Ninja Sparks: Carrd, Choirs, and Creative Toys

Hey there,

Welcome to issue 16 of the Ninja Sparks newsletter!

I’ve just got back from a couple of weeks away with my family. It was a relaxing holiday and I barely used the computer at all; quite a change for me. I took my laptop with me, but it didn’t get much use.

Fortunately I had some links prepared for this issue, so I can publish it on time (he says with only a couple of hours to go before the self-imposed deadline). I hope you enjoy this issue, and if you have any feedback or suggestions for future issues please let me know.

Carrd

Carrd is one of those tools that makes you wonder why the rest of the internet is so complicated. It’s a simple website builder for single-page sites. No code, no big learning curve, and no expensive subscription to get started. You pick a template, swap in your words and pictures, and you’re done. The free plan is generous enough for most people to experiment, and if you do upgrade, it’s still one of the cheapest pro plans out there (currently only $19 USD a year).

It’s a great option for anyone who needs a quick online presence — maybe a portfolio, a class information page, or a landing page for a side project. You can add text, images, buttons, videos, and even forms. The editor is straightforward enough that you won’t spend hours fighting with layouts, but still flexible enough to make something that feels like you. For teachers, it’s perfect for sharing resources with students or parents without having to wrestle with a school CMS.

Much like Brush Ninja (one of my projects), Carrd really took off during the Covid lockdowns, when small businesses and creatives needed a quick, affordable way to get online. The fact it’s built and run by a single developer makes it even more impressive. There’s no giant company behind it, just one person making a tool that works beautifully.

If you’ve been meaning to make a site but keep putting it off because it feels like too much work or too much money, Carrd is a quick win. You can have something live in an afternoon that looks clean, works well on phones, and doesn’t cost a fortune. For creatives on a budget, it’s hard to beat.

If you get stuck or want to see what Carrd can really do, the Carrd documentation is worth a visit. It’s clear, well organised, and covers everything from basic setup to advanced tricks like embedding widgets and custom code. Even if you’re brand new to making websites, the guides walk you through step-by-step, so you can learn as you go without feeling overwhelmed.

Try Carrd

Teenage Engineering Choir

I only became aware of Teenage Engineering a few years ago when they designed the Playdate console, and since then I’ve seen the Nothing phone as well. Their main projects are music-based, often with unique design elements and user interfaces that set them apart from other tech companies. I really like their design aesthetic, often called Cassette Futurism, which is a blend of retro and modern design elements. Their most recent project is a bit different, it’s still music-related but this time it’s a collection of wooden characters that can connect to form a choir. I like the design of these characters but I doubt I can afford them. I shall enjoy watching them on YouTube instead. There’s more information about the choir on Colossal.

Watch the video

Sparked Discoveries

Here’s a handful of links I found intriguing recently:

Island Doodle 2

Island Doodle lets you design your own medieval island by drawing different elements on a 3D grid. Start with the land, then add trees, buildings, castles, docks and other features to make your own unique island. This is a part of a collection of similar games by the same developer, Matt Stark. I like how tools double up; draw a path on water to create docks or piers, and on land to make mud paths. I also enjoy Tramsterdam which is a similar toy but you can create your own tram network in a miniature Amsterdam, complete with working trams. These art toys are browser based versions of other similar games like Townscaper and Tiny Glade. All of these apps use a programming concept called Wave Function Collapse to create art that seamlessly fits together. There’s a great article, that makes quite a complex thing easy to understand, on Robert Heaton’s blog about Wave Function Collapse if you want to learn more about it.

Punpages

Punpages is a fun site that shows photos of businesses with names that are puns. It’s designed like the Yellow Pages phone book but all the businesses have funny names. It’s mainly UK-based but there are puns available from all over the world, along with a form for submitting new ones. Keep in mind that even though these are public businesses some of the names are a bit rude, so be careful if you are looking at this with kids around!

Fictional Brands Archive

This site gathers a vast collection of fictional brands and logos from movies, TV shows, cartoons, and video games. It’s interesting scrolling through them all and seeing how many I can recognise.

Snope

What do you get if you cross the classic game Snake with some string? Snope. The basic principle is the same as Snake, but you draw the start of the string with the pointer and the string follows behind. If it clips a pill then the pill is dragged around the screen as well. These simple changes make for quite a different game.

Have you found anything interesting lately? I’d love to hear about it, just reply to this email!

See you next time,

Ben