1. Finding curated public domain images

A nice collection of resources that make the search for public domain images just a little better.

2. Are you in the weights?

“In the weights” means that a model is able to recall someone without using tools like web search.

I guess this is the LLM equivalent of Googling yourself. It turns out I’m in here, but the incorrect details it hallucinates are amusing: one model thinks I’m from Belfast, Gemini thinks I write about Javascript(!), and Claude invented some side projects for me.

3. Hold on to your butts!

Who doesn’t love a good GIF domain?

4. Saying “No” in an age of abundance

So maybe the way you argue for saying “no” isn’t because it helps you as a business, but because it helps your customers. It helps them make sense of what you’ve made.

And yet: arguing for customer clarity has always been harder than arguing for internal efficiency or some bottom line.

Related/unrelated: I’m reminded of the famous Anne Lamott line, “‘No.’ is a complete sentence.”

5. LLMs and performative productivity

If you’re opening PRs faster than anyone can read through them, you’re not increasing productivity; you’re clogging the bottleneck. That’s closer to sabotage than it is to productivity.

What am I up to?

• Just published my own answers to the design process questions. I wasn’t going to publish this as it feels a bit icky, but I’m sharing to encourage other designers to talk about their process
• My next available Unoffice Hour slot is 8 July
• I have limited availability for new projects from July.

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Until next time,

Dave

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