Thinking out loud
JOURNAL.
Notes on brand, packaging, process and the rest — written between projects, when I should probably be designing.
- BrandingMay 20266 min
Why most D2C brands look identical (and how to escape it)
Pastel palettes, geometric sans-serifs, the same illustrated mascot — D2C branding has collapsed into a uniform. Here is the field guide out.
- ProcessApr 20264 min
The 40-mark rule: why I sketch a hundred logos before showing one
Most logo work fails in the first ten ideas. The good route hides past the boring middle — here is how I push through.
- OpinionMar 20265 min
AI didn't kill design taste — bad briefs did
Generators are a mirror. If your brief is shallow, the output is shallow. Taste is a brief problem, not a tooling problem.
- PackagingFeb 20268 min
Reading the shelf: a designer's field guide to grocery aisles
Before designing packaging, spend two hours in a real store. Here is what to look for — and what to ignore.
- InspirationJan 20263 min
Twelve posters I keep stealing from
A short, unfashionable list of references that survive every trend cycle and quietly show up in my work.
- IndustryDec 20256 min
What working with crypto teams taught me about speed
Crypto founders ship branding in a week. After a year of working with them I am keeping some habits and dropping others.
- PackagingNov 20255 min
Labels are harder than logos (and pay less attention)
Everyone obsesses over the logo. The label does the actual selling — here is why it deserves more design time, not less.
- ProcessOct 20257 min
Bleed, dieline, and the things printers actually care about
A short, practical list of the production details that turn a beautiful packaging file into something that survives the press.