The five best design links, every weekday

Wednesday04/15

1

matthiasott.com

Design and engineering, as one

Most of us are still running product teams on a model that was designed for a problem we don’t have.

2

awwwards.com

Case study: 100 Lost Species

A digital story about extinction that people could actively explore.

3

acolorbright.com

Aesthetics of AI

Observations on the visual identities of standout AI brands and the trends shaping them.

4

robonomics.substack.com

Org design in the age of AI

Everyone is adding AI to their workflows. Almost no one is rethinking why the workflow is shaped that way in the first place.

5

aestheticamagazine.com

The endurance of brutalism

This new exhibition spotlights Scotland’s post-war modernist architecture, selected from Phipps’ photographs of 160 buildings across the country.

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Tuesday04/14

1

joshwcomeau.com

Squash and stretch

Using Disney's animation principles to create SVG micro-interactions that feel way more natural and believable.

2

trainjazz.com

Every train, a note

A jazz combo played in real time by every active NYC subway train.

3

theyseeyourphotos.com

They see your photos

Upload a photo to find out how much an AI sees. Spoiler alert: more than you think.

4

nngroup.com

Handmade designs: the new trust signal

In an era of AI-generated-everything, AI-fatigued users want designs that look like they were made by a person.

5

factory.ai

How missions work

Agent sessions work well for focused tasks, but most real projects are too broad and complex for a single context window.

Monday04/13

1

bit.ly

html.to.design — chrome extensionSponsored

Browse any website. Capture the full page or just a section, and send it straight to Figma. Re-capture anytime.

2

informationisbeautiful.net

Visualizing Billions

Some gargantuan numbers often make little sense unless put in context and comparison with other billions.

3

maxvanijsselmuiden.nl

Productive procrastination

Understanding why we avoid the work we actually love might be the key to getting more of it done.

4

visiteamazonia.com.br

Branding Amazonia

9 states. 772 cities. 28 million inhabitants. Among us, the largest tropical rainforest on the planet.

5

perevillega.com

Building agent memory that survives between sessions

Two practical approaches to the same insight: memory is a design problem, not a tooling problem.

Friday04/10

1

anildash.com

Actually, people love to work hard

When effort stems from purpose, agency, and trust, rather than oversight.

2

printmag.com

James Junk is the voice design needs now

Redefining what it means to be a creative in the age of the algorithm.

3

titlescream.cameronaskin.com

Title Scream

Type + Graphic inspiration from 8/16bit games.

4

martinfowler.com

Principles of mechanical sympathy

Memory access patterns, false sharing, the single-writer principle, and natural batching.

5

mitchellh.com

The building block economy

How "building blocks" thrive by letting AI and niche users handle the customization.

Thursday04/09

1

lukew.com

Should designers "code"?

There’s a question that never goes away in design: should designers code?

2

hii-mag.com

Hii Magazine

Hii Magazine is an online destination for sound culture and the listening-obsessed.

3

cuberule.com

The Cube Rule

Identify your food based on the location of structural starch. Is a hot dog a sandwich? No, it’s clearly a taco.

4

pawelgrzybek.com

SVG favicons that respect theme preference

A small detail that builds trust through consistent accessibility.

5

greaterwrong.com

My picture of the present in AI

A scenario forecast, but for the present (which is already uncertain) rather than the future.

Wednesday04/08

1

siddhantkhare.com

AI fatigue is real and nobody talks about it

You’re using AI to be more productive. So why are you more exhausted than ever? The paradox every engineer needs to confront.

2

youtube.com

Bernie vs. Claude

Speaking to Anthropic’s AI agent Claude about AI collecting massive amounts of personal data and how that violates our privacy rights.

3

shotoniphone.lorenzobocchi.com

Shot on iPhone in black & white

No warmth borrowed from a golden hour, no colour to flatter or distract. Just light, and the absence of it.

4

blog.pope.tech

Making emojis and icons screen reader accessible

How emojis and icons are often not traditional images that need special considerations to be screen reader accessible.

5

chrbutler.com

Craft is untouchable

AI doesn’t threaten craft—the temptation to skip iteration does.

Tuesday04/07

1

ergosphere.blog

The machines are fine. I’m worried about us.

On AI agents, grunt work, and the part of science that isn’t replaceable.

2

shadcnthemer.com

ShadCN Themer

Browse and create stunning themes for shadcn/ui. Customize colors, fonts, and export with one click.

3

uxdesign.cc

Designers finally have a say in the product they design

AI didn’t teach designers to code. It gave them back the decisions that were always theirs.

4

ai-interaction.com

AI Interaction Atlas

Comprehensive reference for designing AI experiences. 100+ patterns, visual examples, and reusable components.

5

karlkoch.me

On velocity gating

EMA smoothing, split engage/disengage thresholds, and directional hysteresis prevent strobe effects without debounce lag.

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