Nano Bytes, Vol. 06

The more you know

The metric system was devised by two chemists during the French Revolution. And it’s based on something called “realisation,” which means it can be quantified in the physical world.

Denmark is implementing a street light system designed to help bats and reduce light pollution. It’s a scientific engineering masterpiece, focused on color, cadence, and biology.

Tickle me pink

The work of Oregon photographer Brendan Burton is mesmerizing. Truly. He focuses on “mysterious visual narratives” on the “outskirts of society.” I’ve been perusing his images, and they keep calling me back.

In the Spanish city of Alhaurín de la Torre, crochet teacher Eva Pacheco and her students (all women) created a canopy for shade and visual delight. It was commissioned to protect pedestrians from the sun in a sustainable way.

Design bytes

The Emigre type foundry was legendary. And their magazine was captivating for designers in the 90s. All 69 issues have been published digitally. They’re available in the Letterform Archive and in Emigre’s own macOS/iOS app. The Emigre app also includes their type specimen books.

Modals can be a usability/accessibility nightmare. But they don’t have to be. Smashing Magazine has a great write-up with a decision tree to help you decide if you actually need one.

Code bytes

On my website, I built transition animations when navigating between pages. It’s a bit of a lift to make it work with/without JavaScript and keep things accessible. But it works well. Soon (come on, Firefox!) we’ll be able to use @view-transition rules to create transitions between pages while updating the DOM in a single step.

Tools and platforms

While having coffee with Jared, I learned about Bridgetown. I’m considering porting my writing site to it from Jekyll. It looks rock solid and super flexible.

I’m loving Synthing. It has been integral in working between my macOS and Linux machines. I recommend it.