Your favorite work can tell you a lot about your next step. — In July, I will celebrate 25 years of working as a designer. Like many folks, the pandemic has prompted me to take a look back on my career and a look forward to the future. What pieces spark joy at having done them, and what does that tell me? Over…

A lesson from Mom — Note: My mother passed away March 26, 2001. This is a memoir-as-letter to her. I never told you about the sit-in I staged at the baseball diamond. But I was following in your footsteps. Or, more accurately, foot stops. I remember hearing the story of the time you staged a…

What would a future you find excavating the layers of past work? — I recently went down the rabbit hole of the Wayback Machine. My coworkers and I were coming up with concepts for an ugly sweater, and one of us pulled up snapshots of our company’s home pages over the years. Yikes. But, also, gosh, maybe my old websites weren’t so bad…

Sometimes even the fates get their dates wrong — I remember the day in 1985 when Gil called to tell me that Rose had died the previous night, at 7:23 p.m. She had lost the 4-month battle with liver cancer. Rose Goldsen was one of my Ph.D. thesis advisors. She was my friend Terri’s thesis chair. We shared an…

The tale of the busted door — Carol and I had a tricky relationship. She was seven years older and popular with boys, but stuck sharing a bedroom with me: twin beds, lavender walls, one dresser, and one tiny closet. I remember one time when we were arguing. I was standing between the beds; Carol was lying…

Every so often, one of Mark Zuckerberg’s minions kindly asks for my opinions on how to make Instagram better. Thank you for asking! Have you ever noticed the “Hide This Ad” button? These are the choices we’re given: “It’s irrelevant,” “I see it too often,” “It’s inappropriate,” and “I already…