A collection of thoughts, links and videos, from the desk of Maykel Loomans.
In 2024, Brex elevated Design to report directly to the CEO. This embedded design thinking into the company's decision-making process and transformed how teams collaborate across design, product, engineering, and marketing.
Recently I've been thinking about the influence Merlin Mann has had on me. There was something magical about having someone think so openly and freely, and take you on all of these mental journeys as you listen to them. And so as I watch it again, and chuckle, it's important to put it up here in this public archive—as it is still as relevant as ever.
Finding a good review on a product these days is quite difficult. Most of the web has been taken over by click-baity, wirecuttery type stuff. Well, not Dan Charlton. He really cares about peripherals and if you're looking for a Thunderbolt dock, you should read this.
Cabel Sasser shows once more he is the master of epic creative side quests.
Threads has become an interesting, active platform in a short period of time. However, with the lack of control of a sticky Following feed that I have control over, my signal to noise ratio in my feed is about 10% of the posts I see. The For You algorithm is way too optimized toward lizard brain content; it's not a worthy way to use your brain time. I hope this changes someday, but historical Meta…
Cabin ANNA is a modularly designed cabin that transforms into the space you need in the moment; from coziness to open air.
Vjeran Pavic covers the history of the 5D Mark II, a camera that completely changed the game for photographers and videographers alike. It brought the full-frame sensor, and high quality full HD video recording, to the masses. He then compares it to modern cameras like the Fuji X100VI, and the latest powerhouse from Canon: the R5 Mark II. Kai Wong also made a similar video comparing the 5D Mark II…
It would hopefully come to no surprise to anyone that I love a good photography preset. Today, I'm delighted to share a set of presets for Darkroom that I use the most. I call them: Loomono Profil.
Sometimes when you’re designing, you get the license to take the time to explore many different directions and get a great result. Sometimes, you have barely any time to get the work done. You rarely get fortunate to encounter a situation in which it sits front of you after a few minutes. The React logo was one of those lucky cases.
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Leading a team, whatever the size, is a difficult task. Too often, managers resort to simply telling their team what to do instead of teaching them how to define it for themselves. They focus on directives instead of giving the team goals and empowering the team to figure out the best way to achieve them. To effectively lead a team of highly motivated and skilled employees, these employees need to…
For a while now I’ve been chipping away at a photo hosting and photo sharing product that I’ve dubbed Shoebox . It started as an experiment, and it’s become an ongoing, iterative journey in to what a lightweight photo sharing service can be. But why even start? Do we really need another place to store our photos? Why Shoebox?
I have recently joined the design team at Brex, where I’ll be working on “Special Projects” (aka. big bets that we believe will have a super positive effect on our customers, starting with our mobile product.)
Have you ever found yourself in a discussion around design decisions, engineering decisions, or product direction? Have you seen these discussions go in circles or seemingly not get resolved? In most cases, a straightforward question can save you a lot of time: “Out of ten, how much do you care about this topic [your reasoning]?”
Today [October 19th, 2020] marks one year of taking time off. I deeply realize I have been very fortunate to have this incredible privilege, but I must say that I genuinely didn't feel its importance until about 3-4 months ago. This note is an edited version of a thread I wrote on Twitter which reflected on the good and the bad of a year off, as well as lessons learned.
The stuff of legends. He will be missed deeply.
Mier is a family of typefaces that blend geometric and grotesque sans serif elements. I've found their x-height to be a bit tough for interfaces, but this is a great typeface for display.
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TUYO makes some of the most beautiful tableware I've ever seen. I'm a big fan of their copitas and carafes.
This is quite the read; but it is a fantastic account of a fantastic man.
Friday [September 21st, 2018] was my last day at Facebook. It was an experience of a lifetime, and I couldn’t be more thankful for it. Here’s the note I wrote to my colleagues. I was originally going to circulate this to just friends, but with the positive feedback I have gotten I decided to use this venue to post more widely.
One of my favorite talks if the last decade is Simon Sinek's talk on the importance of self-reflection and accountability in the workplace.
New Year's resolutions are hard. Many people make them every year, and few actually succeed. I've personally never been successful at keeping a New Year's resolution, primarily because the magnitude of the task at hand seemed so big, and "life got in the way" (ie. other things took priority to the resolution that was established.) With that said, I thought about approaching New Year's Resolutions…
My conversation with The Great Discontent. Recorded just before I moved to San Francisco, and a fantastic time capsule for myself.