Inspired By #107
Welcome to Inspired By #107. My name is Jan-Paul, and this is where I share all the things that inspire me.
📚 Snowfort Books by Hoodzpah
“The Coziest Bookstore in the Adirondacks” gets a gorgeous brand identity from Hoodzpah.
I liked that script font so much, I bought it and used it on my latest photo book design. And (I think) the other fonts used are Alkaline from Fort Foundry and Music Nouveau from Jeff Levine.
🤔 The ethical designer
What does it mean to be an “ethical designer” today, and how much control do I really have over the choices I make in my work?
Most product designers are aware of dark patterns that deceive users and won’t design them. But what happens when your paycheck depends on it?
It makes me wonder how many of us in digital product design actively consider ethics in the kinds of projects or clients we take on.
The Good, the Bad, and the Iffy: is there such a thing as an ethical designer?
Designers from Pentagram, Koto, Creech, and more talk candidly about the murky waters of client selection, the logistics and risks of rejecting work on moral grounds, and how to keep afloat without losing your soul in today’s design climate.
🕴 Alone in New York
A visual experiment by Anton Reponnen with beautiful images that capture the intimacy of aloneness in a place built for millions.
“Alone in New York is a study in contradictions. A city that never sleeps, never pauses, never empties—yet within its restless pulse, moments of loneliness emerge.”
He built the site with Control, a site builder with an experimental artsy vibe. Lots of creative layouts and shaders to play around with. Reminded me a bit of Cargo, (yet another) site builder for designers and artists.
Alone in New York
Alone in New York is a study in contradictions. A city that never sleeps, never pauses, never empties—yet within its restless pulse, moments of loneliness emerge.
(view on desktop)
📲 App Icon Downloader
I needed to download some hi res pngs of some app icons and found this shortcut for it. It’s the first time I’ve used Apple’s Shortcuts, and the UI is a little weird, but I can see how this could come in handy.
https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/f79149cf6a2e41d5bbf65511ff1b4c43🗽 Micah + Only NY
Micah Belamarich is a graphic artist and designer that founded Only NY, a clothing brand that sells NY-inspired merch (that doesn’t feel too touristy) like this cast iron pigeon.
And they just released a hoodie designed by Erik Marinovich:
Micah NYC
New York City based artist and designer.
😍 DINGBAT
A tiny graphic design studio that makes fonts sometimes.
DINGBAT
A tiny graphic design studio that makes fonts sometimes.
🌭 Ueno is back
Ueno was a popular design agency founded by Haraldur Thorleifsson (Halli) that he sold to Twitter back in 2021. Then in 2023 he was “accidentally let go” and he built a lot of wheelchair ramps, a restaurant and movie theater, a bank, and many other things.
“This little itch. The feeling I get when someone comes with something that's just an idea and they want our help to see it become real. It feels like magic. Like alchemy. I missed that feeling.”
And now he’s bringing Ueno back and I can’t wait to see what they’ll make in round two.
Neweno — Ueno.
🌈 What are OKLCH colors?
OKLCH is a color model that matches human perception better than RGB or HSL, so shades and gradients look more natural. It avoids the weird hue shifts you get in HSL and makes designing accessible palettes easier.
Jakub built oklch.fyi to help generate palettes and wrote a consise explainer on OKLCH colors.
What are OKLCH colors?
Article about the OKLCH color model.
You’ve reached the end. Congrats!
If you’ve got an exciting project coming up, check out my portfolio and let’s connect.
See you next time! 👋🏻