Up-and-coming Designer Spotlight:
Ben Lannon Samson

Welcome to the first edition of Up-and-coming Designer Spotlight, where we’ll celebrate the brilliant and hard-working minds early in their UX/UI design career within our design community. This series aims to inspire you and showcase the journeys of new UX/UI designers and those transferring from related fields.

Our first spotlight shines on Ben Lannon Samson, a UI/UX designer rooted in St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada.

From his early days in a small town surrounded by music and art, Ben’s life has been a canvas of creativity. His household echoed with the diverse tunes of Myles Davis, Bob Dylan, and Tom Waits, while the walls showcased art from around the globe. This rich environment sparked Ben’s early fascination with various art forms, steering him toward music, sketching, and, eventually, graphic design.

As a teenager, Ben’s art pursuits expanded to drumming and forming his band. He has played all over Canada and shared the stage with acts such as Collective Soul, Three Days Grace, Theory Of Deadman, Billy Talent, Finger 11, and more. These experiences intertwined with his studies in graphic design, but despite a hectic life as a performing musician, he earned his college diploma. It showed his dedication and passion for design.

Ben’s creative philosophy is to explore and push ideas to their limits to achieve greatness. His approach to UI/UX design reflects this belief. He always seeks new inspirations and collaborations.

Read on as we explore Ben’s journey, inspirations, and invaluable contributions to the design world.

Ben’s passion for music and art translated to actively playing drums alongside designing

Ben’s band shared the stage with acts such as Three Days Grace, Billy Talent, and Collective Soul

Design has always been part of my life in one form or another. At an early age, I had a knack for scale, proportion, detail, and composition. It wasn’t long before fellow students started asking me to draw their favorite superheroes or offered to buy my drawings. You could say it became part of my identity, making me stand out from the crowd. I liked that feeling.

What drew me to UI/UX design? At first, designing apps and interactive screens seemed exciting. It was creative and potentially a promising career. Interactive screens communicate a brand. They also help the user. They create many creative possibilities. This is in contrast to the constraints of one static layout. 

Throughout my career as a designer and production artist, I’ve always had a reputation for being a problem-solver. I’m someone who can create solutions for many design and production issues. I thought my design and print/production background would have valuable transferable skills in UI/UX. So, I started looking into it more.

Also, the user psychology behind an effective product intrigued me. It’s more than just making screens look good. It’s about creating an experience—a memorable experience that enhances the user’s life. An effective design should be almost effortless, and I wanted to learn more about the processes behind that.

Second, after years of working in the design and large-format print industry, it became clear that there wasn’t much room for career growth. I wasn’t fairly compensated for my skills after 10+ years of experience. The ceiling was too low and creatively unfulfilling. So, a career change was in order. 

In September 2022, I decided to take an intensive UI/UX Bootcamp with Careerfoundry with the aspiration of becoming an app designer! It took ten months to complete while working part-time. That was the start of my UI/UX journey.

One of Ben’s illustrations showcasing his skills

Photography is one of Ben’s hobbies

I would have to go with my most recent case study and a travel and tourism web app, “Discover Newfoundland.” It was a chance to showcase where I live, and this is when I started seeing some actual results from my hard work and persistence.

Becoming a UI/UX designer certainly doesn’t happen overnight; it takes time. But I could see my designs were becoming more polished and professional. I felt a new sense of confidence from thousands of hours of practice throughout my courses.

However, the mentoring from Andrija at Supercharge Design is truly what pushed me to the next level. Andrija took me beyond the constraints of being a student at a UI/UX boot camp. He encouraged me to dig deep into all my design challenges. He also provided the guidance I needed to meet my goals. 

Not long after I started working with Andrija, I realized I made an excellent decision to choose him as my mentor. For some reason, it just seemed to click. It was very exciting!

Ben’s case study web project focused on traveling and tourism in Newfoundland

Well, goal number one has to be finding my first full-time role as a UI/UX designer! That’s a crucial step in my career advancement, of course. I’d love to find the right fit with a team of creatives and professionals so I can move on to the next phase of my UI/UX designer journey.

I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in the field. Learning from other experienced and talented designers will be an exciting opportunity. I think it will skyrocket my growth as a designer.

Once I’ve been in the field for a few years, I’d love to help other designers transition into the field and pay it forward. My goal is to work on many real-world products and embrace all the opportunities that come with them. 

Of course, I’d love to eventually become a senior UI/UX designer. But honestly, my goal is to continue with the same dedication to the craft. Whatever comes from that will undoubtedly continue to be exciting, and I’m looking forward to what I’ll be doing and where my skills will be in a few years. 

I should also mention that I plan to study animation and motion design more. I want to use animation to improve usability, heuristics, and product effectiveness. It opens up an entirely new world of creative possibilities.

My work ethic and desire to grow. With a bit of talent and a lot of hard work, you can go far. Farther than with lots of talent but without drive and determination.

Also, my openness to collaboration and seeking advice and opinions is another good trait for this industry. In fact, I love a good critique. I’m more offended if someone doesn’t give me their honest opinion. It could potentially be a missed opportunity to improve!

Read Ben’s full project case study here

I’d have to say writing an effective case study. There seems to be a general template that many designers follow when writing their case studies, and I was definitely one of them. I knew it should “tell a story” about my design journey. But I couldn’t fit my design process into this template—at least, not in a good and real way. It’s something that I struggled with early on.

But once again, with Andrija’s help, it became less daunting. I started to understand better how to make a compelling case study based on my designs and design decisions. Now, I see it as an invaluable part of the process. It’s a way to showcase who you are as a designer, your thought processes, and how you solve design problems. But still. It’s an important skill that I look forward to developing further.

There were many struggles along the way. How else do you move forward without overcoming obstacles right? 

But I’d have to say my biggest challenge was to stay focused and dedicated to the process. When I started my UI/UX journey, I thought I could finish my boot camp within six months and possibly get a job in the field soon after. 

However, the more immersed I was, the more I realized how deep it goes, and this would take some time. It was overwhelming at times and still is. But I promised myself that I would finish what started no matter what. That mindset proves to be the right one.

After months and months (now turning into years) of dedication, I started to gain momentum. Instead of questioning what I was doing or asking myself if this would ever amount to anything, I started to feel more confident and optimistic. This was the result of almost two years of dedication and persistence towards my goals. It’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done in my life.

Music is a different creative outlet for Ben serving as both a physical and mental workout

Besides design, my biggest passion is music. I’ve been a drummer and have found absolute joy in it most of my life. It’s a feeling I can’t describe. Having that outlet and the ability to express myself differently is a gift. It’s one of the most therapeutic but also empowering feelings. Not to mention, it’s a great physical and mental workout. It helps balance me when I’m feeling out of alignment or stressed.

I try to immerse myself in the outdoors as much as possible, too. There is a connection to nature that is grounding, energizing, and inspiring. I find that when you’ve been looking at a screen or immersed in a project too long, you eventually hit a wall. There is no better remedy than going for a spectacular coastal hike for a reboot! (Check out my web app, “Discover Newfoundland,” for some recommendations.)

Ben enjoys fishing and spending time outdoors

Spending time outdoors leads to photography too

This has been a hot topic for the past year or so, but the use of AI in UI/UX design. I have been so immersed in building a solid foundation in my UI/UX skills that I haven’t fully embraced the capabilities of AI yet. At first, I was concerned about it. AI started coming on stream just a few months after I started my courses, and there was a lot of hype that it would completely replace UI/UX designers. But now, I see it as a tool to help quickly generate ideas and a time saver. It is an advantage for designers. It’s high on my list of topics to study and implement into my workflow.

At this point, there isn’t anything I’m not excited about, haha! But maybe flat design. It’s not that I’m not excited about it, but it’s more of a foreign style to me. I like to use depth in both my UI designs and graphic design. I think it adds to the overall appeal of a layout and can help with hierarchies. However, I’d like to practice and learn more about flat design and see what I can take from it.

I think to simply show more whitespace in your interface. Make sure not to overwhelm the user with too many saturated colors and graphics or other unnecessary elements. When this concept sunk in, I think it changed my designs into more of a UI/UX layout rather than a “graphic design” layout.

Let your color palette and font choices tastefully splash into your UI to help establish the brand. This helps with scanability, usability, and hierarchies. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all scenarios, but it can also be adapted to dark mode and more graphic-heavy interfaces. Simple but effective always wins.

Yes. The CareerFoundry courses included a tutor and mentor to help with my progress. The tutor reviewed my submissions, gave constructive feedback, and was very encouraging throughout the ups and downs of the course. My mentor was there to guide me and answer my questions. 

However, I booked two one-hour Zoom calls weekly to discuss UI/UX topics and get advice on my Figma files. We would tackle my design problems together and come up with solutions. She was a product designer for Meta, so she was a great resource with much experience. She helped me refine my UI/UX skills early on and was an invaluable resource.

My CareerFoundry course gave me a foundation to build on. Then, of course, my mentoring with Andrija at Supercharge Design, which I’ve touched on a few times already. This is where it started to all come together for me. My previous mentoring was great, but it was more curated for an intro to UI/UX. 

Andrija’s approach was more intensive and pushed me as if I were working in the field already. Things progressed faster with Andrija. But that doesn’t mean it was easy! He would challenge me but provide advice and tips to get the best out of me.

We weren’t looking for satisfactory or good enough for a junior UI/UX designer. My goal was to reach the highest level possible to give me the best chance in this highly competitive industry. And I can tell you it was frustrating and painful at times, but definitely worth it. The chemistry was right. I met each challenge he gave me in our mentoring. He guided, encouraged, and gave me insightful tips.

The combination of my desire to succeed in UI/UX design, backed by Andrija’s mentoring style, proved precisely what I was looking for and needed. I’ll continue working with Andrija while curating my portfolio. 

I can’t recommend Andrija and the Supercharge Design team enough for anyone entering UI/UX or who just finished boot camp and is wondering what to do next. It’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made!

Working with Andrija helped with a more unified visual style

Showcase of final screens from the project

Ben grew up in a house where music and art from around the world were always present, which really fueled his love for creativity. Ben loves to think outside the box and is always looking for new ways to push boundaries in his UX/UI journey.

Right now, he’s really excited about landing his first role as a UI/UX designer and is working hard to improve his animation and motion design skills to eventually become a senior in the field. He’s really committed to learning from experienced designers, working on real projects, and helping others who are new to the industry.

Ben’s story reminds us that with dedication and a love for what you do, success in design is within reach. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for more inspiring stories in our Up-and-coming Designer Spotlight series!

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