Recent content in Writing by Stephen Lindberg
The Office – 'Classy Christmas' Getting the kind of feedback you want can be tough. With the combination of tools like Figma and a good design system, it’s easy to jump right into production-level detail when designing something new.
You probably learned in elementary school: at the top of your paper, write your name and the date. It’s so frustrating when I find blog posts that don’t list the author clearly, and even more annoying is when the date is missing.
Forget hidden layers! Let’s use variants to improve the design system experience and keep our layers tree tidy.
When the XY problem isn’t presented as a question
What wisdom can we borrow from video game design to create a better user experience?
I’ve invented a new type of computer. A computer with no off switch.
Exploring Hugo’s custom output formats
The to-do list is an indispensable part of my productivity cycle. Mostly it helps me build momentum and have a better sense of satisfaction at the end of the day, helping to reaffirm what I’ve accomplished.
I have yet to jump head-long into the hypetrain of utility-first CSS frameworks, but I’ve been enjoying the benefits of the ideology in small portions.
I just finished installing two new light fixtures. This is an appropriate home improvement task to complete as I sit down to write my 2020 retrospective.
Animations and transitions can bring richness to web experiences. They can provide continuity and help people understand interfaces in more nuanced ways.
Here’s a quick idea for keeping rule specificity low when writing CSS. Let’s say we have a table: <table> <tr> <td> Datum </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Datum </td> </tr> <tr class='highlight'> <td> Datum </td> </tr> </table> The third row has the class highlight, which gives a unique background color to each td element in the row with a rule like this:
There’s a lot of wisdom out there about setting and achieving goals. Like most of the conventional advice out there, I think goals are achieved by defining specific, realistic actions.
Time for another year-end review post. 2019 had its share of ups and downs. First let’s see how I did on my goals:
What do the activities packing your car, designing software, and managing your social calendar all have in common? Tetris! The game Tetris is a great analogy for many things, and I found myself asking why I was so frequently relating to it.
I stumbled on the blog ribbonfarm recently, and it’s a rather entertaining read. If you don’t already follow it, check it out.
Here’s an update about what’s been going on with me the past couples months: I traveled to Costa Rica last month and learned how to surf.
Recently I helped my brother rewrite a sudoku solver he had been hacking on. His original implementation did some smart look-ahead to determine quickly which cells of the puzzle could be inferred from surrounding columns, rows, and regions.
Either I’ve been distracted by a particularly resonant book or article, or I’ve had too much coffee, but either way I sometimes find it hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
It’s normal for people to want to be fulfilled by the activities which they spend the most time doing. Fulfillment is a tricky thing to gauge because it’s highly dependent on the individual, and it can change over time.
There are two sentiments I come across frequently when talking with creative people: “I should really learn how to do X” where X is some technology or skill.
Currently, I’m: Practicing photography and drawing Working at thoughtbot Singing to my 2 cats Obsessing over color Playing the ukulele (poorly)
Here’s a list of the gear I use: Drawing Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen (Soft type) Caran D’Ache Grafwood Graphite Bee Paper Company 93lb Super Deluxe Photography Fujifilm X-Pro2 w/ XF 27mm ƒ/2.
I like to keep a sketchbook with me wherever I go. Pocket-sized sketchbooks are highly portable, and you’re almost guaranteed to have something to draw on if you combine them with your wallet.
2018 was an exciting year. I started a new job, traveled to Hawaii, and learned the basics of calligraphy. Here’s a list of a few of my favorite books I read this year:
I find myself discussing minimalism more often recently. When the topic comes up, the conversation usually gravitates towards the struggle (or success) of removing clutter from the garage, junk drawer, or desk by donating or trashing whatever has been accumulated over the years.