Do you like LIKE me?

I mean will you read my newsletter.

I’m so happy you’re here or rather, I’m so happy you signed up. Thank you! It’s nice to be in your inbox for once. You’re usually the one in mine.

Typing this sentence right now feels like a breath of fresh air in a social media-driven world. I wholly believe in owning the means of production and despite not having full control over this newsletter (It is Substack after all), it feels like a good place to start. It’s my safe space for thoughts and dumping grounds for things I love. It’s my home to finally shout about development libraries, websites that blow my mind, adjacent artistic hobbies, and so much more. You’ll see.

Why now is the best time for a newsletter

By the time you get this email, I will be on day 75 of my daily Twitter thread and on my way to Mexico City for a much-needed vacation. Admittedly, the thread started in a place of anger. I was upset with the design community for locking their best knowledge behind paywalls.

It felt like the total antithesis of what I was trying to accomplish: equipping junior designers and inquisitive recruits with the knowledge that I took as subconscious. If ever there was an audience that needed this the most, it was the same group that couldn’t afford the quasi-design-celebrity courses.

I’m not arguing against them. In fact, quite a few of them are run by friends of mine. Hell, I’d like to create one myself! But after consistently contributing to the thread, I realized that I wasn’t making it for you at all. I was making it for the 19-year-old me. The Devin that didn’t know if he was ever going to quit working retail at Kohls. The Devin that wasn’t sure if he’d be stuck in his small town forever. I’m willing to bet you know someone like that or you were that person at one point.

So who is this for?

It’s for everyone. I mentioned this in a previous tweet of mine, but this newsletter will always remain free. I’ve turned on optional paid subscriptions but there will only be a few extra goodies in that tier. If it makes you feel better, consider your paid subscription as a gift to that person who’s in the position you used to be.

What can free subscribers expect?

A weekly newsletter like the one you’re reading right now that’s stuffed with expanded tips from the design world, inspiration to bookmark, and sometimes an insight into my personal life. Don’t worry though, I won’t burden you with things my therapist would want to hear.

What can paid subscribers expect?

I don’t want paid subs to feel like they’re getting nothing but I also don’t want free subs to feel like they’re missing something important! Here’s what you’ll get if you’re a paid subscriber:

• Exclusive short-form audio interviews with other designers.

• The ability to comment on the newsletters. Yell at me, I don’t care.

• A shout-out in the newsletter WOW!

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Dang, that’s cool stuff…

Pangram Pangram PP32 Specimen Book

My current favorite type foundry put out a specimen book for their typefaces and it’s limited to 500 copies. I’m not sure how there are still copies left but get yours before it’s gone. Yes, it’s $80, but it’s stunning.

Traffic Productions

This site designed by Holographik recently won Site of the Day on Awwwards and for good reason. It has a continuous line on every page from top to bottom that never breaks. Check out the contact page and see how they solved the input fields, you’ll fall in love.

Pudding Studio

I think I’ve had Pudding Studio’s in a tab for a week now, refreshing it at least once per day. Rather than having individual case studies linked, they opted for whimsical, animated, full-length writeups on the home page.

Flowie

It feels like it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all of the text snippets, libraries, and plugins for Webflow. There are so many strong contenders out there! Flowie puts them on one page and sorts them for you.

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Shoutouts

Thank you all for subscribing. Before I even sent out a single post, I had 143 subscribers! Eight of those are paid!

• Ben from Evil Twins - Dude thank you! You’ve always been supportive of my endeavors and you’ve made it even easier to share cool tools since you send them to me first.

• Brandon from Bones Co. - I’m proud to call you my friend. You know you’re on the right track when your friends support what you’re doing.

• Eric Odom - I’m also proud to call you my friend and I love that you’re growing the community with me. I think we have the same drive to help.

• Keith Armstrong - Keithy boy! You rule dude, you were the first to subscribe so you’re my number-one fan now.

• Riley Hennigh - Thank you for becoming a monthly subscriber. Anything you and your team put out is always instant magic somehow.

• Federico Valla - I think you might be the coolest developer I’ve ever met. There’s a reason people call you FedGPT, there’s nothing you don’t know.

• Chris Abra - It’s so great seeing you show up in all the Flow Party stuff and seeing you grow as a designer and dev too.

• ⭐️ Tony Seets - Last but certainly not least, thank you Tony for both your generosity in the community and your kindness as a friend. I want you to know that your founding membership has paid for a subscription to Descript where I’ll be able to offer subtitles to audio listeners. It will only enable more people to access the content they deserve. Bless, dude.

P.S. I love you. See you next week.

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