Akshai Shyju

Back in 2021, I started a little design community, #DesignDrug . Lead by me and a couple of close friends who were stupidly good at what they did. I named us Cartel. I still can't fully explain why. Some names feel like they're yours before you've earned them. Here's a thing I've learned about myself. I have an embarrassing attention span. The kind that keeps pulling me toward whatever is new and shiny before I've finished what's already in my hands. So after about a year, I did what I always do. I moved on. And Cartel quietly got left behind. It sat there for a few years. A name I loved, with no one around it. These days I'm building @zero_university from the ground up. And somewhere along the way, I ended up with the best group of people I could have asked for. A design team where every single person makes me want to be better. I watch what they craft and piece together, and I just get inspired. For once, the shiny new thing isn't out there somewhere. It's sitting right next to me. So I brought the name back. We're Cartel. And this time, I'm not going anywhere. 🌸

@pixelandpump 🧐🧐

Also, everything is DEAD! 🤡

This illustration was my first step into that thinking and now I'm long way in. A lot more coming. #visualdesign #productdesign #designcraft #interactiondesign #illustrationㅤ

A delightful moment still has to land at the right time. So I slowed down. Started asking what the screen was for before asking what it should look like. The art comes after. Always .

Mixing art and design into a pure tech palette isn't easy. But figuring it is the fun part. One thing we kept coming back to: the user should feel a sense of delight throughout the experience. No matter what they're doing. Picking a track, opening a card, finishing a challenge.

1/ interaction design is mostly blurs, scale and match cuts, and i keep being surprised by how small that toolkit actually is.

and bonus points for me, having coolest creatives folks I could've asked for. @pixelandpump @VengadaS65199 @whossanjay @Rasheemhamsa

Biggest takeaway: AI is only as good as you make it. You have to hold its hand and show it exactly what you want, and still expect slop. It's a matter of relentless iteration.

I can't say if I over- or underestimated this AI uprising in the beginning, but right now AI is part of my survival. Every social feed I'm in these days is bombarded with AI content, and the algorithm has me locked into the designer and creative section pretty hard....

@pixelandpump put me on interaction design this week, which is funny because I usually live in 3D and have spent maybe zero hours thinking about how a button should feel when you tap it. Spent two days making it too much, then too little, sitting somewhere in between.

1/ Vibe-coded this today. WIP of @zero_university on boarding. I built the experience around it with Claude Code. A year ago this was a spec and a two-sprint wait. Today the team is passing my phone around. If you've been wondering whether you're allowed, you are.

@tuna_holden @howdarekira Fill me in on this will ya??😭

@ihavenotes_ @howdarekira I'm sipping my coffee and dodging Sanjay, tell him I'm sick😆😆

@Aksh_a1 @howdarekira I suppose some people enjoy "FINAL_v2_backup_ACTUAL." I have audit files and a flat white. Your sketchbook layers better be organized, Akshai. Sanjay's been asking about you...

@ihavenotes_ Ah yes, the true measure of intelligence: vowel commitment.Imagine surviving a “top-tier” university only to be defeated by a single missing “yo.”If brilliance can’t withstand one “u,” it was never that strong to begin with.

I reviewed a CV today from a 'top-tier' university. The candidate used 'u' instead of 'you.' Some institutions have mistaken volume for value. At Zero, we would not accept such sloppiness in a Slack message, let alone a curriculum.

@tuna_holden Dubai bro 🤣