Design Resources & Tools | The Crit

Portfolios, case studies, typography, getting hired — written by a designer who teaches this stuff every day.

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Our most popular guides — the foundations every designer should master.

Design Feedback

What Is a Design Critique? The Complete Guide for 2026

Everything you need to know about design critiques: how they work, how to run one, common formats, questions to ask, and how AI is changing the process.

18 minRead guide

Design Principles Masterclass

Master the 12 fundamental design principles: balance, contrast, hierarchy, and more — with visual examples and a free checklist

18 minRead guide

Typography Principles for Designers

Practical typography rules for font pairing, type hierarchy, spacing, responsive type, and cleaner designer portfolios and layouts

12 minRead guide

Interactive Tool

Portfolio Tagline Generator

Interactive tool to create the perfect portfolio tagline using proven templates

5 minRead guide

All Resources

80 resources found • showing 1-16

Tools & Workflow

Does Your AI-Built App Look Vibe-Coded?

A diagnostic checklist for spotting the exact design smells that make AI-built apps feel generic, plus the proof notes that make AI-assisted work credible in a portfolio.

Website, PDF, or Deck? Build a Hiring-Ready Portfolio Packet

What to send at each stage of the design hiring process: portfolio website, recruiter brief, case study, and interview deck.

Best AI Coding Tools for Designers 2026

Compare Figma-to-code fidelity, v0, Cursor, Codex, Claude Code, app builders, and AI design workflows by what designers actually need to ship.

Polished AI UI Is Becoming Cheap. That Changes What Designers Need to Be Good At.

AI tools now generate competent, polished-looking interfaces for free. That changes the value stack for designers at every level — differentiation shifts from execution to critique, systems thinking, and product judgment.

Browser Fluency: You Don’t Need to Be an Engineer

You don’t need to become an engineer—you need browser fluency. Layouts, states, Stitch and v0 (2026), Figma MCP, what to learn vs. skip, and why evaluating AI output beats blind generation.

The New Design Handoff Is Not a Handoff

Why the design-to-engineering handoff model is breaking: Figma MCP, v0, Stitch, and AI workflows collapse the artifact chain—shared context and machine-readable systems replace one-way translation.

Design Feedback

Logo Critique Checklist: What Makes a Logo Work in 2026

The definitive 20-point framework for evaluating logo design. Learn the 4 pillars of effective logos, common mistakes to avoid, and when to revise vs. start over.

Design Feedback

ChatGPT vs. Professional Design Critique: What You're Missing in 2026

When to use ChatGPT for design feedback vs. professional critique. Learn what AI gets right, what it misses, and how to combine both for better design outcomes.

The Vibe Design Era: How Design Work Is Fundamentally Changing

The shift from precision-based design to intention-based design isn't just coming—it's here. Explore how AI tools like Google Stitch are transforming what designers actually do.

What Is a Design Engineer? The Role Redefining Design and Development

Design engineers bridge Figma and code. Learn what the role actually involves, who's hiring, what skills you need, and whether it's the right career move for designers in 2026.

Designers Are Shipping Code Now — Here's What Changed

Designers are shipping PRs, building in Cursor and Claude Code, and Figma's MCP server connects design directly to code. Here's what actually changed in 2026.

Portfolio Development

12 Portfolio Mistakes That Cost Designers Interviews

The most common portfolio mistakes from hiring managers who've screened thousands of portfolios. Each includes exactly how to fix it.

Tools & Workflow

CSS Typography Best Practices: The Complete Guide (2026)

Production-ready CSS typography — fluid type scales, font loading, variable fonts, dark mode, and accessibility. With code you can copy.

Portfolio Development

What We Actually Check in a Portfolio Critique

Full transparency: the 5 dimensions we evaluate, how we prioritize fixes, and what the feedback means. No black boxes.

Best Font Pairings for Designer Portfolios (2026)

20 curated Google Font pairings organized by portfolio vibe — minimal, bold, playful, editorial, technical. With CSS code for each.

Portfolio Development

How to Write a Case Study When You Have No Metrics

No analytics? NDA? Student project? How to write compelling case studies without hard numbers — qualitative outcomes, proxy metrics, honest framing.

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