đď¸ Reflect 2025
I had once tried the One Line A Day journal. Then I stopped. This year I tried it again, but as a retrospective. Just to understand what happened and how the year actually looked.
It began with an old air ticket I found inside a book. I used a single sheet of paper, filling it from notes in my journal and a few dates from Google Calendar. I made a simple Reflect 2025 calendar myself. You can download the PDF or check the GitHub source.
Tip: Your mobile photo gallery will help to fill the blanks. The sheet wasnât perfect, but it showed enough. The year wasnât as fast or as monotonous as it felt from the inside.
đ¨ Friends of Figma, Kochi
I was in Kochi last week for the Friends of Figma meetup. It was good to see people again. Conversations land differently in person. There was a warmth that screens donât carry.
Most of the questions were about design as a role. Whether it will stay the same, or shift into something else. I remembered when we were all called web designers. Then it split into UX, UI, product, and interaction. Now everything feels like itâs merging again. We spoke about comb portfolios, being generalists, and how itâs okay to know many things even if you arenât the best at one. (Suggested Audible : How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big. PS: Paperback is super costly in India)
đ˝ď¸ Mammoottyâs Kalamkaval
I watched Kalamkaval last week. Mammootty was brilliant, and the music stayed with me. It carried that 80s Tamil feel, like something out of a Raja song (Jukebox available in Youtube). For someone with more than four hundred films, itâs still surprising to see a new version of him. The character had shades we havenât seen before. Iâm thinking of making a small list, more like a starters pack! Itâs WIP.
&Thats
The Chinese typewriter is a nice reminder of how designers once tried to fit a whole complex writing system into a single keyboard.
Anish gifted an index card holder for me and introduced me to Gridfinity, a modular, tidy, and strangely satisfying to set up (IKEA Alex is sever row grid!)
Worth reading: moving from leadership back to IC roles.
Frank Gehry passed away this week. I ended up watching the documentary again. The looseness makes sense when you see how he approached form.
The first webcam existed just to watch a coffee pot. Still feels like the most honest piece of internet history.
Tried PlayPhrase.me. Type a line, get the clip. Fun in short bursts. Wish there was a Malayalam version!
Tested Antigravity and Kiro. Both try to break work into small, task-shaped units. Feels closer to how my mind already works.
ARPO, the people behind the Manu Pillai video series are hiring. Just letting you know!
Found Texture.js. Does one small thing neatly.