To learn a cultural dance is to embody the feeling of a people. The feelings of a culture. Emotions all have physical embodiments. The physical shape forms around the emotional. Clowns excel at exaggerating these shapes, slouching into sadness, leaning forward into anger. “Bodily posture conveys action tendencies associated with…

What does a server need to do? Why? Serve data to clients! How does this process work? Suppose someone types Wikipedia.org into their browser. Their browser (the client), then sends a ‘request’ to the server. The server handles that ‘request’ and returns data in the form of a ‘response’ to the client. That response ends up being html…

Background A few weeks into an interview process. I already passed the algorithmic test, my portfolio submission, and a technical interview. Now, I was on the last step — a take home project to demonstrate how I write code (vanilla JS), solve problems, write CSS, and generally develop UI. Expected time…

Background Rejoice! Diaspora Dance Theater is an 8 year old non-profit dance theater company that has gown exponentially. The existing website was patched together over time as new programs and aspects of the company developed. The site was created originally by the company’s ambitious founder, without design or development know-how, using…

React is designed for data-driven dynamic sites — but it can make the process lengthier for smaller projects. Learn when not to use React. — When a certain tool becomes incredibly popular, it’s easy to fall into the trap of choosing the tool before knowing the problem. It’s like buying a hammer before seeing if the plans call for screws or nails. SUMMARY I’ve been enthusiastically learning React, without quite understanding what it was designed for…

Summary This project began as a coding challenge for a front-end developer job. This was my first React project. I was primarily a UX/UI Designer with a growing curiosity for development, when a friend referred me to a front-end developer job. …

Contents Discovery — Generative Design Workshop w/ Client 2. Research — industry & adjacent design patterns, color psychology 3. Black & White sketches + justifications 4. Digital Black & White logos 5. Coloring the logo 6. Final Delivery — Organization, instructions, variations, & file formats Case Study I generally assume my clients have…

Background Portland, Oregon has had a thriving samba scene since the early 2000s. Over the years we’ve had various samba bands, dance classes, shows, and parties. The community often gathers around pagodes — Brazilian parties with samba sing-alongs, dancing, and plenty of caipirinhas (a delicious rum cocktail). Most of the participants…

Are hackathons nerve racking? Registering for a hackathon is welcoming a ton of uncertainty. Depending on your experience and relationship to uncertainty, it can be nerve racking. When signing up for NanoGiants’s hackathon, I didn’t have a team, nor did I know how I would find one. I didn’t know how time zones, cultural…