Today in Design
Today in Design is a Chicago-based, bootstrapped media company founded in 2023 that operates a free daily weekday email newsletter curating design news, events, tools, and inspiration for 35,000+ professional designers worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Today in Design does
Today in Design is a privately held Chicago-based media company founded in 2023 by Cole De Rochié that operates a daily weekday email newsletter curated for professional designers. The publication aggregates and delivers design news, events, tools, resources, podcasts, and inspiration, organized into four recurring sections (news, events, resources, inspiration). It is built on a lightweight third-party technology stack: Beehiiv powers the newsletter delivery and analytics, Webflow hosts the company website (todayin.design), Stripe handles payment processing, and Zapier connects internal workflows. There is no proprietary technology layer; the entire product is a curated content service distributed through email, website archive, and an RSS feed.
The business serves a stated audience of 35,000+ design professionals, with named individual subscribers at major technology companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Figma, Shopify, and design agency Metalab. The core newsletter is offered free to all subscribers. Revenue is generated through two streams: (1) newsletter sponsorship placements sold to design-tool and SaaS brands (including Play, Jitter, Whop, and Mobbin), and (2) voluntary supporter contributions collected via a "Buy us a Coffee" mechanism. No paid subscription tier, premium product, or institutional funding has been disclosed.
The company is bootstrapped, operating with a 1-10 employee team, and has no parent company, subsidiaries, or acquisition activity on record. Operating status is active, with daily publications continuing through at least August 2025. The product is purely digital, global in distribution, and free at the point of consumption, with no mobile application.
Today in Design firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Today in Design
- Legal name
- Today in Design
- Website
- https://todayin.design
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Today in Design is a Chicago-based, bootstrapped media company founded in 2023 that operates a free daily weekday email newsletter curating design news, events, tools, and inspiration for 35,000+ professional designers worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Today in Design is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Today in Design business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Sponsorship: The company offers sponsorship opportunities to brands wanting to reach its audience of 35k+ design professionals. Sponsors gain exposure through newsletter placements and embedded promotional content.
- Supporter/Membership: Designers can become supporters through a 'Buy us a Coffee' mechanism, providing direct financial support to the publication.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free newsletter subscription |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Today in Design product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Today in Design publishes a free, daily weekday email newsletter that curates design news, tools, events, resources, and visual inspiration for professional designers. The publication aggregates content from across the design industry and organizes each issue into recurring sections such as news, events, resources, and inspiration, delivered every weekday morning to a subscriber base of more than 35,000 design professionals.
Product overview
Today in Design is a single-product newsletter service that delivers curated design news, tools, events, resources, and inspiration to design professionals via a daily weekday email. The newsletter features content aggregated from various design sources, organized into sections including news (top stories of the past 24 hours), events (global design community happenings), resources (tools and cutting-edge craft content), and inspiration (daily curated design picks). The service is free for subscribers and supported by sponsors and brand partnerships.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Today in Design Newsletter A free, daily weekday email newsletter that curates and delivers design news, tools, events, resources, and inspiration to professional designers. Each issue is organized into recurring sections covering industry news, design events, curated tools and resources, and visual inspiration, and is delivered every weekday morning to more than 35,000 subscribers at companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, Figma, Meta, and Shopify.
Companies that use Today in Design
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Today in Design technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Today in Design partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- BeehiivcoreNewsletter publishing platform that powers Today in Design's delivery infrastructure, providing the email platform and analytics for the daily publication.
- WebflowcoreWebsite hosting platform used for the todayin.design website, providing the design and publishing infrastructure for the publication's web presence.
- StripecorePayment processing platform that handles transactions for sponsorship payments and supporter contributions.
- PlayminorDesign and prototyping tool sponsor featured in newsletters, promoting liquid glass design capabilities for iOS app development.
- JitterminorBrand partner listed on the website, indicating a marketing or co-promotional relationship within the design tools ecosystem.
- WhopminorBrand partner displayed on the website, representing a promotional or marketing partnership within the design/community platform space.
- MobbinminorDesign resource platform brand partner, co-promoted to the newsletter's design professional audience.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves1 record
Expansion highlights3 records
Today in Design competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- UX Design Weekly: Weekly curated UX and design newsletter with a long-running subscriber base. Directly comparable curated-newsletter format targeting design professionals.
- Design Milk: Long-running design media publication covering architecture, interiors, fashion, and tech design with a daily newsletter. Comparable audience (design-forward professionals) and curation-driven media model.
- Abduzeedo: Design blog and daily inspiration publication covering graphic design, architecture, and digital design. Similar curated-content media model and design professional audience.
- Eye on Design (AIGA): AIGA's design publication delivering editorial content and curated articles to professional designers. Comparable editorial voice and designer audience with newsletter distribution.
- It's Nice That: Editorial design publication covering graphic design, illustration, and creative industries with a daily newsletter. Comparable curated-media-for-designers positioning.
- Muzli by InVision: Design inspiration and news feed/digest for designers, originally built by InVision. Closely comparable product (curated design inspiration delivered via feed/newsletter) and audience overlap with Today in Design.
- Sidebar.io: One of the original daily UX and web design newsletters delivering curated links to design professionals. Direct competitor to Today in Design in format, audience, and curation approach.
- Core77: Design magazine and community for industrial and interaction designers, with regular newsletters and curated design content. Comparable audience of working designers and editorial-driven media model.
Broad incumbents
- Fast Company Design: Major business publication's design vertical covering design news, tools, and trends. Broader scope and larger team but overlaps with Today in Design's news curation function.
- Dezeen: One of the world's most popular design magazines, with daily newsletters and a global audience of design professionals. Larger and broader scope than Today in Design but overlaps heavily on the design-media-for-professionals niche.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Today in Design social profiles
Digital presenceToday in Design financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Today in Design leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Today in Design funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Today in Design M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Today in Design
What does Today in Design do?
Today in Design publishes a free, daily weekday email newsletter that curates design news, tools, events, resources, and visual inspiration for professional designers. The publication aggregates content from across the design industry and organizes each issue into recurring sections such as news, events, resources, and inspiration, delivered every weekday morning to a subscriber base of more than 35,000 design professionals.
Is Today in Design a public or private company?
Today in Design is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Today in Design founded?
Today in Design was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Today in Design based?
Today in Design is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Today in Design make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Sponsorship is the primary driver. The others are supporter/Membership.
Who are Today in Design's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are UX Design Weekly, Design Milk, Abduzeedo, Eye on Design (AIGA), It's Nice That, Muzli by InVision, Sidebar.io and Core77. Broad incumbents are Fast Company Design and Dezeen.
Does Today in Design have an API?
No public API is recorded for Today in Design.