14 Unexpected Design References that Inspire Chase Rutherford I Source Material

Introducing Source Material — Figma's weekly series where the designers & creatives shaping culture share the references that shaped them. A look past the finished work and into the objects, books, ideas and oddities that actually inform how they think.

Our next guest is Chase Rutherford! The creative director & creator takes us through the references behind his world and the ideas shaping his work with Slushy Noobz. From internet ephemera and fashion to found images, objects and cultural oddities, Chase looks at how the things already around us can be pulled apart, re-contextualized and turned into something new.

Chase Rutherford's Source Material:

0:00 Intro
0:12 Iconic America (Tommy Hilfiger & George Lois, 2007)
1:05 Collages (Chase Rutherford, 2026)
1:58 Figures of Speech 1980-2019 (Virgil Abloh, 2022)
2:51 Braun ET66 Calculator (Dieter Rams & Dietrich Lubs, 1987)
3:55 Hamm Ceramic Piggy Bank (Disney/Pixar & M.Z. Berger & Co., 2019)
4:02 Green Army Men (Bucket O' Soldiers) (Disney/Pixar & Thinkway Toys, 1995)
4:19 2K Generics (Seamore Coffee, 2025)
4:45 I Told Ya' T-Shirt (Loewe, 2024)
5:05 Find X T-Shirt (Slushy Noobz & Chase Rutherford, 2024)
5:10 Nap Queen Hoodie (Slushy Noobz & Chase Rutherford, 2024)
5:20 Reindeer Advent Calendar (Slushy Noobz & Chase Rutherford, 2024)
5:51 Neverfull MM (Louis Vuitton, 2007)
6:35 Original Grin: The Art of Ron English (Ron English & Joseph Bravo, 2019)
7:21 Popular Jewelry Photos (Chase Rutherford & Ilikehaskell, 2026)
8:45 Design References & Credits
____________________________________________________

Find us on ⬇️
X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/figma
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/figma
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/figma
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@figma
Figma forum: https://forum.figma.com/