Leading with Vision (Toke Nygaard, Zendesk)

Hustle

Ep
90
April 5, 2021
48
Min
"What a wonderful world it would be if I just sat and had one thing to do, and just kept optimizing and making it better, and growing it and testing it and living with it."

About

In this first episode with Tony Sanchez as an official co-host, we were honored to be joined by a design legend.

Toke Nygaard is the Chief Creative Officer at Zendesk. With more than 20 years of experience designing digital experiences, Toke Nygaard oversees Zendesk’s brand and product UX/UI. In this role, he is constantly developing and building the Zendesk brand with his global team of passionate creatives, keeping the product experience true to its origins of being simple and easy to use.

Before joining Zendesk, Toke was a founding partner of one of the largest pioneering design communities, K10k. He was also the founder and creative director at Cuban Council, a digital-design company, where he helped design the original Facebook identity, and worked with a range of clients from Tyra Banks and Francis Coppola, to Apple and NASA. Previously, he worked for Danish web-design frontrunner Araneum and later helped start the Oven Digital offices in London.

Outside of the office, Toke enjoys spending quality time with his family and is a table tennis aficionado.


In this episode we cover:

  • The intersection of design and art Fantasy illustrations
  • Visual design education
  • Moving from a startup to IPO
  • Transitioning from designer to manager
  • In-house vs. agency
  • Balancing quality and production
  • And more!