life
future
Of Nerve and Imagination
The future is sitting right in front of us in plain view, waiting to be assembled. Do we have the nerve and imagination to piece it together?
life
New Adventures for Old Friends
Brad Frost, Ian Frost, and Jessi Hall are moving on to exciting new chapters. We’re so grateful and proud of everything we’ve done together.
podcast
“Pair Curiosity with Generosity”
Josh Clark joins Phil Burgess on the IT Career Energizer podcast to talk about crafting a healthy and fulfilling career in the industry.
principles
Politics Are a Design Constraint
John Warren Hanawalt writes that software design is inherently political. Make sure that your software’s politics line up with your own.
life
Oil City High School 2017 Commencement Speech
At his old high school, Brad Frost reminds the kids that their future jobs may not exist yet. Skills, values and personality matter more than vocation.
physical ui
How do I manage the eero LED light?
The eero wifi router gives users control of their physical environment—by turning off that frickin’ LED light.
life
The Difference a Decade Makes
On the 10th birthday of An Event Apart, I looked back at what I was doing a decade ago—and what’s changed.
algorithms
Living with the Algorithm
Memories of a night in Siena remind me what we’ve gained—and what we’ve lost—in the era of the algorithm.
life
Connected // Disconnected
The best technologies disappear into the environment to minimize distraction from the content or experience at hand. Yet we design for distraction, and we call it engagement. When you say “engagement,” I now hear “theft of attention.”
life
Interrobang‽
Last night, I was walking down the sidewalk and brushed against a woman carrying a cake.
life
The Twitter Uncertainty Principle: How Tweeting Changes Us
The moment we decide to relay a personal experience to others, the experience itself changes.
creativity
Marathons, Makers, and Surviving the Dark Middle
In the dark middle of the race, runners need encouragement, reminders that they’re strong, that the finish is ahead: plausible, real, within reach.
art
David Byrne Never Stops Making Sense
David Byrne’s concert in Paris was an inspiring reminder of the simple pleasure of sharing the amazing stuff you make.
community
Winning the Uphill Battle
Paris solves a problem with its bike-sharing program by turning hill-climbing into a game.
business
Follow the Grid, Skip the Lines
My post office features a clever heat-map grid to announce slow and busy hours. A perfect idea for the web.
icons
C’est la Beach
As Paris morphs into the Riviera, some clever icon design works its own transformation.