This week is Figma’s Config conference in SF. I’ll be there, and if you are there too, reach out and say hi. So, this week’s batch of links is a little light–but as always, there are a few gems. Enjoy.
Web Design/UX/UI
“Product Kondo”: A Guide To Evaluating Your Organizational Product Portfolio
It starts with good intentions — a quick fix here, a shiny feature there — and suddenly, your product portfolio’s bursting at the seams. In this guide, Talke Hoppmann-Walton walks you through a “Product Kondo” exercise to declutter, realign, and spark some serious product joy for both your business and your customers.
On Apple’s calculator apps
The sliding scale between skeuomorphic design and abstraction
The Broken Promises of Design Systems: Why Following the Rules Won’t Get You to Great Products
Design systems promised to bring order, consistency, and speed to product design — but have they delivered on that promise? In this candid reflection from a former Material Design lead at Google, we explore how rigid rules, endless maintenance, and poor adoption have turned design systems into creativity killers. As AI reshapes the design landscape, it’s time to ask: are design systems holding us back from what’s next?
Photography
NBP International Awards 2024
Nature’s Best Photography Awards Mission: To discover, celebrate, and display the creative and documentary works of dedicated nature photographers and visual storytellers of all ages and levels of expertise.
Echoing Above by Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze
A photographic trilogy uncovering wild trees growing on residential buildings, men deftly crafting bamboo scaffoldings, and birds soaring amidst concrete landscapes in the heart of Hong Kong.
Graphic Design
System Magazine
System explores with style and substance the dialogues at the heart of the global fashion industry.
The history of album art
Album art didn’t always exist.
Craft
Unwind with the Ancient Japanese Art of Kumiko, a Wood Joinery Technique
The traditional craft emerged in the Asuka era between about 600 and 700 C.E. and similarly eschews nails in favor of perfectly cut pieces that notch into place.
Random
sapiens.website
A curated collection of unique individuals across the internet, giving everyone a chance to be seen, appreciated, and connected