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our blog

We believe much is conveyed in the written word  -  our work, our sensibilities, and maybe…our neuroses.  

Enjoy our meanderings and comment if you’re moved to do so.

love-all

i was first introduced to layer tennis more than 5 years ago–well before i dipped my toe into the (web) design pool. it was love at first glance —art, competition, wit and a challenging test of my patience as i sat refreshing the page over and over again until a new serve loaded on my screen. awe, bewilderment, procrastination and respect filled my fridays. and then… it... read more «

Responsive Typography is out!

Responsive Typography by Jason Pamental Just a quick note to announce that my long-overdue book on web typography is out from O’Reilly! You can get a print or electronic versions from either O’Reilly or Amazon. Huge thanks to Jen Robbins and Aaron Gustafson for their reviews, to Aaron for writing the foreward, and to Josh Clark for an incredibly kind quote for the back... read more «

a little look back & an exciting view ahead

Well - this is the last day of the first year of our new firm, and it’s fitting we take a moment to reflect on our progress, acknowledge the support of our friends and clients, and look forward to some really exciting projects heading into the New Year. We couldn’t have gotten off to such an amazing start without the support of many friends, colleagues and clients – old... read more «

This is our craft. This is our art.

I read a thread on Twitter today between (among others) Harry Roberts ( @csswizardry ) and Aral Balkan ( @aral ) about the use of the word ‘craft’ in our industry. While I can’t disagree with the take that saying code is ‘hand-crafted’ sounds silly, if not pretentious - I do feel that there is another aspect of the word that is absolutely applicable. I’m thinking of the... read more «

Content Modeling & The Trouble With Too Many Parts

Content modeling is a pretty interesting emerging topic these days. Karen McGrane (@karenmcgrane) and Jeff Eaton (@eaton) had a great conversation about this recently on Lullabot’s ‘Insert Content Here’ podcast that really got me thinking. Spending time to more fully understand the underlying structure of the content for the site we are working on yields real benefits in... read more «

fateful detours

“The right way to wholeness is made up of fateful detours and wrong turnings.” I first came across the above quote during my adolescent introduction to Carl Jung, and almost thirty years later it remains a cherished sentiment.  Does it speak to my fatalist tendencies? Maybe. But I’d rather believe that it provides me the leeway to try new paths without an incapacitating... read more «

change is good

It’s time. After two years (and another previous as a consultant), it’s time to wind down involvement with Schoolyard. While I’m sure I’ll still help from time to time, the platform  is in good shape (we’ve launched over 30 sites in just over 2 years, with nearly 20 more in various stages of evolution) and the team needs to have more room to grow and take on more... read more «