The five best design links, every weekday

Monday05/12

1

bit.ly

PDF To Design: from static PDF to editable FigmaSponsored

Convert any PDF into Figma designs, either as fully editable layers, or as pixel-perfect images.

2

blog.hayman.net

From: Steve Jobs. “Great idea, thank you”

The one email I ever got from Steve Jobs.

3

pangrampangram.com

The anatomy of the letterform

Everything comes down to a foundational understanding of the anatomy of the letterform and its essential component.

4

sujankhadgi.com

A portfolio you can listen to

An experiment in turning case studies into conversations—with a little help from AI. By Sujan, a Product Designer at Microsoft.

5

uxdesign.cc

AI-first: did Duolingo make a fatal mistake?

The “AI-first” approach that has caused controversy among users.

The Sidebar Newsletter

Just like a podcast

But daily, in written form, and made of links. So not really like a podcast actually.

5 Design Links in Your Inbox Every Weekday

Friday05/09

1

theamdash.com

The am dash

Unusable by AI, unmistakably human. A satire.

2

longform.asmartbear.com

Product purgatory

When they love it but still don’t buy, and when even “free” is too expensive.

3

spottedinprod.com

Spotted in prod

The very best of iOS work, from indie developers to big tech.

4

figma.com

Figma plugin: Follow the path

Automatically arrange objects along a vector path with customizable spacing and orientation options.

5

motherdesign.com

Case study: Adobe rebrand

Adobe sought help from Mother Design in rethinking and codifying its brand system.

Thursday05/08

1

figma.com

24 artifacts that define craft

Artifacts that embody craft—something that speaks to our understanding of what it means to make with intention.

2

labs.davidbauer.ch

Great or meh?

A tool to help you make better career decisions.

3

spritefusion.com

A simple, free tilemap editor

Design your tilemap with Sprite Fusion, the ultimate free online level editor.

4

seangoedecke.com

Getting things “done” in large tech companies

How can you finish things in a world where you can keep improving systems indefinitely?

5

smashingmagazine.com

WCAG 3.0’s proposed scoring model

Prioritizing usability over compliance and shifting the focus toward the quality of access rather than the mere presence of features.

Wednesday05/07

1

help.figma.com

Figma courses

A gallery of introductory courses provided by Figma—so you can design with confidence.

2

namedesigntokens.guide

Design tokens name generator

Generate and manage design tokens for your design system.

3

eieio.games

One million chessboards

Moving a piece moves it for everyone, instantly. There are no turns.

4

allenpike.com

Post-chat UI

How LLMs are making traditional apps feel broken.

5

brandguidelines.net

The brand styleguide showcase

Handpicked curated brand guidelines from around the world.

Tuesday05/06

1

claytonwramsey.com

I’d rather read the prompt

As an instructor, I am always saddened to read my students' LLM-generated assignments.

2

getbutterfly.com

Visual CSS editor

An online visual CSS Editor with instant live preview.

3

usetrmnl.com

TRMNL

An e-ink companion that helps you stay focused.

4

blog.jim-nielsen.com

Craft and satisfaction

Satisfaction comes from arriving at a deeper, more intimate understanding of and relationship to what you’re working with

5

chrbutler.com

We can't talk about AI without talking about capitalism, fascism, and liberty

Promises alone create a future; enough capital, deployed with enough conviction, warps reality around it.

Monday05/05

1

html.to.design

HTML to Design becomes the fastest MCP server for FigmaSponsored

Plug in Claude or Cursor AI and create or edit your designs directly in Figma. No switching, no copy-paste.

2

doc.cc

The unbearable lightness of big tech

Design can’t be effective when squeezed into a decades-old process.

3

matthewstrom.com

The history of album art

This is the story of the people who made music visible.

4

appstacks.club

App stacks

Discover stories and stacks behind your favorite apps.

5

bencallahan.com

Bias in design systems

Discipline bias, product bias, tool bias, and more.

Friday05/02

1

anildash.com

“AI-first” is the new Return To Office

The latest fad amongst tech CEOs is no longer "founder mode" — it's demanding that all work be AI-first.

2

remysharp.com

Do politics belong at web events?

Nothing is free of politics in this era as it does indeed impact nearly everything we do.

3

thehistoryoftheweb.com

1995 was the most important year for the web

The world changed a lot in 1995. And for the web, it was a transformational year.

4

abra.ai

The European Accessibility Act: what you need to know

Everything companies need to know about the European Accessibility Act (EAA) for digital products and mobile apps.

5

motion-primitives.com

Motion-primitives

UI kit to make beautiful, animated interfaces, faster. Open-source and customizable.

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