My most underrated tool as a designer

People are pretty curious about the various tools I use as a professional designer, and today I want to talk about the most underrated tool I use ALL the time: Pinterest. Are you surprised?

Aside from Affinity Designer, which is my go-to design program, Pinterest is probably the tool I use most often when I’m working on projects for clients. It is just so easy to use when it comes to swapping ideas and inspiration, because everyone basically already knows how to use it.

Whenever I get a new client project, I will set up a new board on my Pinterest account and invite the client to be a contributor. Then, we can both add images to the board that we think align with the vision for the project.

We can leave notes on the pins to communicate and collaborate and I can really get a sense of what they’re envisioning for their project and similarly, they can see my thought process well before I hand over a design draft. 

I thought it would be fun to share some screenshots of some of my past projects, along with the Pinterest boards that accompanied them so you can see how I pulled inspiration from them!

As you can see, Pinterest is NOT just for recipes and wedding planning! I think it’s pretty cool that you get to see the progression from idea to final product, and I know my clients like to participate in the ideation process, especially when they get to use a platform they already know and feel comfortable using.

If you’re a designer, do you also use Pinterest like this? Or do you have a different approach for sharing ideas with your clients? I would love to hear what you do and how well it works for you!