Writings and thoughts from Josh Crain
The Drake Relays is a track and field meet held in Des Moines. Billed as America's Athletic Classic , it is one of the top track and field events in the United States. It's also one of the oldest. I participated in the Relays in high school and then in college. Since then, I have returned each year to watch and spend time with friends. Less than a week before the meet, I was contacted by two old…
In the winter of 2009, I received an email from someone at Graphis Magazine . She had tried unsuccessfully to reach Gary Kelley by email and wondered if I could help. My office was just a few blocks from Gary’s studio. As a young designer I was thrilled. The agency I worked at had done a small amount of work for him—nothing significant—but because of proximity (and maybe a bit of luck), I found…
I don’t love this end-of-the-year write-up. I hate looking back, it sucks my energy. I get more excited looking forward to something new. Even so, in years past I have found it useful to look back to other years in review, so for now, I continue. Running This summer, I started waking up early with the sunrise. I didn’t want to lie in bed for an hour or more, and I didn’t want to do anything that…
Owl Illustration This summer, I began to wake up with the sunrise. Rather than lie in bed, I decided to start the day with a run. The trail nearby is one I’ve used a lot in the past. So most mornings, this is where I would go. By August, when summer started to fade, the trail was noticeably darker, with tree cover and no streetlights. On August 14th, I began down the hill, past neighbors' houses,…
The truck bumbled over the horse path toward the road. It was a good afternoon of fishing. The rain from the morning held and touches of blue sky slowly appeared in the west. A white egret stalked the pond’s northern shallows while we sat in the small fishing boat. As we reeled fish to the surface we guessed the catch. Crappie flashed white, bass a warmer gold. From the tottering trunk I watched a…
It's that time of year again. It's time to look back at the previous year and write a bit about it. This site I've been thinking about how much I like my website this year. I've never been able to dedicate a lot of time to it in one sitting, but over time it has shaped up. In past years, I've spent a lot more time on the mechanics of things—how some thing should work. But this year I spent a…
Prototypes serve a variety of purposes in my work. They help me learn something new or communicate an idea. When I use them to communicate they can illustrate a nuanced idea or something larger. That something larger can be a difficult thing to convey because, as with any project of scale, it’s probably wide-ranging, complicated, and there are a variety of stakeholders to consider. Even the basic…
Web-safe fonts have been an important part of this site’s design. So when I recently discovered Modern Font Stacks , a website that groups a prioritized list of font families, I began to rethink what was possible with a limited performance budget . Web-Safe Fonts I implemented two new web-safe font stacks. The first is an “ Industrial ” set that prioritizes Bahnschrift, DIN Alternate, and then…
In typographic terms, a widow is a very short line of text—usually one word, that concludes a paragraph or column. When a widow appears in a post title it feels especially awkward and unbalanced. This has been a source of annoyance for me because there was no way to address widows without javascript . It wasn’t until I reworked the typography on this site I learned something could be done about…
Well, here we are at the end of another year. When December comes around I find myself at my keyboard, asking myself the same questions, what did I do? What didn’t I do? Why not more? This year I received a piece of advice from artist Scott Christiansen . In response to my return to painting, he reminded me to enjoy the journey . Wise advice, especially for someone new again to the canvas. Without…
Almost twenty years ago I packed up my oil paints and easel in a milk crate. I’ve thought about those paints countless times over the years but the anxiety of the failures that laid ahead stopped me every time. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago I got the paints out and resolved to finally do something, if at least, to throw them away because they were all dried out. It turned out the paints are…
A long time ago in a place far, far away... A recent college graduate entered a new world of responsibility, broke and underprepared. Jobless and with few prospects, he drew cartoons for a few dollars. He had the vague idea this would somehow help him avoid financial ruin. Even with only mediocre success he persisted, secure in the fact he had so very little to lose. The Galactic Guppy , The…
Every once in a while I surprise myself with a solution so simple I kick myself for not seeing it sooner. Today was one of those days. About a year ago I delved into the world of web components. Web components are a great way to group functionality (including other components) in a modular and compartmentalized way. Web components have proven an effective and powerful tool but I have also found…
Slots are one of the best features of web components. Slots allow you to define a place in the markup where to place basic HTML or subcomponents. This brings consistency and intentionality to the implementation. Web components can use the shadow DOM which allows the web component to become encapsulated. This prevents the styles from bleeding into other components. The slotted content, however, is…
As I look back over the last year I am surprised. I wouldn’t have guessed I would be able to record so many things. I suppose this is why I do this sort of reflection, to have a chance to look back and remember. This has been a difficult year in many ways. It has been a year of loss but also reunification. I lost my dad in March. I also gained unexpected time with loved ones. I have spent more…
As 2022 draws to a close I have taken a few moments to look back over the last year. In doing so I realized there was work I had done and it is worth acknowledging. I had been thinking about adding an illustration to the homepage. It would be light, scalable, and adaptable to different environments or themes. An SVG would be ideal. Self-Portrait Light Theme. Digital/SVG. 2022. I had been drawing…
This weekend I visited the lonely place . This is a place where, a few times a day; early in the morning or late at night, I find myself alone and straining my senses to hear the faintest whispers of creation. Saturday looked like it would be clear, just like the last time in October. I looked forward to the night sky and in particular a cluster of stars that had sparkled near the horizon. They…
From the beginning, I did not want to involve analytics on this site. This was for two reasons: I did not want this site to react to the interests of others and— it’s a bit creepy . I have, however, spent a fair amount of time optimizing the performance of this site. I’d like to say the motivation was largely for a better user experience. But if I’m honest it was also to see it’s competitive with…
Until the other day, it had never occurred to me to look at my childhood home on Google Street View. When I did I was struck by how little had changed, even the neighboring houses. It was a little like traveling back in time and walking the same streets as my 9-year-old self. I was reminded of Little Bohemia , a tavern around the corner from my house. It was a place I would walk past with my dad…
Over the weekend I was pleased to receive an email from my college professor Roy R. Behrens . Roy taught the first graphic design class I took in college. It was so impactful I decided to change my emphasis. His later classes and encouragement further convinced me to pursue a career in design. After graduation, when I had become frustrated with the job market I reached out to him. Roy passed along…
On July 11th I attended an art show of work by the late Ray Frederick at Marshalltown Community College. I had looked forward to this weekend for a while. At one point I thought it might be possible to take my dad , who was a student and friend of Ray’s. But the show was delayed a few times, first because of the pandemic and then because of the derecho . My hometown has been through a lot in…
This website began with one goal—to have a website again, a place to share my work. Then, as I often do, I found a tempting distraction. This time it was site speed . My focus turned to limiting requests, avoiding layout shifts, and reducing bytes—all worthy pursuits. I even found a way to measure my efforts and see how they stack up. What fun! Tinkering is something I enjoy. I tinker in the…
Each new year is an opportunity to look back over the last year and look forward to the next. I felt compelled to drop a few notes here, mostly for my own clarity. Most years December arrives and I struggle to recollect the last few months—let alone the year. In the last year I’ve noticed a transition to a more sustainable cadence of work and life. Often, I still find myself running about the…
I like a good race. Racing isn't always about being the most powerful, often much of the work is about finding what contributes to the drag, like aerodynamics and weight. The runner’s shoes, the swimmer’s suit, and the car’s body are all optimized to prevent drag. Websites are the same. I think it goes without saying that a lighter website that takes fewer trips will load faster. Removing small…
As of 12/17/2022 the feed provided by Garmin returns 402 Payment Required response. I like to run. I used to do it a lot more in my younger days when I ran competitively. During that time I tracked my runs in a log book and learned a lot about how to train. It helped me understand the cumulative effects of training had on my body. In those days GPS wasn't really an option, if I wanted to measure a…
I am a little dangerous when it comes to regular expressions (or very dangerous depending on how you look at it). I’ve used online tools like this and this to help me learn and troubleshoot regex patterns. But the other day I found myself more lost than usual when I attempted to find whitespace and/or new line characters. I wanted to find and replace a series of HTML tags that were not unique,…
I stepped outside into the crisp December morning. My feet crunched the frozen grass as I moved into the yard to get a better view of the sunrise. The first lights of the morning were ablaze in the east, beyond a restful grove of trees. The branches framed the warms and cools like a lattice of leaded glass. I walked further into the yard and stopped. Nothing stirred, no bird chirped, no dog…
For me, everything connects back to running. This year has felt like we have all been running a race with no end—a race with a finish line always just over the next hill. We have all been plodding along, on our way up the last hill only to be presented with another. I hope for better days ahead, relief beyond that next hill.
A while back I wrote about the steps I had taken to become a front-end master . The article was in response to advice from one of my favorite web people Chris Coyer. It challenged me to learn new front-end concepts through a variety of small projects. I followed many of the suggestions except one—to recreate a Dribbble shot in HTML and CSS. I started the exercise but never finished. Recently I…
I. buoyed mounds of mist drift under the silent dome slowly asunder II. night answers her kin with a stillness bathed in blue abiding till dawn III. gilded bough and blade point west to the autumn blaze higher now the rays IV. a flit and flicker hops through willow and wicker weaving threads of light V. the maple crimsons then sheds her resplendent robe for a winter rest VI. shadows move beyond…
My dad began work on a family history at a time when the only way to do so by letter correspondence. He made inquiries off and on for years until health issues prevented him from doing more. Years passed and much of his work became lost through a variety of circumstances. I remember a phone conversation with him where he was particularly lucid. He expressed the devastation he felt at the loss of…
When I began work on this site more than a year ago my goal was to build something other than a web designer’s personal website. I’ll start off by saying I failed at that. I had ideas, grand in their understatement, that led to struggles and then indecision. Those struggles made way for what was natural—a web designer’s website, because of course, that’s my job. The site would need to be fast,…
Recently, I encountered an article last November from Chris Coyer which was very helpful. This last year has been really rough for a number of reasons. I haven’t felt like myself, much less a front-end master . Chris’ article prompted me to explore some new things in the free moments I have and practice my skills in small but meaningful ways. In the following weeks and months I followed the…
A year ago for Valentine’s Day I made a couple bears in love. Illustration in CSS and HTML is completely unnecessary—but fun! See the Pen Love Bears All Things - CSS Illustration by Josh Crain ( @joshcrain ) on CodePen . Originally posted on Twitter . Edit 1/21/2020: Something has happened to their arms in Chrome! Still good in Safari and FF.
Back in 2006, I stumbled upon a website called Life In Vector . At the time I was still learning what Illustrator could do, the work was eye-opening. I followed the gradient mesh tutorial for a red pepper (I cannot believe this is still online) and learned a lot about working more effectively with layers and gradients. Yamaha SHS-10 rendered in Adobe Illustrator. Everything rendered this way…
Forsaken places. Running horses on the Redding road. House on Cemetery Hill. Blockton Sculptures. Trailer on Cemetery Hill. House on Cemetery Hill. House south of Zearing. House south of Zearing.
Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Natural Bridge. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Inner Canyon. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. Banded hills of the Chinle Formation, near the…
The Camp Fire was the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. The fire began on November 8, 2018—the day we arrived. Muir Woods. November 8, 2018 North of Muir Woods on California State Route 1. November 8, 2018 Bodega Head, Bodega Bay. November 9, 2018 We parked the car near a marked trail and traced a few narrow paths across Bodega Head in search of a view. The acrid…
That was the night I planned to run six but instead ended up on a gravel road in the middle of a twelve-mile loop. There was enough light to see, even beyond the glow of the city lights, because the moon was full and the night was clear. The night sky was black as ink, and the moon was bright against it. I noticed my shadow over my right shoulder, clear against the soft glow of the light blue…