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Joshua Distler
Experienced designer who codes, Founder and CEO of LiveSurface
Professional Background
Joshua Distler is a highly regarded designer and entrepreneur with over 20 years of extensive experience in the design industry. His passion for design is marked by his ability to blend innovation with functional execution, ensuring that his projects not only look great but also serve their intended purpose effectively. Throughout his impressive career, Joshua has collaborated with a multitude of prestigious firms, including IDEO, Metadesign, Studio Dumbar, Wolff Olins, and the groundbreaking technology company, Apple.
During his tenure at Apple, Joshua Distler played a crucial role in the design of packaging for several iterations of iconic products such as the iPod, Macintosh, and iMac. His contributions have left a lasting impact on the way these products are presented to consumers, showcasing his keen eye for detail and understanding of brand identity.
Joshua is the founder of two innovative ventures - Shift (www.shiftype.com), a font foundry that emphasizes high-quality type design, and LiveSurface (www.livesurface.com), an online library that provides an extensive collection of layered template images for designers. These platforms reflect his commitment to empowering fellow designers by providing them with tools necessary for their creative projects.
In addition to his entrepreneurial efforts, Joshua has developed a popular application called Digits, available on the iPhone and iPad. The app has garnered attention for its user-friendly interface and practicality, further solidifying his reputation as an innovative thinker in the tech world.
Currently, Joshua is focused on the next evolution of LiveSurface, through a groundbreaking application called Context. This tool is designed to revolutionize the design process by allowing designers to visualize their concepts in real-world settings effortlessly while using Illustrator. This forward-thinking approach exemplifies Joshua's dedication to enhancing the design experience through technology.
Education and Achievements
Joshua Distler is an alumnus of the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. His formal education provided a solid foundation in design principles and practices, which he has built upon through his professional experiences. Over the years, his work has not gone unnoticed, as he has received numerous awards and honors from reputable organizations including I.D. Magazine, Communication Arts, the Type Directors Club, and the American Center for Design 100 Show. These accolades reflect Joshua's exceptional talent and his commitment to excellence in design.
Notable Organizations and Roles
Throughout his career, Joshua has held various influential positions in the design industry. He served as a Senior Creative Associate at Saffron Brand Consultants, where he contributed to brand strategy and identity, further sharpening his skills in creating compelling narratives for brands. As the Founder and Creative Director at Distler Abbink, he showcased his entrepreneurial spirit and vision for innovative design solutions.
His freelance work as a Senior Art Director at IDEO exemplifies his ability to adapt and thrive in dynamic environments, while his role as a Design Director at Apple honed his expertise in integrating design with technology. Additionally, he has been a Principal at Joshua Distler Design, where he offered consultancy services to a range of clients, providing strategic insights and creative direction. His early career as a Designer at Metadesign helped establish his career and served as a launching pad for his future successes.
Awards and Recognition
Joshua Distler's contributions to the design field have been recognized through various awards and honors. His work has consistently stood out due to its creativity, innovation, and dedication to effectively communicating ideas visually. Receiving accolades from industry-respected organizations such as I.D. Magazine and the Type Directors Club underscores his exceptional talent and creative capabilities. These honors not only celebrate individual projects but also reflect a career devoted to pushing the boundaries of design.
In summary, Joshua Distler is a distinguished designer and entrepreneur whose extensive experience spans over two decades in the industry. With a strong educational background in graphic design from the Rochester Institute of Technology and a portfolio filled with successful projects, he has made significant contributions to the field. From creating award-winning product packaging for Apple to developing innovative applications like Digits and Context, Joshua continues to inspire and impact the design community with his creativity, vision, and technological expertise.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.