Writing and Resources
In my spare time, I enjoy writing about things I’ve learnt and experienced. I share them here, along with some other resources I use, for those it might help on their journey.
Fran has done it again!
Fran recently got started on her journey of creating helpful YouTube design/portfolio tutorial-type videos.
It's just a game, right?
For those of you who don’t know, I LOVE video games. It all started with Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation 1 when I was around 5 or 6 years old. From that moment on, I was hooked.
SABLE, fABLE
A couple of months ago, I wrote about my favourite band, Bon Iver, releasing a 3-track EP (here’s the definition of what that is - I never knew either) called 'SABLE,' following their last full album, i,i from 2019.
Like and subscribe, Fran is now officially a YouTuber!
Fran (my now-fiancé 🤪), has filmed, shot, edited and published her first-ever YouTube video!
I think I might be becoming a professional
For those of you who don’t know, I stumbled my way into the digital design industry through Udemy courses and after hours self-study (this was my first ever course).
Practising Micro-Adaptability
In my quest to make the most out of my time alive, I’ve come to better understand that life really is just a series of moments.
Manage your money like a f*cking grownup
Written by Sam Beckbessinger, Manage your money like a f*cking grownup is arguably one of the best finance books I’ve ever read, especially for South Africans. Beckbessinger uses a comedic and relatable approach to explain vital concepts around managing your money. From tracking, to taxes, to saving, to investments and budgeting, Beckbessinger covers it all in this bestseller. There are even little illustrations throughout for those young at heart.
How to manage your money like the 1%
I stumbled upon this video a while ago, and found that it so perfectly summarises so much of what I’ve learnt about managing your finances over years into just 10minutes. If you’ve never really looked into it, this video is a great place to start. Like all online videos (and advice for that matter), avoid taking the message as law, consider the perspectives and apply those which feels right to your own situation.
The Hobbit
To balance out the very seriousness, I’ve picked up The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien (do I even need to clarify who wrote it?) A story about adventure, and a specific hobbit’s absolute reluctance to participate in it, The Hobbit follows the story of Bilbo Baggins being bombarded by a group of Dwares to go an adventure to the Misty Mountains where a great dragon (Smaug) has taken over and guards a heap of treasure. It’s such a fun read, and such a good ol’ fashioned tale. From this one book, there were four movies made (🤷🏻♂️), but still a very fun watch and read.
Die with Zero
This definitely is one that cut straight to the core, and I’m yet to finish listening to it (see previous writing about books that challenge ego).
The Algebra of Wealth
I only started listening to this one about a week ago, and I’m already completely submerged in it’s teachings.
The Courage to be Disliked
With a confrontational title like that, of course I wouldn’t be able to resist. I was first made aware of this book around 2022, paged through it, got annoyed and immediately put it down. Two years later, in a goodbye message to our company, an ex-colleague referenced this book alongside ‘I wouldn’t be bothered if none of you reach out to me, so please don’t feel pressured to do so.’ ‘Woah’, I thought, ‘what perspectives did this book unlock for this guy to be so blunt?’ Well, I was looking for a book to read over the December break anyway, so I tried this one, and I’m super glad I did.
You Only Live Once
Last year around this time, Fran and I were re-watching the Hunger Games. There’s this one really sad scene where one of Katniss’ (the lead’s) friends passes, and Katniss decides to set up a heartfelt memorial for her then-and-there. Nothing out of the ordinary, but yet, when I saw this, all of a sudden, I had this super intense realisation of my own mortality. I immediately sat up straight and tried to catch my breath to try and calm myself down.
Sable,
Bon Iver’s new album finally dropped in full, and goodness is it a nice one. Comprising of only 4 tracks, ‘Sable,’ feels like a completely stripped down version of what the artists have been creating over the last 10+ years. It’s like they’ve identified what the project’s essence is, and completely focussed on emphasising only that and discarded the rest. It probably won’t be for everyone, and it definitely isn’t something that you'll have playing in the background, but it feels deeply personal, intimate and soothing, so definitely worth a listen.
Pace Yourself
When the Q4 fatigue has definitely starts setting in nicely, you might start noticing people driving and walking a little faster, taking less care in their interactions with others or simply just being rude. Nothing to worry about though, nearing the end of the year we’re all just exhausted and mainly have our sights set on that finish line of a December break.s
Same as Ever
A couple of months ago, I picked up this book called ‘Same as Ever: Timeless lessons on risk, opportunity, and living a good life’ by Morgan Housel, author of ‘The Psychology of Money’. It’s already a New York Times bestseller, however, I don’t think it’ll really make waves in our social groups. I absolutely loved it though, Morgan sheds light on concepts, lessons and stories that have been around forever. The reason I think it’ll stay underrated, is that these lessons really aren’t anything exciting or sexy, they’re just good old fashioned truths that have stood the test of time. I can definitely recommend it though, there really was some truly insightful chapters and lessons.
Speyside
For those of you that don’t know, I’m South Africa’s biggest Bon Iver fan (unproven though). Lead by Justin Vernon, Bon Iver is a music project that, in my opinion, crafts some of the most masterful audio experiences through various vocal, writing, recording, instrumental and production techniques. Probably their most popular release would be Skinny Love. The unfortunate thing though, is that they only release albums every 3-5 years. Fortunately, 2024 is one of those years! The first release from their new EP titled ‘Sable,’ is called ‘S P E Y S I D E’, and it truly stunning. It was recorded in such a way that the acoustic guitar plays different strums in different ears. The lyrics itself talks about feelings of guilt that Vernon experienced when reflecting on his career with the group. I don’t know how, but the song manages to combine feelings of hope with hopelessness, heartbreak with joy, and suffering with peace in one hypnotising harmony. To read more about the album's background, feel free to take a look at this web page. Otherwise, if you’re curious to hear it, I hope you enjoy.
It all just seems to take time
Having taken a bit of break from foie gras-ing myself with social media over the last couple of months, I’ve collaterally been coming to terms with the idea of the time that things actually take. Prior to this hiatus, I’d notice the content I’d be exposed to, always had this cunning way of making me feel like: I’m always falling behind I’m never where I should be in my life or career I’m always lacking something There’s some hidden hack or shortcut lurking in my feeds that’ll bring me vast amounts of success, fortune and prosperity. However, understanding a bit of how the business models and algorithms of these platforms work, I’ve come to realise that my feeling this way is by no means an accident. Experimenting with removing these tools from my life, I’ve been confronted with an unfamiliar sense of coming to terms with the actuality of time, and the weird thing is, I kinda like it.
Hold fast. Stay true.
Emerging from the haze of a blissful weekend, Fran and I try to mentally prep ourselves (and each other) for the week to come. We’ve recently started experimenting with setting an intention or mantra to help guide us when the week starts getting week-ey. With so much going into a week with jobs, trying to nurture personal relationships, walking dogs, exercising, planning, buying & cooking food, financial planning, attempting adventures or planning breaks; it really starts getting tempting by Wednesday to just say ‘duck it’, throw in the towel and depress on the couch. Although alluring at first, this approach often just ends up making me feel worse than what the amount of effort would've cost to do the right thing in the first place. Not to mention the sustainable surge of dopamine I'd get from finally crossing that persistent item off my to-do list.
Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold by Stephen Fry
I’ve always enjoyed the lore of fantasy-fiction stories like of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and the Witcher. Unfortunately though, they’re all just fictitious. The fun with the Greek Myths, is that their lore is so deeply engrained into human history, that Mythos almost feels like reading a historical index packaged in a captivating storybook. For example, did you know that Zeus gave Atlas the responsibility of holding up the sky (often represented as the globe) where Europe and Africa meets, and that that’s why we call it the Atlantic sea? Neither did I. This book is part of a three part storybook series (Mythos, Heroes and Troy) thoroughly researched and phenomenally written by Stephen Fry. If you’re into audiobooks and just storybooks in general, this definitely is one to pick up. Stephen Fry narrated the entire Harry Potter series, and does an exquisite job with narrating these books too.
Sometimes a learning curve really is only a learning bump
One of my favourite things to do is finding new tools and protocols to help me improve my day-to-day in both work and life. Sometimes I also just enjoy the novelty factor of diving into something new. Very often though, after the most minute piece of resistance or inconvenience factor, I’ve noticed that I’d give up on the new thing pretty quickly; which I conveniently attribute to it’s ‘steep learning curve’. Noticing this behaviour, I attempted to push through for just a bit longer (really only like 10-20min) to see what happens. Low-and-behold, the software/tool completely opened up and provided me with a rich and rewarding experience 🤯 This made me realise that, with simple tools like new calendars, AI-based software, etc., that the learning curve often really only is just a learning bump, and that it might actually just take the smallest amount of effort for you to unlock or learn something that could really improve your life 🤷♂️
Desiderata
Fran (my gf) and I recently heard this song while watching an animated comedy series on Netflix called ‘F is for Family’. In the background of one of the scenes, there was this spoken-word-type tune playing that had some oddly profound lyrics. Curious about what I’d just heard, I Shazamed the song to discover Desiderata, a Grammy Award winning song from the 1970’s by singer/songrwiter Les Crane. The song is essentially a melody played over a reading of one of the most beautiful and impactful pieces of mindfulness literature I’ve ever heard and then read. One can easily mistake mindfulness-based tools and concepts as being something that’s new due to it’s recent growth in popularity in Western culture. I was stumped however, to discover that this piece of writing comes from a book published in 1927 - almost 100 years ago! There’s a whole website dedicated to Desiderata, where you can learn more about it and even buy posters with the original text. I recommend taking a moment, when you can, to sit or lay down in silence with some high quality speakers or earphones, closing your eyes, and experiencing this beautiful track in its entirety. I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts.
Experience of working at MakeReign®
This month has been nothing short of spectacular, but how do I summarise a whole month’s worth of excitement into one short paragraph? The onboarding and introduction was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It felt like stepping onto the production floor of a well established manufacturer; with robust and well-oiled processes & systems - not to mention how mesmerised I was (and still am) by their well structured design files and the work contained therein. I am mostly delighted though, by how warm and welcoming the team has been. MR really puts a lot of time and effort into make sure their culture stays top-notch, and let me tell you, it shows. Somehow they’ve already managed in this short time to make me feel like I am right at home. MR also turned 8 this month, and to celebrate, the company assembled the entire team from all over the country to attend in-person events and celebrations in Cape Town; this included a Disco themed birthday party 🕺 My current reality of working for and alongside a team like this feels like a dream that I really don’t want to wake up from. It feels like I’m part of a movement that’s actually making a difference. If you haven’t yet, have a look at their website, I think you’ll like what you see.
Links You Should Know
Fran recently sent me this link. It’s essentially a small archive of incredibly powerful tools for designers and creators in general. Upon further inspection, we saw that it was create by Dirk Agenbag current Creative Director at Ogilvy South Africa! Check it out, I personally have immediately adopted the mockup tool.
Steve McKinney’s Design & Code Blog
In the search for inspiration for my own site, I stumbled across Steve McKinney’s work. His website is filled to the brim with resources for designers (web designers in particular). I just love the design as well. So minimal, yet warm and welcoming.
Self-acceptance is in, self-acceptance is hot
Over the past two months, I’ve been reading this book by John Kabbat-Zinn called “Wherever you go, there you are.” It’s a mindfulness and meditation book recommended by Rick Rubin and Andrew Huberman, so of course I’m going to pick it up. 80% of the way in, I find that I strongly agree with Rubin’s description of the book in his recent interview with Kabbat-Zin, as one of the best pieces of literature on the practice of meditation for both new and experienced meditators out there. So far the perspectives and exercises offered in this book have been liberating. The overall theme itself has provided me with a foreign sense of self-acceptance. I think it might just have something to do with the decrease in over-thinking overtime as a result. So now, whenever I feel like having a cheeky pain au chocolat, I no longer spend three to four days involved in a domestic abuse situation in my own head. I just accept and trust that I won’t explode from the sugar, and that I’m allowed to make choices that bring joy to my life while bringing no harm to others - fantastic! If this is a topic that you’re interests you, I can highly recommend this book. The 30th anniversary version was just recently released.
I finally got a job! (and what that means for my freelancing)
When I initially got into design, I was completely deluded by the Dunning-Kruger effect. I thought I’d quickly slap a portfolio of my 1st year’s freelance work together, share that, and companies would just start lining up at the door. Needless to say, I didn’t get hired. Determined to make my design career work, I ceased any ideas or attempts at employment so I could fully commit to freelancing. 4 years down the road, I’ve reached a point where, if I’m to continue developing my design career, I’d need to start working alongside a team of professionals with perspectives, skills and expertise other than my own. Knowing a bit of how the proverbial employment sausage gets made (ew), I was reluctant to apply to most companies. The only perspective that made sense then, was Mercedes-Benz’s slogan: The best or nothing. During this process, only one company’s name kept on popping up in my head: MakeReign. Since day one I’ve admired and idolised them for their work, achievements and culture. I took a leap of faith into their HR’s mailbox by means of a job application from their website. We had a couple of chats and found that we’d actually be a great match. So I’m incredibly honoured and excited to share that I’ll be joining their team as a UX UI Designer for Digital Products from the 1st of July. What happens to my freelancing? I’ll continue freelancing after hours, but only for a select few clients. In my personal capacity, I’ll be able to work on my writing hobby and creating helpful resources that I can share with you. I’m beyond excited for this new chapter. I’ll report back on how it goes.
Brand Guideline for DocuSign
Fran sent me this link somewhere this month. If you’re into branding or web design, give this a look. It is one of the best web experiences I’ve ever had. It’s just a brand guide for a digital product, but whoever made it, really went all out. It’s squeaky clean, silky smooth and absolutely delightful.
I switched off my WhatsApp notifications, now what?
Since forever I’ve battled with the addictive aspects of my devices, especially the social part. I often get asked “but who’s even messaging you so much?”. The fact of the matter is that, it’s not about the amount of messages I get, it’s about the fact that I don’t seem to have any control or say when they arrive, when I read them or what my initial reaction will be. Dopamine being dopamine, whenever I finish up with a work session, I automatically gamble through a sequence of opening emails, then Slack, then LinkedIn, then Instagram, then WhatsApp, just to see if someone somewhere has instructed me to do something or if there isn’t a metaphorical piece of gold hidden somewhere. Finally having torn myself away from my laptop, I immediately reach for my phone to pull up from the bottom of the screen to see if there aren’t any notifications hidden there (??? bro ???). Realising that most of this pull is coming from WhatsApp, and having already blocked everything else on my laptop with ColdTurkey, I decided to try the seemingly extreme: switching off push notifications for WhatsApp entirely. The results? Liberation. I finally get to choose when I receive, read and reply to messages. It kind of feels like the old Mxit days, where you had to log in to chat, and log out when you’re done, and that’s that. Since disabling notifications, I never get unsolicited pings or vibrations, and best of all, when I pull up from the bottom of my phone’s screen, no notifications are shown. Steadily rewiring my mind’s System 1 impulse for seeking those "rewards". I know I always rant about this topic, but it is genuinely something that bothers me. If you struggle with it too, try switching your notifications off for a day or two, it might just be what you need. I also wrote a whole blog about my thoughts on social media that have many tools to help you fight the pull and win back your time and attention.
Working Deeply
Over the last two months, I’ve been listening to Dr Cal Newport’s book “Deep work: Rules for Focussed Success in a Distracted World”, and I thought to share it with you. What it boils down to, is that in today’s information economy, it’s easier than ever to get distracted from engaging in deep, meaningful work. This can be caused by the vibration of an instant message, the ding of an email, or a bored colleague hovering at your desk. Newport argues that when you’re not engaging in Deep Work, it only leaves you to produce shallow work. He continues by saying that the increase in shallow, distracted work, has lead to a low supply, and high demand for Deep Workers - making it a more valuable skill than ever. I found the read fascinating. If you find the topic interesting too, you can learn more from his interview with Andrew Huberman.
Fran's Creative Direction mood board template
Fran (my wonderful gf) has decided to template-ify her Creative Direction Mood board and share it with the world for FREE. Originally shared on Figma Community, the file (without promotion) has already reached more 150 downloads! You can find the file on Figma, where she has done extensive work to explain what it is and how to use it for your own projects.
Feeling burnt out? It might just be time to rest.
It’s so tricky to legitimise feelings of burnout to oneself. Being bombarded with intrusive thoughts like “being lazy”, “soft”, “inadequate” are the go-to's for my mind when burnout starts setting in. Other classic symptoms include: soul fatigue, irritability, apathy, carelessness, lack of drive, substance abuse (or any distraction for that matter), destructiveness, etc. This has unfortunately been my primary state of mind for the last couple of months. I’ve tried to go this-way-and-that to reason out what might be going on, and how I can push through. I managed to find quick hacks to keep me going, but on most days, by 11:30 I was ready to throw in the towel. In his book, Everything is F*cked: A Book About Hope, Mark Manson accurately describes that in the car ride of life, your logical side will always be the passenger to your emotional side sitting behind the wheel. It’s worthwhile to be kind to, negotiate and look after your emotional side, otherwise handbrakes might get pulled. I was suggested this video of Dewayne Noel (Dry Creek Wrangler School) titled “Just Rest”. I think I might have actually shed a tear watching the video with how well he sums up what happens when you’re exhausted, and how by simply vacating your situation, you might just be able to find the rest you’re seeking.
Isoflow rebranded
With the help of Malvah Studio, Isoflow (a CPT based digital product company) recently updated their brand to more accurately reflect their mission of ‘making complex simple’, and let me tell you, the results of the rebrand achieves just that. From the choice of typography, to colour harmonies, to their updated logo design and layout design of their website. Whoever was all involved, did a fantastic job. Take a look at their new site and also have a look at this slick video prepared by Malvah about the rebrand.
Arc, the web browser I never knew I needed
Like with many other innovative products and services, you don’t realise how much you've needed it until you actually start using it. I’ve been seeing Arc popping up all over my radar and finally decided to give it a try. At first I didn’t like it, left it for a couple of months, and then tried again and now I can’t go without it. The Browser Company of New York (Arc’s founder), have a simple mission “building a better way to use the internet”. IMO, they definitely succeed through Arc’s intuitive design, full-screen mode, profiles and weekly updates and improvements. It’s built on the Google Chrome framework, so it still feels very familiar. They also recently created a mobile app that lets AI browse for you. Best of all, it ain’t no gimmic, it really works like a charm. Note to web devs: I got so spoilt with the full-screen view, that I totally forgot to test for a browser like Chrome (which most people still use) that has a massive bar on top that pushes the content down. Just a heads up if you're planning on making the switch. It's currently only available on MacOS and iOS, but they are working on Windows and Android versions. If you want to give it a bash, please use my referral link to download. I'm not sponsored, it just helps me unlock a custom icon. Silly I know, but I like it.
Woodhausdesign Website & Brand design
Since late Feb, I’ve been working on creating a simple brand (direction, colours, logo, typography) and landing page (website) for a family-owned carpentry business called Woodhausdesign that finished up this month. Exercising my brand muscles was pretty challenging, but in the end, came to something that we could all be proud of. I did go close to 100% over budget, but given the context of where my business was at the time financially and what my intention was with the work, I believe the results were well worth it.
7 Thoughts on Social Media
For years now I’ve been trying to understand and manage my relationship with social media, but I can never seem to get to a happy medium other than to completely cut it out of my life. I’ve recently gone into a bit of a rabbit hole on the topic, finished listening to 10 Arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now and I have some thoughts. These are 7 of my key findings:
I don't know what to do about Social Media
I recently had an incredible conversation with Sabeeha Banubhai (founder of Jack Studios and personal friend) about the struggle regarding the consumption of, and engagement with, social media. I noted to her how bizarre it is that it can legally be so insanely addictive, that it does more harm than good for personal relationships due to involuntary comparisons to carefully curated bits of information, and always leaves me feeling insecure in myself, my abilities and my achievements. Why then do I still feel like I should continue using it? Sabeeha noted that she shares this frustration and often resorts to simply just deleting the apps off her phone. She also pointed out that the rewards reaped from social media is significantly lower than the negative feelings gained. As a freelancer / business owner, the question then becomes “how will I get business without socials?” The answer? I don’t know yet. Sabeeha pointed out that businesses had been able to do business long before social media was ever a thing. Maybe there’s value in going back to exploring those roots. I’ll keep you updated of my findings. In the meantime, I’m listening to a brilliant book my brother suggested called “10 arguments for deleting your social media accounts right now" by author Jaron Lanier, where he clarifies the current situation and provides perspectives on dealing with it.
Taking on business below budget
It’s no secret that this year has been rough (at least for everyone I’ve been speaking to). If you’re running your own show, this may mean making compromises to make ends meet. Although this mightn’t be ideal, there is a way for you to turn it around by adopting a different mindset. I’ve recently accepted a brand, web design & dev project for a client at a price well below the usual. While this would usually knock my self-esteem, I’m approaching the project from a different perspective. I'll do my best to make the project look spectacular so it can be used as a vehicle for marketing and promotion. This way, all the hours that you spend over budget, you can considered as time invested into developing marketing material and advertising. Plus, the client gets a lot more bang for their buck, which is a great feeling. It’s definitely taken most of the sting out for me personally, so maybe it's a perspective that could help you too.
The secret to productivity isn't discipline. It's joy.
I am so over all of these intense hustling, “secret to success”, “you’re doing it all wrong” type books, so I was surprised when I went to Exclusive Books to find that this first book of Ali Abdaal resonated with me so much. Upon further inspection, and absorbing it on Audible, I discovered why: Abdaal’s book actually is a brilliant antidote to exactly my frustrations with those type of books. His argument and perspective were super refreshing. Basically what the book’s topic boils down to, is that if you’re wanting to be your most optimal, efficient, excellent, best (insert hustle type word here), you just have to actually enjoy what you’re doing 🤯 To ensure sustainable output, and prevent burnout from happening on the second month of the year, Abdaal offers stories followed by experiments for you to try when you find yourself resenting your responsibilities. It quickly gets you back on track to find ways to have fun with some of the mundane, and how having fun, is actually one of the biggest hacks to success, because in itself, having fun is the success. How brilliant! This was such an inspiring, paradigm shifting and energising read/listen (he narrates it himself). Listen to a sample of the book if you think it could work for you.
Goodbye Baloo 👋🏻 Hello madebystef.
The winds of change have been blowing briskly (hopefully not when I go to Cape Town for the CTCT though). So here’s the story of the name change: 4yrs ago I started my career as a self-taught freelance digital designer. In an attempt to seem professional, I thought I should work under a company name (because who would just hire a solo person right). This worked really well. I could essentially hide my imposter syndrome behind the ‘we’ or ‘agency’ label, so that if something were to go wrong, I could quickly find cover under the ‘we’ that screwed up, and not the “I”. As timed passed, I learnt many things about the industry as well as about myself, and a point came where I started to feel trapped under the same label that used to set me free. I consulted with a few industry veterans for guidance, which revealed the following insights: The work I’m doing as an individual is being perceived as a team effort rather than that of my own. This dilutes my capabilities and makes the accomplishments far less impressive. I’m aiming to do more work with agencies that have a similar vision as mine, and hiring an ‘agency’ to collaborate with is a lot more perceived hassle than just hiring an individual freelancer. For my own self-confidence, I need to stop hiding and put myself out there. This isn’t really a rebrand, but more an evolution that helps clarify who I am, what I do (and have been doing), and why I do it.
Protocols to Access Creative Energy and Process
As an avid follower of anything Rick Rubin, I can highly recommend this episode of Huberman Lab (even if you're not a designer). As a world-renowned music producer of award-winning artists such as Adele, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Johnny Cash, Rubin’s perspective around the creative act overflows with golden nuggets for you to take home.
Printable Habit Tracker
Starting out this year, I wanted to build on a few habits that I’ve been avoiding. Nothing major, just stuff that I’ve been putting off for far too long.