Journal › design
Accumulated instinct
I’ve always kept screenshots and bookmarks of interesting visual ideas, but I’ve noticed this habit diminishing with each passing year. Now, when I encounter something visually captivating or potentially useful for future reference, I tend to admire without collecting.
Rebuild and refocus
I can’t remember when I last wrote an update about making changes to this website. I still love writing and need to document things, but the thought of tackling structural issues and refactoring code brought no excitement whatsoever.
A few days up North
Photos from a short trip to Edinburgh, Dundee and Newcastle. Five days encompassing long drives, gigs, exhibitions, architecture, unrivalled baked goods and plenty of rain.
The path we chose
Designers signed their own execution warrants in large part due to uncritical, pandering adoption of design systems.
I’m in agreement with Cennydd’s response to Tan Renzu’s post reminding us that our industry’s preference for regurgitating the same increasingly simple patterns will allow AI to adequately perform many product design tasks. I stopped talking about systems a decade ago, aware that the unstoppable pursuit of prescriptive, cumbersome frameworks was at odds with my old-school appreciation for looser, more holistic guidance.
Kagami: Ryuichi Sakamoto and Tin Drum at MIF
An appropriately glitchy and unexpectedly moving mixed reality performance starring the revered Japanese musician freezes beauty in time and thaws our scepticism.
Picasso and Paul Smith in Paris
I was intrigued that Paul Smith has directed Musée Picasso’s rehang to mark 50 years since the artist’s death, so we visited while in Paris. And Paul does a good job with the decor, raising smiles with his trademark patterns and sense of fun.
However, audiences are increasingly aware of Picasso’s troubling legacy of cruelty, misogyny and colonialism, and institutions know they must confront this. This show reframes Picasso “in a fun way” (maybe the aim is to make critics look like killjoys), so it falls short. Aside from a couple of works by other artists that offer harsh commentary, there is little attempt to expose the artist’s darker side. I get it, of course; what happens to Musée Picasso if we cancel Picasso?
Sigh. It’s rubbish being a grown-up, isn’t it? Also, we didn’t have much time to appreciate the separate Faith Ringgold exhibition, but what I saw was brilliant and powerful — especially her patchworks and maps.
If you’ve any interest in this, I also wrote about seeing Guernica up close.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being
Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being, is an absolute joy. I’m not even halfway through, but I felt compelled to write about what it offers to anyone who considers themselves creative.
Lights alive!
I’m constantly making adjustments to my corner of our studio so that it works as a combined design and music space and is a pleasant place to spend my time. Yesterday, I installed smart Wifi LED strip lighting (specifically, Govee H6159) on the back of my monitor and under the long shelf, and I love the result.
Building with a lightness of touch
I’m a few weeks into a daunting client project. My design direction has been signed off, and I’m currently laying front-end foundations.
I recently attended WDC Bristol where I caught a timely talk from Andy Bell called Be the browser’s mentor, not its micromanager. And I feel fortunate, because Andy’s triggered something of a reset.
I’m using what I learned from his presentation to underpin this scary client build with a strikingly efficient CSS-led methodology that asks the browser to do most of the work, and it feels so undeniably appropriate and refreshing. The WDC video isn’t online yet, so here’s the All Day Hey version.
If, like me, you despair at the tech stacking and JavaScriptification of everything, shut that out and pay attention to those who understand the material of the web, its inherent resilience and efficiency. We’re lucky that principled voices still advocate for simple and inclusive methods because building with efficiency and a lightness of touch makes the work feel meaningful and, sometimes, fun.
Nine Stones Close
We drove to Harthill Moor above Youlgreave for a lazy afternoon at Nine Stones Close. It’s a Bank Holiday, but we had the Bronze Age all to ourselves.
Being here reminded me of Julian Cope’s The Modern Antiquarian, which was quite the eyecatching website in the 00s. Now it’s too small on a laptop and too big on a phone, as active as ever but in desperate need of a loving redesign.
Collecting Plus Equals
I now have Issues 1–5 of Plus Equals, Rob Weychert’s wonderful algorithmic art zine. Supporting those who inspire me is money well spent, and I know how much it means when others value the things we put into the world.
Walking near Grindsbrook riso print
I love this beautiful illustration of the path between my favourite village (Edale) and mountain (Kinder Scout). Slightly smaller than A5, four colour riso; looks fantastic up close. Geri’s selling this print through Paypal for £10, including postage to the UK (ask her about international). DM Geri if you’d like one!
Designer Discs interview
I was delighted to be the first guest on Matt Davey’s new podcast. It was an opportunity to reflect on my career path and attitude to design, and choose five songs that really mean something to me.
Place and paper
Maggie Appleton writes about our metaphorical understanding of the web and how this guides our sense of its purpose and possibility, reminding us that we persist in imagining the web as paper — as pages and documents.
“We don’t design pages. We design systems” was our progressive rallying cry, circa 2009. I somewhat regret this because 1) I did and still do design pages, and 2) I believe in a more outward-looking, holistic kind of system, not the narrow, component-obsessed industrialisation that defines modern web design.
I define the web using the philosophies and mixed metaphors that sustain my interest in its possibilities. I subscribe to the heady notion that it is a malleable material with a distinct grain. I think about the web as place and paper, and I enjoy designing pages.
Noguchi / Christmas Compendium
Another quick trip to London. First, the Barbican’s Noguchi exhibition, which targets bold ideas about identity, light, space and sculpture, but curatorially falls short. Later, the Royal Albert Hall for our second Christmas Compendium, a variety show brimming with comedians, musicians and scientists. Vaccination passes and masks were required, and with events of all kinds being cancelled, I think we were lucky to be there (luckier still if we haven’t caught Omicron).
Stream on
It’s two years since I started my Stream, a channel for quickfire posts alongside my more glacial blog, and I recently posted my 250th note. That’s 250 thoughts that would otherwise have gone undocumented or evaporated elsewhere.
MKGN #39
We had a great time at Milton Keynes Geek Night #39, our first in-person tech event since the before times. It’s four years since we last attended the excellent quarterly meetup, and we really ought to go more often.
Between terrific talks from our friend Steph Troeth (Solarpunk narratives) and David Pearson (expressive book cover typography), Geri spoke brilliantly about turning her love of Japan into a successful business. We also displayed a small selection of Geri Draws Japan products and made plenty of sales during breaks. Huge thanks to hosts David Hughes and Richard Wiggins for taking care of us. Thanks also to the attendees for all those purchases!
KID A MNESIA exhibition
Radiohead, again. But, you know, best band in the world, our generation’s Beatles, etc. Anyway, last night I got lost in the disconcertingly claustrophobic KID A MNESIA exhibition, and somehow I didn’t have nightmares.
Using disorienting game mechanics and eerie sound design to journey through all that unsettling artwork makes complete sense, and I continue to love everything that results from this whole make-or-break period.
Available for PS5, PC, Mac. Note, Macs with RAM. This was rough on an 8GB Intel and 8GB M1; works great on M1 Pro 16GB (but heats it up a bit).
Geri in NEO Magazine
Geri is featured in issue 214 of NEO, the UK’s biggest Asian pop culture mag. In the impressive four-page interview, she talks about her love for Japanese culture, the Defying Tradition project, and her Geri Draws Japan products.
Kid A Mnesia
With the release of Kid A Mnesia, there’s been a welcome dump of material looking back at Radiohead’s make-or-break period. If, like me, you cannot separate the music from its intrinsic visual language, check out this short studio interview with Thom Yorke and Stanley Donwood, this in-depth discussion, and the forthcoming book of artwork. For broader context, nod along with today’s excellently chin-rubby Pitchfork and The Quietus deep-dives.
I’m obsessed with the intertwingling of art, sound and ideas about landscape, so when Thom talks about these things, I’m there. And I love his point about a naive process, reminiscent of McLuhan’s praise for the amateur.
The nature of being a songwriter, or a painter, or whatever, is to retain a beginner’s mind. The search is the point. The flailing around is the point. The process is the point.
Anyway, this post serves as another reminder to move closer to the things you love because they will help you expand. And with that, I’m off to pick up my copy of the album.