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The archive

Work
8 min read
What a four-day week actually changed for us
We tried it for a year with a team of nine. Output held steady. What changed was how we planned Mondays, and who got to say no.
By Nell Ashby

Design
5 min read
The case for a smaller home screen
I deleted 41 apps in one evening. Three months later I've reinstalled four. Here's what the rest taught me about attention.
By Idris Kaan

Places
7 min read
A slow weekend in Porto, on foot
Two days, one pair of shoes and no itinerary. The tiled streets reward anyone willing to walk uphill twice.
By Mara Solberg

Ideas
6 min read
Notes on writing every morning for 500 days
Three hundred words before breakfast, every day, for a year and a half. Most of it was bad. That was the point.
By Nell Ashby

Design
4 min read
Why good signage is quiet
The best signs are the ones you read without noticing. A short guide to wayfinding that respects the reader.
By Theo Brandt

Work
9 min read
How we run a newsletter with two people
No budget, no ads, 14,000 readers. The schedule, the tools and the one rule that keeps it going.
By Theo Brandt

Places
5 min read
Cities that let you sit down
Count the benches on your street and you learn a lot about who a city is built for.
By Mara Solberg

Ideas
6 min read
The best tools are the ones you forget
A good pencil, a sharp knife, a text editor that opens in a second. On tools that disappear into the work.
By Idris Kaan

Ideas
5 min read
What 112 reader letters taught us
We asked one question and read every answer twice. Here is what our readers want more of, and what we stopped doing.
By Nell Ashby