Notes

Daina has led and crafted brand identities and experiences for some of the tech industry's most adored brands, including Disney, Slack, Hootsuite, Dropbox and Abstract.

Today Daina works with Shopify as a Lead Designer, shaping brand and product marketing experiences for their global portfolio of financial products.

In our conversation, we explore Daina's origin story to the present day, revealing insights about work ethic, graft and passion, and the choice between pursuing a path of management or a track focused on craft.

If that wasn't enough, we explore the realities of the creative process and the nuisances of building successful brands and campaigns. We also discuss Daina's current role at Shopify and how the business retains a creative and productive culture as a globally distributed team.

Let's get into it!

Highlights

3:00: Daina's background, including what he studied in school and his early copywriting career. He also talks about what made him want to leave advertising, as well as what he appreciated about the industry.

7:30: Daina's first start-up, which was Voto-App, and what he learned from it.

11:15: Information about Panda Network: What it is, what they do, and what the goal is in terms of who is using the site and why.

16:00: Daina's thoughts on what the future will look like, including automation and the way searches will work.

17:10: What she learned from Dorm Room Tycoon, including the downside of raising money for a startup.

22:15: Some of the new pro features of Panda that you can expect in the near future.

23:15: How Daina met his business partner, Ahmet Sulek, and how Panda came to be. He also touches on some of the challenges of a long-distance business relationship.

31:00: Daina's advice on collaborating and his thoughts on the interesting things going on in the design world.