Zonk. 😄

Typography tip: Font weight, leading, and tracking should all decrease as font size increases, generally speaking.

Introducing Varchive, a showcase for AI-assisted builds, inspiration, and how-tos.

⤷ varchive.ai

Built by yours truly and Adam Spooner with assistance from Cursor & Codex. Product submissions are now open!

Varchive screenshots

Deploying soon! ✨

If you've got an app built with AI, whether light or heavy assistance, drop it in the comments or DM me. I'd love to consider featuring it when we go live.

You're vintage legacy and didn't even know 😄

TOTALLY right. 🤦‍♂️

Haha precisely! Also known as the 'Vulcan grip' 🖖

Photoshop "Save for Web (Legacy)" menu

I love that after all these years Photoshop still has legacy Save for Web. My go-to every time (and really the only need I have for it).

Ha thanks Connie!

Thank you very much Z!

Thank you Jeff!

Cameron holding his granddaughter on his lap

We are now grandparents of the sweetest angel who arrived two weeks ago. Our first. We flew into Utah to meet her this weekend.

You may commence calling me Gramps.

I was moved by your choir's performances (every one of them) nearly as much as the children's choir singing Gethsemene. Just outstanding.

Thanks Sara!

Should Design Be Measured? Yes and no. This is the only correct answer. Let's unpack this.

Chiefly Design issue № 02 just dropped.

→ "Should Design Be Measured?"
→ Yes and no. This is the only correct answer.
→ NPS is terrible for measuring design. But if your org loves NPS, how you can leverage it in your favor.
→ Great design is a function of bad ideas.

Read and subscribe: open.substack.com/pub/chieflyd...

Chiefly Design issue № 01 is in the books:

→ "Delight vs. Delightful"
→ Featured font: Rather Risqué by SilverStag
→ Noteworthy stuff on my radar

Subscribe: chieflydesign.substack.com

Chiefly Design Do you really need another newsletter in your inbox? I hope you’ll discover the answer is yes. Trust me, over the past year I’ve asked this question more times than I care to count. And yet I keep coming back “do it anyway” and let you decide. The most compelling content I’ve written in my career has been the articulation of concepts and ideas that could have only come from my brain—no one else’s—trusting others might benefit from hearing how I navigate and process the world around me. This is the purpose of Chiefly Design. Chiefly Design is a newsletter focused on timely and timeless topics for designers with a slant toward design leadership. Each weekly issue features an article, a unique font as the issue’s logo with my reasoning for selecting it, and other noteworthy stuff that crosses my radar. The first issue is titled “Delight vs. Delightful.” It arrives the week of September 22nd. Subscribe in the link below.

New newsletter drops next week!

I'll save "Why Substack" for later. Short answer is Kit, Ghost, etc are fantastic. But for now Substack is the right start, with my site as the newsletter home later (likely powered by one of those).

Hope to say hello in your inbox soon. ✌🏼

We'll never resolve the divide in our country without more compassionate disagreement.

I shy away from posting politically across my social media channels as it often leads to exactly what I just described.

But I want others to know you are seen.

If we are to successfully address the riptide that is political violence—whether the use of a hammer, firearm, you name it—we must also address the undercurrent of seemingly "harmless" yet demeaning, berating verbal abuse of one's character when they choose to speak out on issues we disagree with.

Newsletter screenshots in dark mode and light mode

New newsletter WIP. This has been a long time coming.

It's a very fair consideration. I'd like to believe as an industry we will continue to find ways to educate rising talent. After all, first year medical students aren't exactly performing surgeries. Perhaps the education becomes more intense before they're permitted to "operate' on systems & UX.

Willing to bet my career on this: When the AI dust settles there will remain an evergreen need for taste & style at the hands of a professional, the ability to judge with your gut, methodical work at a slower pace, typographic mastery, and so much more that we do as designers.

One of the feedback themes I'm most proud of as a manager over the years:

"I feel calmer when I'm around you."

Tech doesn't value calmness. But I do.

Translation: If we're working together, we will find ways to achieve high-quality, accelerated outcomes in a measured way.

Unapologetically.

A pen sitting on a blank top sheet of Cameron Moll's Do-Its sticky task pad.

New week, fresh sheet. Last month, @cameronmoll.bsky.social was kind enough to send me some of his do-its sticky task pads to try out. They've completely replaced the assorted post-its that usually litter my desk.
Check them out at:
shop.cameronmoll.com/product/do-its

LOVE to see this Jason!

10 More Things I Wish Every Design Student Knew - Cameron Moll Recently I gave a presentation to UX university students building on 10 Things shared years ago, and now I'm sharing it with you. You'll find most of these principles apply not only to students but al...

Really pleased with how this presentation came together for a group of UX students this week. And now I'm sharing it with all of you (including the colophon).

And the corollary "Therefore there is absolutely no 'right' time to start."

Funny you mention this. One of my talking points is along the lines of "are you really sure you want to go down this path"