The Design Masterclass tuition is all-inclusive of meals and lodging. Prices vary by class.
The Design Masterclass is available as a team retreat at different sites across the world, or at your site. Call for more info at 877-66-small, ext. 4.
The First Day: a new way to design is a five-hour experiment in design. You will be one of three teams to bring your work, or you can be a Backseat Driver. Backseat Drivers shadow one of the three teams, but they work on a design that is as different as possible from the teams who actually own the work, while still hitting the same design marks. It’s a crazy, dizzying, super-accelerated way to break your design habits and build better ones!
We strongly recommend the following apps for The First Day: Paper, for sketching on iOS, and Reflector 3 for sharing your iPhone or iPad screen with the team. If you don’t use these apps, please be prepared to show us your sketches on actual paper, using your video camera. We do not recommend Balsamiq or other similar prototyping tools for The First Day. Rapid dev tools for high fidelity mockups, such as FileMaker and Adobe XD, are great. But you’ll also need a tool for fast sketching, like pen & paper.
The
FIRST DAY
The First Day:
The Design Masterclass, but even faster.
A day that moves too fast to do anything the way you used to! Three teams work on their apps, but… the rules are changed, and there’s a Backseat Driver who is also working on the same app as you. It’s nuts. And it works. We guarantee that you will get your app design skills unstuck, or your money back!
Our day will be crazy busy: Two intensive Design Smackdowns/Crowdcasts, bracketed by a crazed one-hour redesign/scribblefest with at least one Backseat Driver shadowing your every move. But it will work. And you will surprise yourself with where you end up!
Session 1: WALKING ON THE CEILING
9 am—noon New terms & goals for this fast-changing day, applied immediately to your apps and then defined with further examples. You will see your app anew.
Session 2: THE GRIND [on your own, with your shadow watching]
noon—14:00 Partner up to apply the new terms & goals to your app, with your Shadow doing the very same while arriving at very different results! A working lunch will be brought in.
Session 3: SPRINT TO THE FINISH
14:00—17:00 Review all three apps against the morning’s goals, recommend triage and then revise for the last showing of the class. Some work will be stubbed out to demo, while other work will be completed to production standards, for release to customers. These decisions are made by your team.
Crowdcast: smal.ly/firstday
This event is not for everyone! But it could be perfect for you. Call us and see…
We ask that for this next First Day, all interested in registering call first before registering.
We strongly recommend the following apps for The First Day: Paper, for sketching on iOS, and Reflector 3 for sharing your iPhone or iPad screen with the team. If you don’t use these apps, please be prepared to show us your sketches on actual paper, using your video camera. We do not recommend Balsamiq or other similar prototyping tools for The First Day. Rapid dev tools for high fidelity mockups, such as FileMaker and Adobe XD, are great. But you’ll also need a tool for fast sketching, like pen & paper.
First Day Checklist:
• Download Paper, for sketching, or prepare with actual paper & colored pencils.
• If you’re sketching with the app called Paper, download Reflector 3 for sharing your iPhone or iPad screen with the team.
• Review the Crowdcast checklist so you’re set to join the event.
If you have any questions, or any other concerns, technical or otherwise, reach out to Madeleine Rodriguez, technical lead for The First Day, at the numbers below:
NORTH AMERICA
877-66-small (877-667-6255) ext. 11
LATIN AMERICA [Mexico City, San Juan PR]
+52 55 6394-1414
EUROPE [Rotterdam, Belgrade, Ulm DE]
+31 (10) 798-6122 ext. 4
SWEDEN [Gothenburg]
+46 (31) 3641411
UNITED KINGDOM [London, Newcastle]
+44 20 3884 0077 ext. 11
Take your app to places you never imagined!
ROME
OCT. 8, 2023: When IN ROME…
See ROME through Alberts eyes! This special edition of the Design Masterclass offers a field trip through time as you will be exploring the undergrounds of this amazing city and find inspiration while observing how the design rules practiced by ancient Romans have proven to withstand the test of time.
Gaining MASTERY
The Design Masterclass is modeled on the music conservatory Masterclass. The students bring their masterpieces, which will be the entire focus of the Masterclass. There is no curriculum, aside from the students' work, selected and brought to the class by the students, and worked on during the Masterclass.
Each team presents their work in turn, and receives comments, critiques and suggestions from the teacher and, at times, from other students. Then they perform their work again. And possibly once again after that, in response to further critique. The focus is on quick turns.
Take your app to places you never imagined!
MIAMI
FEB. 16-20, 2023: MOON OVER MIAMI
Miami's Design Masterclass offers a field trip to the neighborhood with the world's largest concentration of murals, and a private full-moon walk in a botanic garden used by a translator of The Book of Genesis as a stand-in for The Garden of Eden.
Take your app to places you never imagined!
WILD HORSES
@VIEQUES
MAR. 22-26, 2023:
WILD HORSES, VIEQUES PR
SmallCo’s Caribbean Home for the Design Masterclass is a beachside village where Wild Horses roam the streets, and where our excursions include a Black Beach and a Phosphorescent Bay in the Moonlight. Only a few spots are available for this masterclass. Reserve spots for your team now.
Take your app to places you never imagined!
THE HAMPTONS, NY
NOVEMBER, 2023: THE HAMPTONS, NY
From The Design Masterclass in the Hamptons, you can walk down the beach, cross a small creek, and reach the historic Village of Sag Harbor. Past classes have visited the local winery, toured the old graveyard at dusk, and visited Schiavoni's Grocery, featured in Steinbeck's novel "The Winter of Our Discontent." The owners are friends & family.
Take your app to places you never imagined!
DENMARK
DECEMBER, 2023: DENMARK
The Design Masterclass returns to Denmark for the third time. Join a tour of Copenhagen’s famous Anarchist Neighborhood.
Take your app to places you never imagined!
STONE
VILLAGE
OCTOBER 24, 2018: STONE VILLAGE
The Design Masterclass is a SmallCo team retreat at Gostusta, the Stone Village in Serbia—a chance to appreciate how change is embraced in traditional building.
Would you like to take your team on a retreat like this? Let us know… we have done custom-fit retreats for app design teams across the world.