From Photoshop to Design Systems: My Journey as a Designer

Hi, I’m Marc Obieglo. I’m currently the Design Systems Lead at a global logistics company called WiseTech Global located in Sydney, Australia. I’m also a Design Mentor in Dribbble’s Scaling Design Systems Course with Dan Mall.

I started my journey when I was 13 years old and the internet became more than just a gimmick.?I’ve always been fascinated by technology and software. Photoshop and everything that Macromedia (no, not you Flash) had to offer back then was just sparking my curiosity.

After a few different types of roles from Branding Designer, to traditional Art Director and Product Designer, I finally found my home in Design Systems.

“I’ve had amazing mentors in the past. Without them, I wouldn’t be the designer I am today.”

I’ve always designed and used systems, especially at the beginning of my career as a brand-focused designer. Style guides were my best friends and helped me to bring an idea to life in a cohesive manner. Designing and defining how a brand should be used in certain circumstances was something I became very passionate about.

After moving into the product design world, it was a natural progression to introduce systems that help build and design products and support designers to do great work and focus on problems that need solving.

I’ve had amazing design mentors in the past. Without them, I wouldn’t be the designer I am today. Even now, as a seasoned designer, I have mentors that provide me with support and advice when I get stuck.

Advice for new design system learners

You have to enjoy helping people. In the end, that’s what a design system is about: guiding, supporting, and empowering designers, engineers, product people, and others in your business to design and build solutions for their problems.

Don’t reinvent the wheel; there are many great solutions and tools out there nowadays that you can leverage to streamline your work. For example:

• Tokens Studio by the team behind Jan Six for all your design token needs
• Stark for everything Accessibility
• The Component Gallery for a vast range of design system inspiration
• UnStyled Component Library by Silvia Bormüller and Mr. Biscuit

Want to keep up with Marc? Follow him on Twitter or find him in Dribbble’s 8-week Scaling Design Systems Course mentoring students.