I’m sad to say I’ve recently joined the “unexpectedly been made redundant” gang 😢

So I’m now looking for a new role where I can bring my 20+ years of frontend dev experience to a team where things like user experience, design and accessibility are valued and who still care about the 'craft' of building good things for the web.

If anyone knows of any teams who fit that criteria and are currently hiring I would greatly appreciate a heads up 🙏

Join us at @Clearleft's studio for Service Design Breakfast Club next Thursday 5 Nov. We've got a cracking talk looking practically at AI in #serviceDesign – how it can take on the donkey work, and why human judgement still sits at the centre.

https://servicedesignbreakfast.com

The Designer’s Constitution is an attempt by Pablo Zárate at rethinking what makes someone a designer in the age of AI, based on Bauhaus principles.
I like this quote “Every task can be delegated, except thinking, thinking is not a task it’s a privilege”. I get a feeling way too many people are happy delegating thinking too, and honestly, it’s scary.
https://constitution.design/

📙I wrote a new book!

It’s called “Standout Designs for the Web” and I wrote it because too many websites look the same, and I want to show how to make them stand out.

Pre-orders start 12 Nov.

Read more here: https://stuffandnonsense.co.uk/blog/i-wrote-another-book-its-called=standout-designs-for-the-web/

Imagine with all the young people social media bans, there was a limit on 3rd party advertising these traditional/non open social networks?

For example public & governments organisations can't point people to their tiktok, insta, etc between certain hours? Or they could only do so 3 hours a day?

We at @Clearleft are once again investigating what makes design(ers) effective in today’s world.

To that end we’d love your help in filling out the Design Effectiveness survey.

If you’re a designer or design-adjacent (researcher, developer, product owner, etc) or simply have opinions about design, then you’re welcome to join in.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTTG77C

We’ll share all our findings later this year.

RE: https://mastodon.social/@Clearleft/117478465664058943

Could we use a few minutes of your time?

Two upcoming conferences this November where I will give a talk about how I created CCS DOOM:

November 13th - FFConf 🇬🇧 Brighton
https://2026.ffconf.org

November 16th - Halfstack 🇦🇹 HalfStack
https://halfstackconf.com/vienna

Both are amazing conferences and have a lovely community. Tickets are still for sale!

I look forward to the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition every year. The images are always stunning, and the stories they tell even more so.

A fave of mine this year is ‘Icy Window’ by Audun Rikardsen
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/wpy/gallery/2026-icy-window?tags=ed.current

@Clearleft had the pleasure of designing the WPY website – it remains one of our favourite ever projects.

Read and listen about how we did it
https://clearleft.com/work/wildlife-photographer-of-the-year
https://podcast.clearleft.com/season01/episode03/

#design #photography #museum

4 weeks left to get your ticket - I know you've not done it yet. Don't leave it and miss out.

Who is this for? Devs, designers, product people, newbies and oldies. It's a single track day designed to reignite our connection to what we do.

https://2026.ffconf.org

I’m looking to connect with university lecturers and staff. We offer student tickets for @ffconf, but they’re easy to miss, and I’d love to give the next generation of web developers the chance to attend a great indie event.

If anyone can contact please drop me comment here I can follow up.

"We’ll take all the data you’ve given us, and we’ll press it down into the content equivalent of beige, flavorless paste."

That. Everywhere. Well put, sadly.

Most organisations want accessible websites, but their colour palettes weren't built with accessibility in mind.

Plenty of contrast checkers flag the problems, but we couldn't find one that also helps you fix them.

So we made one ourselves. Introducing ✨This hue shall pass✨ https://thishueshallpass.clearleft.com/?utm_source=CL_HSP%20Mastodon&utm_medium=CL_MD&utm_campaign=CL_HSP

We're pretty darn proud of this one, go give it a go and share it around your teams. It's in beta so tell us what you'd change in the comments, along with a little commotion for the name pun 👌

After careful consideration and a look at where the industry is spending it's funding we've decided to pivot #FFConf in a "new" direction.

I present to you: ffconf.ai

Please share with bots and humans alike.

FFConf.ai

RE: https://front-end.social/@benschwarz/117353168290651566

I now know you can put loading="lazy" on <iframe>s.

Back in 2019 we surveyed over 400 designers across the world to find out what makes design effective for organisations.

It's now 2026. Covid affected us all hugely, and AI is changing many aspects of how we work, so it's time to see what's changed.

If you're a designer (or design-adjacent) with 7 minutes to spare, we'd love your help filling out the 2026 Design Effectiveness survey. The questions are straightforward, and your answers are anonymous.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTTG77C?utm_campaign=510801105-Clearleft%20marketing&utm_content=602256597&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&hss_channel=lcp-113718

"Lib Dems reject ‘discriminatory and unworkable’ EHRC guidance on transgender people"

No idea how much this will help our trans friends in the short term, but good to see a public show of support at least..

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/sep/21/lib-dems-reject-ruling-transgender-people-brighton-conference

Design effectiveness in 2026…

We (@Clearleft) have updated our industry survey to find out what makes design effective for organisations in 2026.

Are you a designer / researcher/ developer / product person?
Have you got <7 minutes spare?

Tell us your experience (anonymous and easy to answer questions):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTTG77C

#design

Design effectiveness in 2026…

We (@Clearleft) have updated our industry survey to find out what makes design effective for organisations in 2026.

Are you a designer / researcher/ developer / product person?
Have you got <7 minutes spare?

Tell us your experience (anonymous and easy to answer questions):

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RTTG77C

#design

As much as I'm getting old, grey and bald, one thing I love about being in the design industry for so long is the increased likelihood of a new client saying things like "it's great to meet you again – we chatted at New Adventures back in 2013". As happened this morning. Nice.

For the nostalgic: https://newadventuresconf.com/2013/