461 - Rafael Conde

Rafael Conde is currently a Product Designer at Sketch and an independent app developer. He joined Sketch in 2023 after previously being the Founding Designer at Along.

Some of the side projects that he has developed are Hand Mirror (a one-click camera check, right from the menu bar), Thwip (your portable soundboard for iOS and watchOS), HiDock (a Mac app that lets you set custom Dock settings for when on different displays), and many others.

He was previously featured in editions #9 and #78 of this newsletter. This is the most recent evolution of his workspace.

Mastodon → mastodon.design/@rafa
Twitter (X) → x.com/rafahari
Threads → threads.net/@rafahari
Bluesky → bsky.app/profile/rafa.design

Rafa's Workspace Tour

Workspace Items

• MacBook Pro 14” (M1 Max)
• Apple Pro Display XDR
• Magic Keyboard/Trackpad/Mouse
• iPad Pro 11” 2024, with Apple Pencil Pro
• Sonos Era 100
• AirPods Max
• Opal Tadpole
• Teenage Engineering CM-15
• Bambu Lab P1S

Other

• Graceful Bureau Desk, by Bolia
• Unio Pencil Case, by Bolia
• Water bottle, by Kinto
• iPod Hi-Fi + my iPod (and Music library) back from high school
• The Creative Act

What is the most recent item that you've added to your workspace?

My actual desk. It’s funny how a simple “another flat piece of wood” can significantly impact the overall design of a space. My previous desk, which was five years old and still from our old apartment, never quite blended in with the rest of our furniture in our new space. So, recently, we finally got a new and slightly larger desk top, and it makes me so happy.

I really appreciate the craftsmanship and woodwork done to this piece, as well as the small details around cable management: from the little “trap door”, to the leather pouches and straps, as well as a subtle divot that runs it’s width to prevent stuff from rolling around.

Another recent addition was a 3D printer, which has unlocked a ton of new creative outlets for me, starting with designing and printing small accessories for my workspace, like a custom speaker stand for my monitor, headphone hook, or webcam shelf attached to the back of my monitor!

How do you spark creativity?

I wish I knew.

There’s two things that I’ve learned though, first is that I can’t force it — if I feel in a rut and uninspired what usually breaks the cycle is me taking a step back, get off my desk, go outside, go for a photowalk, go for a run… second is that when you do get a hit of creativity, DON’T WASTE IT. Ride that wave and squeeze as much juice as you can. For me that can take the shape of a new idea for an app, I will just try and write it as fast as I can while the excitement is still there.

What does your typical day look like?

I have a newborn and a toddler, so they dictate my schedule — but effectively my partner and I have to split the day in two, I'm with the kids in the morning, and work afternoons.

It can work quite well once you get into a nice routine — from playing with babies during swim class, to building Lego Star Wars sets, you get a bit of everything. And then after lunch you can “take a break” and go to your studio and get some work done until dinner.

What do you enjoy or appreciate most about remote work?

I’ve been working remotely for over 10 years at this point, it doesn’t even register as a “different way of working” for me anymore.

I truly appreciate how I can 100% control my creative and focused environment, really optimize this space for how I work, something that would be almost impossible in someone else’s office.

When I had my first child, I thought working from home was going to become more difficult, but in fact it’s one of the reasons why my partner and I managed to raise children, work two full time jobs, with no family support — I wouldn’t do it any other way.

How long did it take you to redesign your (amazing) portfolio site?

Well thank you — the “design process” wasn’t a thing, I just had the idea, I thought it would be funny, and then built it in a day (I am very impulsive 😅). But interestingly my website used to be a place where I could just try out new stuff on a whim, experiment with new styles, but this last version got such a positive reaction that now I find myself nervous about ever changing it — maybe one day.