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.

This week’s issue covers a few things:

• What's new
• Strength in smallness
• Recommendations

What's new

I published several blog posts since the last newsletter issue.

Inside arun.is · Camera Illustrations

The first post is a continuation in the Inside arun.is series. This one is dedicated to the camera illustrations I’ve been using across the site. Big thanks again to Max Duval for help on this one.

40 years of the Mac at the Computer History Museum

The second post is a review of the event and pop-up exhibition at the Computer History Museum celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Mac.

Why we crave healthier computing

In this essay, I show how as computers have become more powerful, they have also become more burdensome.

Daylight at the end of the tunnel

The last post is a followup to the previous essay. It’s a glimpse into a future of healthier computing in the form of a new tablet hitting the market, the Daylight Tablet.

Strength in smallness

Ever since I left my last full-time gig late last year, I have been pondering what I want to do next. Perhaps I’ll make writing my main thing and forgo all else. Maybe I’ll find another team to join. Whatever I do, I know I want it to be small.

Before I graduated college and started writing, I used to dream of starting a huge world-changing company. Now, after being on my fair share of larger teams and seeing friends succeed in creating successful venture-scale business, I’m sure I prefer it small.

As 37 signals writes, “small is often plenty. That’s the power of small — you do what needs to be done rather than overdoing it.” Small teams can do so much that large teams couldn’t dream of doing.

I looked at who I have been inspired by in the last decade. They have mostly been small teams or individual creators.

Andrew and Michelle at allsideswater craft and package every incense bowl they make by hand.

Jeff and the team at Ugmonk don’t make their Gather organization system out of cheap, mass-produced materials. They use hand-crafted hardwood and powder-coated steel.

My favorite places to eat, like Garaje in SF, wouldn’t work if they had to be one small part of a big chain.

It’s not that big is inherently bad. I’m typing this on a remarkable computer that wouldn’t be possible without a huge team. For me it is about choosing my tradeoffs.

I want to make something wonderful, and making something wonderful is a lot easier when small. Bigger means more time spent on everything but making something wonderful — communicating, coordinating, planning, hiring, firing, etc. I have realized that I’m not that good at those other things. Going forward, I’d like to instead focus on what I do best.

Recommendations

Overcomplicated Business Card

This video follows the step-by-step process of creating business cards that are actually tiny little model kits. It’s a follow up to another fun business card project.

Owen Pomery

When I came across Owen’s illustration work, I was in awe. At first I thought they were screenshots from a video game. They have such a strong sense of place. In addition to illustrations, he has released a few books that I’m eager to check out.

AJOTO’s 10th Anniversary Poster

I collect posters, which I wrote about way back in issue 12 of this newsletter. One beautiful example in my collection is this 9-color hand-printed poster celebrating pen-maker Ajoto’s 10th anniversary. I like to occasionally stop by it and look at all the little details. In addition to the limited run, Ajoto also has for sale a small number of signed artists proofs.

That's it for this issue.

As always, this is my personal email, so feel free to respond directly.

Stay curious,
Arun Venkatesan