A designer who writes.
I have blogged intermittently since the mid 90s. Thankfully, much of the early teenage angst is lost to time. This collects my writings from this site, an earlier personal website, and some newsletter projects over the years, in mostly chronological order. I also publish new writing here. I publish somewhat more formal writing about content strategy and design careers at Content Career Accelerator.
1) Remove your hair shirt at night. 2) Eat less sand. 3) Take the weekend off: Hire a professional to bust your ghosts. 4) Remember to wear your headgear and mouth guard when fighting grandpa. 5) Hot lemons. 6) Pause — for just a few moments each day — to breathe through your ears. 7) Set up … continue
I read a lot of great books in 2018, and there are even more that I didn’t read, even though I easily could have! No judgment, just life.
I’ve had a truck for a couple weeks now. (Long story.) So I’ve been taking care of niggling errands around town, and visiting places I haven’t been to since I was dating someone with a car who took me to them. Today’s errand was cashing in my change at a Coinstar machine. The places that … continue
Early in the year I started an iTunes playlist called 2018. I added songs to it as it occurred to me. I didn’t really have a plan, but it ended up creating a portrait of my year. Many tracks are new music that resonated with me. A few are old favorites that had particular relevance … continue
Corey Gwin is building a writing app called Blurt. To promote the app, he’s been writing about writing. To promote my book, I’ve been tweeting about writing. I tweeted out one of the things he wrote, which made him notice me, and then he asked me to do a video interview for a series he’s … continue
My journal is full of entries, my Ulysses inbox is full of notions and half-starts. So I’m writing a lot. I’m writing a lot. Good. Great. But I’m not quite getting to what I want to with a lot of it. I want to be on that Austin Kleon wavelength, you know? That easy, collected, … continue
I’ve always been enamored with product ecosystems. It’s rare that I’ll buy anything without researching what kind of accessories I can get with it. Does it have an official case, pouch, or sleeve? Can you change the tip, the handle, the grip? What can I upgrade? What can I combine it with? LEGO was both … continue
Twitter is a dumpster fire, but it’s still better than the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that is Facebook.
Recently back from an overnight trip to Chicago to speak with their UX Book Club. My book Writing for Designers was the featured book, and they hosted a Q&A style event with the author, who is me! This was the first time I’ve been at an in-person event specifically because I wrote a book. I … continue
There’s a joke that having a writing deadline is the best way to get your house clean. Personally, I channeled this form of productive procrastination into digital spaces while getting to a finished first draft of the book. This was also partly out of thoroughness and desperation — “I know I’ve thought thoughts about this … continue
Or you will, if you subscribe. Personal dispatches from the desk of Scott Kubie, a designer who writes.