A uniquely creative designer and developer with over 15 years of experience. I primarily focus on Idea, Product and Brand.

Zachary Hayes - Designer + Developer

Lissajous curves, named after the French mathematician Jules Antoine Lissajous, are mathematical visualizations that represent the motion of two perpendicular harmonic oscillations. These curves are formed by plotting the coordinates of points that correspond to the simultaneous values of the two...

Lissajous Curves | Figma Community

https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1232402036106953267/lissajous-curves

Almost every minute of every day, I kind of subconsciously ask myself the same questions I asked when I was 6. Where am I? Who am I? Why am I?

Quantum Leap: An Ongoing Game of Self-Interrogation - Zachary Hayes

I find an incredible sense of comfort when I reach one of these thresholds and get to remind myself "yeah, your parents were right."

I Know Nothing - Zachary Hayes

WarpStream is building a streaming application for the cloud world they claim is cheaper and faster to operate.

WarpStream is building a cheaper, cloud-native data streaming service | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/14/warpstream-is-building-a-cheaper-cloud-native-streaming-service/

I added color to my portfolio because I had so much fun with it on a client project. Who knew. https://zchry.org/

Spent the last week working from an island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Setting off for Washington early next year. Any recommendations on parts of the state? Want something closer to nature but reasonably close to a large city.

My friend is opening a secret bar at his shop, so we made it weird.

My little figma plugin has been used by 1,300 people. That's crazy to me. 

https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1232402036106953267/lissajous-curves

I'll be in Austin for a week or so starting the 15th. If you're in town or going to Current feel free to say howdy.

Really fond of this subtle recessed shadow.

My beer can for https://www.colorfactory.co/.

One of my favorite projects that went absolutely no where: https://solipsismwow.com/

I get so bummed by every "new" piece of tech that just parrots the entirety of Apple's design language. You had a chance to do something new and unique, and you chose not to.

I think in 10-20 years there will be a premium on art and photography made before 2022-2023ish. A dividing line for the AI boom.

Unused branding concepts for https://www.stellar.bank/

AI is cool and all, but just as a general rule of thumb, you'll always be on the right side of history if you prioritize for humans over robots. Unless the robots erase the history books I guess.

Twitter is full of "prominent designers" that love to tell other designers what they're doing wrong. Isn't that exhausting? Cultivate some positivity. Relax.

Added filtering to my portfolio finally using Jetboost.

Quantum Leap: An Ongoing Game of Self-Interrogation

Spent a week onboarding in Nashville. Pretty cool town. Reminds me of Austin from 10+ years ago.

You ever get really excited about something you're passionate about and then a wave of embarrassment comes over you because you're afraid of sounding pretentious? Especially with art and design.

Big design news: Kafka, our Dutch Shepherd born 9/30/23 (and Aurora, his buddy/pillow).

Heading out for a stroll, got my iPhone, Humane Ai Pin, Rabbit pocket companion, Apple Watch, Apple Vision Pro, set to tackle the day!

There's nothing more annoying than getting feedback on unfinished work you've specifically cautioned was clearly unfinished.

Can we all agree that once someone drops a thread on productivity here, we all collectively vote them off the island?

Small wins: got a beer can design selected for a national interactive art museum.

Having the things happen that you want to happen is a truly surreal feeling. There's probably more confusion than excitement, especially if you've been working towards something for years. "Wait, that worked? I did the right things?"

Everyone should be required to go camping for one week out of the year.

Most of the things people dislike come from a place of ego. Not everything is for you, and there's a target audience that doesn't include you. Realize this and you'll actually start to appreciate MORE things.

The startup I've contracted with over the last 11 months raised $20m and I'm super stoked for them. Just the absolute nicest dudes. https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/14/warpstream-is-building-a-cheaper-cloud-native-streaming-service/

Work wasn't enough, now we have deep work. Want to go deeper than deep work? Dungeon work.

Started experimenting with developing my own Figma plugins for brand elements and brand design. Two recent examples: Lissajous curves and H-fractals.

2024:

Working on the road with Sam, Kafka and Aurora. 

Make design enjoyable again. 

Create meaning and value with my work. 

Align my talents with things I care about. 

Build something interesting.

Create more art.

Take more photos.

Posts.cv and the Figma community resources are two shining examples of how awesome the design community can be.

I don't write a lot but I still had a lot of fun building out the blog section of my portfolio. https://zchry.org/words

The designer contributed to a real software project. Me, I'm the designer.

Starting a new journey as a Product Designer / Design Engineer thing. Driving to Nashville next week to onboard for a week. Exciting stuff.