Getting Started

Welcome to Designed

What Designed is, who it's for, and what you can do here.

Designed is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit building an educational platform for designers — the only charity doing it. Our mission is to empower the designers of tomorrow through free educational tools and mentoring, with a focus on equal-opportunity access for designers everywhere, not just where design jobs happen to already be concentrated.

Practically, that mission shows up as a handful of connected apps under one account:

  • [Learning Paths](/learning-paths) and [Skill Labs](/skill-labs) — structured, self-paced skill building.
  • [Critique](/critique) — post your work and get structured feedback from other designers and mentors.
  • [Mentors](/our-mentors) — a global network of working designers offering their time.
  • [Discuss](/discuss) — a directory of Slack, Discord, and other communities for designers.
  • [Events](/events), [News](/news), and [Podcasts](/podcasts) — a curated feed of what's happening in design.
  • [Jobs](/jobs) and [Career Map](/career-map) — find open roles and see how design careers actually progress.

Most of it is free to browse without an account. Creating one unlocks personalization — saved progress, following categories and communities, submitting critique or a mentor application, and so on. See Creating your account to get set up.

Note: Designed is entirely donor- and volunteer-supported. If you'd like to help keep it free for everyone, see Membership & Donations.

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