Clique Studios

Clique exists for a simple reason: we want to do work we can be proud of, with people who inspire us. Our values are a reflection of that mission.Our second value at Clique is: Be a student and a teacher.There is no such thing as "self-taught." Directly or indirectly, everyone learns from someone. Recognizing that reality, we resolve to be the best at getting better. Technology, after all, is the most rapidly evolving industry in the world. To stay on top of it, we are committed to learning and improving, and building it into what we do — not as an “add on,” but as part of our daily work. We recognize that any minute spent teaching one another will pay itself off tenfold.Thus, we wanted to put together a resource hub, not only for internal use, but also to share with the world.Want to see what we're reading and learning from right now?Sign up for our weekly newsletter.[section_break]

Clique's top resources for designers, devs, project managers, marketers, and digital professionals:

Resources for designers

Professional organizations for designers

Where designers share their work

Designers who do a great job sharing their work

How do these people do that?

Instagram posts
Go live on Instagram/Facebook or videos showing process - not just the finished product but how they do it (step by step)
Live critiques on youtube/FB where people can show their work and get design advice or resources
Agencies that get their names out at events / in organizations like AIGA
A strong social presence, posting regularly, and consistent series that focuses on the process (and isn't overly designed)
Not being afraid to show unfinished products

Design inspiration resources

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Resources for developers

Professional organizations for developers

Laravel Slack
StackOverflow
Write/Speak/Code
Chicago Tech Diversity Initiative (also check out their Slack!)
Chicago Digital Accessibility
Inclusive Design
Trans*Code
Dev.to

Where developers share their work

What web developers do a great job sharing their work?

Web dev inspiration resources

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Resources for project managers

Professional organizations for project managers

Project management (PM) at Clique is vastly different from a traditional project management role. Our PMs feel we’re more aligned with the people and conversation topics in UX groups and startup groups (multidisciplinary roles that cover operations as well as strategy). They're more of digital product strategists than traditional project managers.If you're our kind of PM, here's a few resources that you'll find helpful:

PM Meetups on Meetup.com - groups to be wary of The bad groups are → What enterprise resource management tools are you using? Most PM is herding cats
WeWork meetings - There is a Product School that they do along with free presentations by Product Managers
Car Building and Motorcycles - On of our PMs likes to see their process of what they’re doing in a waterfall-esque feel
Coffee meetups that talk about coding and also have a PM session
Chicago Meetups at tech companies

Who inspires our project management team with how they share their work?

Standup comedians - working in small clubs, honing their next big set; then roll out the big product in an album or special. Somewhat how we operate with learning individual components (learning about integrating with a CRM) and what does and doesn’t resonate in how you explain things to a client. Through those conversations, you should hone your way of gathering information and delivering information back to the client.DJ Premiere collab with berkley symphony orchestra - ReGeneration.. Educating each other is super interesting to meIssa Rae - Insecure show on HBO - shows that she’s a real person and not just somebody who is on TVVlog style videosFacebook groups for comedians and improvisorsTim FerrissQuincy Larson from FreeCodeCampSara Mei

Project managers' inspiration resources

As you'd expect, our project managers see inspiration and resources a bit differently that you might think. Here's a tip from one of our senior project managers:

"The thing that’s made the biggest connection has been making Product Hunt my homepage. It's amazing how relevant looking at sites for products and startups is for what we do." - Kyle Jacobson

Other resources for project managers:

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Resources for copywriters and content creators

person highlighting paper with writing on it

Professional organizations for content creators and copywriters

Coming soon

Where content creators share their work

Content and copywriting inspiration resources

Nishi - A collection of the best copy on the internet.
A Cup of Copy - A weekly newsletter by Kaleigh Moore.
CopyHackers
The Cult of Copy - A heavily moderated copywriting and content creation Facebook group. An excellent resource for beginning copywriters.
30 Day Writing Challenge
How to Start a Blog - The best guide we've found for starting a blog from scratch.

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Resources for marketers

Professional organizations for marketers

Traffic Think Tank - A premium SEO community

Marketers' inspiration resources

What I've found is that if you're seeing anybody's work anywhere, there's probably a marketer or a smart content creator behind it. That said, here are a few communities that have helped our marketing team grow and learn alongside some of the world's best digital marketers:The "Dream" Link Building Strategy - A smart SEO link building strategy that we implement at Clique to focus only on the most important SEO relationships.5 Essential Podcast Tips - Article about how to grow your podcast to 200k+ downloadsGrowthLab - If you want long-form articles that actually teach you what the title promises to teach, this is perfect for you. Also, an incredible case study of what type of content performs well in 2018.The Sunday Dispatches by Paul JarvisThat Seems Important by Margo AaronTradecraft - A highly-produced publication from Convertkit. If you're looking for the signal amongst the marketing noise, this is it.Want more resources for marketers? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

96 Resources for Web Designers, Developers, Project Managers and Marketers