Changing things up a bit over at donnytruong.com

Body text is now set in Exchange, designed by Tobias Frere-Jones. I licensed Exchange almost a decade ago because it was one of the early typefaces that supported Vietnamese. I used it on my blog for a period of time. Then again, I always redesign my blog.

One of the reasons I am returning to Exchange for my portfolio is that Exchange has small caps. I tried to use fonts without small caps, but those big all caps for acronyms stick out like a sore thumb. I just can’t get past them anymore. I need small caps just like I need Vietnamese diacritics.

I am still sticking with NaN Holo, designed by Luke Prowse with Jean-Baptiste Morizot & Fátima Lázaro, for headings, especially the compressed font for the large header. I also am sticking with NaN Holo Mono for UI elements.

As for the works, I split up between active projects and posterities. Many projects I had worked on in the past had disappeared, but I still wanted to keep them for posterity.

That’s pretty much it. Enjoy a beautiful Friday and the weekend!

I stopped posting personal entries, photos, and videos on Facebook for almost two months. I am fine with not sharing events of my life. When I was posting things to Facebook, such as partying and drinking, I did feel guilty about showing off. I was getting likes from the same four or five people. I don’t think the rest of my connections care.

I still use Facebook to stay connect with family and friends and I still use Marketplace to sell things. I now treat Facebook like LinkedIn. I have no shame in promoting my work. I don’t know if they help with anything, but I just want to reach as many people as I can on my projects. I post about my work on this blog, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

For my personal posts, I keep them all right here. I still like writing on here everyday. It has definitely become part of my routine. I still write whatever I like on here. I have no likes and I have no idea who are reading these posts. It feels like a recording of my own life.

My boss and his boss (the dean) will be leaving Scalia Law School sometimes in June. My potential future boss will be leaving the school as well on July 1.

There are so many changes at once. I am not sure what my future will be like, but I am not going to stress out over it. I will just have to ride along. This October will be my 15-year anniversary at Mason. I had been through three deans and three supervisors. I will survive by doing my job. Whatever happen will happen. For as long as I work for someone else, I have no control over my future. I am not my own boss. I will be fine.

Yesterday, a new dean for Scalia Law has announced. I am ready to take on the new changes.

The definitive book on The American Robin is now available to read for free on any device and anywhere in the world. Len Eiserer, the author, would like to leave The American Robin behind for people to remember him by. It was my honor to create this web book in his legacy. Typeset in Warbler Text, designed by David Jonathan Ross.

Redesigned the Everlasting Eye Care website for Dr. Mỹ An T. Nguyễn.

Dr. Nguyễn and I go all the way back to elementary school when we were two new kids immigrated from Việt Nam. Right from the start when took ESL (English as a Second Language) classes together, I knew she would become successful later in life. Despite her limited English, she excelled in all subjects from elementary throughout high school.

TJ is a dear friend of mine and an exceptional contractor who runs his own home-improvement business. He takes pride in getting things right and on time. He has a solid work ethic and the results of his outcomes speak for themselves. He transforms old places into dream spaces for his clients.
Check out his website, designed by yours truly.

Ann Lưu-Trọng is a storyteller. Through her len, she captures the beauty of isolation, displacement, and solitude. Her photography is often mysterious and ambiguous—leaving her visual narratives open to interpretation.

To showcase her work, I settled on a dark mode. The user interface recedes to the background to put the attention on the photography. The homepage features a random photo as a teaser while the individual galleries showcase specific themes.

For typography, I chose Roboto Flex, designed by David Berlow, Santiago Orozco, Irene Vlachou, Ilya Ruderman, Yury Ostromentsky, and Mikhail Strukov, for its robustness and no-nonsense finesse.

Take a look: annlt.com.

Simplexpression, a handcrafted jewelry boutique founded by Dana Nguyễn, gets an updated visual identity. The new word mark is typeset in Buckridge, designed by David Jonathan Ross. Buckridge is a simple-yet-expressive sans-serif typeface, which makes it a perfect fit for Simplexpression. Take a look at the updated website, which is also available in dark mode.

badongtho.com được thiết kế với phong cách tối giản (minimalism). Trang web chỉ có chữ đen trên màn hình trắng và đặc biệt là rất nhiều khoảng trống (white space). Minimalism ít khi có cơ hội để thực hiện cho khách vì họ cho rằng thiết kế như vậy quá đơn giản và dễ dàng. Họ không hiểu rằng minimalism là nghệ thuật tập trung vào yếu tố cần thiết và loại bỏ yếu tố dư thừa.

Cũng may anh Cao Nguyên hiểu được vì trong badòngthơ của anh cũng có phong cách tối giản. Chẳng hạn như dòng thơ này:

cao nguyên rộn ràng quá
sẽ thức giấc nàng thơ. nàng thơ
còn ngủ trong thơ mưa

Cảm ơn anh đã cho tôi cơ hội thiết kế tập thơ của anh đúng nghĩa với phong cách tối giản. Mời bạn thưởng thức badòngthơ.

The American Prospect removed “Mapping Corruption: The Interactive Exhibit.” Since I was hired to build the interactive piece of the project, I put it on my own site for posterity. One of the issues with the web is that it doesn’t last forever. I have come to accept the fact that once I am gone all my digital properties will be gone as well. For now, I just keep whatever I can.