Though mobile devices are outselling PCs these days, they’re not replacing the desktop experience—they’re extending it. People start a task on one device and pick it back up on another. This new behavior pattern requires a different kind of design thinking that’s focused on consistency, optimization for different contexts, and clear continuation of workflows.

Today marks my last day as a digital designer at W. W. Norton. Nearly two years ago I moved to New York for the position and it is hard to describe how much everything has changed. In the day to day things seem to change gradually, but reflecting back on this time the differences kind of blow my mind. Living in New York, the nature of the work, my outlook on life, my goals professionally.

During my time here, I grew more confident and learned to work well on a team. I also grew personally, deciding to no longer be a hypothetical runner, I ran 5 marathons over the last two years. I want to thank everyone, I am proud of the work we did, the cool challenges and experiences. And now I am on to the next thing!

Good answers to my question: Contact (1997 movie): At three separate times in the movie Contact, there is a constellation-like pattern repeated, what is its significance?

Nelson wrote that design ‘is a manifestation of the capacity of the human spirit to transcend its limitations….It is a statement, not a gadget.’

The Next Steps of Everything

Science fiction pretends to look into the future but it’s really looking at a reflection of what is already in front of us.
—Ray Bradbury in an interview with the Paris Review

I really like that man, Ray Bradbury. Go read that interview, it so accurately describes why his voice is uniquely his.¹ Even when he says he doesn’t like Vonnegut—I can respect that. Reading that interview I got so excited hearing about his writing process, about the early days of science fiction, about Mr. Electro. All of it. That quote played over and over in my head, that science fiction isn’t a far future pronouncement, but rather a take on today.

At some point I realized that it connected with what I read in the Task Newsletter #2 about mundane science fiction. It is about our near future realities, the incremental steps. Mundane science fiction is not about escapism, that we can’t just peace out at the speed of light once we’ve fucked the Earth. “That the most likely future is one in which we only have ourselves and this planet.”²

This can be seen as a negative or bleak position, but I think it can inspire a meaningful response. Things like experimental and more efficient architecture, transportation, or ways of living. A reassessment of our current trajectory, I hope.

Your Dreams My Nightmares

This interview show is really good and honest. I’ve been enjoying it a ton. I find myself smiling and giggling a lot listening through the archives. It is probably right up your alley designers, illustrators, whomevers.

You know, I was really struck—there’s this argument recently about Lena Dunham, and there are lots of journalists who say that they’re aren’t enough black people in her show. I kept on wondering how many of those journalists—it’s a genuine question—have black people in their lives. I thought, Probably not very many. It’s like a strange accusation thrown from upper-middle class white New Yorkers to an upper-middle-class white New Yorker. We can project our anxieties onto other people rather than looking at our own lives and saying, “Well, wait a minute. Is this a terribly prejudice show, or an accurate reflection of my own circle, of my own life?” That kind of thing interests me.

Try to do some BAD work – the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell – you are not responsible for the world – you are only responsible for your work – so DO IT.

For example, some initially raised concerns of exclusivity about App.net: Would a pay-only social network exclude people with things to say but without the money to say it? Moreover, would it disproportionately affect people of color, in effect creating a gated community and — if App.net became popular — possibly simulating the real-life white flight of previous decades?

On podcasts, in blog posts, and on Twitter, the idea was hand-waved away as ludicrous — “I’m just joining this because I’m a geek, not because I want to get away from black people” — but we live in a world of racial disparities, and those have implications for the things we do online. The conversation about race and App.net was one worth having, but was unfortunately dismissed.

Pretty pictures can no longer lead the way in which our visual environment should be shaped. It is time to debate, to probe the values, to examine the theories that are part of our heritage and to verify their validity to express our times.