Writing
Sent weekly. Pulled straight from Kit, so the archive and the inbox never disagree.
Archive
01It’s a good sweatWhy my week looks like a vacation from the outside, and what it took to get hereOct 10, 202602Nobody designs the footerThe last thing people see on your site is the part you put the least effort into.Oct 9, 202603You copied that off the internetWhat a kid who didn’t capitalize his personal pronouns taught me about AI slop.Oct 8, 202604FunnelEnvy ReduxThe branding that helped this agency secure 131% more leads.Oct 7, 202605The spork didn’t kill the forkEverybody says the canvas is dead. I’ve heard that one before 🤘Oct 6, 202606Silver bullets vs. gold BBsThe one perfect campaign teaches you nothing until it’s already over.Oct 5, 202607The Competence ConundrumA hidden curse within being capable, resourceful, and trustworthy.Oct 3, 202608One of my favorite clientsAnd some of my favorite work that has since earned $800k+Oct 2, 202609What are you willing to not be?Why simple, professional, and modern fail as brand attributes and what to do instead.Oct 1, 202610Never the same A twiceHow I turned my handwriting into a design system an agent can runSep 30, 202611The odds aren’t stacked against youA founder at a conference dinner, a $2M product, and the one thing no marketing fix could touchSep 29, 202612Do we fix the brand or the positioning?I used to draw this as a stack. The stack is wrong, and here’s the corrected diagram 🤘Sep 28, 202613The real realA true ranking of the things that matter.Sep 26, 202614Pretty in PetrolIceland's popular gas station and a lesson in color.Sep 25, 202615The Permission EquationThe only thing holding your marketing team back is fearSep 24, 202616New Site DropReviving my portfolio after 3 yearsSep 22, 202617Your brand voice isn’t written. It’s drawn.Six words. Two fonts. One of them is a threat 😎Sep 21, 202618Systems vs. WillpowerI’m not disciplined and I conceded a fight. Still came out the winner.Sep 19, 202619Worse than Yelp reviewers 🤮Put a logo on the internet and people will bash it without failSep 18, 202620Before and After: Logos Pt. 1Making the cherry on top much more alluring.Sep 17, 202621You don’t hate the song“Show us some new directions” is not feedback. Here’s what to say insteadSep 16, 202622Let it be the loud oneOne of them is allowed to use red. The other one isn’t 🤘Sep 15, 202623Six signs your CMO is a problemThe most expensive line item a founder ever misjudges, and the three questions that catch it in an interview.Sep 14, 202624Just, Trust, MustThree kinds of friends, and the odd reason business partners end up in the top tier ahead of people you’ve known for decades.Sep 12, 202625No solutions, only trade-offs: brandingRevolution, evolution, optimization: what each one actually costs you 🤘Sep 11, 202626The part of the page that shouldn’t matchThree things go in a CTA section. The fourth one is contrast, and it’s the one everybody skips.Sep 10, 202627Prisma ReduxThe muse was Ratatat. The brief was “surreal.” Before and after inside.Sep 9, 202628Stop typing your design feedbackHere’s the arithmetic, in under 200 words, to prove a better method.Sep 8, 202629Stealing the wrong halfEverybody’s about to take the wrong lesson from Liquid Death's MasterClass. Two lists to fix it 🤘Sep 7, 202630The one test I can’t runI split-test everything for a living. Here’s the one I’d give anything to run, and history will never let me.Sep 5, 202631I scream, you scream, we all scream at screenshotsThere is a better way to visually showcase your product.Sep 4, 202632Rebrand or just a new website?A framework for answering this questionSep 3, 202633Ur pricing page sux 😋5 tips to make it better.Sep 2, 202634The hearts of robotsStop treating engineering and developer ICPs like Klingons.Sep 1, 202635Brand guides as constitutionsThe cost of treating brand guidelines as law before the brand has entered the real world.Aug 31, 202636What does a "Q" look like?An eighth grader asked a teacher friend of mine that this week. I haven’t stopped thinking about it.Aug 29, 202637Specific, or cohesive. Pick one.Or don't... Because you can have both, as demonstrated by this week's field note.Aug 28, 202638Your headline is too boldEasy design fixes that cost nothing and help you wield words like never before.Aug 27, 202639Preparing for the floodThe story of how we helped KinectAir get ten times more signups in one weekend than they had in one year.Aug 26, 202640In my node-based editor eraThree specific reasons a node canvas beats Photoshop and every stock library at once 🤘Aug 25, 202641Stop asking whether they like itName the feeling. Run the comparison. That’s an objective measurement of your brand.Aug 24, 202642I'm sorry, however...A client apologized and then billed me for it. On apologies with a toll attached.Aug 22, 202643It has to look like it soundsFive album covers, why each one matches its music exactly, and the one that made me a designer.Aug 21, 202644Twelve years later, they still using the logo everyone hatedAn autopsy of one of the most heated rebrands to ever break the internet... 12 years after the flamesAug 20, 202645I don’t play the instruments anymoreThe tools helping me become a powerful orchestrator of design.Aug 19, 202646Look, Ma! I made thisHere's a set of website before and afters ranging from complete overhauls to subtle optimizations. Enjoy!Aug 18, 202647The Right Way to Steal a BrandCopying Stripe = bad, Calligraphy class and death metal water = good.Aug 17, 202648I don't want to be in the box anymoreFive-sixths of this is still design. Here's what the other sixth is for.Aug 15, 202649Lorem Ipsum is a lieWhy the designer in the room should be the loudest voice for writing at first.Aug 8, 202650Join It ReduxA bike wheel, a warmer logo, and a concept that never saw daylight.Aug 1, 202651The most expensive way to save $25,000What building your own site with AI really costs, and what nobody puts on the invoice.Jul 25, 202652A transfer of creative ownershipWhen you make something that isn't yours, more yours than theirs.Jul 18, 202653Three years. Seven things I actually believe.From nothing you get nothing. Great brands are stolen. Guidelines are just hypotheses. And four more.Jul 11, 202654America doesn't need a new logo 🇺🇸Jul 4, 202655Buying a Website is Like Buying a HousePage count tells you almost nothing about what you're actually buying.Jun 27, 202656Where Have I Been?The honest version — about three years overdue.Jun 20, 2026