Designer Uses Languages He Can't Read. Here's Why

I spent the first ten years of my career designing things that made me lose my love for the game. These examples brought it back.

This episode: three designers who never stopped playing — or figured out how to start again.

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FEATURED:
Mansoor: https://x.com/lifeofmansoor
Yianni Mathioudakis: https://x.com/yiannifive
Matt Greenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcgreenberg
Aaron Draplin's Logo Design Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVUVUoXrPzM

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Settings pages for settings pages
00:32 - Mansoor's typography process
01:27 - Different languages as shape libraries
02:16 - Addition vs subtraction in design
03:06 - "The 12-year-old went quiet"
04:52 - Yianni's WebGL hero (built in an hour)
06:04 - What's actually happening under the hood
08:37 - The dithering moment
09:38 - 15 years in, renewed exploration
10:12 - Matt's sneaker shelf interaction
11:55 - Leva + Three.js = engineering as play
14:09 - "Really easy to make it look cheesy"
15:00 - Phantom competency

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