Time with my family
Wed, 3 Apr 2024
Now in my mid-forties, I increasingly appreciate time spent with my spouse, children, siblings, and parents. Nothing nourishes and uplifts me more, comforts me more in uncertainty, or provides me with more clarity and energy to focus on projects in life and work than spending time with my family. It is a great privilege and a blessing that these relationships are positive.
Dedicated self-reflection led me to prioritize family time, and systems are now in place to preserve the likelihood of my spending time in this way.
Eileen and I meet daily to plan our days and support one another. In focused moments, I listen to each of my daughters talk about what they’re doing or excited about, and sometimes I take them on “truck dates” where we go somewhere nearby with a snack and talk for a little while.
I chat with each of my parents at regular times each week. I tried this with my brothers, but our combined schedules make it too unpredictable. Instead, we message occasionally and annually we hang out for a weekend, doing the stuff we used to do as kids.
It’s hard to capture how special these times are to me, and how deeply satisfying it is to have invested my life in these ways. I have tried, in Oliver Burkeman’s words, to treat each experience “with the reverence we’d show if it were the final instance of it” … and to also recognize that it is “incomprehensibly miraculous to have been granted any time at all”. Quotes from Four Thousand Weeks.
Adding a couple more sites to the blogroll:
Ethan Marcotte coined the term Responsive Web Design and, more importantly, continues to teach people that it’s more than a technique — it’s an ethos. I enjoy following Ethan’s personal site because his industry awareness is off the charts, he’s deeply thoughtful about both practical and generational challenges, and he is above all encouraging.
Tyler Sticka is part of Cloud Four, a web agency I have admired for years because of their innovation in responsive design techniques and focus on inclusive experiences. Tyler keeps a journal on his delightful personal site that also includes his Cloud Four posts, so it’s a nice way to keep track of what he shares. Super sharp.
Wed, 27 Mar 2024
🌲 January 25th. Rain and warm temperatures melted the blanket of snow from our yard. Some of my stress has melted away too, after a solid workout this morning, breakfast with Eileen and our 6yo (who flipped a pancake piece to the dog), and lunch with my friend and colleague Ivan Bettger.
Work-wise, we’re nearing the end of a six-week scope of effort. Achieving our goals was at risk because a key task became complex, but my teammate Jason shared news today that everything had fallen into place just in time. I’m looking forward to sharing with the broader team our gains on the two tracks as planned. Plus, we enlisted two additional helpers and found out we’ll be hiring to grow the team.
Oh, and another work project sped up considerably this week. A whole team of talented designers got busy using a tool we prototyped last year. What they’re cranking out looks great, and they gave us valuable feedback to improve the tool.
My mind has been mostly on this work recently. It’s a critical moment, transitioning two disruptive concepts that we’ve prototyped into standard projects that move through the usual process. I feel proud that when Adobe finally hired a prototyper to work with me 1:1, we started producing concepts that became high priorities for the company.
Thu, 25 Jan 2024
Bertrand Russell, How to Grow Old:
An individual human existence should be like a river: small at first, narrowly contained within its banks, and rushing passionately past rocks and over waterfalls. Gradually the river grows wider, the banks recede, the waters flow more quietly, and in the end, without any visible break, they become merged in the sea, and painlessly lose their individual being. The man who, in old age, can see his life in this way, will not suffer from the fear of death, since the things he cares for will continue. And if, with the decay of vitality, weariness increases, the thought of rest will not be unwelcome. I should wish to die while still at work, knowing that others will carry on what I can no longer do and content in the thought that what was possible has been done.
My goodness, this is beautiful.
Fri, 12 Jan 2024
Rick Rubin interviewing Daniel Kaluuya:
DK: The junction nature of London is London. The kind of people coming in and out…
RR: That’s what makes London London, that cycle.
DK: Yeah yeah, it’s the Somalis, it’s the Kosovans, there’s a new wave. Come in, leave, come in. That whole thing about “things are always supposed to stay the same” ... holding onto that is hurting yourself … the place isn’t the thing, it’s the people.
Wed, 3 Jan 2024
Practicing Typography Basics
Tue, 2 Jan 2024
I recently recorded a short video series that Adobe is now releasing on YouTube as part of the Foundations of Graphic Design series. In these videos, I cover making body text easy to read, catching attention with display text, guiding readers through information, and learning how typography feels.
Many good “typography basics” videos already explain the worldly importance of typography and illustrate terminology. So instead, I wanted to emphasize the intangible practices and judgments that make a difference for great typography and help us stay sharp.
Thanks to Sandeep Kulkarni for championing domain expertise. Shout-outs to Wendy Strauss, Shanti Sparrow, Meghan Ryan, Jessie Smith, Amanda Dowd, Brian Wood, and the whole Learn team. Thanks to Ben Welch for helping me set a down-to-earth tone, supplying great examples, and sharing audio advice.
Buy my book, Flexible Typesetting, and level-up to sophisticated digital typography by building on the basics in these videos. Get 50% off with code: FTBASICS
Flexible Typesetting
Practicing Typography Basics