How Max Lind gets things done

Hailing from Iowa, Max Lind is a web designer, lover of coffee, and collector of things. We found out how he uses Dropmark to keep up with design trends and catalog inspiration in an industry that’s constantly evolving.

Max is a busy guy. In addition to his full-time job as web designer and digital marketer, he’s active in the design community, serving as Community Manager at Designer News — as well as a steady stream of side projects including Tiny Few and Your Style Code.

We caught up with Max to see what inspires him, and how he uses Dropmark to keep it curated and organized.

What inspires you?

I’d say I’m most often inspired by parts of a whole.

Where some creatives can stare at a blank canvas and see a masterpiece in the making, I tend to absorb as much as possible in order to later draw inspiration from the bits and pieces. Websites, logos, icons, essentially anything digital that’s worthwhile usually ends up in Dropmark — one of the many reasons I quite like it in fact, easily catalog my findings. But I’ve noticed myself collecting physical things as of late too: books, magazines, pins.

I certainly don’t want to end up a pack rat, and I definitely follow the “quality over quantity” mantra, but you never know when something might come in handy, so I curate on the fly, and know that I have a great collection of things at my disposal when needed.

Tiny Few: some of Max’s many side projects

Web design is constantly evolving, what are some of your current obsessions?

I’m a sucker for a couple new-ish website design trends. I’m not entirely sure if they have an official name or not, but you know ‘em when you see ‘em.

The first is overly minimal, bold, and clearly structured in it’s overall look/feel: Wolff Olins, Instrument, and Alonzo Felix Studio.

The second feels more like a digital scrapbook of sorts often times styled with a bit of a throwback vibe: Allan Yu, Frank Chimero, and Ghostly Ferns.

It’s funny, even though they are probably categorically different, they share similar design styes. Both have a good chunk of literal and figurative white space, unique type/image treatment, and an inviting openness that you often get when skimming through random pages of a book or magazine.

“I tend to absorb as much as possible in order to later draw inspiration from the bits and pieces. Websites, logos, icons, essentially anything digital that’s worthwhile usually ends up in Dropmark.”

Max catalogs his favorite websites in Dropmark

What does your workflow look like as a designer?

I notice myself leaning on Illustrator and Sketch heavily.

My fondness for Illustrator goes back to my college days, but Sketch is fairly new in my repertoire — although it’s quickly become a love at first sight situation, believe the hype people! Illustrator allows me to play and build without worrying about exactness, I think most can attest to cluttered artboards, while Sketch is my new go-to for all things web. If I were trapped on a desert island with only one option, I’m not sure which I would choose.

I’m always on the lookout for a new way to keep tabs on the freelance/side projects. Tools like Trello and Dropbox have been with me for a while, but Slack seems promising — late to the party, I know. I also quite like what Jonnie Hallman has going on with Cushion, I just need to get it into the workflow.

Outside of the design/management tools, I rely on Rdio and Hype Machine to fuel the design and creativity, seems like a pair of headphones are attached to my ears most hours of the day or night. And of course, coffee/beer are staples, but maybe that goes without saying.

How do you organize your Dropmark collections?

Being a designer, I notice the majority of my collections are design related with a web or inspiration focus, and fairly obvious:

• Agency
• CSS
• Logos
• Portfolio
• Web Layouts
• Zurb Foundation

Of course, no Dropmark collection is complete without the inevitable GIF collection.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve Dropmarked recently?

Currently I’m obsessed with this dancing baby, it’s just so perfect.

On a bit more serious note, wow-web is fantastic. The name could no doubt use a bit of work, but their curated list of websites is great!

See more of Max’s work at maxwelllind.com and follow @maxlind on Twitter.