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Quick Brand Refresh Checklist
Fast checklist before you ship a refresh: Logo system: primary, stacked, favicon; test at 16px and 200px. Color: 1–2 brand anchors, 1 accent, semantic states (success/warn/error), light/dark accessible pairs. Type: heading/paragraph/mono with weights locked; set link + button defaults. UI kit: buttons, form fields, cards, nav, modal; add spacing tokens (4/8/12/16/24). Imagery: photo style or…
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Analog Textures, Digital Systems
Mixing scanned textures with precise UI systems to keep digital products feeling human.
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Micro Rituals That Kickstart My Design Flow
Four small rituals I use to move from planning into hands-on design mode.
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How Huron John Keeps Me Locked Into Design Mode
Why Huron John’s kaleidoscopic pop is my go-to soundtrack when I’m building new design systems.
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Cracker Barrel Needs a Rebrand, Just Not the One We Saw
A designer’s take: Cracker Barrel needs a refresh, but sanding off its texture is not the answer.
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Teenage Engineering Keeps Design Playful and Precise
Pulling lessons from Teenage Engineering’s playful yet precise approach to industrial design.
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UI Microcopy With AI Guardrails
Keep AI-generated copy usable and on-brand: Start with tone constraints: “confident, concise, no exclamation marks, US English.” Limit length: set character caps per component (e.g., 28 chars for buttons). Ban words list: remove fluff like “seamless,” “delight,” “experience.” Batch in Figma: request variants, then pick and edit manually. Run accessibility: ensure clarity at 6th–8th grade…
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2025 Color Directions
Color moves showing up across brand and product: Muted neons: electric hues with 60–70% saturation for digital glow without eye fatigue. Molten metallics: bronze/copper gradients used as accents, not full fills. North Sea blues + warm clay: calm UI base with earthy contrast for CTA states. Duotone overlays: keep two-color photo treatments for fast, cohesive…
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Basquiat’s Crown for Modern Branding
Channeling Basquiat’s crown in contemporary branding without copying: Use the crown as energy, not a literal mark: translate it into angular accents or step shapes. Keep the hand-drawn vibe: textured strokes or pressure-sensitive lines, not perfect vectors. Palette: one saturated yellow + charcoal + off-white; avoid full graffiti rainbows. Pair with raw, condensed type; track…
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Roy Lichtenstein-Inspired Texture
Using Lichtenstein cues without going full comic book: Halftone dots: keep scale subtle (18–24px) and opacity under 40% to avoid moiré. Primary palette: mix one pop color with neutrals; avoid full CMYK stack. Ben-Day overlays on photos: overlay mode + clipped mask preserves detail. Speech bubble shapes as layout anchors—not literal text—so you keep it…