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Sustain Open Source Design Podcast

Episode 29: Clara García Viñola of Kaleidos on building Taiga and Penpot

Guest

Clara García Viñola

Panelists

Richard Littauer | Memo Esparza

Show Notes

Hello and welcome to Sustain Open Source Design! The podcast where we talk about sustaining open source with design. Learn how we, as designers, interface with open source in a sustainable way, how we integrate into different communities, and how we as coders, work with other designers. Today joining us as our guest is Clara García Viñola, who’s a Designer with Kaleidos. We’ll find out more about Clara’s job and what she does, she explains the design team and how they collaborate at Kaleidos, and she fills us in on building Taiga and Penpot. Also, Clara tells us about a design tool they are working on for everyone to use, not just designers. Go ahead and download this episode now to find out more!

[00:01:50] Clara explains how she got the title of Full-Stop Designer and what she does.

[00:04:29] With Clara’s creative uprising, we find out what aspects of her personal philosophy fits with what she does at Kaleidos.

[00:05:59] We hear about the design team at Kaleidos.

[00:07:28] How is the Kaleidos team organized with working in open source with Clara’s team?

[00:10:56] Richard asks Clara if there’s any downsides to having all her designs open source, how she mitigates those downsides, and how she makes it easier.

[00:12:35] We learn how it was decided that Penpot was the next idea to build after Taiga.

[00:14:18] Clara explains some other alternatives they are working with.

[00:16:33] Find out about the relationship Kaleidos has with their communities and the ways users can communicate with them.

[00:18:27] Is there any way to be involved in open source if you’re not working at the best company?

[00:23:59] Clara tells us what Kaleidos does to incorporate people who are members of the community, use the system, and may want to make changes if they find a bug. Also, she tells us how they enable community members to be owners of the product.

[00:25:48] We hear about a design tool that is being worked on that everyone can use.

[00:28:18] Find out where you can learn more about Kaleidos and follow Clara online.

Quotes

[00:07:20] “We design Penpot in Penpot.”

[00:09:05] “We have a design system, and we work from it and it’s open!”

[00:11:08] “Don’t feel that you need to do all that your users tell you to do.”

[00:12:55] “We have in Kaleidos two weeks a year as ‘Innovation weeks.’ Penpot came from that.”

[00:17:04] “The next step is for the design community to participate more and be more involved.”

[00:18:36] “It’s so difficult because the system is built right now with proprietary tools.”

[00:21:17] “We think that a design tool is a design tool that must be able to be used in any country, language, or speed connection of internet.”

[00:26:55] “We don’t want to make a design tool for designers, we want to make a design tool for everyone.”

Spotlight

  • [00:29:20] Memo’s spotlight is The Creative Independent.
  • [00:30:08] Richard’s spotlight is Julia Sanches awesome literature.
  • [00:31:04] Clara’s spotlight is Isa Ludita.

Links

Credits

Special Guest: Clara Garcia Viñola.

Episode source