Learning Notes: Q2 '26
Learning is a core thing for me. I will never get tired of writing this, and even if it sounds like a cliché, it is not.
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Looking back at the past three months, I must say they were full of opportunities to learn. I couldn't take them all, but I like to think I picked some of the best. This is what happened during April–June.
Project Branding — Maker Division
I know Stephanie Owens from The Futur and I really liked the way she approached design and learning, so when I received a mail about Project Branding, I was really curious about it and joined.
Project Branding was one of those courses filled with so much information that I needed time to let it all sink in. Ben Burns and Stephanie Owens offered a glimpse into how the best branding agencies work. I saw the process behind every decision and the tremendous work put into learning and discovering the right solution for the clients, things that usually stay behind the scenes. Loved it.
Closing the UXPA Mentorship Program
This quarter also marked the end of my UXPA Mentorship Program, which was meaningful enough to deserve its own article. I wrote about it in more detail here, but in short, it changed how I look at my work, at my portfolio. I started restructuring my case studies to focus on outcomes first, instead of telling the story in order and of course launch my website and stop waiting for the perfect time and structure.
Complex UIs and Enterprise UX with Vitaly Friedman — Maven
This one was heavy. I enjoyed it very much, all those beautiful complex examples. Vitaly Friedman's Design Patterns For Complex UIs and Enterprise UX course on Maven was right in my wheelhouse: tables, filters, dashboards, and information density. It was a great way to revisit ideas I use every day, but what stood out most was seeing very complex tools and how the teams behind them actually worked. For example, Gexcon's 3D simulation software showed a level of interface complexity you rarely see up close. The course broke everything down, component by component, and explained how to make choices in our own work. It was less about giving a pattern library and more about teaching how to think.
FOMO & Chris Do
Seeing Chris Do live at FOMO was a highlight of the quarter. His energy really drew me in, and one main idea from his speech stuck with me: we advance by being smart and present, and by learning how to distinguish ourselves from the crowd — finding an idea to stand for, or even one to stand firmly against, and making it your brand. He had some mind-bending examples. I liked how he used the film Sliding Doors as a metaphor for the opportunities that scare us. Sometimes, the door we fear most is the one that takes us the farthest.
Books, books, books
And then the books. I received Mike Monteiro's How to Die and Other Stories. The book is based on a series of questions he received from people, which he turned into stories and advice. He is one of my favorite writers, I love his style and approach aand I received a dedication too.
I started Loredana Pădurean's Job Is Easy, People Are Not - because I am continuously working to improve my smart and my sharp skills , and Chris Do's Unbland Yourself, which paired perfectly with hearing him live.
Alongside these, I went through Universal Principles of Storytelling for Designers and Universal Principles of Color, two books that fit naturally into how I think about design systems and visual decisions. I ordered the first volume of Designfully! Vol. 1, this is such a beautiful magazine. I missed this kind of content and design - printed.
Closing thoughts
If Q1 was about building foundations, Q2 was about perspective and seeing how others work, at scales and complexities I don't encounter every day, and letting that reshape how I approach my own. The quarter ended the way Mike's dedication suggested it should: not giving up, and not planning to.
See you in the Q3 recap.
