Favorite essays
The best essays are the ones that contain some truth or insight that doesn't go out of style months or years later. As I return to regular blogging (12 posts in September compared to about the same number of posts between all of May through August), I sometimes stumble upon older posts that have held up pretty well.
Here are 10 of my favorites over the last 6 years with brief comments on why I like them. If you've only recently started reading my blog, maybe you'll find one of these interesting.
Understanding Comics, January 2003. Probably the first of several essays where I write about art and software. Since I wrote it, Scott McCloud has finished his third book on comics.
Perfection, August 2005. Doing our best work, inspired by Tufte and the golden age at Disney.
Set unreasonable deadlines, December 2005. Code more in less time, three years ago, but still very much inspired by 37signals. I like how this post mentions my favorite animation autobiography.
Limitations in toys and software, January 2006. I connected LEGOs and toy utility with user interface design in this one.
Smart software bloat, February 2006. In a general sense, how to add features without burdening the user interface. Discoverability in context.
Mediocrity is the new application platform, March 2006. About web, native, and hybrid applications, and when to choose one or the other.
Customer support, February 2007. Sparked by a post from Ryan Carson, I write about my own experience with Wii Transfer support.
Bush veto, November 2007. I'm pretty sick of partisan politics right now, a month before the election. This post reminds me of the passion I had just a year ago.
Fancy-pants productivity, March 2008. A little bit of a rant, reacting to the opinion that code must always be beautiful.
Ollie Johnston, April 2008. Where I comment on the death of a master animator. I should re-read this one every year.
October 8, 2008 03:09 PM [link] -
