Design is how we work.
Design isn't magic. At it's core, design is planning and communication; doing either well takes practice. All of us design things every day, we can't help it. If you're a Designer looking to grow and hone your skills or if you're a person who is convinced you have no "artistic talent," we are here to help you improve the design you already do every day.
What we offer
Design Lessons
The best way to learn design is working with a guide. Structured, personalized, one-on-one sessions up to four times a month make sure you're focused on the right things to make progress faster than following some YouTube video or reading a book.
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Workshops
Learn something new in a small group of your new design BFFs! We offer workshops in a broad array of design topics. Every workshop will include time to work on something and share it to get actual feedback you can use to keep improving. We offer private workshops too.
Learn moreWhy it works
Core Skills > Tool Skills
Too many courses are focused on teaching a specific tool; they completely neglect the actual skills required to do design well. A design is not constrained to a specific type of document or piece of software, and a good design is good no matter what tools were used to make it. We're here to teach you the skills that you'll use even after the tool of the moment has become the tool of the past.
Humans are the loop
Learning from your mistakes is pretty much the only way to learn design, but seeing those mistakes is not always easy. Having a real person to help you spot them, break them down, and formulate a plan to improve not only leads to better learning outcomes, it's just a lot more fun. We aren't making self-paced DIY video courses because we think your time (and money) is better spent with a human who can focus on what you're struggling with and quickly move past the what you have already mastered.
Practice makes perfect
There is no way around it. The only way you become a great designer is by practicing design. But practice isn't as simple as you might assume. Designing a practice routine that works for you is a design challenge in itself, one we make easier for you to solve. Mindful practice is knowing what to do, seeing how you're progressing, and knowing when to stop. It is part of everything we offer. We're doing together, not just talking at you about design.
But you don't have to take our word for it
I did a free portfolio review with Tony and found it so helpful that I signed up for the paid case study workshop! The case study workshop was really helpful. I liked that we had time to do actual work and get feedback on what we worked on. Tony's also great at explaining and presenting the information in a digestible, easy-to-understand way. Thanks for the great workshop Tony!
— Julie, UX Designer
I had a portfolio review and workshop with Tony, who was supportive and knowledgeable throughout. Beyond the in-meeting feedback for the portfolio review, he followed up with a detailed email to further guide me. One of the most valuable things he taught me was shifting my mindset from showcasing my process to showcasing my skills, a reframe that fundamentally changed how I approach my work. The workshop also gave me a much clearer sense of how to structure my presentations for different audiences. Highly recommend!
— Anh, UX Designer
Who we are
Not Just Pretty Pictures is a project of We Beasties, a design and illustration studio in Seattle, WA. We have a combined 50ish years of experience working as designers (and "design leaders") in advertising, retail, healthcare, and technology companies. As part of "doing it our way" owning our own studio, we've decided to make teaching and sharing what we've learned over the years a core part of how we do business. We offer our workshops and lessons on a sliding scale basis to give back and provide resoruces we didn't have to as many people as possible.