I can't sleep... Too many things floating through my brain so I figured I'd use this as a space to write some of them down.
LoveFrom collab with Ferrari
I really enjoyed this collaboration. The attention to detail and care was really nice to see again. It has a restraint and slight retro feel that I really appreciate. If you look closely, there are hints and nods to things that you can see on Apple products (see the seam for the antenna's on the key fob - very iPhone 6 antenna seam!). My personal favorite is the launch control pull control - the way it lights up adds the drama that an EV might otherwise lack.
I've been hearing a lot about how Jony Ive and Marc Newsom are bringing back analog controls, which is amazing! However, I wonder if it's because the rest of the car industry went too hard and far into the all-screen design? More Marketing and Sales led than Design and Usability led? It makes me think, if this design had come out 10 years ago, would this work feel so significant, especially when other auto-makers are doing an amazing job with digital-physical controls? It's not a knock against the work LoveFrom has done... more of a thought experiment. Regardless, I'm excited to see the whole car at some point!
Get Shit Done
I added this context engineering program (I think that's the right word?) to Claude Code and holy %hit does it make all the difference! I started playing around with it on Friday and Claude _finally_ feels usable when it comes to making code. I hadn't heard of the idea of planning and creating phases, but the way GSD enhances Claude is phenomenal. I hope to use this more over the next few weeks at work with actual prototypes. Here's the article that I found that led me to GSD - I highly recommend going through it. The author does an amazing job explaining GSD and Claude with examples.
Context Switching
My work recently rolled out a new way of working - specifically for the engineering teams. This is great for them - velocity is increasing, and they're able to work more quickly. However, I went from supporting 2 engineering teams to now supporting 6. So my bandwidth has dramatically gone down to be a solo designer doing the many things solo designers do. I can't share much more on this, but I'd love any advice or feedback on how to keep your work boundaries, while also having more on your plate.
The Way of Excellence
I got Brad Stulberg's latest book! I have a trip to Cleveland later this week, so I'm hoping to read the book on the plane. That being said, I love his podcast Excellence, Actually - highly recommend!
Copic Markers
Man... I miss these markers. I started incorporating them more into my design process over the past few weeks. Creating a sketch is a great way to help slow things down in a busy work day - plus it's a great way to step away from the computer screen!
Baltic Watches
I don't have one... yet... but I'm loving this green watch.
Obsidian
I've been using Obsidian as my daily driver for notes. Not my daily task tracker or initial note capturer - I still use a good ol' analog notebook for that. But afterwards, I'll use Obsidian to write down my notes, or write out posts like these. There's something really nice about owning your data on a local machine - something I can access without wifi or a subscription. So in a world where everything is in the "cloud" and requires a subscription, I would encourage you to explore Obsidian - it's really well thought out and fun to spend time using.
This was helpful - I got a lot of thoughts out of my head. Hopefully this means I’ll be able to sleep soon🤞