I'm Arun Venkatesan, and this is the arun.is newsletter, where I share my current obsessions, inspiration from around the web, behind-the-scenes content, and more. 

In this week's issue:

• A Dieter Rams Surprise
• Update on the landing page for Crafting Personal Websites

At this point, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'm a fan of Dieter Rams. I wrote about Gary Hustwit's Rams documentary, a Rams-designed Gillette razor, and Braun juicer. I also created a microsite with free wallpapers of his work last year. It's all because I admire his principled approach to design.

As I dive deeper into my curiosity with him, I've been buying books about his work. One of them is the catalog from a European traveling exhibition in the 80s called Design: Dieter Rams &. The book, published in 1980, came in both German and English versions. I was lucky enough to get an English copy online for a mere $28.

When it arrived, I noted the worn cover and a scribble on the first page and kept turning. I soon realized something — the book is a gem. Its black and white pages are filled with stories and photographs. My favorites are essays and interviews from other influential figures in the design world. 

A few days ago, I pulled the book off the shelf again. While reading some of the interviews I glanced again at the scribble on the front page. This time, my eyes caught something that I had not noticed before. The second half of the scribble looked like a date ending in 1981 and then the first part started to look like a signature. I thought to myself, "Could it be? No way. It can't be Dieter's signature. It doesn't look anything like his name!"

Five minutes of googling later, I was awestruck. It is indeed his signature.

Not only had I not recognized Dieter's signature for months, but I had also nearly taken a highlighter to a book he had signed in 1981. I already cherished that book, but now I love it even more.

Life is full of surprises.

A high-fidelity version of my landing page is coming together. Thank you all for the feedback and comments. I'm preparing to send out that version for another round of feedback before finalizing the design and beginning development. 

On the topic of implementation, I'm planning on using TailwindCSS. I've been itching for an excuse to try it out as it seems to solve the gripes I have with Tachyons. I also may try out Next.js, though that may be overkill for a single page. Have any suggestions for tools or frameworks I should try?

Stay curious,
Arun Venkatesan

P.S. This email is my personal email address, so feel free to respond directly.