164 - Alex Cornell

Alex Cornell is an interface designer, filmmaker, and periodic musician. He’s currently a designer at Substack and the co-founder and designer of Cocoon. He was previously the lead designer for Facebook Live.

Tools:

• Apple Mac Pro
• Apple XDR
• Dangerous Source
• Shure MV7
• Heil PR-40
• Fireface UC
• Adam A7c
• Logitech MX Master
• Logitech MX Master Keys
• Beyerdynamic DT770
• Herman Miller Embody
• Elgato Keylight Air

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Q/A ☕️

What is your favorite item in your workspace?

My favorite item is the decommissioned grenade that was owned by my father. It used to sit on his bookshelf when he was alive, and now it sits on my desk. My favorite tools are my Logitech keyboard and mouse. As an interface designer, these are essentially my instruments; I treat them really well, same as I would a guitar or piano. I always wash my hands before I sit down to use them and I clean them all the time.

How do you spark creativity?

I learned a long time ago that there is nothing I can do to force ideas to come to me. They periodically do. Most of the time they don't. But I trust that a new idea will appear here and there; I just wait around and make sure I'm ready to execute on it when it arrives. I really hate brainstorming sessions for this reason – I have a hard time being creative on demand, and end up being a sourpuss most of the time waiting for an idea to float by that never does. Design ideas occur to me weekly, writing ideas seem to appear monthly, and video ideas recently switched onto a frustrating yearly arrival schedule.

How do you keep the work-life balance?

I am a fast and efficient worker. Once you become good enough at getting your work done efficiently, balancing it with the rest of your life becomes really easy. When I think back to the years where I didn't have good balance, it was largely due to my own ineffectiveness and inexperience as a designer.