# week 39 of 2026 **September 27, 2026** ![[reginald.png|Reginald - Nothing But The Best Of All album]] An old design of mine. Looking for something silly and irreverent today because I needed a laugh. Still ecstatic over how well this turned out. Definitely better on vinyl. --- It has been a long time since I've posted anything here. I'm back to school and the teaching load is heavy this semester. Good students so far and fun content, there's just a lot of it. My wife is still recovering from the summer of brain cancer, radiation, and chemo. She's getting maintenance chemo for a week every month. I've basically become a single father these days. Still haven't found my groove yet and efficient workflows remain elusive. At least I'm still in a good mood and rolling along with it. Life is busy. Anyway, on to the stuff I've managed to capture in the last month. There's a lot here and even more in my unsorted folders. Hope to get to those eventually. Plenty here to check out when you have the time. --- ## animation stuff [Jazno Francoeur’s LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jazno/recent-activity/all/) is full of posts about design and animation, including production work for many Disney movies. He's currently sharing work from Syd Mead, one of my favorite futurist designers. I lost hours wandering and could easily spend more time exploring. [Artist Resources from Animation Obsessive](https://animationobsessive.substack.com/t/artist-resources) is chock-full of information, tools, background for animation, storyboarding, etc. Well worth spending your time exploring the resources available. [The Art of Aaron Blaise](https://www.youtube.com/@AaronBlaiseArt) is a YouTube channel that should be required viewing for animators. Blaise worked for Disney and co-directed Brother Bear. You should totally check out his personal project Snow Bear. [Behind The Scenes](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEPrLj_fL3Dh6ChJtzr_BLdJ0Tvs3vrmq) is a YouTube series showing how an animation studio creates stop-motion chaos. ## web tools [Normal Tools](https://www.normaltools.com/) is a huge collection of free online tools for doing everything from resizing or compressing images to creating QR codes to building code or figuring out tip percentages. There are currently 193 tools with more probably coming soon. I'm sure you can find a solution for just about any challenge you have. [UI Typography](https://imperavi.com/books/ui-typography/) is a fully online book about screen-based typography. First edition is free with an updated second edition available. [Built By Designers](https://builtbydesigners.com/projects/on-design/) is a collection of 82 interesting apps and websites built by designers. There's a focus on quality design with some quirky solutions. Worth exploring. ![[typestax.png|TypeStax interface for styling type]] [TypeStax](https://www.typestax.com/) is a fun tool to build type scales with dials and buttons reminiscent of old analog control centers. [Coding Font](https://www.codingfont.com) is a fun A/B test game to find your best mono font for coding. It has links to download all the fonts. Turns out my favorite is Azeret Mono and it is now set as my default in VSCode and CotEditor. [Font Alternatives](https://fontalternatives.com) for finding free alternatives to premium fonts. Good options here. ## design stuff > Design is not performed. It is, rather, _endlessly rehearsed_. Designing is like practicing: one iterates; makes amendments; tries new avenues. > > — Peter Mendelsund [Design Patterns For Mental Health](https://designpatternsformentalhealth.org) is a collection of Principles and Patterns for designing services aimed at mental health. Solid best practices for accessible design that helps more than just those in need of mental health support. [Annual Report Gallery](https://annualreport.gallery) is a massive archive of corporate annual reports. While that may seem boring, it is a great way to see graphic design history from the 1940s to now. I have a personal affinity for mid-century graphic design. There are over 2000 examples from then 1950s-1970s alone. It is also fun to see how the same company has shifted their visual style over the decades. ## random neat stuff [Modern Day Typographer](https://youtu.be/0Ck-NPqf2c8) is a hilarious take on modern typography choices sung to the tune of "Modern Major General" by Gilbert & Sullivan. [ASCII City](https://asciicity.live) is a fun streaming channel with traffic cameras watching a busy city including pedestrians, cars, and architecture all built out ASCII characters. Quite fun to sit back and watch. [No Kings](https://nokings.at/) lets you beat up a rubber mask version of our current president until it knocks off his golden crown. Totally dumb but so much fun to slap that face around. ![[MomotaroApp.png|App icon for Momotaro]] [Momotaro](https://momotaro.app/eng/) is a beautiful timer app to block notifications so you can focus on your work. iPhone only. Fun mascot and visual design. [Texture](https://texture.fayaz.workers.dev) is a wonderful tools to add textures to uploaded images. Choices include grains, risograph, watercolor washes, and digital patterns. Fun to fiddle around with. [Rainy Arcade](https://rainyarca.de/) is an interesting audio mashup of rain sounds and video game arcades. Can listen to four different eras of video game history. 1986 version resonates the most with me. ![[controlRoom.png|vintage control room with buttons and dials and old rotary dial phones]] [Control Rooms](https://www.flickr.com/groups/419512@N22/pool/) is a collection of old mid-century control rooms with tactile knobs and dials. Many of the shots are from old and abandoned buildings with worn and rusty features. I love analog interfaces like this. [Ink and Brine](https://gonzalocantos.itch.io/ink-and-brine) is a playable demo of an upcoming game. You dive underwater to collect fish and other objects to level up so you can dive deeper. Captivating hand-drawn style that kept me engaged for far too long. Looking forward to the full release.