About Hop
Hop is a curated design mentorship platform built by Design Buddies. Designers describe what they are stuck on, and the right mentors surface with a reason why they fit.
Why Hop exists
Design Buddies grew into a community of 100K+ designers, and the same question kept coming up: "Can someone senior look at my portfolio? Can someone help me prep for this interview?" The answers were scattered across DMs, lucky connections, and giant mentor directories where great mentors drown in cold outreach and no-shows.
Hop is our answer: a small, hand-reviewed mentorship community where serious designers meet serious mentors, without the spam.
How Hop works
Mentees do not scroll an endless directory. You describe what you are stuck on in plain language, your portfolio, interviews, a promotion, impostor syndrome, and Hop matches you with mentors who genuinely fit, each with a reason why. Every session is requested, not auto-booked: the mentor sees who you are and what you need, then accepts. Nothing lands on anyone's calendar without a yes.
Sessions are 1:1 or small group, and mentors choose whether their time is free, paid, or a mix of both. Prices are always shown before you book. On paid sessions, mentors keep their earnings minus a 10% Hop fee and Stripe's standard 2.9% + 30¢ processing fee.
What makes Hop different
Curation over scale. Every mentor and every mentee applies and is reviewed by hand. That keeps the quality of conversations high and the spam at zero: no cold DMs, no drive-by connection requests.
Matching over browsing. Instead of filtering a directory of thousands, you say what you need and the right people surface. Fit matters more than follower count.
Respect for mentors' time. Mentors set their own hours, approve every request, and can charge for deeper work like portfolio reviews. Sustainable mentorship beats burnout-driven volunteering.
Who is behind Hop
Hop is built by Design Buddies, one of the largest design communities in the world, founded by Grace Ling. Design Buddies has spent years helping designers land jobs, level up, and find their people. Hop turns the most valuable thing that community produces, real designers helping real designers, into something you can actually book.
Get involved
Want a mentor? Join the waitlist. Want to mentor? Founding mentors who join by August 31, 2026 get a permanent founding badge: become a mentor. Questions? Browse Ask a mentor or email us at fluffle@designbuddies.community.