The next long form essay is coming along - I’ve begun writing the zero draft after going down a rabbit hole on game design. The essay looks at a personal design process that can help you finish what you start. I’ve had a lot of fun researching it, and I’m looking forward to sharing it soon. In the meantime, here’s the weekly round up of cool links from around the internet to keep you entertained.

CityGrapher - A set of stencils, each one showcasing the iconic architecture for a specific city. It’s the kind of thing that would make a great gift (to a designer, or your friend who does scrapbooking). Imagine having a notebook series named after a city, and you stencil the art into it, or onto the cover.

Steve Jobs and design - Jobs’ focus on design isn’t new at this point; he’s famous for pushing his team beyond what would be “ordinary” (with the attendant downsides that brings). What I found interesting though was what his original intention for Apple’s products was: “great design and simple capability for something that doesn’t cost much”.

Jubilee line button - Turning a door button plate from the london underground into a smart home light switch is a superlative idea. Sophie’s project also shows the intricacies of a “simple” project, and how the “draw the rest of the owl” stages can present some of the best opportunities for learning.

Venice bridge fights - Apparently in the 17th and 18th century, the citizenry of the serene republic were fond of brawling on the bridges of the city. Using the liminal spaces of bridges for gang warfare in the city of masks is a hell of a premise for a story (or a board game). Once again, the Public Domain Review provides us with an edifying look into history (with art from the time period).

Until next week,
Justin

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0