This website is typset in IBM Plex Sans JP and Instrument Serif.
Special thanks to Bryant Callahan, author and creator of Vastland. You can find his work here.
Design Philosophy (Leslie’s Version)
human-centered design
I want to design for two reasons: making things beautiful and making people’s lives waaaay less annoying.
collaborate
Making things with others is a 10/10 experience. Infinitely better than being a “design hermit”.
look good, work well
I make things that are pretty AND actually work (revolutionary, I know).
intuitive
If your memaw can’t figure it out, I haven’t done my job right.
About me
I'm Leslie- I lived in Texas for thirty-redacted years and then moved to Seattle to be with my partners. During my time in Texas, I worked in hospitality and food service. The ten years I spent working my way from a barista to an executive team member of a small roasting company were spent developing skills that would ultimately help me with my UX/UI design work, but I didn't know that at the time. Skills like reading customers on the fly, which turns out to be exactly what human-centered design is about.
(Keep reading here.)
"I've had the pleasure of mentoring Leslie for nearly a year, and she brings a genuinely unique and creative approach to UX design. The passion for design systems paired with enthusiasm to learn responsive design shows real commitment to developing comprehensive skills, while the natural ability to think outside the box consistently leads to innovative solutions - from the wonderfully unique Mars project to an empathic and thoroughly well thought out ADHD app. This creative mind will undoubtedly make Leslie stand out in the field."
- Charlie, DesignLab Mentor
“Leslie brought a fresh perspective at a time when many of our team's routines had become automatic and fresh ideas were rare. She regularly helped me reevaluate what was most effective, always with a constructive and forward-thinking approach. The majority of the improvements that came from her input are still in place today.”
- Kevin, Former Owner of Novel Coffee Roasters
What I’m reading
Bittersweet
Various Substacks
Vastland
How to do Nothing
What I’m watching
Anything A24 releases
Hacks
The Righteous Gemstones
Design-related YouTube Videos
Things I do for ~fun~
I’m constantly looking for new creative outlets, but the areas I keep going back to are photography, poetry, and music
What I’m listening to
Doechii
Fred again...
joan
Florence + The Machine
“Side Projects”
Projects that I work on for fun
I’m Leslie Monk- a UX/UI, and Product Designer based in Seattle.
I’m interested in making things beautiful, usable, and most of all: not boring.
