
In a few weeks, we’re launching a redesign of Tender’s admin area. I’ve been sharing some screenshots on Dribbble and gathering feedback from other sites. People have been digging the sneak peeks and we’re making good progress. But there’s still a lot of work to do — so back to the design caves I go.
Coming soon: I’m writing some blog posts to share the design decisions made during this project. So back to the writing caves I go.
I’m a big proponent of remote workers, telecommuting and virtual offices. But not 100% of the time. Otherwise, you’d miss out on moments like this:
- Chris: hey justin, can you help me get tender/lighthouse running locally on my new laptop sometime today?
- Justin: Chris: yeah. I’ll glide over in a moment. *weeee*
Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get the work done. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lighting to strike you in the brain, you’re not going to make an awful lot of work.
— Chuck Close in Wisdom: The Greatest Gift One Generation Can Give To Another
50 of the world’s most inspiring and iconic figures over the age of 65 share their words of wisdom. Wisdom is a multimedia exhibition that features extraordinary large-format portraits and documentary footage of interviews created by award-winning photographer and filmmaker Andrew Zuckerman. Watch the introduction video.
Lucy: You’re being too hard on yourself.
Tom: You know who isn’t hard on themselves? Amateurs.
— From an episode of Studio 60

Had dinner at Jill & Dan’s last night and spotted this on their kitchen wall. Awesome.

People showing up at some website, they don’t care about it as much as you — the founders — care about it.
What you [should] care about is the person who shows up randomly [...] and has their finger poised over the Back button. Because think how many websites you visit everyday. Most of them are no good. You click on Back and go on with your life.
So you’re designing your website for the guy who’s just about to leave. Who’s just on the cusp of even caring [about] what you do. You know what your website does. But he doesn’t. He doesn’t even care that much. So you have to tell him.
— Paul Graham in an interview on Mixergy
- Chris Rhee: you still working out of coffee shops?
- Kyle Neath: YES I AM NOT OVERCAFFEINATED WHY ARE YOU QUESTIONING ME
As a fellow web designer who often works from home coffee shops, I empathize with Kyle‘s pain excitement & enthusiasm.
Happy 2010! Here’s some photos for people who like to spy on others’ home offices. Warning: There’s not a single stick of furniture from IKEA.

The view from the front door.

A comfortable chair for reading reddit-ing.

The view from above.
Previously on Blood

My friend and frequent partner in crime design, Doug Hughmanick launched his new personal design portfolio earlier this year. I highly recommend you check it out.
Doug did the graphic design and I did the code. The site is run on WordPress, so Doug can add or edit projects and screenshots without a code editor or FTP. And the postMash plugin is used to customize the order of projects with a drag-and-drop interface.
There’s also a “secret” page that displays even more projects. Why the secrecy? Well… That’s a secret.
Previously on Blood (with Doug)
Two thumbs up and Based on a true story