Nick Pattison @thenickpattison Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Nick Pattison

3 months

Day 1 of a brand sprint concept for a data security company. I absolutely LOVE this client, who wanted to go against the grain of the current tech vibes and have a retro 80s look.

94

79

2K

Last Seen Profiles

@mobbe

@arabhardware

@LimonovEdouard

@BirdsATWUp

@TheForeverDMs

@xuchuan25

@Teddy_BFF

@actressstark

@MichaelNakazawa

@WlertXd

@alexxisfalcon

@shins_city

@EHC_Freiburg

@imnotgenekelly

@EnvyWhiskers

@oleg_demidov85

@Chavdaric

@Beliplayy

@wokmommy

@apsaker

@KarenLJ71

@AntTripp71

@kamuis_sab

@DanubeCo

@UrbanaYES

@XahauCommunity

@LucaFury

@vJanix

@CathyMohlahlana

@QuarkTV_

@Elsayed78129817

@HolyWarAngelMMA

@sur4js

@CLC1113

@WCPSS_CTE

@LeviEva36653497

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

I reviewed over 3,000 design portfolio websites this year. Here are my top 20 sites from both independent designers and studios. A mega-thread of inspiration:

32

284

4K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

3 months

One of the better examples of how the right typeface can do the heavy lifting for your brand.

32

81

2K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

9 months

People have been asking how we find high quality typefaces for our brand sprints so quickly. The trick is to stick with the elite foundries. Here are my top 10 (and their best typefaces):

29

126

2K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

I have struggled with a bad back and sciatica for years, all from sitting at a desk. It took me a long time to realize stretching alone won't work. You have to strengthen your legs and core. Here are my top 10 moves for those of you with a bad back from sitting:

34

270

1K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Your branding and web projects can look exponentially better with ultra-realistic mockups. Problem is, only a small number of sites have sophisticated mockups that use real light, high-end materials, and aren’t computer renders. Here are my top 10:

24

65

1K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

9 months

New brand sprint, day two.

29

34

1K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

10 months

What Day 1 of a brand sprint looks like

34

31

1K

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

The website I designed. The site 6 months later.

6

63

939

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Nobody prepares you for the astronomical amount of berries your children will eat. Just tens of thousands of dollars worth of berries

25

51

853

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Finding good typefaces for new projects is tough. Here are my top 10 typefaces in use by some of my favorite designers.

8

34

850

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Today I'm proud to introduce Stellar, a new way to discover and hire top-tier freelance creatives. If you need an expert freelancer for your next project, Stellar is the first and only highly-curated creative platform of it's kind. ✨ ✨

61

55

823

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

At the end of a branding project, usually all we see is the final shiny new logo. But more interesting is actually everything that went into arriving at that final mark. Here’s a peak under the hood for one of our recent branding projects at Primary. 🧵

20

28

801

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Design a landing page in a day with zero branding in place challenge

27

20

747

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Recently we have been doing one week brand sprints. Clients get two complete design options in five days or less. Here is a recent one for a VC that invests in biotech.

30

18

727

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Recently we have been doing one week brand sprints, designing a new visual identity in 7 days or less. Here is a look at how we designed a new brand for a company that integrates subtle mood-changing vibrations and signals into wearable devices:

23

17

722

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

@limitlessjest My mans got 3 mattresses and 0 mayo

5

7

645

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

9 months

New brand sprint, day 2

19

20

652

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

The amount of people who think Halli is some random mid-level Twitter employee (including Elon?) are really showing their ass in the comments here.

Halli

@iamharaldur

1 year

Dear @elonmusk 👋 9 days ago the access to my work computer was cut, along with about 200 other Twitter employees. However your head of HR is not able to confirm if I am an employee or not. You've not answered my emails. Maybe if enough people retweet you'll answer me here?

2K

20K

130K

6

22

620

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

Brand sprint direction for a finance company that wanted a classic, "New Yorker" vibe led by illustrations.

23

8

582

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

3 months

The only way to become a great designer is to be completely obsessed with looking at work. Just relentlessly find good work, dissect it, catalogue it, and remake your own versions of it over and over again until you can do it with your eyes closed. Only then—armed with a deep…

14

64

555

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

And from the cutting room floor, here is the second direction that wasn't selected. I love the colors here—saving these for another sprint.

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

Brand sprint direction for a finance company that wanted a classic, "New Yorker" vibe led by illustrations.

23

8

582

21

15

546

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Kith just dropped this Wilson tennis collab and this is some primo art direction

5

22

540

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

Day 3 of a brand sprint for a company doing something big with Ethereum. The client wanted something that felt colorful, positive, and futuristic, with a touch of Apple's aesthetic.

19

14

542

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

Day 2 of a brand sprint for one of the oldest, women-owned weed delivery services in NYC. Melding concepts of pathways, whiskers, and smoke.

16

18

532

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

5 months

Recently we have been doing one week brand sprints, designing a new visual identity in 7 days. Here is a look at how we designed a new brand for @mialoira 's course that teaches creatives how to leverage AI to supercharge creativity.

12

21

523

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

10 months

Two years ago I lost out on the biggest job of my life—designing all interior graphics for Sphere. I was one of three finalists, and simply priced too high. The whole thing looks fantastic though, they killed it.

Warren Sharp

@SharpFootball

10 months

the $2.3B sphere in Las Vegas is insane 😳

708

3K

24K

9

16

519

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Not winning big freelance design jobs? Time to rethink your proposals. To secure five or six figure jobs, your secret weapon is a highly visual, custom proposal that shows deep thinking. Steal my template. 🧵

41

33

461

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

5 months

Fired my plumber today because I bought some pipes and a wrench

Codie Sanchez

@Codie_Sanchez

5 months

We were overpaying for design by $10,000+ monthly: Had a 25 year old find all we could cut costs in design w/ tech. - Canva $12.99 = cards, invoices, social media artwork, logos etc - Framer $15 = replaced all simple websites - Dalle $15 = replaced all 1st drafts of graphics

144

67

981

13

22

464

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

What industry needs good design desperately, but is underserved because designers think it’s too boring?

275

31

458

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

4 months

Whoever is doing this new @diptyqueparis work is in the absolute zone

10

21

430

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

If you are a business looking to redesign your website, or a designer starting a new project, there are a few select places you can go to find good website design inspiration. Here are my top 12:

12

18

333

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

17 days

Primary has a shiny new website! Featuring tons of new work and a laser focus on Brand Sprints. Link below.

38

8

328

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

Another day of working on a computer to achieve the dream of making enough money to never work on a computer

9

28

316

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

We recently designed the new logo for the good folks @Lawtrades . Here is a quick behind-the-scenes look at what went into creating their new mark.

9

28

292

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

10 months

87-page proposal I had to ship for this bad boy

12

2

290

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

A little before and after for a fun project we are finishing up. Excited about this one.

13

11

281

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Freelancer positioning idea: There should be a freelance designer who is an absolute expert in executing mockups. That's all you do. Design studios and freelance designers would pay big money regularly to have you nail presentations and portfolio content.

23

9

277

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

We are now focused exclusively on 1-week brand sprints. These result in two unique brand directions for clients in seven days. Here's a look at how we designed two brand options for SliceSpace, a company that allows anyone to invest in a slice of real estate.

14

3

278

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

The design industry is still operating like a car dealership. Clients have to poke around, call you for a price, wait, and haggle. We should all be operating like Tesla. Show the product, the price, and the features. Make it easy to buy on the spot. Currently working on this.

30

12

264

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

Incredibly well-articulated. Attention to detail in design (particularly branding) is a subliminal signal to consumers. It makes them think: “If there is such great attention paid here, the product must have these qualities too.”

6

26

267

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

5 months

New website design sprint showing before and after. Carte blanche to come up with a new brand on the fly while we design.

20

3

264

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

Got an offer from one of the bigger accounts on here you all know (200k followers) to buy this unchosen identity outright. Brings up a really interesting question: Does the previous client own killed work? Is good work that isn’t picked dead forever?

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

And from the cutting room floor, here is the second direction that wasn't selected. I love the colors here—saving these for another sprint.

21

15

546

37

7

255

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

3 months

The wild thing is that this isn’t even the chosen direction

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

3 months

Day 1 of a brand sprint concept for a data security company. I absolutely LOVE this client, who wanted to go against the grain of the current tech vibes and have a retro 80s look.

94

79

2K

15

3

250

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

9 months

@olegshilin_ Amazing these people are designers since they don’t see color

12

241

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

Oooh I like this. Let’s see if Brett bites on my invite to go head-to-head on a brand. He gets one day, I get two weeks. Poll the work at the end.

Brett @ Designjoy

@BrettFromDJ

1 month

Let's take a designer. Give them 2 weeks to design a brand. Research, strategy, moodboards, etc. Give me 24 hours to do the same, with none of the above. We do a poll to vote on which one is which. Bet you wouldn't be able to tell. It isn't that I'm a better designer. It's…

127

23

675

13

3

227

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

Day 2 of a Brand Sprint for a DTC marketing agency that supercharges growth

3

12

213

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Me being totally burnt out but getting a new project inquiry yes yes yesyes yesyes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yesyes yes yes yes yesye yes yes yes yes yesyes

1

14

209

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Billy is back baby, let’s get wyld

13

206

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

The hardest part of being a freelancer is having an unpredictable salary. Work comes in waves, and with it crushing anxiety about whether or not you will make it through the year. After 15 years of winging it, here's a simple method to take the guesswork out of freelance income.

24

11

202

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Hi friends! I have one open spot for a design project in Sept/Oct. Ideally brand/web design for a small team who need some serious design firepower. See more of my work here:

3

7

196

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

10 months

After a one-week brand sprint presentation today: “If you had done that in three months I’d be blown away. Just spectacular.” Then our client…cried. I think I’ve found my thing?

16

3

193

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

One week after launch and a designer on Stellar just signed a contract for $50k. I think we’re onto something.

15

1

187

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

10 months

Me managing three brand sprints at once 20 LOGOS!!! 40 COLOR PALETTES!!! 60 TYPEFACES!!! 55 MOCKUPS!!! 200 ICONS!!! 18 LANDING PAGES!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME CHEFS?!? 87 YOUR BULLSHIT WEEKEND!!!

5

4

175

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

The model for building a creative business is too limited. It’s either be a solo freelancer or build an agency. But with other talented freelancers only a DM away, there’s a sweet spot in the middle that is highly collaborative that hasn’t been created yet. Some initial ideas:

21

11

165

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

3 months

It took me a year but I just figured out exactly what Stellar is going to be. And now that I’ve got it I can’t wait another second. Hint: Sprints. It’s going to be a completely innovative model for how companies work with freelance talent. And it’s going to completely cook…

18

5

158

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

I turn 43 tomorrow. In my experience your 40s is where you finally put all the messy stuff from your 20s and the bigger lessons of your 30s together. I’m healthier, am super clear on who I am and what I want, and have deeper relationships. I love it.

Haruko Hayakawa

@helloharuko

6 months

I feel like design and creative glorifies young talent (which I support) but what about those in 40s, 50s, 60s? Can we highlight and talk to them too? I want to hear their knowledge and insights

72

70

909

8

0

157

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

New design work for Muze, the music fitness app that creates custom workout music based on your training intensity. We did the app design, branding, and website. Full case study here:

2

12

127

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

A few months ago I got us an article in Forbes that immediately led to a partnership with Microsoft. For any founder trying to get press, this is the one thing I did that absolutely works:

3

2

141

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

10 months

When you finish a good project, distribute it like crazy. I'm talking all out blitz. STEP 1 Share your process on social. Clients will come if you can show them both exceptional work and strong thinking. Post a: • Twitter thread • LinkedIn slideshow • Instagram reel

11

2

136

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

For the first time in my life I’m experiencing true PMF. Companies are calling, investors interested, people want in on the team. Real euphoric Ram Das stuff, I could ride this wave forever.

11

0

127

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Honored to be the featured site on Godly this morning ✨

Godly

@godlywebsite

2 years

Stellar →

3

14

289

9

3

120

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Elon had no idea one of the greatest design leaders alive works for his company, then had the audacity to say he is independent wealthy and faked muscular dystrophy.

Elon Musk

@elonmusk

1 year

@anothercohen The reality is that this guy (who is independently wealthy) did no actual work, claimed as his excuse that he had a disability that prevented him from typing, yet was simultaneously tweeting up a storm. Can’t say I have a lot of respect for that.

8K

5K

104K

2

9

119

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

Been working with some really elite web designers lately who are 10x-ing my initial designs. This may be obvious—but as a brand designer who focuses so much on impactful graphics—its been interesting to see that exceptional web design has less to do with the art itself. A…

5

1

115

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

@BrettFromDJ Challenge accepted. Rule if you have to send your work to a third party after 24 hours and I get my traditional 2 week sprint. You down?

14

0

113

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

I’m not driven, I’m just a guy with zero safety net fighting for his life

11

6

104

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

The trick to 10xing as a designer is to obsessively look at the best work. Find it, catalog it, become consumed by it. You will notice that as you continue your own work, suddenly there is immense context for the right and wrong decisions.

5

98

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

This is so good. Type foundries should create original art showcasing their typefaces more often.

Nuform Type

@nuformtype

6 months

🐈🗽🥪🥪🗽🐈

5

30

441

3

2

95

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

➊ Squat to stretch My #1 daily move. First warm up with a squat with your palms fully on the ground while keeping them there as you lift your hips. Then do a set where you squat and then extend as high as you can with fingers on the ground, getting a full stretch.

1

3

90

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

Tired: look on Pinterest for inspiration Wired: download every branding project from your favorite 90 designers and organize it in Figma by color and style

8

6

92

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

What are the best design job boards (freelance and full-time)?

6

93

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Today we launch Stellar on Product Hunt! We want to be the #1 Product of the Day, which means big traffic, press, and more. Today is also my birthday, so give the gift of love and show your support:

9

88

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

David Mcgillavry's ( @dmcgco ) pairing of bold typography with rounded animated cards feels immediately fresh and different.

4

1

83

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Marco Cornacchia ( @marcofyi ) might have the most fun and creative portfolio site online, period. Each card has an interaction in it, showing off his polished product and web skills in real time.

1

7

81

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

These moves were all taught to me by my trainer @mythoughtfood . I had sciatica for two years straight without a painless day, and he healed me in one month. I cannot recommend him enough if you are experiencing nagging pain of any kind.

5

3

79

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

Want to make $1k for doing basically nothing? If you refer a new client to me for a brand sprint who converts, I’ll send you $1k the next day.

3

4

80

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

11 months

@DannPetty 1. 2. … 3. 4. 5. … 6. 7. Also about to drop a high-end freelance board at

0

5

78

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Guys I hate to break it to you but Brett from Designjoy’s model that’s really lit the world on fire is called…a retainer.

8

1

76

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

Coming up with brand names is hard and a fairly mysterious process. Let's take a look at how we renamed our design studio Primary last year.

1

4

77

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

Sold 3 sprints off this tweet, that’s $45k in a day. This works. Do it.

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

Want to make $1k for doing basically nothing? If you refer a new client to me for a brand sprint who converts, I’ll send you $1k the next day.

3

4

80

9

1

76

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

15 days

Here they come. Good thing I spent the last two months planning for this and have dug a huge moat. Let’s go, I’m ready.

12

0

75

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

When we design two brand directions, we always make sure both are: 1) equally strong 2) significantly different from each other So the question for the client isn’t “which is better” but “which works best for our audience”

3

0

75

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

9 months

Just had an Amazon driver deliver a package to my doorstep at 6:30 am with NO PANTS OR UNDERWEAR. Just an Amazon vest, full ass out. Ran as fast as they could.

12

1

74

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Another $30k project landed on Stellar! Under one month with zero marketing and the inquiries are flying in. Excited to see what this press run does for our insanely talented group.

5

0

75

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

6 months

• Spent a decade working for Paula Scher and Milton Glaser • Built 3 startups • Ran my own solo practice while building those startups All had compounding interest but building startups while running a freelance practice will make you learn some ridiculously hard shit fast.

Contra

@contra

6 months

How did you learn your main freelancing skill? 💡 Did you go to school, take a bootcamp or are you self-taught? 👀🧵

43

2

44

5

0

73

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Finally…a Twitter alternative with a really nice UI that seems like a perfect hybrid of Twitter and LinkedIn. I have 5 invites. Who wants one?

Read.cv

@read_cv

1 year

Yes it is! We just released a new TestFlight build with in-app invites. Anyone who has the app now has 5 invites to give out to any existing user on , or someone new via email. So hit up your homies who already have the app for an invite!

92

7

204

28

0

67

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 month

Now this is how you craft a brand that is timeless. Draw inspiration not from Pinterest…but from your memories, a family trip, Picasso, the street you grew up on. I love these videos too. Such fun, easy storytelling that makes the branding process feel so delightful.

Emmett

@emmettshine

1 month

I made a little video story about the inspiration for Little Plains. 🏖️ It’s special when you get to make your work personal. I’m excited to share the backdrop for the branding, illustrations, typography and art we created. Hope you enjoy! 🎬🎞️🌟

26

5

198

1

4

65

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

4 months

Finding talented creatives is hard. Finding talented creatives who are also reliable, self-sufficient A-Players is even harder. Right now I’m deep in the weeds talking with a number of businesses (agencies, VCs, startups, accelerators, and more) about how to make this search…

UI Adrian

@uiuxadrian

4 months

It's Friday 10:30pm and I've got over 60 tabs open looking for designers to join my little team. Someone should make a course about team building and how to make good hires. This is tough af.

44

14

203

6

5

66

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Best plot twist: Halli sues this scaredy-cat and somehow ends up owning Twitter

3

2

65

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

I have had chronic pain for over 18 years. This past summer, I did an ayahuasca retreat in Costa Rica, and have been completely pain-free since. Here's the story of how this magic plant healed years of pain nearly overnight.

6

0

65

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

3 months

Me getting ready to launch this new Primary site with 15 new sprint case studies and all of our automations locked and loaded.

8

1

63

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

@devinsfountain This site design sounds very flushed out already

1

0

63

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

4 months

I'm looking for a Webflow dev who is very advanced with motion and animation to execute a complex single scroll on a one-page site with GSAP. Who do I know?

54

5

61

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

Love when I go upstate and see all of my work in one place: branding and packaging for both @breadalone and @TasteFruition in one spot. It’s like a living portfolio.

8

0

60

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 years

① Layers Layers mockups are hyper-realistic, often have a slightly darker mood, and have a strong use of shadow and light. One of my absolute favorites.

3

1

60

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

2 months

Webflow developers: How much do you charge for a 5 page site if the design is done already and all you have to do is build? And could you get it done in one week?

26

5

60

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

1 year

One thing that has taken me forever to learn about sales calls: Resist talking about yourself. Even if the client wants you to kick off, say “I’d like to hear more about you and what your working on. Then we can talk about me and how I can help.” Don’t sell, listen.

3

1

59

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

9 months

1. Dinamo

1

58

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

5 months

Closing the year feeling like I’ve made tremendous progress and am also terribly behind. Everything is moving at a breakneck speed—AI is coming, business models are changing fast, budgets shifting. Exciting in a sense, but a deep sense of unease in these waters.

11

3

58

Nick Pattison

@thenickpattison

7 months

A good general rule of thumb if you don’t know what to share online is The Two Year Rule. Share what you wish you knew two years ago. Teach that person some invaluable lessons.

Benten

@bentenwoodring

7 months

Don't take things that come naturally to you for granted. Share what you know. Take the opportunity to teach others.

2

3

45

5

2

58