Words & Letters
The hard way isn’t sexy, efficient, easy to sell, or even useful. But a lot of the best work comes from someone bullheaded enough to put in the time and make it just so. In a world built on optimization, that’s not something we try to emulate. We treat it as an oddity, something to […]
I’m not very good at juggling. The physical act, with balls–no. But juggling projects, life, and work? I’m OK at that. It’s not easy, and I’m always looking for ways to help me manage the chaos. Lately, that’s been AI, but I still haven’t found anything that really makes it easier. I’ve made some progress […]
Good news, bad news this week. Bad news first: my AI-powered WordPress plug-in stopped working. No idea why. It’s a little sad — maybe I’ll dig back in and figure out what broke, but for now, it’s dead. The good news? Nothing specific — just a really good batch of links this week. Enjoy. Graphic […]
Running a little late, but what’s time anyway. Enjoy the links. Packaging/Industrial Design Propeller’s All-Paper Package Design for Sunology’s Sleek Battery System Despite the battery weighing as much 30.5 kg, the packaging is built from paper – strong honeycomb board, paperboard corner reinforcements and paper straps – balancing the needs of transport with a considered […]
As we enter the 2nd half of the year, I’m starting to feel the pressure to get some things done. As usual, I’ve got 53 projects in motion. A few have seen the light of day; most have not. There are so many that have been abandoned, lost, grown bored of, got close and gave […]
Last week slipped away — but not without reason. I’ve been rebuilding the engine under the hood of this newsletter, and the new process is already paying off. I keep my links in Airtable (this isn’t new), but in a new table. I’ve added a slew of new fields to track and prepare these for […]
Progress is all we can ask for. I’ve been making very small steps in my automation mission. This past week, I created automated workflows using Airtable to push my saved links into other Airtables (is the plural of an airtable, airtables?). This seems like a small thing–and yes, it’s small. But, in the process, I’m […]
Still no new workflow. Still getting the links posted. It’s June. I need to have this workflow thing sorted by the end of the month. The only way to get there is by creating a deadline. Hold me accountable, gang. Typography The old typography is new again Born of analog typesetting constraints, optical sizing is […]
Five months are almost complete, which means one more to the halfway mark of 2026. This also means that I still haven’t completed my new workflow. Progress is being made, but it’s slow. The tech overlords make a lot of promises, but the AI tools are still quite slow. Oh well, we’ve still got a […]
It’s been a whirlwind. My process is still not tidy–but I’m seeing glimpses of what could be. There’s no easy. Links are still fun, though. Work Mockups Were Never the Hard Part With AI, anyone on a team can generate mockups in minutes. That was never the hard part. The difficult work is, and always […]