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Today, Figma announced an expanded office in London. This deepens Figma’s investment in one of its largest markets outside the United States, where two thirds of the FTSE 100 build with Figma as of Q2 2026. “The UK has one of the deepest concentrations of design and product talent anywhere, from the banks and retailers building new digital products to the design studios shaping the future of online interaction," says Daniel Barrett, Figma’s SVP of International.

With AI, you can go from writing a prompt to something clickable in a few hours. But getting there fast doesn’t mean you've built something great. A polished prototype doesn’t get you past the big questions: Is this direction the best or just the first? Does it feel like us? And above all: Is it actually worth building? The teams answering those questions well are strong in three areas—speed, direction, and differentiation.

As students get more access to creative tools in graphic design, computer science, and STEM classrooms, the depth of learning changes. They’re moving from project-based work to product-based work, which means that instead of presenting ideas through posters or slide decks, students are building the thing itself, whether it’s an app, prototype, or interactive experience.

Welcome to Source Material, a weekly series where the designers and creatives shaping culture share the references that shaped them. Our next guest is Aitana Picó, a digital designer, creative technologist, and visual artist based between Berlin and Valencia. After the shoot, we caught up with Aitana about her creative process: What were you making when you realized, “This could be my job”? As a child, while I was painting, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.

True collaboration isn’t always comfortable. Share Issue no.18: Show your work Illustrations by Hannah Schrage You have to be willing to share the messy parts of the process—the rough sketches, the unresolved questions—so others can build on those ideas. In that spirit, we’re taking you behind the scenes at Figma to share the human side of building with AI. Want the next issue delivered straight to your inbox? Sign up here. 1.

At Config 2026, we launched 30+ custom-built Weave tools Today, we’re announcing new ways your Weave creative workflows can live alongside your Figma frames. in Figma to help you run repeatable image generation tasks like creating on-brand icons or transferring a style reference to a new image.

Welcome to Source Material, a weekly series where the designers and creatives shaping culture share the references that shaped them. Our next guest is Zach Lieberman, a New York–based artist and educator who co-founded the School for Poetic Computation, helped develop openFrameworks, and teaches at MIT Media Lab. After the shoot, we caught up with Zach about his creative process: What were you making when you realized, “This could be my job”?

Welcome to Source Material, a weekly series where the designers and creatives shaping culture share the references that shaped them. Figma’s first guest is Thom Bettridge, editor in chief and chief brand officer of the seminal style publication i-D Magazine, following stints at Interview Magazine, 032c, Highsnobiety, and SSENSE. He recently founded the creative studio Content World.

Customers in Japan can store data locally for Figma Design, FigJam, Figma Slides, and Figma Make files. Today, Figma introduced data residency in Japan, giving enterprise customers the option to host their Figma file data in the country. “We’ve heard from many customers in Japan that they want the ability to store and manage their data domestically,” said Hiro Kawanobe, country manager of Figma Japan.

Welcome to Source Material, a weekly series where the designers and creatives shaping culture share the references that shaped them. Our next guest is Marisa Chentakul (@meshtimes), a New York–based creative technologist whose playful projects span design, development, and art. After the shoot, we caught up with Marisa about her creative process: What were you making when you realized, “This could be my job”?