Writing

Creating something new will always attract attention, but there’s an under celebrated nobility in improving what already exists.

Having copied, pasted and formatted another 115 pages of OCR’d text, Bradshaw’s Guide now contains tours throughout South West England, the West Midlands, Wales and Ireland.

Finding the unexpected in Le Havre, the French seaside city that’s full of surprises.

In need of a break, I headed to Galway and the far western reaches of the British Isles.

Blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise and raise your profile. But can you achieve this without drawing on manipulative methods of generating traffic?

Container queries are always a popular topic when discussing the future of responsive design. But do we actually need them any more?

The final part of my three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference. I look at how we might build components and consider their wider composition.

I had braced myself for its eventual fate, but seeing footage of Birmingham Central Library being demolished still brought a tear to my eye.

In this second part of my three-part essay based on the talk I gave at Smashing Conference, I propose a model for thinking about design systems.

Dr. James Paul Dicks, 1980-2017

In the first part of a three-part essay about design systems, I review two approaches for the creation of something equally as complex: a city.

I’m attempting to deal with the string of unfortunate events in current affairs by being more generous.

I run my finger along the seam between interface patterns and design systems, exploring how a visual design language can underpin and inform a web style guide, with judicious use of CSS preprocessing. Like a good Christmas jumper, sometimes you need to get creative with the rules.

For Claire Robertson’s Small Batch List, I share five of my favourite things.

Observations made while watching the first five series of Cold Feet. When it was originally broadcast, mobile phones were just becoming mainstream, and the Internet was still a novelty. Simpler times.

As I explored the exhibits in Basel’s recently extended art museum, I jotted down the artists whose work caught my attention. Here I share my findings.

Given the worsening ecological situation, can showering conference attendees with gifts still be seen as an act of thoughtfulness?

There’s a lot of them around. Here are some more.

On this clear, sunny Friday, the weather belies the fact that the UK has undertaken an unprecedented and improbable act of self-harm.

The question on the ballot paper demands a simple black or white answer, yet a study of the issues only offers shades of grey.

Having lived in my current flat for just over two years, I’m determined for this to be the year I finally make it feel like a home.

It’s been just over a year since I started working for myself, and during the last 12 months I’ve learnt a lot, both about the work, and myself. Having reached this milestone, time to take stock and review my goals for the year ahead.

Because it uses logical values, Flexbox layouts will automatically align according to a document’s text-direction. Well, almost.

With a New Year resolution to get out more, I share a few events I’ve recently bought tickets for. Who knows, you might be interested in them too.