Hands sketching UX wireframes on kraft paper beside an open laptop with Figma, morning light pooling across a wooden desk with a small succulent

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Portfolio Crit Circle

23 designers joined · #portfolio-crits

Free Discord Community

You don't need another Slack workspace. You need people who get it.

A free Discord for UX designers who want craft, not clout. Real conversations. Real resources. A seat already saved.

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4,200+ designers already here

The Question

What if the design community actually felt designed?

Honest by default

No growth-hacking, no hustle theater. Just designers being real about what they're figuring out.

Craft over clout

The work matters more than the follower count. Workshops, crits, and challenges that make you better.

A place to land

When you're the only designer on your team, when you're job hunting again, when you just need to vent — we're here.

What's Inside

The clearing is already full of good things.

Real resources from real designers. Not a newsletter. Not a course funnel. Just a community that keeps showing up.

Group of designers in a video call reviewing portfolio work on screen

Live Event

Portfolio Crit Circle — Feb Recap

31 designers. 6 portfolios reviewed live. Feedback that would cost $800/hr in a mentorship program, free at 10pm on a Tuesday.

31designers attended

Template

UX Case Study Deck Template

A Figma file with the exact structure that got 14 members their first senior-level interview.

847downloads

Thread

Salary Transparency Thread

"Finally. A place where I found out I was being underpaid by $22k and did something about it."
Priya S. · Senior Product Designer, Chicago

340+ salary data points. Sorted by city, YOE, and company size.

Collaborative whiteboard session with sticky notes and journey mapping framework on a table

Workshop

Journey Mapping vs. Service Blueprints

A 90-minute recorded session that finally untangles the two. With a Figjam template to run your own.

1.2kviews

Resource

Shared Component Libraries

A pinned Figjam board of community-contributed component libraries. 40+ systems. Always growing.

40+libraries

Thread

Weekly Prompt Challenge

"The weekly prompt got me designing again after 3 months of just staring at job boards."
Marcus O. · Freelance Interaction Designer, London

Every Monday. One constraint. One hour. No judgment.

Clean resume document on a desk with a pen and coffee cup nearby

Template

Resume Template Library

12 ATS-friendly templates designed by UX designers for UX designers. Includes a portfolio link formatting guide.

12templates

Workshop

Research Synthesis Sprint

A recorded 2-hour sprint on turning 40 user interviews into a decision your PM will actually act on.

680designers watched

Resource

Imposter Syndrome Channel

"I posted that I cried in a bathroom after a design review. 47 people said 'same.' That was the first time I felt like a designer."
Aisha K. · Junior UX Researcher, post-bootcamp

Pinned. Always open. No toxic positivity.

Ready to pull up a stump?

New resources drop every week. Join to get them as they arrive.

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By the Numbers

You're late to something good.

Designers

from 60+ countries

Events Run

workshops, crits & sprints

Templates Downloaded

resumes, case studies & more

Salary Data Points

in the transparency thread

Real Voices

From the people already sitting in the clearing.

“

I've been a product designer for 6 years and I've never had a design mentor. Gather is the first place I've asked a stupid question out loud.

Kenji Watanabe

Senior Product Designer · Fintech startup, Tokyo

“

Three months out of bootcamp, 87 rejections, and the resume template from this server got me my first UX role.

Amara Diallo

Junior UX Researcher · Recently hired, Austin TX

“

I'm a freelancer. I go weeks without talking to another designer. The weekly prompt challenge keeps me sane.

Lena Hoffmann

Freelance Interaction Designer · Berlin

“

The salary thread alone was worth it. Found out the designer hired after me at the same level made $18k more. Now I know what to ask for.

Darius Chen

Mid-level Product Designer · E-commerce company, NYC

Our Beliefs

A few things we hold to be true.

Design critique shouldn't require a $400/month mentorship subscription.

Imposter syndrome doesn't mean you're bad at design. It means you care.

The difference between a journey map and a service blueprint matters — and so do you.

You should know what your peers earn. Salary secrecy is a power move against you.

The circle is already arranged.
Someone saved you a seat.

Join the Clearing — It's Free

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