Reflecting on My Number One Creative and Career Goal Right Now

After more than 13 years in the design industry (15 if you count university), working across hundreds of multidisciplinary projects, and completing countless additional lessons and courses, I’ve finally found real clarity in the direction I want my career to take.

It’s firmly rooted in Product Design — but more specifically, it’s about mastering design systems.
Not just the UI kits or component libraries we build for apps, but holistic systems: design languages that connect product and brand into a seamless, unified experience. Systems where every screen, every interaction, and every touchpoint feels undeniably from the same universe.

The first project that truly opened my eyes to this was OPN Buildings. I supported both their brand development and UI design, ensuring the marketing site, product interface, and social content spoke the same visual language. Although a relatively lightweight project, it planted the seed.

That seed grew during my time with Kabata — a project that genuinely crystallised this fascination. There, the brand wasn’t just a marketing exercise. It was woven through the product experience itself: designed intentionally, from the ground up, to unify the user journey and the brand story. Seeing brand and product come together so cohesively made it clear: this is the work I want to master.

More recently, this opportunity has deepened even further at Smarttech247.
Initially focused on UI/UX within the product team, I helped build out the VisionX product’s design system. Now, in an interesting reversal of the typical brand-first model, we're using the VisionX product design system as the foundation for Smarttech247’s full brand refresh — simply adding a display typeface to bridge the gap. This organic evolution — from product to brand — is the kind of real-world, high-stakes system work that excites me most.

It’s also a reminder of where I want to invest my focus and energy right now.
I’m currently working through Figmaster.co to deepen my product system-building skills, but I know that real mastery won’t come from another course — it’ll come from building, refining, and applying.

After finishing my MSc last year, I believe I’ve studied enough theory.
Now, the priority is putting everything into practice — to sharpen this as a defining strength in my career.
And honestly, I’ve never been more excited about the path ahead.