Advent calendar & design shifts this year & the next

Hi friends 🎄

The holiday season is just around the corner, and what better way to count down to Christmas than with a custom digital advent calendar?

I’ve always loved the idea of advent calendars but never actually bought one—so this year, I decided to create my own! Check it out on my Instagram!

It’s zero waste, digital, affordable, and perfect for long-distance besties, couples, and families. It was so much fun to design in Figma. For my visual learners here, watch my tutorial:

Here, I’ll be sharing a step-by-step guide to help you make one too! 👇

💫 my design inspos

Similar to physical calendars, I was going for something more interactive — something that would open up when you hover on it.

Tip: Best to create a mood board to organize your ideas and set the tone for your advent calendar.

🌼 for a quick set-up

If you want to just duplicate my Figma template and customize, its totally fine. You’ll be done in minutes - just add your cute notes!

You can grab the template here.

🌱 but if you wanna add your own twist

Follow along in my tutorial! Start from scratch with blank components and design and animate it however you like.

1. Design interactive windows

   Create two states for each window—idle and hover—to imitate the effect of opening and closing. Add festive colors, patterns, or personal illustrations. For mine, I used an illustration of my apartment!

2. Number your windows

   Label them with numbers 1 through 24, for the days leading up to Christmas.

3. Arrange your windows

   Place your windows randomly across the background—they actually don’t need to be in order!

4. Write your messages for each card

   Each window should open to reveal a surprise. Add fun messages, inside jokes, drawings, or links to videos, songs, or recipes.

5. Linking windows to cards

   Use Figma’s overlay feature to make the windows interactive. Don’t forget to check the box to close the overlay when clicking outside.

loving what all of you have been creating already

Ready to get started? Duplicate the free template here and let me know how your advent calendar turns out. I’d love to see your creations—tag me on social media!

Happy designing and happy holidays, everyone! ❄🎄

☁️ news & trends

YouTube is testing an endless scroll feature — but for long-form videos
If you swipe up when watching a video (not Shorts), you’ll see another video start playing. You think this will fly? Put on your design hat. It’s like an algorithm-controlled, automatic content carousel! And it also lessens the need to dive into your recommended vids too. For creators, it may make thumbnails and titles less important.

A painting by a humanoid robot sold for over a million dollars
Meet Ai-Da, the ultra-realistic robot artist who just made art history. Her painting “AI God,” showing Alan Turing, sold for over a million dollars at Sotheby’s. Amazing what AI algorithms, and a pair of camera eyes and robotic arms can do! Are you looking forward to more AI-generated art in the future?

Type Comic Sans on Google and see what happens
You’ll either hate it or love it. 🤭 What do you think? Does the Comic Sans font deserve all the hate or not? You can also try typing “[Impact / Times New Roman / Garamond] font”.

🪐 launches & tools

That time of the year again… design trends for 2025!
2025 will be giving…balance: AI-driven design will be here, yes, but there’s a growing love for handcrafted, human-centered work too. Think personalized, sustainable pieces blending traditional techniques with modern tech—design that feels personal in a hyper-digital world.

Website headline inspo for when your brain isn’t braining
Ever got stuck thinking of good copy for your websites or mock-ups? Try visiting the H1 Gallery website to get your mind going with ideas, your go-to place for witty and punchy marketing headlines to grab users’ attention. Beyond copy, it can even help your mind going for thinking of design concepts.

toaster
Now, you can track how your prototypes are actually being used. View session recordings, see interaction details like duration or location, and even track views over time. All this, straight from a plugin, so you can fine-tune your designs like a pro. ✨

🌱 reader spotlight

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See you on the internet 🌐,

Marisa | @meshtimes