The DESK Magazine
Addicted to ideas
Having an idea is like taking a hit of a fine drug.
10th Oct 2023
Having an idea is like taking a hit of a fine drug.
Fonts In Use – Blog...
Ramones presidential seal logo
Contributed by Nick Sherman
Source: sinistersaladmusikal.wordpress.com License: All Rights...
4th Nov 2020
Contributed by Nick Sherman
Source: sinistersaladmusikal.wordpress.com License: All Rights Reserved.
Source: i-d.vice.com License: All Rights Reserved.
Arturo Vega had the logo tattooed on his back with his own name incorporated and a type style that is less stylized...
Oykun Yilmaz
Video Gamer skills that make a Great Designer
Enjoy your time with video games, do not see it as a waste of time as society thinks. This is YOUR...
8th Apr 2022
Enjoy your time with video games, do not see it as a waste of time as society thinks. This is YOUR time, use it as you like it. It will make you a better designer.
Koos Looijesteijn -...
Bringing markers back to UI design
Many designers know: the best design tool is a marker. Not Figma, not Sketch and no, not a pencil....
8th Jul 2021
Many designers know: the best design tool is a marker. Not Figma, not Sketch and no, not a pencil. With...
The personal website...
Ballet dancers and shot putters
Starting a career in design is like crash-landing on Mars. You may have studied it through a...
6th Nov 2022
Starting a career in design is like crash-landing on Mars. You may have studied it through a telescope, but nothing can prepare you for actually being there.
One of the biggest surprises many new designers experience is that design isn’t always about coming up with the most...
Fatih Arslan
My Homelab Setup
I replaced my existing Homelab setup from the ground up with Unifi's latest Gateways, Switches APs,...
10th Sep 2024
I replaced my existing Homelab setup from the ground up with Unifi's latest Gateways, Switches APs, and Cameras. Here is what I did and how it ended up.
Koos Looijesteijn -...
Knots 3D
"Feel free to explore our knot catalog and learn how to tie over 150 knots!
"
1st Jun 2022
"Feel free to explore our knot catalog and learn how to tie over 150 knots!
"
Scott Jenson
Thinking with your hands
UX is less about technique and more about teamwork. Getting everyone to agree on a common goal is...
24th Aug 2021
UX is less about technique and more about teamwork. Getting everyone to agree on a common goal is where the real magic lives. But too often UX designers inadvertently sabotage that teamwork. Not intentionally, it’s just that, as a group, we UX designers have strong opinions that...
Identity Designed
Donut Shop
Designed by TwoPoints.Net, Hamburg, Barcelona.
11th Mar 2024
Designed by TwoPoints.Net, Hamburg, Barcelona.
Ryan Mulligan
Penguin!
My partner and I finally finished our epic three-part claymation saga. It's our first attempt at...
6th May 2024
My partner and I finally finished our epic three-part claymation saga. It's our first attempt at creating stop-motion videos with clay and it truly is a lot of work for such a short result. That claymation episode of Parks and Recreation is a little too real. I won't compare our...
The personal website...
Towards better creative feedback
Creative work — be it designing, writing, coding, or managing — is a collaborative practice. At...
7th Jan 2015
Creative work — be it designing, writing, coding, or managing — is a collaborative practice. At least two parties are always involved: The maker (a designer, developer, or manager) on one end, and the audience on the other.1 Feedback between the maker and the audience is...
The Pudding
The Generational Legacy of Samples in Music
We trace musical DNA from the classical "Hall of the Mountain King" to 2pac's "Hit Em Up."
1st Apr 2025
We trace musical DNA from the classical "Hall of the Mountain King" to 2pac's "Hit Em Up."
The personal website...
What happens when things go wrong
The rise of the startup economy – and the abundance of millennial entrepreneurial wisdom it has...
6th May 2014
The rise of the startup economy – and the abundance of millennial entrepreneurial wisdom it has produced – means you can hardly go a day without seeing Samuel Becket’s words writ large:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”
In celebrating...
Retail Design Blog
Sunrise Garden Restaurant by M9 Design Studio
Located within an industrial suburb of Bangalore, Sunrise Garden Restaurant emerges as a quiet...
7th Apr 2026
Located within an industrial suburb of Bangalore, Sunrise Garden Restaurant emerges as a quiet counterpoint to its context — transforming...
Fatih Arslan
Managing friction
I thought lately about what has changed in my life over the years. People change (even if they don't...
8th Apr 2025
I thought lately about what has changed in my life over the years. People change (even if they don't admit it). And there are always some sort of triggers that cause these changes. Some people start a habit of running, maybe; some start hanging out with friends who
The Turn Signal RSS...
How Apple and Google Are Taking Over the In-Car User Experience
Apple and Google are taking over the car industry. How did we get here and what's next?
1st Dec 2022
Apple and Google are taking over the car industry. How did we get here and what's next?
Sarah Parmenter
Adobe XD Contest – Prototype your City.
I‘ve had the absolute joy of working on a couple of collaborations with Adobe this year already;...
27th Feb 2018
I‘ve had the absolute joy of working on a couple of collaborations with Adobe this year already; something I feel very honoured to be a part of; as at least one element of the Creative Cloud Suite has been a part of my workflow since I started in this industry in 2003. What I...
Ryan Mulligan
Inverted Media Queries and Breakpoints
The occasional breakpoint
Nowadays I lean on modern CSS solutions, fluid layout patterns, and...
5th Jul 2022
The occasional breakpoint
Nowadays I lean on modern CSS solutions, fluid layout patterns, and intrinsic sizing over viewport dimension-based media queries – typically referred to as breakpoints – that adapt a design at particular screen sizes. Let's not forget that container...
The personal website...
Decentralizing quality
Everyone agrees quality matters, but we can’t agree on what it is — or who gets to decide.
I’ve...
30th Sep 2025
Everyone agrees quality matters, but we can’t agree on what it is — or who gets to decide.
I’ve experienced the drive for quality in every design leadership role I’ve had. When it comes to software, we like to pretend that quality is a number. Dashboards stand in for judgment,...
The Turn Signal RSS...
The Struggle to Find Out How Cars Manage Your Personal Data
Cars today collect more than 200 different data points. Most of these data points are not only...
1st Jun 2021
Cars today collect more than 200 different data points. Most of these data points are not only interesting to car manufacturers themselves.…
Joshua Smith
General Laundry Building
Scratchbuilt miniature based on the Abandoned General Laundry building in New Orleans, United...
7th Jun 2019
Scratchbuilt miniature based on the Abandoned General Laundry building in New Orleans, United States. Created for the Urban Art Fair in Paris showing with Galerie 42b in Paris, April, 2019. Scratchbuilt 1:24 Scale Miniature created from MDF, Wood, cardboard, plastic card, chalk...
Scott Jenson
A UX designer walks into a Tesla Bar
I borrowed a friend’s Tesla 3 yesterday. About 5 minutes into the ride, the windshield started...
29th Dec 2021
I borrowed a friend’s Tesla 3 yesterday. About 5 minutes into the ride, the windshield started fogging up. I couldn’t find the defroster on the large control screen Teslas are so famous for. In desperation, I tapped the CAR icon but that took me to the settings screen which ended...
Oykun Yilmaz
Designers, charge more $$$ to help yourself and your clients.
Many designers shy away from increasing their rates, fearing it will scare clients away and put them...
27th Apr 2024
Many designers shy away from increasing their rates, fearing it will scare clients away and put them under pressure to deliver higher-quality work.
Understandable concerns with the common fixed mindset.
However, if you want to grow as a Designer, you must be comfortable with...
Retail Design Blog
Coor Seongsu Flagship Store by ATELIER KHJ
When planning a commercial space, it is not easy to sacrifice usable space. This is especially true...
2nd Dec 2025
When planning a commercial space, it is not easy to sacrifice usable space. This is especially true in areas with...
Sarah Parmenter
Celebrating the Power of Female Friendships with Adobe XD
This quarter I got to work on a really exciting project in collaboration with Adobe XD. The brief...
24th May 2018
This quarter I got to work on a really exciting project in collaboration with Adobe XD. The brief was slightly open to interpretation and one of the themes put forward back in February was “Celebrating the good in the world” by creating content that speaks to a cultural trend or...
Jeffrey Zeldman...
The eye of God
My doctor sends me to Brooklyn for an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. As instructed, I fast for...
11th Jul 2025
My doctor sends me to Brooklyn for an abdominal aortic aneurysm screening. As instructed, I fast for six hours beforehand. I don’t even brush my teeth, for fear of swallowing toothpaste and screwing up the test. I wear a Covid-era face mask to avoid breathing on anyone.
The...
The personal website...
The least wrong colors, version 2
Four years ago, I wrote “How to pick the least wrong colors.” The gist is: picking a categorical...
a week ago
Four years ago, I wrote “How to pick the least wrong colors.” The gist is: picking a categorical color palette is an optimization problem. There’s no such thing as the right colors. But if you use the right cost function, and the right kind of hill climbing, you can at least get...
The personal website...
Goldilocks your graphs
Data visualization is everywhere. From analytics platforms to infographics, across newsrooms and...
11th Nov 2015
Data visualization is everywhere. From analytics platforms to infographics, across newsrooms and social media channels, there are vast swaths of the internet devoted to delivering data in non-tabular format. There are entire blogs devoted to the subject, such as the ubiquitous...
Permanent Style
The silks of Como: A reminder of the value of craft
I miss this. Visiting a mill is such an enjoyable, often inspiring experience, yet I don’t do it as...
2 weeks ago
I miss this. Visiting a mill is such an enjoyable, often inspiring experience, yet I don’t do it as much as I used to. Perhaps because once you’d done one worsted weaver it’s hard to justify more. But we’ve never done silk. I did go to Vann... > Read more
Christopher Butler
From Pascal's Empty Room to Our Full Screens
On the Ambient Entertainment Industrial Complex
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s...
10th Mar 2025
On the Ambient Entertainment Industrial Complex
“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Pascal’s observation from the 17th century feels less like historical philosophy and more like a diagnosis of our current condition. The...
Jeffrey Zeldman...
She’s the Boss.
SNOW WHITE is my jailer. She reclines near me while I work, watching closely for the moment I stand...
1st Jun 2026
SNOW WHITE is my jailer. She reclines near me while I work, watching closely for the moment I stand up. The instant I leave my desk, she directs me to her feeding area so I can open another can of cat food and arrange its contents neatly on a plate. She’ll eat a few bites, then...
Jan Miksovsky’s blog
Origami Projector: a Glitch-like app for site editing
3 weeks ago
Ryan Mulligan
Transition to the Other Side with Container Query Units
Managing the position of an element as it travels across the length of its parent container can be...
11th Oct 2025
Managing the position of an element as it travels across the length of its parent container can be tricky. Assuming they both have dynamic, responsive dimensions, we might rely on JS to check the width and/or height of each element and do some calculations for a proper end...
Koos Looijesteijn -...
Who is responsible for the impact of innovative products?
How can it be that a) all products are designed, b) designers want to create something good for the...
7th Dec 2023
How can it be that a) all products are designed, b) designers want to create something good for the world...
The DESK Magazine
3 lessons from Jony Ive
I nearly walked away from writing this essay. Trendy or current topics usually make me turn the...
27th May 2025
I nearly walked away from writing this essay. Trendy or current topics usually make me turn the other way, but I'm making an exception today. I'm not sure if you watched the interview with Jony Ive and Patrick (CEO of Stripe) last week. It's
The DESK Magazine
What is quality anymore?
One might say the quality of everything has improved – our TV screens have never been more crisp &...
21st Nov 2023
One might say the quality of everything has improved – our TV screens have never been more crisp & vivid, our systems and software never more refined, our roads and highways never more paved.
The Pudding
What it’s like to walk across Massachusetts
A visually-aided journal of a very long walk home.
20th Oct 2025
A visually-aided journal of a very long walk home.
Jan Miksovsky’s blog
Creating a simple blog in Python with Origami concepts
7th Oct 2025
Jan Miksovsky’s blog
Writing a VS Code extension in ES modules in early 2025
17th Mar 2025
The Turn Signal RSS...
Mixed Reality: The Future of Automotive UX Prototyping
Can mixed reality make it easier to test and iterate on automotive user interfaces?
1st Mar 2024
Can mixed reality make it easier to test and iterate on automotive user interfaces?
The personal website...
The Role of Doubt in Design
At a recent happy hour, I struck up a conversation with a product manager. I told him I was a...
17th Jul 2019
At a recent happy hour, I struck up a conversation with a product manager. I told him I was a product designer, and he asked “one of the good ones, or one of the bad ones?” A designer on his team — a “bad one” — asked too many questions. Questions like “Why are we building this...
Christopher Butler
Friction Can Be Good
Something I have noticed as content, software, and product design have attempted to eradicate...
8th Mar 2023
Something I have noticed as content, software, and product design have attempted to eradicate friction is that friction is not necessarily a bad thing.
Friction is a part of everyday life. It comes from the difference between one thing and another — the encounter of two things....
Christopher Butler
visual journal – 2024 June 17 - July 05
Make it bigger.
portals
birthday eve
exploring...
5th Jul 2024
Make it bigger.
portals
birthday eve
exploring velocity
Identity Designed
Big C Charters
Designed by Mucho, San Francisco.
7th Jul 2022
Designed by Mucho, San Francisco.
Product Identity
Growth pains
On scale: against the pursuit of unicorns
12th May 2026
On scale: against the pursuit of unicorns
The Turn Signal RSS...
The Problem With Digital Instrument Clusters and How to Design a Better One
Since the invention of the car, instrument clusters have largely consisted of a speedometer,...
1st Jan 2024
Since the invention of the car, instrument clusters have largely consisted of a speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, and engine…
The DESK Magazine
Death by a Thousand Buttons — from the Desk of van Schneider — Edition №268
Welcome back to DESK!
New York threw us another perfect weekend so I took the Escape Machine down to...
4th Jun 2025
Welcome back to DESK!
New York threw us another perfect weekend so I took the Escape Machine down to Balthazar in SoHo for some overpriced eggs benedict (a Tobias favorite, although I prefer it at PASTIS in Meatpacking District, same owner, better food).
While enjoying my brunch...
Christopher Butler
What We Do When We See
What does it even mean to design when perception is reality? Do we all ever see the same...
5th Nov 2021
What does it even mean to design when perception is reality? Do we all ever see the same thing?
Visual Intelligence, a wonderful book about seeing and clarity, Amy Herman begins with the story of Derreck Kayongo.
Kayongo had just stepped into the shower in his hotel room...
The DESK Magazine
Let's talk about AI
Many of you have asked me to write an essay with my thoughts on AI (Artificial Intelligence). So in...
11th Dec 2023
Many of you have asked me to write an essay with my thoughts on AI (Artificial Intelligence). So in the spirit of things, I've tasked ChatGPT to write this article for me.
Scott Jenson
Design can be free
As consumer devices get ‘smart’, they tend to sprout a large number push buttons. It’s almost cliche...
15th Jan 2023
As consumer devices get ‘smart’, they tend to sprout a large number push buttons. It’s almost cliche at this point to complain about them. The tiny buttons, hidden modes, and Konami Code interaction encourages mistakes and forces frequent trips to the user manual. Of course, they...
Product Identity
We should seek communities anew
Notes for the aspiring designer
29th Dec 2025
Notes for the aspiring designer
The personal website...
The micromanager's dilemma
Here’s a riddle: Nobody I’ve ever worked with likes micromanagement. Yet, on every team I’ve been...
13th Dec 2022
Here’s a riddle: Nobody I’ve ever worked with likes micromanagement. Yet, on every team I’ve been on, there is at least one micromanager. How is this possible?
Harvard Business Review says, “Micromanage at Your Peril.” Forbes says “Micromanaging is one of the most damaging habits...
The DESK Magazine
How to make a copywriting portfolio
Talk to any creative person about building their portfolio and they’ll tell you: copy is the hardest...
1st May 2022
Talk to any creative person about building their portfolio and they’ll tell you: copy is the hardest part.
Product Identity
head on the cloud, feet on the ground
A conversation with Sari Azout of Sublime
17th Jul 2025
A conversation with Sari Azout of Sublime
The personal website...
The hand and the brain
Prescriptive feedback limits creative collaboration. I’ve seen it time and time again, but I’ve...
18th Nov 2020
Prescriptive feedback limits creative collaboration. I’ve seen it time and time again, but I’ve struggled to articulate the exact reasons and their remedies. Recently, though, I got some insight from an unusual source: a game of chess.
Even though it wasn’t the last move, pawn...
Koos Looijesteijn
Things I learned from doing a side project
20th Mar 2018
Fatih Arslan
My feelings about X (formerly Twitter)
This will be short, but I just wanted to rant and vent here because this is my space. I'll use X or...
7th Apr 2024
This will be short, but I just wanted to rant and vent here because this is my space. I'll use X or Twitter interchangeably throughout the post, but they represent the same entity.
Loss of integrity
Since Elon's takeover of Twitter, a lot has changed. But
Fatih Arslan
Vitsoe vs USM shelving
I have an extensive Vitsoe 606 shelving setup but plan to extend certain places with USM cabinets....
23rd Jun 2024
I have an extensive Vitsoe 606 shelving setup but plan to extend certain places with USM cabinets. What are the main differences?
The personal website...
What is a brand?
A few weeks ago, I jumped into a new job as the head of a design team at a startup called...
4th Mar 2020
A few weeks ago, I jumped into a new job as the head of a design team at a startup called SimpleHealth. One of my first tasks is to kick off a big brand update. Full creative control, clear product/market fit, a long timeline — this is going to be a breeze. Right?
Only, I asked...
Scott Jenson
Design for a Small Planet
Back in 1971, “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé made it clear the costs of eating...
18th Mar 2025
Back in 1971, “Diet for a Small Planet” by Frances Moore Lappé made it clear the costs of eating meat were far greater than we had assumed. If we wanted the planet to thrive, we needed to shift to a more resource-efficient way to eat. UX Design is going through its own “you cost...
Product Identity
Building as gardening
Although I've never had a garden
9th Apr 2025
Although I've never had a garden
The personal website...
Pictures of websites
A scene from the 2001 movie Zoolander1:
INT. THE PALATIAL OFFICE OF FASHION MOGUL JACOBIM MUGATU...
13th Mar 2021
A scene from the 2001 movie Zoolander1:
INT. THE PALATIAL OFFICE OF FASHION MOGUL JACOBIM MUGATU (PLAYED BY WILL FERRELL)
MUGATU
Without much further ado, I give you...
MUGATU
The Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can't Read Good!
ZOOLANDER
(suddenly enraged)
What is...
The personal website...
Changing all the fonts on WSJ.com
“Change the fonts.” It’s a simple mission statement.
In reality, changing the fonts on wsj.com has...
11th Dec 2017
“Change the fonts.” It’s a simple mission statement.
In reality, changing the fonts on wsj.com has involved years of coordination and planning between nearly every team at the Wall Street Journal. In the past month, the last few coordinated steps were executed with an incredible...
Koos Looijesteijn -...
I sold Big Timer
Five months ago I sold my countdown timer web app, Big Timer! I never really announced that, so...
18th Apr 2022
Five months ago I sold my countdown timer web app, Big Timer! I never really announced that, so here’s what...
The Turn Signal RSS...
Why Do New Cars Have Speed Limit Warnings, and Do They Work?
The speed limit warnings are part of a system called Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA). Any system...
1st Oct 2024
The speed limit warnings are part of a system called Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA). Any system inside a vehicle that ensures that a…
The personal website...
Generative art Open Graph preview images
I like writing and sharing essays on twitter. I especially like the way the link previews look when...
29th Oct 2022
I like writing and sharing essays on twitter. I especially like the way the link previews look when they have images that stand out in the timeline. In the past, I’ve created illustrations for each of my posts. But I have two problems: 1. Creating illustrations takes time, and 2....
The personal website...
Using Netlify to build an email sign-up widget
You can read this article on CSS Tricks.
2nd Aug 2019
You can read this article on CSS Tricks.
Retail Design Blog
Monarch by OPEN Strategy & Design
MONARCH – A ROYAL WELCOME CRAFTING A LEGACY For forty years, Mansion House has stood for ‘A Warm...
1st Apr 2025
MONARCH – A ROYAL WELCOME CRAFTING A LEGACY For forty years, Mansion House has stood for ‘A Warm Welcome’, a...
Permanent Style
Ralph Lauren cap: How great things age
There have been a few companies popping up in recent years making higher-end baseball caps. Both the...
3rd Nov 2025
There have been a few companies popping up in recent years making higher-end baseball caps. Both the plain, dull, luxury ones that became a trend in the wake of Succession, and ones that look exactly like a traditional cap, just higher quali... > Read more
UX Collective
Figma and the cost of collaboration
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
5th Aug 2024
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
The personal website...
Goldilocks your graphs
Data visualization is everywhere. From analytics platforms to infographics, across newsrooms and...
11th Nov 2015
Data visualization is everywhere. From analytics platforms to infographics, across newsrooms and social media channels, there are vast swaths of the internet devoted to delivering data in non-tabular format. There are entire blogs devoted to the subject, such as the ubiquitous...
Permanent Style
Reader Profile: Jaime
Jaime is a reader based in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s a pastor there, and works particularly on social...
2nd Jan 2026
Jaime is a reader based in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s a pastor there, and works particularly on social justice projects and inter-faith relations. Church has always been an excuse for him to dress up, but also an excuse to talk to young men in t... > Read more
Permanent Style
Groupthink: A tale of noughties nostalgia
By Reginald Jerome de Mans* I wore a pair of Gurkha trousers the other day. Those wide-waistbanded...
1st Jul 2026
By Reginald Jerome de Mans* I wore a pair of Gurkha trousers the other day. Those wide-waistbanded eccentricities that looked so dashing on friends’ fit posts, their criss-crossing straps so gloriously inconvenient, they put me in mind of th... > Read more
Christopher Butler
Discernment in the Digital Age
How elimination, curation, and optimization can help us see through the technological...
8th Apr 2025
How elimination, curation, and optimization can help us see through the technological mirror.
Technology functions as both mirror and lens — reflecting our self-image while simultaneously shaping how we see everything else. This metaphor of recursion, while perhaps obvious...
Fonts In Use – Blog...
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer movie titles
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: annyas.com License: All Rights Reserved....
26th Dec 2022
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: annyas.com License: All Rights Reserved.
“Rankin/Bass present” is lettering based on Weiß-Initialen Serie II, or Weiss Initials Series II, with the alternate forms for A and E, rendered bolder, with rough contours and a bouncing...
julian.digital
Media Consumption (Mar 2021)
>_ Summary Read 6 books (1664 min, -24% MoM) and 43 articles (+95%) Listened to 596 songs (+64%) and...
2nd Apr 2021
>_ Summary Read 6 books (1664 min, -24% MoM) and 43 articles (+95%) Listened to 596 songs (+64%) and 17 podcasts (747 min, -.3%) Watched 2 movies (251 min, -72%), 5 soccer games (680 min, -30%) and 15 TV episodes (944 min, +133%) Played 0 board games (0 min, same) and 0 video...
UX Collective
Designing for AI means designing like it’s 1999
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
1st Jun 2026
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
Jakob Nielsen on UX
A New AI: Creation as Exploration and Discovery
AI transforms UX into exploration-based discovery.
21st Aug 2025
AI transforms UX into exploration-based discovery.
Jakob Nielsen on UX
UX Roundup: UX Leaders Need Profits | In-depth AI | Emotional Avatar Animation | Construction Time |...
UX should quest for profits, not a seat at the table | In-depth AI reviews of draft academic papers...
1st Dec 2025
UX should quest for profits, not a seat at the table | In-depth AI reviews of draft academic papers | Emotional lip-synching of avatars when singing | Time needed to build AI supercompute data centers | Discover user needs
The Turn Signal RSS...
The Process Behind the Touch Interaction Concept
A behind the scenes look at the design of the new touch concept
1st May 2020
A behind the scenes look at the design of the new touch concept
The Turn Signal RSS...
An in-depth look at the UX Design of the Porsche Taycan
Last month, Porsche unveiled the Taycan. It is the first electric car from an established car...
1st Nov 2019
Last month, Porsche unveiled the Taycan. It is the first electric car from an established car company with specs that challenge Tesla's…
Retail Design Blog
Avizva Solutions Offices by Designforth Interiors
Designforth Interiors created a functional and flexible office space in Indore for Avizva, focusing...
3rd Mar 2025
Designforth Interiors created a functional and flexible office space in Indore for Avizva, focusing on spatial optimization, collaboration, and cultural...
Nela Dunato Art &...
Nela Dunato Art & Design got a brand refresh!
My previous brand identity design lasted from 2015 until 2023, and it has served me quite well. But...
3rd Dec 2023
My previous brand identity design lasted from 2015 until 2023, and it has served me quite well. But my new professional photos sparked the need to overhaul the website, which led to a more substantial brand redesign including new typography and updated logo design. Come see what...
Retail Design Blog
STRAUSS CI FACTORY
Engelbert Strauss is one of the world’s leading work brands. The CI Factory is a progressive...
1st Jul 2025
Engelbert Strauss is one of the world’s leading work brands. The CI Factory is a progressive production site and high-tech...
Christopher Butler
Earning Attention
This is something I say in the course of nearly every conversation I have with every agency design...
6th Apr 2026
This is something I say in the course of nearly every conversation I have with every agency design team I consult.
I remind them, over and over again, that marketing is two kinds of persuasion: FIRST, persuading a person to actually pay attention, and THEN, persuading them of...
The personal website...
Breaking looms
Let’s talk about Luddites. The actual, real, historical Luddites.
“Luddite” was the label given to a...
4th Feb 2020
Let’s talk about Luddites. The actual, real, historical Luddites.
“Luddite” was the label given to a group of English workers’ rights activists in the early 19th century. They owe their name to a man who may never have existed — Ned Ludd. The Luddites were working-class people...
Koos Looijesteijn -...
I designed a Christmas gift
I love the idea of charity donations as gifts, but I find they lack something. I don’t know about...
10th Dec 2021
I love the idea of charity donations as gifts, but I find they lack something. I don’t know about you,...
The Pudding
Dicing an Onion, the Mathematically Optimal Way
What is the best way to dice an onion to get the most uniform piece sizes?
12th Aug 2025
What is the best way to dice an onion to get the most uniform piece sizes?
The personal website...
Functions and the future of design systems
New kinds of computers and interfaces are becoming ubiquitous: in our cars, on our wrists, in our...
12th Feb 2022
New kinds of computers and interfaces are becoming ubiquitous: in our cars, on our wrists, in our ears, at our desks at work, on our TVs at home. In response, we’ve seen innovations in the content, organization, and delivery of design systems: design tokens, interoperability,...
Jeffrey Zeldman...
Handwritten notes in the time of AI note takers
“Here is the thing people get wrong about AI in meetings. The transcript captures what was said. It...
9th Apr 2026
“Here is the thing people get wrong about AI in meetings. The transcript captures what was said. It does not capture what mattered.”—Lucas Radke
The best project management tool is still a pen, plus the discipline to notice what the machine cannot.
The post Handwritten notes in...
Fatih Arslan
I was wrong about AI Coding
I'm mostly anti-AI person since the AI hype started years ago. However with time I realized that I...
26th Mar 2025
I'm mostly anti-AI person since the AI hype started years ago. However with time I realized that I misjudged AI Coding — Here’s Why.
Oykun Yilmaz
2023 Letter with 10 Lessons
I’ve been writing my 2023 reflections for myself and I thought I’d share them with you. This is a...
18th Jan 2024
I’ve been writing my 2023 reflections for myself and I thought I’d share them with you. This is a bit of a long and personal one. Feel free to skip it if you like.
OK, let’s get to it!
Write
I've been
The personal website...
What google search shows us about the future of product design
You can read this article on UX Booth.
10th Sep 2019
You can read this article on UX Booth.
Fatih Arslan
A month in Munich
We stayed with the family (two kids and my wife) for several weeks in Munich. I took hundreds of...
31st Aug 2024
We stayed with the family (two kids and my wife) for several weeks in Munich. I took hundreds of photos. Here is how it went.
Jeffrey Zeldman...
Required reading: “The Interracial Cuck Porn Theory of Everything”
Cameron Cummins-Smith’s grand unifying theory connects the far right’s seemingly disparate...
24th May 2026
Cameron Cummins-Smith’s grand unifying theory connects the far right’s seemingly disparate obsessions—from trans panic and great replacement theory to anti-feminism and white birth-rate anxiety—into a single ideological system fueled by pornographic narratives:
In physics there...
Retail Design Blog
Mercedes-Benz Offices by Boytorun Architects
Boytorun Architects designed the Mercedes-Benz Istanbul Headquarters in a way that fosters...
1st Aug 2024
Boytorun Architects designed the Mercedes-Benz Istanbul Headquarters in a way that fosters collaboration and innovation, emphasizing a sense of belonging...
Nela Dunato Art &...
My policy on the use of generative AI in creative work
I have never used generative AI software to produce original written content, images, code, audio,...
10th Jun 2024
I have never used generative AI software to produce original written content, images, code, audio, or video, and do not intend to in the future. All of the art, design, photography, writing, video, and audio material published on NelaDunato.com and other websites I own have been...
The personal website...
Functions and the future of design systems
New kinds of computers and interfaces are becoming ubiquitous: in our cars, on our wrists, in our...
12th Feb 2022
New kinds of computers and interfaces are becoming ubiquitous: in our cars, on our wrists, in our ears, at our desks at work, on our TVs at home. In response, we’ve seen innovations in the content, organization, and delivery of design systems: design tokens, interoperability,...
The Turn Signal RSS...
How We Designed a White-Label In-Car Infotainment System
Over the past two years, we created an infotainment system as a product, here is a look inside our...
1st Aug 2024
Over the past two years, we created an infotainment system as a product, here is a look inside our design process.
Scott Jenson
The Present Needs Files
My last post “The Future Needs Files” clearly touched a nerve. The comments covered concerns well...
14th Sep 2021
My last post “The Future Needs Files” clearly touched a nerve. The comments covered concerns well beyond what I intended. This amazing energy shows how fundamental and impassioned we are when it comes to “storing my data”. However, I made a mistake by titling my post “The Future...
The Turn Signal RSS...
A UX Review of Peugeot’s New Interior: When Design Ambition Meets Software Reality
Does Peugeot's software match the excellent hardware?
1st Jun 2025
Does Peugeot's software match the excellent hardware?
Nela Dunato Art &...
Why I don’t want to grow my freelance design studio into an agency
As of September 1st 2023 I’ve been self-employed for 10 years. For this anniversary, I decided to...
2nd Sep 2023
As of September 1st 2023 I’ve been self-employed for 10 years. For this anniversary, I decided to answer a question I'm often asked by family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers: do I plan to hire more people and grow my own design agency? I don't, and in this article I...
The Turn Signal RSS...
The Process Behind the Touch Interaction Concept
If you haven't yet seen the concept I created, click here Below is the rough design process that I...
1st May 2020
If you haven't yet seen the concept I created, click here Below is the rough design process that I followed.
One of the main reasons…
Jan Miksovsky’s blog
Fixing the under-appreciated JavaScript Map class and using it to construct a build system
17th Nov 2025
Fonts In Use – Blog...
Metra tickets, 1990–1991
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: www.c82.net C82 / Nicholas...
17th Sep 2023
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: www.c82.net C82 / Nicholas Rougeux. License: All Rights Reserved.
January 1990, ft. an unidentified rounded sans
Source: www.c82.net C82 / Nicholas Rougeux. License: All Rights Reserved.
February...
abdz.do - Have you...
An Introduction to the AI Generative Sneakers by Grant Franck
An Introduction to the AI Generative Sneakers by Grant Franck
...
23rd Jan 2023
An Introduction to the AI Generative Sneakers by Grant Franck
AoiroStudio0123—23
Grant Franck is a 3D artist and design director who has pushed the boundaries of sneaker design with his use of AI generative techniques. His series of...
Retail Design Blog
HAVV by Widarto Impact
OVERVIEW Soy milk commands 37.4% of the $23.8 billion plant-based milk market, holding the largest...
5th May 2026
OVERVIEW Soy milk commands 37.4% of the $23.8 billion plant-based milk market, holding the largest share of any plant milk...
Scott Jenson
Boring is good
The initial, feverish enthusiasm for large language models (LLMs) is beginning to cool, and for good...
15th Sep 2025
The initial, feverish enthusiasm for large language models (LLMs) is beginning to cool, and for good reason. It’s time to trade the out-of-control hype for a more pragmatic, even “boring,” approach. A recent MIT report shows that 95% of companies implementing this technology have...
Fonts In Use – Blog...
Philip K. Dick paperback covers (Panther Science Fiction)
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by
citizen3xx24j....
20th Jun 2021
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: www.flickr.com Uploaded to Flickr by
citizen3xx24j. License: All Rights Reserved.
Now Wait for Last Year (1975). Cover art by Chris Foss. [More info on ISFDB]
Roslyn Gothic arguably saw its most extensive and iconic use on the...
Scott Jenson
Design can be free (part 3)
This is the third in a series. The first two showed how confusing products could be fixed with...
7th Feb 2023
This is the third in a series. The first two showed how confusing products could be fixed with fairly simple changes. It’s often possible to significantly improve a product even using the same hardware. This one tackles a much trickier problem: improving the quality of hardware....
The personal website...
Inclusive design on the Tokyo subway
For the past two weeks, I’ve been exploring Tokyo. Until the last few days of 2018, I had never been...
13th Jan 2019
For the past two weeks, I’ve been exploring Tokyo. Until the last few days of 2018, I had never been to Tokyo — or, for that matter, any city as large as Tokyo. And while I have many many great memories of the city, I’m particularly eager to share my impressions of the Tokyo...
Identity Designed
Pets at Home
Designed by Nomad, London.
24th Apr 2023
Designed by Nomad, London.
Christopher Butler
The Last Time
Life has as many ends as it has beginnings. What can an end teach us about making our...
15th Oct 2021
Life has as many ends as it has beginnings. What can an end teach us about making our world?
Bye, Chris” were the last words a friend said to me. We had been talking on the phone for about an hour, catching up as we did back then, a few times each year. He said his goodbye as...
Product Identity
Why Niche design
A few updates + a manifesto?
12th Nov 2025
A few updates + a manifesto?
The Turn Signal RSS...
The State of UX Design of Chinese Car Brands
The Market Potential Today, the sales numbers from Chinese car manufacturers don't seem threatening...
1st Jul 2020
The Market Potential Today, the sales numbers from Chinese car manufacturers don't seem threatening to established car companies but they…
Fonts In Use – Blog...
Harris/Walz 2024 US Presidential Campaign
Contributed by Stephen Coles
Source: www.flickr.com Kit Karzen/Harris for President. License:...
4th Sep 2024
Contributed by Stephen Coles
Source: www.flickr.com Kit Karzen/Harris for President. License: All Rights Reserved.
The Kamala Harris 2024 campaign identity, designed by Wide Eye Creative, is built around Sans Plomb, a condensed gothic not unlike the Bureau Grot used by...
The personal website...
Why the web will win
197 billion apps were downloaded in 20171: that’s almost 26 per human being on the planet Earth. 6...
6th Jan 2018
197 billion apps were downloaded in 20171: that’s almost 26 per human being on the planet Earth. 6 apps per second. In the 10 years since Apple opened the App Store, app downloads have doubled, on average, every two years.2
Given the numbers, it’s not surprising that many...
Luke Mitchell |...
IKEA Bekant Standing Desk: Personal Review
Since the lockdown, all of us at thoughtbot have been working from home. I took the opportunity to...
21st Sep 2020
Since the lockdown, all of us at thoughtbot have been working from home. I took the opportunity to upgrade my home setup. The biggest change was a new desk.
I’ve wanted a sit-stand desk for a long time, this gave the perfect oppurtunity to try one. I settled on the IKEA Bekant,...
The personal website...
How to get the best design feedback from your team
In 2015, I wrote out my thoughts on creative feedback. Here’s that article in list format:
Feedback...
13th Apr 2017
In 2015, I wrote out my thoughts on creative feedback. Here’s that article in list format:
Feedback should be concise
Feedback should be action-oriented
Feedback should have a consistent format
At the time, the Planetary design team was growing. We were grappling with one of the...
The personal website...
Delight comes last
Paul Adams put it bluntly:
“Grid, font, colour, and aesthetic style are irrelevant if [outcomes]...
23rd Jun 2019
Paul Adams put it bluntly:
“Grid, font, colour, and aesthetic style are irrelevant if [outcomes] haven’t been resolved first … [but] sometimes it’s just more fun to draw nice pictures and bury oneself in pixels than deal with complicated business decisions and people with...
Joshua Smith
Brooklyn Bodega
Based on 127 Albany Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NYC. Scratchbuilt 1:20 Scale Miniature...
1st Oct 2018
Based on 127 Albany Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NYC. Scratchbuilt 1:20 Scale Miniature created from MDF, Wood, cardboard, plastic card, chalk pastels, spraypaint, wire, plastruct. Created for Urban Art Fair, Paris, 2018. Photo Credit: Ben Neale
The post Brooklyn Bodega...
Jan Miksovsky’s blog
2025 Web Origami year-end report
22nd Dec 2025
The personal website...
Working to work
Despite the fact that I build websites for a living, I do a significant amount of work in my...
18th Jan 2014
Despite the fact that I build websites for a living, I do a significant amount of work in my notebooks.
Quick quiz: what does a web developer do for a living? If you said ‘make websites, duh,’ you’re technically correct (the best kind of correct). And you’re in good company; I’d...
Scott Jenson
Assertive Instincts
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light...
6th Jan 2020
Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in. Isaac Asimov It all started while on vacation with my wife. We were driving a rental car to a remote location in Washington state. The car had a safety feature that...
Product Identity
Beautiful ugly websites
Form is cheap, function is everything(?)
7th Mar 2024
Form is cheap, function is everything(?)
Christopher Butler
Are We Ready?
Inventions that were ahead of their time can help us to understand whether we are truly ready to...
3rd Dec 2021
Inventions that were ahead of their time can help us to understand whether we are truly ready to live in the world we are making.
every detail — but hinting at them by highlighting mere facets that represent a coherent reality beneath them. If that reality is convincing, then...
The Turn Signal RSS...
Driving a Porsche Taycan for a Week, a UX review
I rented the car from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. It turned out to be a brand new Porsche...
1st May 2022
I rented the car from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. It turned out to be a brand new Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo 4S. It has a base…
The personal website...
Design and machine learning
Machine learning is a powerful tool that drives everything from curated content recommendations to...
30th Oct 2019
Machine learning is a powerful tool that drives everything from curated content recommendations to optimized user interfaces. With Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon leading the charge, machine learning is becoming deeply integrated into everyday product experiences. This means...
Ryan Mulligan
CSS Grid Gap Behavior with Hidden Elements
I was recently prototyping a component layout that included a way to toggle the visibility of...
14th Feb 2023
I was recently prototyping a component layout that included a way to toggle the visibility of sibling elements inside a grid display. What tripped me up was, while these elements were hidden, all of the container's gap gutters remained, leaving undesired extra visual spacing. I...
The DESK Magazine
How do you know what you like anymore?
"Did you see Turtle Boss yet?" Tim asked over brunch.
"I saw it," said Katie over a mouthful of...
27th Sep 2023
"Did you see Turtle Boss yet?" Tim asked over brunch.
"I saw it," said Katie over a mouthful of hash browns. "It was so freaking good."
"Good?" said Sam. "You actually thought it was good?"
"Yeah, it was incredible.
The Turn Signal RSS...
Swiping vs Tapping, What is Less Distracting to Drivers?
I typically split in-car interactions into two groups. There are quick and frequent actions like...
1st Feb 2022
I typically split in-car interactions into two groups. There are quick and frequent actions like changing the volume or skipping a song…
The personal website...
The legacy of NFTs
A new trend is sending shock waves through the world of art, collecting, finance, and...
29th Dec 2021
A new trend is sending shock waves through the world of art, collecting, finance, and investing.
It’s the result of a perfect storm: one part scientific breakthrough, one part new financial paradigm, one part reflection of world events. Some people attribute it entirely to the...
The personal website...
Making WSJ.com more accessible
As I write this, the WSJ.com team is launching a brand new homepage experience for small screens.1...
3rd Aug 2016
As I write this, the WSJ.com team is launching a brand new homepage experience for small screens.1 It’s one of our biggest subscription-drivers, a page that hundreds of thousands of people see every day. The new experience builds on the award-winning design of the WSJ iOS and...
Ryan Mulligan
Layout Breakouts with CSS Grid
A post about the layout you're looking at right now
The previous structure of this page layout was...
7th Oct 2022
A post about the layout you're looking at right now
The previous structure of this page layout was virtually the same, the foundation of it expertly defined in the article Full-Bleed Layout Using CSS Grid by Josh Comeau. It's a technique I've used on many projects. I've even...
Oykun Yilmaz
2023 Letter with 10 Lessons
Write
I've been writing for years, however, I gave the focus it deserved in 2023 as I felt the urge...
30th Dec 2023
Write
I've been writing for years, however, I gave the focus it deserved in 2023 as I felt the urge to express my ideas more in words than colours and shapes. I didn’t resist the urge and I have seen amazing benefits.
Articulating my ideas, feelings,
The personal website...
Crystal ball 1-on-1s
1-on-1s are my favorite management tool. Not only for managing direct reports; sideways and upwards...
25th Mar 2018
1-on-1s are my favorite management tool. Not only for managing direct reports; sideways and upwards management need 1-on-1s, too. Here’s my general definition for a 1-on-1:
Reoccuring - Whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, set a cadence and stick with it.
Informal - Don’t...
Fonts In Use – Blog...
Cherry by Nico Walker (Alfred A. Knopf)
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: www.janet-hansen.com Janet Hansen. License: All Rights...
6th Jun 2019
Contributed by Florian Hardwig
Source: www.janet-hansen.com Janet Hansen. License: All Rights Reserved.
The cover for Nico Walker’s debut novel Cherry was designed by Janet Hansen, senior designer at Alfred A. Knopf, with creative direction from Carol Devine Carson. It was...
The personal website...
Delight comes last
Paul Adams put it bluntly:
“Grid, font, colour, and aesthetic style are irrelevant if [outcomes]...
23rd Jun 2019
Paul Adams put it bluntly:
“Grid, font, colour, and aesthetic style are irrelevant if [outcomes] haven’t been resolved first … [but] sometimes it’s just more fun to draw nice pictures and bury oneself in pixels than deal with complicated business decisions and people with...
Identity Designed
Champ
Designed by Jesús López, Hermosillo, Mexico.
29th Apr 2024
Designed by Jesús López, Hermosillo, Mexico.
Ryan Mulligan
The Pixel Canvas Shimmer Effect
I recently stumbled on a super cool, well-executed hover effect from the clerk.com website where a...
3rd Dec 2024
I recently stumbled on a super cool, well-executed hover effect from the clerk.com website where a bloom of tiny pixels light up, their glow staggering from the center to the edges of its container. With some available free time over this Thanksgiving break, I hacked together my...
The personal website...
Why the web will win
197 billion apps were downloaded in 20171: that’s almost 26 per human being on the planet Earth. 6...
6th Jan 2018
197 billion apps were downloaded in 20171: that’s almost 26 per human being on the planet Earth. 6 apps per second. In the 10 years since Apple opened the App Store, app downloads have doubled, on average, every two years.2
Given the numbers, it’s not surprising that many...
Melissa Penfold
5 DISCREET SIGNS YOU’RE IN A WEALTHY PERSON’S HOME
Flashy indicators of affluence are easy to spot. But these often-less-expensive decor items signal...
24th Sep 2025
Flashy indicators of affluence are easy to spot. But these often-less-expensive decor items signal true wealth in more subtle ways. The quietly ultra–rich live with subtle indicators of affluence—and most aren’t actually that expensive.
Wealthy people don’t have “stuff”
The more...
UX Collective
When the canvas starts acting, who’s really in control?
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
a week ago
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
The Turn Signal RSS...
Designing A New UX Concept to Reduce Driver Distraction
Since the arrival of the first iPhone, designers at car companies have tried to copy its minimalist...
1st Jun 2019
Since the arrival of the first iPhone, designers at car companies have tried to copy its minimalist look and interface in the interiors of…
Christopher Butler
An Old, Restless Wish
We do not know what is going to happen. This is a hard truth; we desperately want to believe the...
2nd Jun 2026
We do not know what is going to happen. This is a hard truth; we desperately want to believe the opposite. And so the most successful corners of the modern internet have been organized, very deliberately, around that desire to convince you that someone, somewhere, knows what is...
UX Collective
The algorithmic atelier
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
3rd Aug 2026
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
Melissa Penfold
IF YOU WANT TO SELL YOUR HOUSE, FIGURE OUT WHAT TO RENOVATE FIRST
You want to sell your home, but the kids have scuffed up the floors and chipped the paint. The...
30th Jan 2024
You want to sell your home, but the kids have scuffed up the floors and chipped the paint. The kitchen could use a face-lift and the lawn has seen better days.
Every seller has to decide whether to sink money into their home before listing it, and how much. Lately, the stakes...
The personal website...
Tiny data visualizations
This is a direct translation of a talk I gave at the NYC D3.js meetup in January of 2016. If you’d...
8th Feb 2016
This is a direct translation of a talk I gave at the NYC D3.js meetup in January of 2016. If you’d like to see a video of the talk, you can check it out on YouTube.
Have you seen this comprehensive list of Donald Trump’s insults? Or maybe this detailed rundown of the 2016...
The Turn Signal RSS...
Why Do New Cars Have Speed Limit Warnings, and Do They Work?
New cars have one feature that's infuriating: a beep when exceeding the speed limit. Why are...
1st Oct 2024
New cars have one feature that's infuriating: a beep when exceeding the speed limit. Why are carmakers adding this and does it actually work?
The DESK Magazine
Objects of Affection — From the Desk of van Schneider — Edition №257
As always, if you missed last weeks email, its now on my blog. Last week I shared my big bucket list...
3rd Feb 2025
As always, if you missed last weeks email, its now on my blog. Last week I shared my big bucket list "Designs of my Dreams" with you. Feel free to forward this article to friends or colleagues if you like, its now open to everyone to read.
Designs
The personal website...
Crystal ball 1-on-1s
1-on-1s are my favorite management tool. Not only for managing direct reports; sideways and upwards...
25th Mar 2018
1-on-1s are my favorite management tool. Not only for managing direct reports; sideways and upwards management need 1-on-1s, too. Here’s my general definition for a 1-on-1:
Reoccuring - Whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, set a cadence and stick with it.
Informal - Don’t...
The Pudding
Is the Love Song Dying?
Is love dead in pop music? We checked all 5,141 Top 10 hits since 1958.
11th Nov 2024
Is love dead in pop music? We checked all 5,141 Top 10 hits since 1958.
Ryan Mulligan
We can :has it all
The functional :has() CSS pseudo class is now shipping in all evergreen browsers! 🎉
With the...
19th Dec 2023
The functional :has() CSS pseudo class is now shipping in all evergreen browsers! 🎉
With the release of Firefox 121.0, I'm excited to see that my semi-dusty :has() demos are finally realizing their full potential in Firefox. The amount of opportunity unlocked with this selector...
The Turn Signal RSS...
Designing A New UX Concept to Reduce Driver Distraction
is it possible to create a modern interaction model that allows the flexibility of touch screens but...
1st Jun 2019
is it possible to create a modern interaction model that allows the flexibility of touch screens but does not cause driver distraction?
The personal website...
The paradox at the heart of A/B testing
A/B testing began with beer.
At the turn of the 20th century, William Sealy Gosset was exploring new...
9th Jan 2020
A/B testing began with beer.
At the turn of the 20th century, William Sealy Gosset was exploring new ways of running experiments on his production line. Gosset was trying to improve the quality of Guinness’s signature stout but couldn’t afford to run large-scale experiments on...
The personal website...
The history of album art
Album art didn’t always exist.
In the early 1900s, recorded music was still a novelty, overshadowed...
2nd May 2025
Album art didn’t always exist.
In the early 1900s, recorded music was still a novelty, overshadowed by sales of sheet music. Early vinyl records were vastly different from what we think of today: discs were sold individually and could only hold up to four minutes of music per...
Nela Dunato Art &...
Why people avoid social media detox (let’s bust those excuses)
I truly believe everyone would benefit from taking a long break from social media at least once a...
30th Oct 2023
I truly believe everyone would benefit from taking a long break from social media at least once a year. In my many articles on this topic I gushed about the benefits of digital media sabbaticals, and my own experiences with increased mindfulness, focus, and productivity. So let’s...
The DESK Magazine
My favorite type of designers
There are many types of GREAT designers I've had the pleasure of working with over the past two...
16th Dec 2025
There are many types of GREAT designers I've had the pleasure of working with over the past two decades and what I learned is that they are all not measured equally. Below are some of my favorites for the various circumstances.
(FYI: very rarely does a designer inherit
Ryan Mulligan
Notes on handling events in Web Components
My click-spark web component was a fun, silly project at best. Yet I've seen it's had some love...
27th Jul 2024
My click-spark web component was a fun, silly project at best. Yet I've seen it's had some love since being shared. So why not publish it as an npm package? No better time than the present, some say.
I had done a major refactor before publishing, the most notable was that the...
Christopher Butler
Know What You Need
Knowing what you need makes knowing what you want much easier.
It is often said about successful...
16th Nov 2024
Knowing what you need makes knowing what you want much easier.
It is often said about successful people that they “know exactly what they want.” I’m sure this is true, because in our modern culture, where we are constantly made aware of new choices and possibilities, knowing...
Melissa Penfold
SEASON’S TREE-TINGS! THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CHRISTMAS, 2023
The past few years have been rocky for Christmas. In 2020 it was cancelled. In 2021, it felt a...
5th Dec 2023
The past few years have been rocky for Christmas. In 2020 it was cancelled. In 2021, it felt a little more appealing. Things began to feel more normal in 2022, but having been homebodies for so long we were still flexing our dormant social muscles. In 2023 the weight of current...
Jakob Nielsen on UX
Gestalt Principles for Visual UI Design
Users parse a layout before they read its labels. Whitespace, borders, alignment, color, and motion...
2 weeks ago
Users parse a layout before they read its labels. Whitespace, borders, alignment, color, and motion determine what belongs together. When these cues fight the content, users attach the label, price, warning, status, or action to the wrong object. Proximity, similarity, enclosure,...
Nela Dunato Art &...
Quest for the best black paint: Gouache, acrylic, india ink, pastel & more compared
I love adding black backgrounds, borders, or other large areas of black to my artwork! In the past I...
30th Dec 2022
I love adding black backgrounds, borders, or other large areas of black to my artwork! In the past I mostly used India ink because it’s affordable, easy to use, and easy to find in stores. But now I'm curious if I can find something better.
I tested and compared 14 different...
Jakob Nielsen on UX
The Big Tough UX-AI Quiz
70 hard questions about the last year in UX and AI.
5th Jan 2026
70 hard questions about the last year in UX and AI.
Christopher Butler
Persuasion
Good design requires persuasion.
might be persuasive on its own; the notion that a thing “just...
15th Apr 2023
Good design requires persuasion.
might be persuasive on its own; the notion that a thing “just works” implies that its function, however novel, is an intuitive leap from its form. This is what Apple is known for. Apple products are renowned for their simplicity, which is what...
Joshua Smith
Globe Slicers
Scratchbuilt miniature of the Globe Slicers Building, The Bowery District, NYC. Scratchbuilt...
7th Apr 2019
Scratchbuilt miniature of the Globe Slicers Building, The Bowery District, NYC. Scratchbuilt miniature using MDF, Wood, Cardboard, Paper, Spraypaint, Acrylic Paint, Styrene, Wire, Chain, Weathering pigments. Private Collection Featuring the work of Sory, Staino, Seedr, Sefu,...
Christopher Butler
Doing (and Directing) Great Design Requires Detail Obsession
Every great design has one organizing detail that unlocks everything else, and the best design...
15th Aug 2025
Every great design has one organizing detail that unlocks everything else, and the best design leaders never stop looking for it.
Every good piece of design has at least one detail that is the “key” to unlocking an understanding of how it works. Good designers will notice that...
Koos Looijesteijn -...
Do you really need to set a theme color to color Safari's UI?
When it was announced that websites can change the color of Safari’s UI, I was eager to try it...
11th Oct 2021
When it was announced that websites can change the color of Safari’s UI, I was eager to try it out....
Jeffrey Zeldman...
Advice for job seekers
I recently heard from an accomplished former colleague who had failed to impress the recruiter...
2nd Mar 2026
I recently heard from an accomplished former colleague who had failed to impress the recruiter evaluating their initial application for an open position. It was a position for which they were more than qualified. So why hadn’t they scored so much as an initial interview?
Turned...
Christopher Butler
Periodical – 1
This is a semi-daily check-in. Experimental; likely to not actually be daily. Regular and...
11th Nov 2023
This is a semi-daily check-in. Experimental; likely to not actually be daily. Regular and short.
The kids are in the bath, listening to the Yoto Daily, which aptly describes itself as a “morsel.” The host offers stray thoughts, short learnings, words of the day, fascinating...
julian.digital
Multi-layered calendars
Traveling through time in three dimensions 01 Intro Time is a curious thing. It’s a constantly...
6th Jul 2023
Traveling through time in three dimensions 01 Intro Time is a curious thing. It’s a constantly flowing stream that can’t be paused, stopped, or repeated. We experience it, but we can’t control it. We can’t even touch or feel it. To get a better grasp of this weird, intangible...
Identity Designed
Pilo
Designed by 5.5, Paris.
30th Jun 2023
julian.digital
The case against conversational interfaces
01 Intro Conversational interfaces are a bit of a meme. Every couple of years a shiny new AI...
27th Mar 2025
01 Intro Conversational interfaces are a bit of a meme. Every couple of years a shiny new AI development emerges and people in tech go “This is it! The next computing paradigm is here! We’ll only use natural language going forward!”. But then nothing actually changes and we...
The personal website...
Mind the gap: designing graphs with missing data
Data-driven interfaces are on the rise. Financial District CEOs want to see a birds-eye view of...
12th Dec 2015
Data-driven interfaces are on the rise. Financial District CEOs want to see a birds-eye view of their bottom line as much as Silicon Valley Co-founders want to watch their growth hackers hack. Each user has their own hopes and fears about data, but there’s one thing nobody wants...
UX Collective
Liquid Glass isn’t a design failure; it is Apple’s most tactile digital future yet
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
23rd Jun 2025
Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.
The personal website...
Well-designed interfaces look boring
3 billion people used the internet for the first time in the past decade. Can you imagine what that...
15th Jul 2015
3 billion people used the internet for the first time in the past decade. Can you imagine what that was like? When I began using the internet, the web was pretty much just text. Interface design required finagling websites from knots of spreadsheet-like tables, and even the most...
Sarah Parmenter
The New Macbook Pro with Touchbar
I purchased my new MacBook Pro on a flight from London to San Francisco in the Autumn. I felt all...
21st Mar 2017
I purchased my new MacBook Pro on a flight from London to San Francisco in the Autumn. I felt all futuristic as I secured one of the new machines whilst on a poor internet connection, blazing through the sky. I felt even more nerdy when the Apple Store in Union Square was one of...
ramsés cabello
嵐
2020年に嵐の音楽に出会いました。それから嬉しい時も悲しい時も、嵐の素敵な曲がずっと僕のそばにいてくれました。心から感謝しています。...
3rd Mar 2026
2020年に嵐の音楽に出会いました。それから嬉しい時も悲しい時も、嵐の素敵な曲がずっと僕のそばにいてくれました。心から感謝しています。 嵐の皆さん、スタッフの皆さん、本当にお疲れ様でした。
“忘れないでいよ”
これからも、ずっと。
🌈
Product Identity
Looking for humanness in the world wide social
This is the first part of a series on the identity of social networks.
15th Jan 2025
This is the first part of a series on the identity of social networks.
The Pudding
Common Threads
Visualizing how musicals use motifs to tell stories.
9th Dec 2025
Visualizing how musicals use motifs to tell stories.
The personal website...
My management philosophy
After reading Lara Hogan’s post and getting some inspiration from my own manager, I thought it’d be...
10th Jun 2018
After reading Lara Hogan’s post and getting some inspiration from my own manager, I thought it’d be good to write up my management philosophy. This reflects my approach at this moment in time — I’m still pretty new to management, and will be revisiting this over time.
My...
Product Identity
The Dumbification of our smart screens
Re: Enshittification: How screens might become dumber
3rd Jul 2024
Re: Enshittification: How screens might become dumber
Jakob Nielsen on UX
UX Roundup: Corkboard Mockup | Loss-Making Promos | AI Movie | Video-to-Music | Mainstream AI |...
Corkboard mockup of project history | Are promotions profitable or not?
1st Sep 2025
Corkboard mockup of project history | Are promotions profitable or not?
Oykun Yilmaz
Practising distraction-free creativity
The design world is filled with exciting opportunities.
We see Designers on X who are creating...
21st Feb 2024
The design world is filled with exciting opportunities.
We see Designers on X who are creating Framer templates, experimenting with 3D, writing newsletters, starting design subscription agencies, selling icon packs and many more.
I know it’s tempting to chase them all. I’ve given...
Fonts In Use – Blog...
What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?
Contributed by Nick Sherman
Source: www.worthpoint.com License: All Rights Reserved.
On...
5th Jul 2020
Contributed by Nick Sherman
Source: www.worthpoint.com License: All Rights Reserved.
On July 5th, 1852 (168 years ago today) Frederick Douglass delivered a speech to 500–600 people in the Corinthian Hall of Rochester, New York. The speech, preceded by a reading of the...
Koos Looijesteijn -...
Holograms, light-leaks and how to build CSS-only shaders.
"With mix-blend-mode finally gaining wide browser-support, we now have access to many of most common...
9th Jul 2022
"With mix-blend-mode finally gaining wide browser-support, we now have access to many of most common shading techniques in CSS. With some choice images and a bit of careful layering it’s possible to build some surprisingly high-quality effects without the need for introducing any...
Ryan Mulligan
Starting Exploration of Scroll-driven Animations in CSS
CSS Scroll-driven Animations has recently made its debut on the main stage in the latest versions of...
21st Aug 2023
CSS Scroll-driven Animations has recently made its debut on the main stage in the latest versions of Chrome and Edge. Before this module became available, linking an element's animation to a scroll position was only possible through JavaScript. I've been (and still am) a huge fan...
The Pudding
How the Words We Teach English Language Learners Changed
How the words we teach English language learners changed
25th Jul 2026
How the words we teach English language learners changed
Permanent Style
Our favourite restaurants in London
By Lucas Nicholson. When tailors and other artisans visit us in London, they nearly always ask about...
1st Dec 2025
By Lucas Nicholson. When tailors and other artisans visit us in London, they nearly always ask about the best places to eat. Their hotel is already booked after all, and they know what they’re doing all day. But local restaurant recommendati... > Read more
The Turn Signal RSS...
The Role of Cognitive Load in Automotive UX Design
Cognitive load refers to Cognitive load is not the same as cognitive distraction. Cognitive...
1st May 2023
Cognitive load refers to Cognitive load is not the same as cognitive distraction. Cognitive distraction is Cognitive load may lead to…
Jakob Nielsen on UX
2026 AI and UX Predictions: A Mid-Year Reality Check
Summary: Halfway through 2026, AI is evolving faster than expected, but usability is struggling to...
2nd Jul 2026
Summary: Halfway through 2026, AI is evolving faster than expected, but usability is struggling to keep pace.
Fatih Arslan
Tesla Model Y: My 6 months impressions
I have the Model Y now for 6 months. Here is what I think about it after six months of daily drive.
8th Jan 2024
I have the Model Y now for 6 months. Here is what I think about it after six months of daily drive.
Product Identity
#4 Roam Research — What comes after a renaissance?
On mixing ideas, evolving design patterns and finding a soul
15th Jan 2024
On mixing ideas, evolving design patterns and finding a soul
The personal website...
The service-based design org
Last year, I joined SimpleHealth with the mission of building a design org from scratch. On my first...
23rd Jan 2021
Last year, I joined SimpleHealth with the mission of building a design org from scratch. On my first day, there were no in-house designers — just a rotating cast of freelance designers hired by various departments as they were needed.
A blank slate is a design leader’s dream....
The personal website...
Research, empathy, simplicity, speed
photo by Toa Heftiba
Earlier today, I read a thought-provoking tweet from John Maeda:
"Salt Fat Acid...
17th Oct 2018
photo by Toa Heftiba
Earlier today, I read a thought-provoking tweet from John Maeda:
"Salt Fat Acid Heat" as the perfect set of ingredients for a meal makes me wonder what a similar set of essential ingredients might be for digital products. https://t.co/z1w1PUyQsD
— John Maeda...
Jan Miksovsky’s blog
Promoting a design and development tool through comics
8th Jan 2026
Koos Looijesteijn
How I repaired our oven with a piece of Lego
1st Aug 2026
The DESK Magazine
A digital tool built like a physical product?
Does it seem like there's more bad TV these days?
More mediocre writing?
More low quality...
8th May 2023
Does it seem like there's more bad TV these days?
More mediocre writing?
More low quality clothing?
Retail Design Blog
Casa Giardino by Claudio Larcher Design Studio
Set within the vast urban regeneration of Scalo Farini, Casa Giardino is a temporary restaurant and...
2nd Feb 2026
Set within the vast urban regeneration of Scalo Farini, Casa Giardino is a temporary restaurant and social space that transforms...
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