The five best design links, every weekday

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joshbrake.substack.com

The prompt you’re missing

Four categories of task that you should consider before turning to AI.

3dicons.co

Open-source 3D icons

1440+ beautifully crafted open-source 3D icons that you can use completely free and without attribution for personal or commercial project.

thoughtshrapnel.com

Agentic commerce is a catastrophe for brands who rely on friction

Our current neoliberal version of capitalism has built a rent-extraction layer on top of human limitations that agents don't have.

shoe-finder-wine.vercel.app

Shoe Finder

Explore our endless collection of sneakers—a fun little demo.

oreilly.com

How to write a good spec for AI Agents

Simply throwing a massive spec at an AI agent doesn’t work—context window limits and the model’s “attention budget” get in the way.

hughhowey.com

The AI bubble is bursting

AI is not going to disappear from your life. But the bubble is starting to burst.

colorflow.ls.graphics

ColorFlow

Create stunning mesh gradients with real-time preview, customizable control points, and export options.

youtube.com

Why some movies feel more alive

More than just a blur of faces in the background, extras play a crucial but often overlooked role in the art of filmmaking.

zknill.io

If code is cheap, intent is the currency

Apparently writing code is cheap now. So since the barrier to producing code is gone, the intent behind the code is the most important bit.

pxlnv.com

On software quality

There seems to be wide agreement that Apple's software quality is not up to scratch.

doc.cc

Why AI is exposing design’s craft crisis

AI didn’t create the craft crisis in design—it exposed the technical literacy gap that’s been eroding strategic influence for over a decade.

letters.stevejobsarchive.com

Letters to a Young Creator

A collection of honest perspectives on what it takes to make something great, written by people who have done it before.

boristane.com

The software development lifecycle is dead

AI agents didn’t make the SDLC faster. They killed it. All that’s left is context.

sweetfont.com

Sweetfont

Explore Google Fonts by personality, vibe, and style using interactive controls.

cianfrani.dev

Designing in English

Components are dead. Use your words.

lucasfcosta.com

Design docs considered harmful

Hot takes and cold truths on software, startups, and the lies we tell ourselves.

walkman.land

Walkman.land

The most complete portable pocket audio cassette player database. WML is a tribute to the Walkmans.

juno-labs.com

Every company building your AI assistant is now an ad company

Every company building an AI assistant is also building hardware that listens and watches 24/7. Local on-device inference is the only way out.

spotless.neocities.org

The Stain Solver

Stain? Don't panic. Don't rub. Just fix it.

mynameismartin.co.uk

How I’m dealing with the pressure to adopt AI as a designer

Things haven’t settled, the ground is still moving, and sitting with uncertainty might be the best position right now.