Designer Things

I used to think Maya ceramics were just museum pieces—beautiful, sure, but locked behind glass and irrelevant to anyone not writing a dissertation.

I used to think bold text was just about making things stand out. Turns out, there’s this whole cognitive architecture underneath visual emphasis

I used to think font choice was just about aesthetics, about what looked cool on a poster or a website. Turns out, there’s this entire world of legibility

I used to think airline logos were just pretty pictures on a plane’s tail. Turns out, there’s this whole intricate language happening in those

I used to think ancient pottery was just, you know, old bowls. Then I spent an afternoon in a museum storage room in Lima, turning over fragments of Wari

I used to think skeuomorphic design was just about making things look shiny. Turns out, the Frutiger Aero aesthetic—that glossy, bubble-filled visual language

I used to think coffee shop logos were just, you know, logos. But here’s the thing—the visual identity of global coffee chains is actually this weird

I used to think infographics were just pie charts with better color schemes. Then I spent three months watching designers at The New York Times turn census

I used to think typography was just about making things look pretty. Then I met Sarah, a UX designer who’s legally blind, and watched her struggle

I used to think good design meant adding more—more color, more fonts, more movement. Then I watched someone try to book a flight on one of those budget