Type and topic

Essays and writing about design and creativity

Every link here is classified as essays and writing about design and creativity.

Hall of Fame: 19
Candidates: 21
Median span: 6.6 yrs
First seen: 2008

Strongest Hall records

19 items

Why Japanese web design is so different (2013)

randomwire.com 7 submissions · 7 people · 12.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-11 Resurfaced 2022-03-02

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An app can be a home-cooked meal (2020)

www.robinsloan.com 16 submissions · 15 people · 5.7 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-09 Resurfaced 2024-01-05

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Never Use Black (2012)

ianstormtaylor.com 10 submissions · 6 people · 9.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-08 Resurfaced 2021-12-03

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A Brief Rant on the Future of Interaction Design

worrydream.com 11 submissions · 11 people · 10.7 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-05 Resurfaced 2022-05-25

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Always Bet on Text (2014)

graydon2.dreamwidth.org 10 submissions · 10 people · 11.2 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2021-02 Resurfaced 2023-01-07

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If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good.

paulbuchheit.blogspot.com 10 submissions · 9 people · 16.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-06 Resurfaced 2026-06-15

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Webdesigners: please make text readable

contrastrebellion.com 8 submissions · 8 people · 11.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2017-06 Resurfaced 2023-05-07

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Should I use a carousel?

shouldiuseacarousel.com 9 submissions · 9 people · 11.9 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-07 Resurfaced 2025-06-08

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Write like you talk

paulgraham.com 10 submissions · 10 people · 7.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-10 Resurfaced 2022-10-23

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The Distribution of Users’ Computer Skills: Worse Than You Think

www.nngroup.com 8 submissions · 8 people · 6.6 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2019-09 Resurfaced 2023-07-06

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The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

uxdesign.cc 7 submissions · 7 people · 8.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-03 Resurfaced 2026-03-18

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“It turns out”

jsomers.net 6 submissions · 6 people · 16.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-03 Resurfaced 2026-03-04

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Ligatures in programming fonts: hell no

practicaltypography.com 5 submissions · 4 people · 6.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-02 Resurfaced 2023-05-13

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The Average Font

iotic.com 6 submissions · 6 people · 14.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-11 Resurfaced 2025-11-08

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Don Norman on how design fails older consumers

www.fastcompany.com 9 submissions · 9 people · 4.4 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-10 Resurfaced 2023-10-16

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Six Principles for Making New Things (2008)

paulgraham.com 6 submissions · 6 people · 11.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2019-01 Resurfaced 2018-10-12

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Please, enough with the dead butterflies (2017)

www.emilydamstra.com 5 submissions · 5 people · 4.5 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-01 Resurfaced 2024-03-03

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Please don’t theme our apps

stopthemingmy.app 6 submissions · 6 people · 4.4 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2023-09 Resurfaced 2023-10-05

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Why I Two-Space

stevelosh.com 5 submissions · 4 people · 10.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2022-10 Resurfaced 2022-10-23

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Recently resurfaced

latest 20+ point return

If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good.

paulbuchheit.blogspot.com 10 submissions · 9 people · 16.3 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-06 Resurfaced 2026-06-15

265max pts

The worst volume control UI in the world (2017)

uxdesign.cc 7 submissions · 7 people · 8.8 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-03 Resurfaced 2026-03-18

763max pts

“It turns out”

jsomers.net 6 submissions · 6 people · 16.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2026-03 Resurfaced 2026-03-04

328max pts

The Average Font

iotic.com 6 submissions · 6 people · 14.0 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2025-11 Resurfaced 2025-11-08

481max pts

Should I use a carousel?

shouldiuseacarousel.com 9 submissions · 9 people · 11.9 years

Hall of Fame Class of 2020-07 Resurfaced 2025-06-08

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Candidates

Browse 21 candidates

Designing Windows 95’s User Interface

socket3.wordpress.com 6 submissions · 6 people · 4.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-07-28

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

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Typography of “Alien” (2014)

typesetinthefuture.com 8 submissions · 2 people · 9.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-08-12

Needs:3 submitters

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The $300 Million Button

www.uie.com 10 submissions · 10 people · 6.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2011-07-27 archived copy

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

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Learning from Terminals to Design the Future of User Interfaces

brandur.org 5 submissions · 5 people · 7.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2018-08-03

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart

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Which Emoji Scissors Close?

wh0.github.io 4 submissions · 4 people · 6.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-10-27

Needs:5 submissions

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The Humble Brilliance of Italy's Moka Coffee Pot (2018)

www.atlasobscura.com 4 submissions · 3 people · 5.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2024-01-23

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

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Inside Rolex's Manufacturing Facilities (2015)

www.hodinkee.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 6.9 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-01-30

Needs:5 submissions

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People Staring at Computers

kylemcdonald.net 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.2 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-10-21

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

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Susan Kare designed the suite of icons that made the Macintosh revolutionary

www.newyorker.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 7.2 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-06-05

Needs:5 submissions

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Windows 98 Icons are Great (2015)

alexmeub.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 5.2 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-01-15

Needs:5 submissions

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The Decline of Usability

datagubbe.se 3 submissions · 3 people · 3.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-09-10

Needs:5 submissions

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“Just remove the duck” (2013)

rachelbythebay.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 8.7 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2023-11-22

Needs:5 submissions

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The 12-bit rainbow palette

iamkate.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 2.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-04-28

Needs:5 submissions

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The Tools I Use to Write Books

thorstenball.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 6.5 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-05-16

Needs:5 submissions

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The sad state of font rendering on Linux

pandasauce.org 3 submissions · 3 people · 6.4 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2025-07-25

Needs:5 submissions

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Write better error messages

wix-ux.com 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-05-08

Needs:5 submissions3 active years

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Previously Unknown Warhol Works Discovered on Floppy Disks from 1985

studioforcreativeinquiry.org 4 submissions · 4 people · 3.8 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2018-01-26

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

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Paul Rand's NeXT Logo (2010)

www.logodesignlove.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 5.3 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2020-08-15

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

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Dark Mode vs. Light Mode: Which Is Better?

www.nngroup.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 6.0 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2026-01-18

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions3 active years

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Apple Fixes Bagel Emoji

blog.emojipedia.org 4 submissions · 2 people · 4.1 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2021-01-09

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions3 submitters

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Programming and Writing

antirez.com 3 submissions · 3 people · 2.6 years

Candidate Resurfaced 2022-08-11

Needs:2 breakout events 720+ days apart5 submissions

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