Design is hard in the middle

I’ve always found the work of design to be difficult. When I started working as a designer, it was difficult because I didn’t know what I was doing. I was tripping and stumbling in the dark, messing around in Photoshop and InDesign, trying to lay out magazine ads and technical manuals proficiently. I don’t think […] April 5, 2023

The tools and the output

For years now, we've heard new conventional wisdom from all the creative gurus: "the tools don't matter. You have everything you need to make what you want to make." I feel the opposite is true. April 4, 2023

One Story case study

I've been so busy with work since COVID that I haven't had time to update my portfolio. I'm trying to make time to fix that now. The newest case study in my portfolio is about One Story, a website I designed and developed about a church curriculum for kids and youth. March 23, 2023

Preventing typographic widows with CSS

Richard Rutter shared an idea for limiting typographic widows with CSS. I love the simplicity of his proposal and would be thrilled if something like this were implemented as part of the core spec. March 22, 2023

My next Apple computer

Before the Apple Silicon transition, it was always the case the biggest MacBook Pro was the most powerful. That's no longer the case. These days, 14" MacBook Pro can be specced out to be just as powerful as its bigger sibling. March 20, 2023

When a design is in doubt

When in doubt, the answer is simple: reduce, reduce, reduce. Didn’t Dieter say the best design is as little design as possible? Probably still true. Probably true of words too. (Edited for brevity.) March 10, 2023

I’m Still Here

I’ve been thinking a lot about writing more often — doing something like what Austin Kleon does, or what he used to do: frequent updates about what I’m working on and thinking about, giving away whatever knowledge I have for free, and linking it all together with some sort of meta-textual awareness. Post-Twitter, it seems […] March 9, 2023

Further Sketch News in Figma’s World

I was saddened to hear about layoffs at Sketch. No company deserves to suffer layoffs, and certainly not a company that has done so much for its industry as Sketch. If you're hiring, it sounds like the 80 people they're letting go would be great for your team. October 12, 2022