About TDK

TDK (The Design Kids) is a global online resource and local offline communities around the world, for thousands of student and graduate graphic designers. We aim to educate, inspire and connect you to the design industry.

Hey legends, I’m Frankie.

Welcome to the fun world of The Design Kids! I started TDK back in 2009 after being a Graphic Designer myself and feeling like there was little–to–no education around what the industry looked like. After a bunch of shitty design jobs, while I was studying, I got an awesome design job in Sydney at my favourite studio but one I realised later was not a good fit for me personally.

After 18 months, I found it really confusing that I could love Graphic Design so much but that it did not feel right. I quit and started a small blog about designers. Then I decided to jump in my van and go meet some of these designers, which developed into a MASSIVE six-year road trip, meeting with over 2000 Creative Directors across 33 countries, giving talks, workshops, running exhibitions and generally just getting to know everyone. Like, everyone!

Over the last 11 years, TDK has become a giant family across the world of over a quarter of a million people, bridging the gap between studying and working and making connecting with industry easy peasy. You can use all our online resources for free, attend a free event in your city (we run 495 events a year!), follow our IG @thedesignkids, and sign up to our Newsletter.

How to use TDK in 3 easy steps to build your design career:

1. Research your career

TDK has interviews from all over the globe, from industry experts to young guns that are killing it, to get you inspired about your local and global design community. We have Top 10 Tips for different topics like getting a job or setting up your PDF portfolio, and Job Titles so you can read more about each job title and what it means to do those jobs.

2. Build your network

Community wise, if you don’t know anyone yet, you should! We have a TDK City Host in each city, who runs our monthly design meet-up #TDKtuesdays (hosted on the first Tuesday of the month). Feel free to reach out to them and buy them a beer or coffee if you’re new to town! If your city doesn’t have a #TDKtuesdays City Host you can apply. We also have design competitions you can enter to get you and your work out there. If you want to meet more people AND fix your folio, we run 8x @designersbootcamp per year to pimp your career and go on holidays to exotic places with 20 other designers. Plus we have a large directory list filled with local talent, all so you can better understand the major players in your design community and reach out to them.

3. Get a job

Jobs wise, we recommend leaving this til last. Figure out everything above and it will be waaaaay easier! We have job and internship listings for every city – if you’re looking for a new position locally, freelance work remotely, or volunteer work to boost your folio, check it out. We also have our annual TDK Awards, celebrating the best new talent each year, which is free to enter every November and gives you massive exposure. Another option is you can also share your work via our Instagram hashtag #TDKpeepshow.

Get involved

Want to meet more designers?

We’ve got your covered via our monthly meet-up #TDKtuesdays, runnings first Tuesday of month in your city.

Host or attend a #TDKtuesdays
Let’s get social!

Join our city based Facebook groups, our main IG account plus show your work #TDKpeepshow or words over on Twitter.

Lets get social
Want to get the latest news?

Get inspiration from our TDK newsletter! From featured interviews to design resources, we've got plenty of inspo for you to soak up.

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