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A National Park pass is void if you cover up the design featuring the face of George Washington and another mugshot. The Recollection Project has a great solution with this nicely designed storage sleeve. (Currently sold out, but I hope they make more!) America the beautiful indeed.

Jen has a new site (crafted by Naz) and added a way to buy knitting patterns directly. She shared insight to the update and also? Today's her birthday so there's even more reasons to celebrate.

Speaking of Naz... He's with joining with friends to create a desktop photo editing app. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. This post sheds light on the impetus and inspiration.

Rich Tabor has made it possible to listen to posts on his site using technology and a clone of his voice (from  ElevenLabs). It sounds really good. He goes on to share efficiencies and nuances baked in through the workflow.

It totally makes sense why this puzzle app wins awards — it looks, sounds, and feels really excellent. An interview with Klemmens Strausser provides nice insight about the development. / via Tyler Gaw's blog

Brand New has an overview of the New Identity for Icelandic Dietary Guidelines by Aton (gated, worth it). Saving the link for two reasons. 1.) The dietary guidelines feel waaaaaay better than a meat heavy pyramid. and 2.) They're put together beautifully by Aton.

I'd only appreciated this indicator as to which side the fuel door is on but never thought more of it. Not the frustrating years before it existed, nor the person who came up with the notion. His name was James Moylan and recently passed. His contribution will live on as gas is replaced by other methods of propulsion that require a hookup. Excellent companion to this history? How the Moylan Arrow could provide insight to interface design.

A year ago there was a blog questions challenge floating around and I inadvertently skipped answering the an important one: Who are you writing for? Chuck Gimmett shares a perspective on the value of sharing things online, and it resonated. I also post for future me, and for friends and family — but it's so very sweet when a connection comes from beyond.

On the matter of NeimanLab predictions, Johannes Klingebiel crawled 14 years of data to look for long-term patterns. It's a concise bundling, easy to parse and interesting conceptually to peruse.

The Nieman Journalism Lab asks people in digital media what they think is coming in the year ahead and shares their findings. This year the index is super pretty. I get some issues on card flips, but can appreciate it all nonetheless. The colors, simple illustrations and insights. / via Kyle Johnston

Wired has shared a guide (warning, with trackers) on how to safeguard your digital security. It's a short but solid list, again, wrapped in analytics that track you. Also worth reviewing: Know Your Rights (instagram carousel) and more from the Human Rights Campaign: Tips for Preparedness, Peaceful Protesting, and Safety

SwissMiss shared this reel of an incredible place in New Canaan, Connecticut. Now I'm giddy exploring the Grace Farms site, programs, conference and even their tea and coffee. Adding a visit to the bucket list.

Collecting inspiration and I had this tidbit from Simon filed away — a map of posts tagged with longitude and latitude metadata. It'd be a heavy lift to retroactively add such geolocation to my own site, but I can dream, and most certainly appreciate! (Somewhat related, it can take me minutes to find the map view in Apple Photos on my phone.)

If you've surfed the sites recently, you might've seen a clip of a man with a mirror mask showing off his view. It's a little weird in a striking fun way, and entirely delightful. His name is Freddie Yauner and he's an artist in London. He's got lots more projects on his personal site.

Digging into the new year and not in the mood for algos. So I'm going through folks' favorites from 2025 at leisure: New Commute, New Commute Artist Friends, Vanyaland needle drops from movies, Jeffrey Inscho, Melissa Kacar, Paul Novak, Dan Burzo, Xtra* Magazine, Brad Barrish, Jon Hicks, Naz Hamid, Simon Collison, Tracy Durnell, Casey Peel, Out Magazine, Hyperbole Free, Yewknee, Brian Feeney, Tone Glow, Kevin Spencer, Nick Simson, Hear Hear's list of lists, Scott Boms, James Reeve, Darby M. Dixon III, Max Fenton, JCProbably, The Bacon Review, Ryan @Laze, and Jacob Tender. Yup, that's a lot, but the year is long. Got a rec? HMU.

I ripped out my contact form years ago because of spam. Giving this little number a try. Say hi! / A lovely little tool among many others by Good Enough

This horizontal version of a year on a sheet of paper is a really excellent format. Simon Elvery added customizable elements to make it extra awesome.

My trusted (and favorite) Sony RX100 camera is very broken, but I feel it might have life left. I put the word out and Naz mentioned this is the place Sony recommends for repairs. Making note here to put in a service request. Also, speaking of photography, Naz and friends are building something.

I mentioned getting movie recommendations from Caity in a recent journal entry. She watched 451 flicks this past year and noted the good ones here. Mind you, these movies weren't released last year — they span many decades — making this list all the more timeless.

I'm not in the mindset for resolutions, but swirling around in the background is dance. I've no concept to achieve this echelon, but I can most certainly appreciate it. Fun, expressive choreography by Ricky Ubeda.

I've seen this before, printed it, then forgot to bookmark when I needed to find it again. NOT THIS YEAR. I'm saving the link, thanks to Guy.

44 years of signatures, captured and embroidered on a tablecloth with new additions each year — family members, neighbors, college friends and children of all ages. "It’s a way to have loved ones at our table every year." Love this notion.

Damar explores various topics through animated and interactive visual essays. Dithering Part I is a great (and mesmerizing) place to start. / via SwissMiss

Polygon shares a list that shifts between big studios, independent games and a slew of different genres. As much as I love Nintendo, I'd have left off Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, but I digress — there's more enough titles to explore. Looking forward to 2026 and hopefully playing some of these on the upcoming Steam console.

I remember these font showcases from back in the day. They were fantastic ways to see type families in beautiful context. Brian Hennings brought them to life and now he's archived examples on his website. So good. / via Doug Wilson

Created to support the UK organization Crisis and their annual holiday program, Red Dot Studio brought together 54 creative folks to design a deck of playing cards with a Christmas theme. It's all so lovely. / via BrandNew

Vedad Siljak shares some choice spreads from Tyco toy catalogs on the Casual Archivist (substack). Seeing the breadth of illustration, type and photography across these handful of pages lights up the kid and designer in me. / via SimpleBits

It'd be awesome if more websites had blogrolls (and not just personal sites). I dig Chuck's because he adds a bit of context and categorization to help light the way. Apart from blushing by being mentioned, there are so many new sites to explore here!

Tangent: I was strangely obsessed with my mom's Wilton Piping Tips Set growing up. It's probably because it was a colorful creative tool and also involved sweets. ANYWAY, I've never felt like I needed said tools until now.

My favorite photos from museums contain folks for scale and context. Anton Repponen shares a collection of such images and they're delightful. (His name sounded familiar and now I recall enjoying his street signs project to boot.)

Usually I try and write actual words for design mockups (and sometimes they end up in a final product). If I need more texture, it's easy to find basic placeholder text. But this tool by Andrew Boardman has some nice features, providing short and long lists along with a formats that make it easy to extract and fold into designs.

I love a tidy year end list, and I've been on a book kick so this is great. It's made even better by the lack of superfluous YouTube noise and tight edit. / All of this noticed thanks to Riccardo Mori

No personal experience, but I've heard more than once that this is a more pleasant experience than using Evite, which is has become a backyard of a neglectful pet owner. Filing away for the next soirée and optimistically pining to have more get togethers.

Old link but feeling it on this chilly day. Yuko Matsuzawa designed an insulated bag for a small snowman (with compartment for carrot). It's adorbs.

Found out Tattly is closing in Kottke's 2025 Gift Guide — a bittersweet pairing of sad news amidst wonderful things. I love what Tina made with Tattly and was honored to have thrown my hat in the ring with this Mother design. As I get on I'm reminded (often) to hold on to the joy that things existed and not that they will no longer be around. Conversely, I will also stockpile some Tattlys, like this Cat Club set by Berkley Illustration.

The sans-serif commissioned by GQ Magazine and designed by Tobias Frere-Jones was released 25 years ago. Tobias invited Doug Wilson to capture the story of how the typeface came to be, and it's a trove of personal insight, dedication and process.

Tracy Durnell shares ingredients one might employ to elevate the days. Dig this list. I’ll throw in: collect things for donation, try a new recipe, delete unnecessary images in your phone’s photo library, send a text / image / voice note to someone that crosses your mind, floss extra good, and super minimize social media that is more ads than posts from friends. Oh, and vacuum. Dust really builds up.

Learned a new word! Splooting is when a four-legged animal has their hind legs stretched out flat.

This YouTube Short (also on Insta and TikTok) by UK actress Andrea Valls is a combination of excellent writing, delivery and just spot on capturing the doldrums of winter.

Flea has a jazz album coming out in 2026. He just dropped a video for a new song where he plays bass, trumpet (an instrument from his youth) and adds vocals. Backed by a bevy of other jazz musicians, the song has a vibe and message. And while I think we should talk about politics, I'm enamored with the spirit (and choreography by Sadie Wilking). / via Brad Barrish

Matt Haughey shares insights gleaned through working with a company that helps folks deal with disasters (Bright Harbor). There's so much good covered, I've shared the link with many friends already and want to keep it handy. (He also has a brief aside for a company that provides help for legacy planning and life transitions called Empathy, another resource I'll be sharing.)

It's for a Portuguese energy company, and quite touching.

First spotted these colorful modern compositions on his Instagram account. Filing away for the day I win a lottery, happen to find myself living in Belgium or simply want to feel inspired.

This video rolled into to the annoyingly redundant YouTube featured carousels this weekend and 20 minutes flew by. Totally hit subscribe after feeling the flow of perspective. Reminded of the awesomeness by Jasper's November recap, another welcome flow. For more feel good YouTube, here's a Thread / via SwissMiss

I stopped doing daily word games for no good reason and a handful of dumb ones. This color sorting gem by Kevin Feyder is a solid brain warm up that involves no letters. Took a minute to realize it's about sorting horizontally and vertically, not continuously. / via Sidebar

My friend posted this video on Instagram of an acquired map and the story he was able to piece together from the folks who made it. I love every part of this. (There's a longer version of the story on YouTube)

Dave Rupert was drawing isometric D&D maps and couldn't find an easy resource for printable grids. So he made one. Filing away under tools because I've looked for such before and kept hitting dead ends.

Park Chan-wook is a South Korean filmmaker and often employs inventive cuts between scenes. This short collection of clips makes me want to see more in context as they're delightful.

New card game from Weast Coast Games that has a lovely colorful design and 20 minute rounds they say are simple to learn. Bit of a Mille Borne adjacent vibe.

Designed by Erik Marinovich & Lucas Sharp, this variable sans has swashes and a script companion. It's a little giddy and I like it! / via Jonathan Snook

I mouthed a wow when toggling. Such simple and lovely work by Baggy Studio. / via Roarvale (on Threads)

No. No it does not. At all. Seeing this presented in this way (scroll down for the chart or check out the summary on Instagram) makes me realize how I need to change my personal thinking to focus more on the things that truly affect my health, and invite more information sources to support such.

Each time these embroidered characters scroll by I slow down and smile. So I'm reminding myself to revisit, slow down and enjoy by saving a link. (Irene is also on Instagram with oodles more works.)

If you check out all the options on this screen you will be transported to many other delightful portals to fiddle with type in dynamic ways. I could spend hours here, maybe days at these kinetic type generators by kielm. / via waxy

When a board game and a video game combine into something new. This touch screen as game base with interactive pieces is super intriguing. / via HybridLogic

I appreciate so many things from this list that need not be contained to Halloween. Combining books and films, Bruno Monteiro expands on the notion of fear with a collection that inspires different angles of thought. I've read or seen some of these, now I want to fill in gaps. (I'm also overdue for a rewatch of The Thing which just got an honest trailer this week.)

An ongoing series by Shawn Gilmore collecting examples from movies where folks connect a bunch of stuff on the walls with string (obsessive, investigative, that sort of thing). / via Phil Gyford (who also collects such Crazy Walls)

There are so many awful things about OS 26/Liquid Glass, but among the worst is Safari on the phone. Common browsing tools are buried behind an ellipsis. An adjustment pointed out by Manuel Moreale fixes the issue. I switched to Firefox because of this nonsense. Maybe I'll switch back. / via Noisy Deadlines

That's the headline on Lydia Ricci's website. I've long enjoyed her Instagram posts of the art she makes and the stories behind the scenes. So it was extra delightful to see a feature on Colossal of her work. (Related sidenote: I went to school with Lydia in Switzerland for a minute.)

Katelyn Burns provides insight and backstory alongside an ad by NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in support of the trans community. It's both a history lesson and a breath of fresh air in a political landscape that so very seldom shows any sense of understanding or advocacy.