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Guess who’s excited about routines? After a few months on the road/in forests, I’m looking forward to returning to life – to my routines – in Melbourne. While Offscreen is still on hold, I’d like to ‘put out feelers’ and speak to as many people doing interesting work as I can. Maybe that includes you?
I’ve thrown together an About page to summarise some of my past work, strengths and interests. I’m all about shaping a brand and community through thoughtful design, content, and marketing. If you think your project or a project you know of could benefit from having someone like me on the team, please reach out (just reply). I’m particularly (but not exclusively) interested in projects in the ‘tech for good’ space. Thanks for helping me get the word out! – Kai
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Better Design Briefs
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Built by designers, for designers
The start of every design project is crucial. Ask the right questions and understand your client’s business goals to shift from pixel pusher to brand builder. HolaBrief is a framework of interactive exercises that help you define the brand, build user personas and prioritise goals with your clients. Try now, it’s free!
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Apps & Sites
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It’s the digital companion to your Stendig wall calendar: Minimal Calendar can boast of bold typography and (intentionally) very little else.
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Web-based image compressor
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Squoosh’s impressive image compression engine is fast, offers a surprising level of options, and, best of all, runs entirely in your browser. Made by the people behind Google Chrome.
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Build a website from your iPhone
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I can’t believe I haven’t come across Universe sooner. What a great idea, well executed: use your iPhone to build your own website (running on your own domain) in less than 60 seconds. Features include: a newsletter sign-up form, basic ecommerce tools, and social media integration.
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Fast, simple timer for Mac
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This tiny timer app for your Mac menu bar allows natural language input. Open it with a short cut, type ‘30m’, hit enter, and the time starts counting down.
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My Favourite Tools
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Karolina is an engineer, designer, photographer, and community organiser.
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A perfect pairing of wood, leather and felt, Oregon-made Grovemade accessories will not only make your desk incredibly pleasant to look at but – more importantly – ergonomic.
This beautifully hand-crafted case with a melange, grainy texture prevents the iPhone from accidentally slipping out of your hand.
A transparent, flat bottle, perfect for being on the go – easily fits into a bag or a pocket. Each bottle sold provides one person with two months’ access to clean water.
With hundreds of handy extensions and clever shortcuts built-in, writing code with confidence becomes a breeze.
Physically writing down and completing daily goals evokes positive feelings, a sense of accomplishment and brings clarity to whether we’re making progress.
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Goods & Accessories
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A planner for being & doing
Planners come in as many shapes and sizes as there are to-do list apps. Here‘s an interesting one: the Monk Manual is a ‘90-day planner that helps you focus on the most important things, so you can live with greater peace, purpose and productivity’. (In its final week on Kickstarter)
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Daypack made from recycled polyester
This durable backpack made with water resistant Cordura EcoMade polyester (from 100% recycled materials) comes with lots of practical features that don't take anything away from its good looks. Also, I like anything called Bernt.
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Overheard on Twitter
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I mute the nitpickers, block the outraged, like the kind, follow the insightful.
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Food For Thought
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I’m sorry for sharing this article with you. It’s one of the most depressing things I’ve read this year. (Ok, perhaps except any climate change update.) However, more people need to be made aware of the extent of the damage Facebook and YouTube and similar platforms are causing not just in the US. So if you have relatives or friends who don’t work in tech and may not be as familiar with this issue, this is an eye-opening summary of the status quo worth sending them.
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A beautifully written rumination on Steve Jobs, creativity, and death: ‘Like Obi Wan, Jesus, and Elvis, Steve Jobs has become even more powerful after his death. Now, instead of being a complicated and flawed human being, he is an icon of entrepreneurial drive. Managers are channeling Jobs, demanding impossible acts of will power from their employees. Meanwhile, investors worry about the epidemic of “founderitis”, a disease that causes start-up founders to believe too strongly in their own intuition and ignore input from others.’
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We all sit badly and too much. We go on to buy a $1000 chair believing it will ‘fix’ sitting for us. But like my physiotherapist once said: “If you know how to sit right, even a tree log will do.” So here’s a handy instruction manual on how to sit right.
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Aesthetically Pleasing
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Input is a font optimised for programming. Output is a font optimised for screen reading.
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Tank's branding work on Knot Home, a contemporary Persian rug maker (with a great name to start!), is smart and beautiful.
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Classifieds
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PRESENT is a magazine about making in this world, championing the journey of everyone crazy and courageous enough to live and work on their own dream. Be part of it!
LatLon Notebooks are high quality pocket notebooks with gorgeous letterpress covers built using geographical open data. Save 15% and get yours now.
I AM THE LAB has launched a new series of prints for creatives, celebrating teamwork, community and cooperation.
Fathom Analytics gives you simple and privacy focused stats for your website, without compromising your visitors personal information.
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Classifieds are paid ads that support DD. Use them to promote your project, advertise a job opening, find beta testers, etc.
Book yours →
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The Week in a GIF
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Email us the URL to your favourite GIF and we might feature it here in a future issue.
[email protected]
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