The intent brief
A reusable framework for getting the real why on paper before anyone opens a tool.
Insights
Notes from the work. Ideas earned by making
On writing
Two decades of designing, building, and leading, written down in the open. The past shows up here as evidence, not nostalgia. Every piece is aimed at the work in front of us and the work still to come.
Guide→
Choosing a design partner when AI can make anything
When anyone can generate output, you are no longer hiring a maker. You are hiring judgment.
Beginning again
Reinvention is not throwing away experience. It is compounding it into a smaller, sharper bet.
What a brand identity actually costs
You are not paying for a logo. You are paying for the system and the judgment that keep it coherent.
Form follows intent
"Form follows function" is half a sentence. The other half is the one that lasts.
In-house, agency, or AI: who should design your product
Build, buy, or generate is not a budget question. It is a question about where judgment has to live.
Naming is a strategy problem
A name is not a creative flourish at the end. It is a strategic decision made early, on purpose.
The maker who became a manager
I spent a decade moving away from the work I loved. Here is why I came back.
Where AI belongs in a design workflow
A map of our workflow: what we generate, what we judge, and where the last ten percent lives.
How to make your work legible to AI
Search is becoming answer engines. Being citable by machines is now a design discipline.
Taste is a skill, not a gift
Taste looks like a gift from the outside. From the inside it is reps, exposure, and feedback.
The return of the generalist
For a decade we were told to specialize. AI just changed the math.
Why most redesigns fail
Most redesigns fail because they restyle the surface and never touch the intent underneath.
Going remote before we had to
We went fully distributed before the world had to. Vagueness, not distance, breaks teams.
Burnout is a real thing
Rest is not the opposite of ambition. It is the maintenance ambition runs on.
A creative playground
Backed by nothing but expertise. Scarcity was not the obstacle. It was the method.
One-time clients, long-term partners
We did not count new logos. We counted the ones that stayed. The relationship is the moat.
The last ten percent
The difference between good and lasting lives in the finish. It is where humans still win.
Systems outlive logos
A logo is a snapshot. A system is a grammar. Design the rules, not the artifact.
Strategy is a design material
Strategy and aesthetics are not separate departments. The best work holds both at once.