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design
    The J-Card generator is too fun. Like, I want to make some mixtapes fun (yes, I have an unopened blank tape and a tape player). I even made my own J-Card (and related mix).

    Mischief’s Genius Ads for NPR Provoke Urgent Questions About the Right to Information: Across a range of formats, from merchandise and the sign on NPR’s headquarters to billboards and ad screens on the New York City subway, the recognizable block letters transform into urgent and timely questions—many that listeners around the country are asking. “How does AI affect my electric bill?” “Why are groceries still so expensive?” “How is my farm going to survive?”

    Radiant Computer. “We believe the current trajectory of personal computing is leading us to a less free world, and that only a new computing movement rooted in human dignity and creativity can change its course.” (radiant.computer)

    Antic Bikes. I dig their brand and the bikes are pretty cool too. (anticbikes.com)

    The Fundamentals Problem. “Anyone can make something that looks designed, but that doesn’t mean that design has happened.” (chrbutler.com)

    Mangos. Manuals. Media.: librarians, heroes of the apocalypse. Science Fiction Movie Lettering: “Glowing letters were a big trend that started in the late 80s, most likely set off by the Alien franchise. And I can never get enough of the 3D type in early films.” /via The Future is Like Pie Examples of Good and Bad UX in Improvised Signage in Movie Theaters: answering is there an end or mid-credit scene?

    “There’s nothing at all wrong with honing in, developing your craft, making variations of things you’re good at, and getting better each time. Nothing small about it. Nothing unfulfilling about it.” Knives and battleships

    On Additive and Extractive Technologies, “an extractive technology seeks to extract value from you instead of providing it.” Avoid. Seer, “the built environment itself is, for all intents and purposes, becoming a gigantic archive, at all scales, forensically recording every event that occurs within it, with few or no options for opting out.” Also, BLDGBLOG is still alive. Google Fonts organized by vibe, even if fonts aren’t your thing, visit to see all the little cursors flying around the Figma canvas.

    From Found Way, an amazing are.na collection of wayfinding, signs, etc.

    Listen: Welcome to the Jam: The looney story of the decades-old ‘Space Jam’ website. A conversation with the team that built the site, also serves as a look at what making websites used to be like way back in the day.

    Some Things, Week 6, 2025

    links words music civic the internet
    Photo by Yama Bato. You Can’t Post Your Way Out of Fascism: “Trusted information networks have existed since long before the internet and mass media. These networks are in every town and city, and at their core are real relationships between neighbors—not their online, parasocial simulacra.” Simulacrum: “a representation or imitation of a person or thing.” 90’s Hip-Hop: A 45 plus minutes mix of Golden Era Classics + Rarities.

    Dashboards

    “every dashboard is a sunk cost / every dashboard is an answer to some long-forgotten question / every dashboard is an invitation to pattern-match the past instead of interrogate the present / every dashboard gives the illusion of correlation / every dashboard dampens your thinking” Charity Majors

    How (and why) filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Christopher Nolan are using miniatures in their movies.

    ui.land is a selection of websites, tools, engineers and designers to inspire, learn, and create. I can’t resist a good “list” site.

    “SUSA, the small conceptual electronic device can perform many of the functions of a smartphone, tablet or portable computer.” I’m dubious of all things AI, but the actual device is pretty neat. Shades of the Light Phone III.

    Re-buttonization: There seems to be this kind of richness of the tactile experience that’s afforded by pushing buttons. They’re not perfect for every situation, but I think increasingly, we’re realizing the merit that the interface offers.