Moonlights #21
Watch 🦖
Apple recently released a new series titled Prehistoric Planet. This is from the same producers of Planet Earth, and it’s fantastic. CGI has come a longgg way since I was a kid. The show has the most accurate representation of dinosaurs that we’ve ever seen, plus David Attenborough is the narrator, what else could you want…
Read 💻
The top idea in your mind, is a 2010 blog post by Paul Graham. I revisited this essay by PG a few days ago, and it’s still relevant today. If you read one thing this week, make it this. Here are some quotes that stood out.
I think most people have one top idea in their mind at any given time. That's the idea their thoughts will drift toward when they're allowed to drift freely. And this idea will thus tend to get all the benefit of that type of thinking, while others are starved of it. Which means it's a disaster to let the wrong idea become the top one in your mind.
You can't directly control where your thoughts drift. If you're controlling them, they're not drifting. But you can control them indirectly, by controlling what situations you let yourself get into. That has been the lesson for me: be careful what you let become critical to you. Try to get yourself into situations where the most urgent problems are ones you want to think about.
I've found there are two types of thoughts especially worth avoiding — thoughts like the Nile Perch in the way they push out more interesting ideas. One I've already mentioned: thoughts about money. Getting money is almost by definition an attention sink. The other is disputes. These too are engaging in the wrong way: they have the same velcro-like shape as genuinely interesting ideas, but without the substance. So avoid disputes if you want to get real work done.
Listen 🎧
If you’ve followed Moonlights, you’ve seen Chris Luno a few times. This is another one of my favorites, 43 minutes of 🔥
Look 👀
Instagram rolled out a fresh new custom typeface inspired by their current logo. I think it’s brilliant — there’s this unique look and feel that’s a little quirky but not over the top. Just enough play without sacrificing the simplicity. I also love the flexibility of the system—the headline option allows for so much fun, while the regular version can be used without sacrificing legibility.Â
From Me 🎒
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the things that I love over the past few weeks. Design is one of them. Sometimes I have a hard time explaining exactly what I do as a designer. This quote from the legend Paul Rand, says it all.
To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even to edit; it is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and perhaps even to amuse.
—Paul Rand
I hope you all have a great weekend.