Happy new year! I'm Arun Venkatesan, and this is the arun.is newsletter. Every month, I bring you stories about design and updates from my studio.

2020 has been a year of change. We had a child, spent most of the year working and living at home, and had to cancel many international trips. Surprisingly, through it all, I've found myself calmer than ever before — no doubt due to reading more and having more alone time to reflect and process life's events.

arun.is has continued to be my creative outlet. I published a total of 31 posts, exceeding my goal of 26. The review of the 16-year-old Leica Digilux 2 proved that old cameras can still be quite good. The deep dive into the variety of COVID-19 face shield designs gave me a chance to highlight and examine designers' efforts worldwide to aid healthcare workers. Dieter Rams Wallpapers let me exercise my design and coding muscles while giving away some fun digital goods. My deep work guide to Slack helped refine my thoughts on leveraging digital tools while not feeling overwhelmed.

Through it all, I came away with one lesson. I realized that I put a lot of pressure on myself to create more. I wanted to increase the quantity of material so much that, at times, I dreaded opening up my editor to write. I had forgotten why I created arun.is in the first place. 

In 2021, I'd like to focus not on quantity but on quality. I spent some time reviewing favorites in the archive. Some like one from 2018 about custom typefaces took months of research and writing. Others like the Apple Card and 10 year challenge for websites came together quickly. If I didn't write them right when inspiration struck, I never would. 

What they all have in common is that I enjoyed the process.

So, in 2021, I'm not going to hold myself to any numerical goals. Instead, I will concentrate on having as much fun as possible. 

I've been putting the finishing touches on my latest essay about the real watches that inspired Apple Watch faces. I've also been mulling over some ideas for future blog posts. Are any of these interesting to you?

When Microsoft revealed the Xbox One S in 2016, I was in awe. Nearly every console up to that point had a "gamer" aesthetic. The One S was finally a console that was beautiful and could live within a tastefully decorated room. Since then, the team has continued to deliver similar consoles like the One X, Series S, and Series X. I want to find out why and how Microsoft made that shift.

Some readers on Twitter pointed out that most Braun stories, including mine about the MPZ 2 juicer, leave out an influential designer — Gabriel Lluelles Rabadà. The focus has always been on Dieter Rams, with rarely a mention of Gabriel, designer and inventor of household products like juicers and hand blenders. I have been researching him in Spanish publications and would like to write something for an English-speaking audience. 

Lastly, over the years, I have followed creators who are writing essays, shooting videos, and recording podcasts that are tasteful and inspirational. Each of them has motivated me in my quest to continuously improve arun.is. I could write a roundup with reviews of each one.

Do you have any goals for your work in 2021? Any works in progress that you'd like to share?

Stay curious,
Arun Venkatesan