Design

15 YouTube channels that digital designers should be watching

4 min read
Tony Ho Tran
  •  Aug 19, 2019
Link copied to clipboard

You don’t need to step into a classroom to get masterclasses from design professionals on topics such as motion, graphic, and UX design. All you need is a YouTube account and you’re ready to start. 

But with the number of channels out there, it’s nearly impossible to settle on one video or YouTuber to start with. That’s why we curated this list of the fifteen YouTube channels all digital designers should check out. 

Subscribe to these YouTube channels for inspiration, tutorials, or just to get a little creative break from your workday. 

1. femke 

Creator: Femke von Schoonhoven

Subject: UX, research, and product design

Suggested video: How I got a design job at Uber

Femke von Schoonhoven is a full-time product designer at Uber who launched her YouTube channel early 2019. Her channel hosts a variety of different videos on UX and product design as well as a look into her own career trajectory. Subscribe if you’re interested in seeing an in-depth look into the life of a UX designer.

(Want to see these recommendations in your inbox? Sign up for our email digest!)

2. Hello, I’m Alexa

Subject: UX and product design

Suggested video: A day in the life of a UX designer in San Francisco (but forreal)

Alexa Herasimchuk is a Bay Area-based product designer who created this small but fantastic channel to help viewers learn more about the product design industry. She covers everything from career topics like how to create a UX design portfolio to interesting talks with other designers like this one with a design systems designer for DoorDash. Highly recommended for those looking to get a start in UX and product design.

3. Satori Graphics

Creator: Tom Cargill

Subject: Freelancing advice and speed art

Suggested video: 3 mistakes I made as a young designer

Tom Cargill brings a great mix of no-nonsense tutorials on topics such as workflow tips and poster design, and even career and personal development videos such as breakdowns of a good design contract and the mentality you need to be a successful designer. It’s a great channel for any young, early-career designers looking to learn more about the industry.

4. Zimri Mayfield

Creator: Zimri Mayfield

Subject: Design inspiration and memes

Suggested video: How to design 1 logo in 3 unique styles

Zimri’s irreverent personality injects a lot of humor into each of his videos making them very entertaining. Along with a host of design tutorials, he also frequently engages with his audience in video challenges like this one where he redesigns user submitted logos.

He’s a frenetic YouTuber more akin to the likes of PewDiePie than what you’d expect from a design tutorial channel—and that’s exactly what makes him great. 

5. Sketch Together

Creator: Pablo Stanley

Subject: Design tutorials

Suggested video: Late night design: Design leadership

Pablo’s channel mixes design tutorials (well, it’s mostly design tutorials) with interviews with design leaders and live design sessions. Pablo’s walkthroughs of his own successful projects, like Humaaans and Buttss (no, we’re not kidding), give insight into both his design process and how he comes up with his wild ideas. 

6. Google Design

Creator: Google

Subject: Material design and Google design principles

Suggested video: Making material design

Interested in the design systems and values that drive one of the most successful companies in the world? Google Design is the search engine platform’s YouTube channel dedicated to exactly that

 Along with providing insights into their design processes, Google Design also uploads videos of their in-house speaker series, where they invite design innovators such as Golden Krishna to speak about developments in the design world. 

7. Mike Locke

Creator: Mike Locke

Subject: UX design and career advice

Suggested video: Getting started in UX design in 2019

Product designer and educator Mike Locke teaches his viewers the principles behind UX design. Though the topic can be pretty confusing to even the most seasoned designer, Mike breaks it down in an easy-to-digest way. He also offers an online course for anyone who wants to get a handle on UI/UX concepts. 

8. Will Paterson

Creator: Will Paterson

Subject: Logo design, calligraphy, and freelancing advice

Suggested video: How to design a modern logo

Will Paterson created his YouTube channel in 2012 and has since become one of the platform’s biggest names in graphic design. His channel offers great and informative videos on everything from hand lettering tutorials to how to make passive income as a designer.

Will’s not afraid to inject his personality into each video and teaching skills that you may never have even thought existed—like creating logos with coffee beans.

9. Eyedesyn

Creator: EJ Hassenfratz

Subject: Cinema 4D tutorials, 3D modeling, and motion graphic design 

Suggested video: Creating soft body dynamic strings

EJ Hassenfratz is a Denver-based motion designer drawing upon more than a decade of experience working with Cinema 4D and creating stunning motion graphic designs.

His videos help you get started using motion graphic software. If you’re interested in learning even more about motion graphic design, EJ collaborated with the School of Motion to offer a course on how to get started with Cinema 4D.

10. The Futur

Creator: Chris Do

Subject: Design career advice

Suggested video: How to Start & Run a Design Business: Pricing & Estimating Creative Design Jobs

Founded by Emmy-winning director Chris Do, the Futur dedicates itself to teaching creatives how to be successful entrepreneurs. Along with lessons such as how to charge more for a logo and how to build a brand, The Futur also gives great lessons on design concepts like UX design and typography tips.

For those interested in diving even deeper, their website also has a robust catalog of courses to help you jump start your design career.

11. Flux

Creator: Ran Segall

Subject: Vlog, design tutorials, and freelance/business advice

Suggested video: How to price your first freelance project

Ran Segall is a designer and startup founder who created a channel to share their design work, freelance stories, and work process. He uploads a video every day of the week (!) for his 88k subscribers and they’re rarely longer than thirty minutes—though he’s also known for teaming up with other designers for interviews and #deeptalks.

12. CharliMarieTV

Creator: Charli Prangley

Subject: Vlog, design tutorials, and freelancing advice

Suggested video: The three types of design jobs

Charli Prangley is a digital nomad, entrepreneur, and designer for ConvertKit — not to mention the creator of one of the most popular design channels on YouTube. Her videos cover the gamut of design topics such as how to design a website, how to get paid on time, and what it’s like to work from home as a designer.

13. Vox

Creator: Vox

Subject: Explainers on culture, politics, art, music, design, and pretty much everything else. 

Suggested video: Their entire “By Design” playlist

Vox is famous for its video explainers and articles breaking down complicated news in a digestible way. While any one of their videos can be a great font of inspiration, designers will love their “By Design” series where they take a look at “the intersection of design and technology.” It’s a fantastic resource for design history and a deep look at why certain designs are the way they are. 

14. TED

Creator: TED

Subject: Lectures from leading thinkers and innovators

Suggested video: Check out our article on the 7 TED Talks every designer should watch for great videos

TED Talks gives viewers a look into the thoughts of some of the foremost innovators and thought leaders in the world. They also have a host of great talks on design—more than 300 of them in fact. If you don’t have time to watch all 300, be sure to read our article on the ones you should watch

15. Jesse Showalter

Creator: Jesse Showalter

Subject: Design and code, design thinking, and the business of design

Suggested video: 5 best places to find remote and design jobs

Jesse Showalter’s channel gives his 10K+ subscribers a look into his life as a full-time full-stack designer balancing freelance, family, and surfing. His product reviews, looks into his personal creative process, and design 101 explanations (see: UX vs. UI design) give a full look into a designer’s life.

Surpise! 16. InVision

Creator: InVision

Subject: InVision tutorials and interviews with professional creatives

Suggested video: What is the UX design process?

You didn’t think we’d go the entire list and not shout out our channel did you? That’d be crazy—especially since our channel contains great videos breaking down exactly how to use the InVision app for your design process. Along with helpful tutorials on InVision Studio and Sketch, you’ll also get great interviews with leading designers in our DesignBetter.co podcast videos and our Design Talks series.

Collaborate in real time on a digital whiteboard