Craft6 min read
The case for quieter interfaces
Every element competing for attention costs the reader something. Here is how we learned to spend that budget more carefully.
Mara ElsenA design journal
Small notes on the craft behind good interfaces.
Essays on type, colour, process and the quiet decisions that decide whether a product feels considered or merely finished.
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Craft6 min read
The case for quieter interfaces
Every element competing for attention costs the reader something. Here is how we learned to spend that budget more carefully.
Mara Elsen
Editor
All writing
Mara Elsen
Craft5 min read
Choosing a typeface you can live with
A typeface is the one design decision that touches every single screen. It deserves more than an afternoon.
Idris Vance
Process4 min read
Sketching before pixels
Paper is faster, cheaper and far easier to throw away. That last part is the whole point.
Mara Elsen
Field notes5 min read
Designing with the light you have
Most colour palettes are chosen in a dark room at midnight and used on a train at noon. Both matter.
Idris Vance
Process7 min read
How we run a design review
A good review ends with clear decisions, not a longer list of opinions. The format does most of the work.
Mara ElsenAbout this journal
Fieldnote collects what we learn while building products: the arguments about typefaces, the sketches that never made it, and the review habits that turn opinions into decisions. Every essay is short enough to read with a coffee.