Some brands use marketing to “capture” us. They snag our emails and phone numbers, harassing us with their “earned attention” like we owe them something. They make you comfortable then jack up the prices because, well, you’re “captured”. Other brands use marketing to “contribute” to us. They send goodies to our emails if we want them, and create experiences so valuable we spread the word like we owe them something. They make you feel comfortable and don’t break their promises....

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Recently I’ve been thumbing through artist profiles on Discord. There are channels dedicated to folks posting their creations, often nervously so, in hope that someone likes them. They’re often from junior or young talent, working on their craft, hoping someone cares. They’re often missing one or two key lessons that will unlock a whole new level of skill. It’s a joy to leave encouraging words. To let folks feel seen. And to message some of them if I think they’re...

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People seem to follow one of two things. Internet celebrities, hustlers and tech-bros? Many of them follow the money, making and saying whatever must be made or said to increase their share. Artists, writers, and other creatives? Many of them also follow the money. But others follow their love of their craft, making and saying whatever must be made or said to increase their love for their craft, and the contribution they can make with it. It’s not usually hard...

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In rooms full of businessfolk, they tend to compare based on valuations and net worths. Numbers. In rooms full of artists and writers, they tend to compare based on tenure and experience in their craft. Time spent with the craft. If you don’t enjoy the conversations or comparisons, it could be the green eyed monster… Or it could simply be that you’re in the wrong room.

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Public speakers memorize their talks so they can repeat it to others. Storytellers tell stories others remember so they’ll repeat it to others. There’s room for both in this world. But if you have the opportunity, try to be the latter.

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If you fit in and look like the others, you lose. If you stand out and look very different, you might also lose… or you might win. Which is it to be, friends?

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The “savvy entrepreneur” tries to do less. The “passionate artist” tries to contribute more. I know which I’d rather be, and work with.

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Making products is basically just this: 1: Find a problem 2: Make a promise 3: Keep the promise It’s only three steps. Try not to skip them.

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I can tell when my focus is way off. There are certain activities that give you—or your work—life. (Bonus points if you’ve optimized life to where they’re the same thing!) …And then there’s everything else. Here are 3 questions that put my focus back on track: 1: What are those activities, again? 2: Do they make up a good chunk of every day? 3: If not, what am I going to do about it?

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I’m doing a painting for my wife’s birthday. (Hopefully she doesn’t read this before her birthday!) Why? Because art requires love, care, commitment, patience, and time. Those are all more important things than the spending of money. I don’t know why this didn’t occur to me sooner. When you truly care, engage in the exchange of love, care, commitment, patience, and time. When you don’t, well, there’s always money.

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I own more art books than I’ve read (time!) And I keep on buying them. Silly or smart? I argue smart. Because spending $10–20 here and there to signal to your subconscious how much you value your craft is smart. It’s watching, and it influences your behavior based on what it understands about you, so show it what you’re all about.

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I give art and design feedback every single day, as part of my work. And I wondered what it’d be like if I didn’t. Do I actually like it? So I went to Discord and left feedback in channels designed for artists to request feedback, and left some. Not work-related at all, just unsolicited feedback in places where people were looking for some. Some were really, really grateful for the input. To be seen. To be invested in. I love...

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Great client services require you saying “No” sometimes. Not to be a jerk, or to wring them for more cash. But to protect them from themselves. A wonderful service that does one thing really well, bent out of shape to satiate an individual’s needs, is no longer a wonderful service. All the magic and promise was removed. And for what, to avoid a difficult conversation that could guide them to a greater impact? Or to make sure you don’t miss...

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Sony discontinuing physical media isn’t a war on physical media. It’s a war on customer happiness. They invariably saw the outcries when Microsoft made the same decision, and followed anyway. I’m sure there’s a financial motivation behind the decision, and I don’t fault businesses for wanting to be profitable. I’m just not sure that going to war with customer happiness is the best path to achieve that goal.

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The problem with when people “fake it until they make it”… Is the “it” never truly happens because you’re so distracted. Convincingly pretending to lead a successful project takes as much time as leading a real one. Convincingly pretending to have skills you don’t takes as much time as building the real skills. Convincingly pretending to have domain authority takes as much time as actually knowing your stuff. So why mess around faking anything? Why not just do the thing?...

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Art is supposed to be hard. The blank canvas you’re writing your script in? Figuring out how to assemble those ideas? That’s supposed to be hard. The storyboard you’re working on, where you could take a hundred different directions? That’s supposed to be hard. The song you’re working on, where you could go many different ways with it? That’s supposed to be hard. Yes, AI can “help” with those things. It can make art easy, removing the tension and friction...

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Google isn’t sending as many clicks anymore. The shift to “zero click search” means many formerly-popular indie sites are losing up to 58% of their traffic since early 2024. That’s over half in less than two years. That stinks. The web thrives on open, decentralized effort from enthusiasts. It decays in closed, walled-gardens from corporations. The only lesson to be learned here is, don’t trust the corporation to do the work of enthusiasts, and don’t expect the enthusiast’s work to...

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Hasbro, who owns Peppa Pig, is under fire. Their latest contracts require child voice actors to sign away rights for the company to use their recordings and likeness to train AI for the purpose of voice reproduction. Which not only threatens their gig with Hasbro, but threatens their future career as voice actors, while asking them to agree to things they can’t possibly understand at that age. I get it. Voice actors aren’t cheap. I pay voice actors all the...

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Will your writing improve with a better text editor? Will your art improve with better graphics software? Will your ideas improve with a fancier notebook? A little, actually. Honoring your craft with tools you enjoy is no bad thing. It may help you lock in and go deeper. But only a little. The rest comes from sticking to what you’ve got, sticking to tools you know, and going deeper on the discipline of doing your thing.

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Wired earbuds are “back” this summer. Which amuses me, as I use wired earbuds. Not because I’m “back”. Because they never left. While keeping my head down doing my thing, studying and diving deeper into my chosen topics, parts of the world moved on, then came right back again. A lesson to us all, perhaps: focus on your thing. Trade the cyclical new hotness being marketing to you for a deeper understanding and mastery of your choice of craft. One...

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Every day, I watch my son learn and grow. It’s a delight and a privilege. But it’s also fascinating to watch HOW he learns and grows. Despite studying edutainment as an artform for ~20 years now, most of that study has been on adults, and young adults. Because, lets face it, most education for adults is boring, not very memorable, and uncomfortable when done right. But it’s true for kids too. Most of it is low-effort and void of results....

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My Mum talked about her “fantasy world” to me when she was on end-of-life care. She’d read old childrens books, entranced by the artwork and the stories. When I got her another for her birthday, she enjoyed reading it, saying it was a lovely addition to her “fantasy world”. A place she could go, even when she couldn’t go anywhere. I’ve long enjoyed an inner “fantasy world” too, and never knew we had this in common until the very end....

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Mum taught me to fight for — and dream of — the the world you want to live in. Every day. Until your very last day.

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If you love what you do, play with it sometimes. Like to sketch? Play with pens. Different nibs, different inks, feeling how they behave on paper, to see how they influence your sketches and my ideas. A mechanical HB pencil and a wooden 2B make you sketch differently. A fine nib and a brush nib make you ink differently. Different inks make you layer differently. Try and see what happens for you. Like to write? Play with keyes. Different boards,...

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Ever feel guilty for going the extra-extra mile when making things for those you serve? I used to. I’d hear a voice in my head saying, “It’s done, the customer will be happy with that, you need to move on to the next item on your list or you’re only going to slow you and your team down, it’s done, what are you doing, get on with it already.” Listening to that voice is likely no bad thing. But choosing...

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Everyone talks about promotion. Promotion promotion promotion. How you should be doing more promotion. Promotion is important… But why must we assume it must be you doing all the promotion? Path 1: Make something good, then promote it forever. Path 2: Make something great, designed to be spread, and let those you made it for promote it for you forever. Its a choice.

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Humans care a lot about status and affiliation. Humans are very good at spotting both in each other. Humans are very bad at realizing how little all this matters, until they witness the end of someone’s live — be it theirs, or someone very close to them. Then, they sometimes notice the futility, and turn to the things that matter. Their craft, contribution, courage, wisdom, and temperance. Then, in time, they forget again, reverting back to status and affiliation. You...

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Google Maps will take you straight “there”. You’ll never really learn where anything is, but it’ll always take you “there”. You’ll not notice the details on the road, the trees, the signs, the changes, but it’ll always take you “there”. You’ll not discover the side roads and country paths that give you ideas for other journeys, but it’ll always take you “there”. You’ll not encounter the opportunity to get lost, pay closer attention, correct your course, and learn so much...

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When you’re about to lose someone, the pain is the point. The real tragedy would be to not feel pain. When you’re wrestling with your art, the pain is the point, for the same reasons. It shows just how very much you care. Maybe we don’t want these things to be easier, more efficient, more productive. Maybe the pain is the point.

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Most of the thoughts I share in this journal never get posted on social media etc. Because the objective of these words isn’t to get likes or attention. The objective of these words is to help me discover what I think, and to share the journey of those thoughts with those who care in the future. Perhaps future-me, looking back on past ideas. Perhaps my son, getting to know what I was thinking about when he was too young to...

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