Tom and Jonny announce that the Near Future Podcast is becoming Mostly Working. They explain why they're closing the consultancy to back the podcast, unveil the Mostly Working Summit at Monzo on 22 October, and go behind the scenes of a new brand built with Claude Code.
In this episode:
The Near Future consultancy is closing, and the podcast carries on every week as Mostly Working.
We explain the three tests behind the decision: founder fit, how hard the work was to sell, and how much energy it gave us.
At design + AI in Brighton, 30 senior designers built their own design tools in about an hour, from a Crazy Eights racing game to a skin analyser.
The Mostly Working Summit runs at Monzo on 22 October: a free morning for 100 design leaders, then our final Build Your Own Design Tool workshop. Apply at mostlyworking.co.
Tom walks through building the new brand, sketching the mark in Figma and having Claude Code generate palette tools, motion principles and even a jingle.
Chapters:
0:04 — The Near Future Podcast is becoming Mostly Working
1:03 — How the podcast started, 19 weeks in
2:17 — Winding down the Near Future consultancy
3:02 — Where the Mostly Working name comes from
4:30 — Founder fit, ease of sale and energy: why the consultancy - stopped
6:53 — Jonny on wanting to build, and joining a small tech company
11:09 — Tom's test: follow the most interesting conversations
13:21 — Thank you to Near Future clients
14:30 — What to expect from Mostly Working
17:24 — Build Your Own Design Tools at design + AI in Brighton
20:43 — Why the workshop builds keep getting better
23:15 — Hatch in Berlin: Paula Scher and Bob Baxley
26:33 — Announcing the Mostly Working Summit
27:57 — How the Mostly Working meetup grew from 70 to 160 sign-ups
31:45 — Summit details: Monzo, 22 October, fireside chats, roundtables and the workshop
36:13 — mostlyworking.co and the new brand
37:20 — Designing the M/W mark in Figma
39:09 — Claude Code generates palette tweakers, motion principles and a logo jingle
43:37 — Building brand tools by voice note from your phone
45:29 — Flora versus building your own image generators
Mostly Working (formerly the Near Future Podcast) is a weekly conversation with design leaders about what they're building with AI. Send feedback to podcast@nearfuture.works, and find everything at mostlyworking.co.
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