Articles · 29
Craft notes on
visual design
Essays on motion design, UI patterns, typography, design systems, and the craft that connects them. Each piece comes from production work, not theory.
Web Animation in 2026: CSS vs GSAP, When to Use Each
CSS handles 80% of web animation in 2026, GSAP wins for timeline choreography. Performance benchmarks, decision tree, View Timeline status.
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Claude Design Review: On-Brand Mockups From Your Repo
Claude Design is Anthropic's new beta AI design tool. My honest take:...
5 min read
Claude for Designers in 2026: Where AI Actually Helps
Claude is the No.2 weekly tool for designers in 2026. Here's where...
4 min read
Figma Plugins That Save You Real Time in Design Work
A practitioner roundup of figma plugins for content, contrast, icons, tokens, and...
4 min read
Figma Components: Variants, Auto Layout, and Slots
Master figma components with variants, auto layout, and the slots pattern. Learn...
5 min read
The Designer to Developer Handoff Playbook in Figma
A practical guide to the designer to developer handoff: Figma Dev Mode,...
4 min read
Design Tokens From Figma to Code, A Practical Guide
Design tokens move from Figma variables to CSS and Tailwind. Token tiers,...
5 min read
Wireframing vs Prototyping: When to Use Each Fidelity
A practitioner guide to wireframing vs prototyping, covering low, mid, and high...
4 min read
UX Audit Checklist: Evaluate a Product Step by Step
A practical UX audit checklist for designers. Run heuristics, accessibility, IA, and...
4 min read
User Flow Mapping: Tools, Notation, and Real Examples
A practical user flow guide covering notation, tools like FigJam and Whimsical,...
4 min read
Usability Testing on a Budget: Cheap Remote Methods
Run usability testing cheap and fast. The 5-second test, guerrilla sessions, 5-user...
5 min read
GSAP in 2026: What the Free License Really Changed
GSAP went fully free in 2025, every plugin included. Here's what changed...
4 min read
The Best Prototyping and Dev-Handoff Tools of 2026
Figma, Framer, ProtoPie, Axure and UXPin compared for prototyping and developer handoff...
4 min read
Penpot in 2026: Honest Review and Figma Comparison
Penpot 2.0 brings CSS grid, native design tokens, and a genuinely free...
4 min read
Designing for Apple Intelligence: AI UI Patterns 2026
Apple Intelligence reshapes iOS UI in 2026. Visual guidelines, glow states, deference...
10 min read
Visual Hierarchy in Motion Graphics: 6 Key Lessons
How motion designers apply visual hierarchy in single styleframes - size, contrast,...
9 min read
From Styleframe to Working UI: The Designer Pipeline
How motion designers move work from a single styleframe through animatics into...
5 min read
Motion Design Tools for UI Designers Crossing Over (2026)
After Effects, Cavalry, Rive, Theatre.js, Lottie, which motion tool fits a UI...
6 min read
Color Palette Generators for UI Design: Tested Picks
I tested 4 UI color palette generators (Coolors, Adobe Color, Realtime Colors,...
10 min read
Godot 4 Visual Design: Game Art Direction for Designers
How designers can use Godot 4's visual tools, theme editor, Control nodes,...
7 min read
Motion Design for Social Media: The Practical Guide
Platform specs, tool picks, and workflow tips for motion design on Instagram...
7 min read
Figma vs Canva in 2026: Which Design Tool Is Right?
Figma or Canva? Designers need prototyping and dev handoff. Marketers want drag-and-drop...
9 min read
Visual Hierarchy in UI Design: 7 Principles That Work
Visual hierarchy techniques for UI designers, size, contrast, spacing, and color strategies...
7 min read
Motion Design for the Web: When and How to Apply It
Motion design for the web, practical CSS transitions, scroll-driven effects, micro-interactions, plus...
11 min read
Dashboard Design Patterns for Modern Web Apps 2026
Proven dashboard UI patterns for web apps, card layouts, data density, navigation,...
7 min read
Best UI Design Tools in 2026: Figma, Sketch, and Penpot
Best UI design tools 2026 compared, Figma vs Sketch vs Penpot on...
13 min read
How to Build a Design System in Figma Step by Step
Build a production Figma design system with tokens, components, and variants, most...
7 min read
How Do You Pick the Right Fonts for a Web Project?
Practical font pairing and web typography guide, variable fonts cut page load...
9 min read
CSS Layout Patterns in 2026: Grid, Flexbox, or Bento?
CSS Grid vs Flexbox vs Bento layouts compared, 67% of top SaaS...
7 min read