

Design Practice

• 50 resources to grow your strategic thinking
  Shared by the community. Curated by me.

• The era of design entrepreneurship
  Emerging opportunities for entrepreneurial designers in the new age of work

• How I use Figma to craft better presentations
  Guidelines for showcasing your strength as a visual storyteller.

Design Sense

• The Amazon Smile Logo
  A walk-through of the 5 years of iterations that led to today's design

• The Gooseneck Kettle
  A classic blend of form and function that enriches my daily ritual

Get to know me & my journey

• My pathless path into technology, design, and beyond

  How a liberal arts kid becomes a brand strategist, an engineer, a designer, and whatever's next