For the endlessly curious designer

A little direction.
A world of
possibility.

Learning paths, practical exercises, and essays for your next move in design.

Find your pathGet to know Paths
A little curiosityRoom to exploreYour next chapter ↗

12different paths.
Your own way forward.

01Cover story
Career Growth14 min read

Measuring design impact: a practical framework.

KPIs, dashboards, and strategies for quantifying your design work — so you can stop guessing and start proving your value.

Read the frameworkJul 06, 2025 · by Darian Rosebrook
02Signature frameworks

New ways to see your work.

Two guides for making more deliberate decisions about your skills and your tools.

  1. 01Skill Gapping

    Choose what to practice next.

    Compare your work with a clear reference, identify a specific skill to develop, and turn that observation into a practice plan.

    Read the essay
  2. 02Designing with AI

    Five ways to work with AI.

    Understand where generative tools fit in your design process, what each approach can help with, and what still needs your judgment.

    Read the guide

Put an idea to work

Learn by making.

Run a user interview, build an accessible component, or develop a brand identity. Each exercise includes instructions, a deliverable, and criteria to evaluate your work.

Explore 23 exercisesBrowse 114 books
03Recent writing

From the notebook.

Essays on design systems, career growth, and the craft of making.

  1. Career GrowthMar 03, 2026

    How to Write a Portfolio About Section That Actually Lands

    A practical guide to voice, positioning, storytelling, and the common mistakes that make hiring managers move on.

    9 min read01
  2. Design LeadershipMar 03, 2026

    Design Community Principles at Scale

    How to build, codify, and evolve the operating principles that hold a design team together as it grows from a handful of people to an organization.

    10 min read02
  3. EngineeringFeb 10, 2026

    Securing Supabase Auth with Next.js 16 on Vercel

    Every footgun we found building a production CMS — and exactly how to sidestep them.

    18 min read03
Browse all 42 articles
04The author
Darian RosebrookDarian Rosebrook

Built by a perpetual student.

I’m Darian, a self-taught designer and design technologist. A decade of making, learning, and teaching has taken me from freelance projects to design systems at Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce, and eBay. Paths is a place to share what I’ve learned along the way—and keep learning together.

Read the full story