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Yearly blog archives

  1. 2024

    1. 2023 in review

      31 January 2024

      It’s that time again, when I like to dedicate the first blog post of every year to looking back on the year that’s just been.

  2. 2023

    1. A newsletter manifesto that benefits readers & publishers

      26 July 2023

      Last summer, I started a newsletter — yeah, about three years or so later than everyone else — but I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find that a) I’m still going with it, and b) wow, I genuinely love putting each issue together. I’d even go as far to say that it’s my favourite form of communicating with my “audience” (urgh, horrid term, but you know what I mean), given the current state of social media.

    2. The big book announcement

      29 June 2023

      As a handful of friends and subscribers to my newsletter will already know (hint hint), I’m writing a book. It’s called Universal Principles of Typography and it’s going to be published by Quarto in spring 2024.

    3. I have a logo now

      26 April 2023

      At the end of last summer, I attended the very first Letter Luvvers event and met Emma Luczyn, who did a talk on her hand lettering work. Her presentation was fantastic, we had a great chat afterwards, and not too long after the event, I figured that Emma would be the perfect person to create something I’d been mulling for a while: a logo.

    4. 2022 in review

      07 February 2023

      Continuing my annual tradition of recapping the year just ended, here’s my look back on 2022. As always, this type of post is mainly written for the benefit of my future self, but because I personally enjoy reading other folks’ yearly reviews, perhaps one or two of you might like this, too.

  3. 2022

    1. The final Google Fonts Knowledge drop of 2022

      01 December 2022

      The year’s almost at its end, but we’ve got one last Google Fonts Knowledge drop for you, and, although I’m biassed... it’s a really good one. In my opinion, it builds upon what we launched for Q1, Q2, and Q3 with some well-rounded content that really takes the resource up a notch.

    2. I designed myself some festive cards and you can buy them, too

      15 November 2022

      I’m happy to announce that I’ve finally achieved a career-long dream and designed myself some cards for the festive season. Next month, I’ll start sending them out, and I’m also putting some up for sale, too.

    3. Google Fonts Knowledge Q3 content drop

      03 November 2022

      We’ve just dropped a load of new content on Google Fonts Knowledge! 15 new articles and 9 new glossary terms, to be precise. Here’s a post with a quick breakdown.

    4. This site’s type is now variable

      28 September 2022

      I’ve been writing and editing a lot of content about variable fonts for Google Fonts Knowledge recently, so I figured it was high time my own website switched over to use the variable version of Ohno’s Degular. And now it’s live — you’re reading text set in it right now. Lucky you.

    5. Google Fonts Knowledge Q2 content drop

      21 July 2022

      Today marks Google Fonts Knowledge’s second content drop of the year and I figured it was worth a quick post to cover all the newness.

    6. Google Fonts Knowledge Q1 content drop

      07 April 2022

      When we launched Google Fonts Knowledge at the end of last year, I mentioned that it was “just the start of something much larger” and today, we’re making good on that promise: our first content drop of 2022 has gone live on the site. We’ve added 21 new glossary definitions, four new articles, one heavily updated definition, and numerous small tweaks throughout the existing content. Oh, and Google Fonts Knowledge is now open source thanks to a CC BY-SA 4.0 licence!

    7. 2021 in review

      01 February 2022

      2021 was a weird one. Again. But we were very fortunate: the challenges of lockdowns and homeschooling aside, my family avoided the worst effects of the pandemic. I was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with my kids, I worked for the entire year on Google Fonts Knowledge, and I released a healthy amount of music, both my own and, via my label, from others.

  4. 2021

    1. Google Fonts Knowledge

      07 December 2021

      Google Fonts Knowledge — the project I’ve been building with the Google Fonts team over the course of the past year — launched today. GFK is a library of educational content designed to enable designers and developers of all skill levels to choose and use type with purpose.

    2. Our home studio

      08 October 2021

      Back in April, we had a family of squirrels trying to make a home in the roof the outbuilding in our garden, which just so happens to be our home studio. We managed to remove the squirrels (humanely, I’ll add), but at the time I was starting to get pretty paranoid about the studio burning down if they started to chew the wires, so I figured it’d be a good time to take some photos of the space as an insurance precaution — but also because it was finally ‘finished’; i.e. we’d got it looking pretty much the way we wanted it after a few years of gradually refining the room.

    3. Release, Change, Rift

      28 September 2021

      My new EP, Release, Change, Rift, came out on Observant yesterday and this is a big one for me: apart from some remix duties, a few appearances on compilations, and of course my split EP with Decka on Unterwegs, this is the first ‘full’ Other Form release on a label other than Unknown Movements.

    4. 2020 in music

      27 April 2021

      Yeah, I know: publishing an end-of-year review nearly five months into the next year is kind of daft. But, in the spirit of my end-of-year wraps of the past, this is more for my own personal posterity, and I’d like to controversially suggest that there were actually some good things that emerged from the maelstrom of 2020 — at least in terms of music.

  5. 2020

    1. Getting things done with TODAY ▼ + SOON ▶

      12 October 2020

      Inspired by Jeff Sheldon’s Analog project and my recent desire to move to-do lists into the physical realm, I designed my own card-based productivity system, ready to print via Moo. Here’s a bit about it.

    2. Behind the scenes of Maido’s rebranding

      07 July 2020

      A detailed look at the process that went into gently evolving the brand of the agency I worked at up until the pandemic. Type nerds, read on.

    3. A redesign at last

      25 June 2020

      Hello and welcome to the new elliotjaystocks.com — which is not just a redesign, but also a full rebuild. In fact, it’s the most substantial re-think of my personal site in about a decade, and the first time the site has had a portfolio section in a good 15 years or so. My plan is to delve into some of the site’s details in further blog posts, but today I’ll attempt a loose-ish overview. Humour an old man, won’t you?

  6. 2019

    1. Tempo: not just another email client

      17 September 2019

      My interest has been piqued by email app Tempo, which I’ve been trying out in beta for the last few months. With the product imminently coming out of beta and the approaching launch of their mobile app, now seems like a good time to reflect on this intriguing new contender.

    2. MacBook What?

      26 March 2019

      As I made my bought my shiny new MacBook Air, it struck me just how confusing it is to buy an Apple laptop in 2019. Even the myriad options of hardware configuration aside, the very naming itself — the actual brand of the MacBook Air — seems somewhat confused.

    3. MacBook Air unboxing

      22 March 2019

      I just bought one of those new MacBook Airs with the Touch ID thingy. Thoughts to follow; meanwhile, here are some unboxing photos for the nerds.

    4. An open letter to Jacob Rees-Mogg

      17 January 2019

      You and I could not be further apart.

  7. 2018

    1. Doing one thing a day; or, a calendar plan that’s actually productive

      10 April 2018

      A couple of years ago, I wrote an article called ‘Working for half a day to be more productive’, and while my intentions were good, that piece suffered from a problem that has affected many of my writings on the subject of getting-things-done: I wrote the piece without having actually settled into the very routine about which I was enthusing, and — lo and behold — I no longer follow my own recommendation, having failed to stick to such a rigid schedule.

    2. Gwen

      22 February 2018

      At around midday on Thursday 22nd February 2018, Sam and I said hello to our second daughter, Gwen River Stocks.

    3. The arrogance of the HomePod

      19 February 2018

      With Apple’s HomePod finally arriving in the hands of pre-order customers last week, recent news headlines about the device have been dominated by reports of the device leaving unsightly marks on customer’s wooden countertops.

  8. 2017

    1. Music consumption in the era of smart speakers

      20 December 2017

    2. One year with the Google Pixel

      03 October 2017

    3. Advanced Typography in Berlin

      14 June 2017

    4. So, I have a record out

      11 May 2017

    5. Advanced Typography for the Web & Print

      21 March 2017

  9. 2016

    1. Lagom magazine vs. 2016

      21 December 2016

    2. One week with the Google Pixel

      04 November 2016

    3. Google Pixel unboxing

      24 October 2016

    4. I’m making a huge, hardcover 8 Faces book — here’s why

      17 September 2016

    5. The Apple-Google shift

      20 August 2016

    6. A post-Brexit world

      27 June 2016

    7. Do the right thing tomorrow

      22 June 2016

    8. Working for half a day to be more productive

      14 March 2016

    9. The new studio

      24 February 2016

  10. 2015

    1. That was 2015

      30 December 2015

    2. Goodbye, Typekit

      21 December 2015

    3. 1 month with the Apple Watch

      02 June 2015

    4. Joli sleeve for MacBook

      29 May 2015

    5. MacBook (2015) unboxing

      20 May 2015

    6. 1 day with the Apple Watch

      02 May 2015

    7. Thea

      30 April 2015

    8. Lagom #2 is out now

      26 March 2015

  11. 2014

    1. Pay your contributors

      19 December 2014

    2. The new eBay vs. physics

      09 December 2014

    3. Insites: The Xmas Special 2014

      27 November 2014

    4. Confessions of an independent publisher

      06 October 2014

    5. You can now buy Lagom, our new magazine

      01 October 2014

    6. So what actually is the UK?

      19 September 2014

    7. A lament for the iPod Classic

      15 September 2014

    8. Goodbye Digest, hello Lagom

      05 September 2014

    9. Viewport Industries has now closed for business

      02 September 2014

    10. On digital publishing in 2014

      12 August 2014

    11. Google’s Material Design

      26 June 2014

    12. Typekit updates for CC 2014

      20 June 2014

    13. Advanced web typography: Responsive web typography

      09 April 2014

    14. Advanced web typography: Justification & hyphenation

      09 April 2014

    15. Advanced web typography: Kerning

      08 April 2014

    16. Advanced web typography: A recap on OpenType features

      08 April 2014

    17. Say hello to Skull Tubes

      31 March 2014

    18. A lament for Readmill

      29 March 2014

    19. Celebrating non-venture-backed companies

      05 March 2014

    20. This is not 2013 in review

      03 January 2014

  12. 2013

    1. CSS Regions and Edge Reflow

      27 September 2013

    2. Digest is out now

      14 August 2013

    3. Digest’s typography & grids (part 1)

      07 August 2013

    4. My new magazine: Digest

      29 July 2013

    5. Countdone is now available in the App Store

      26 June 2013

    6. 3 reasons I’m excited about WWDC 2013

      04 June 2013

    7. Hello, Typekit

      23 May 2013

    8. Studio diary 2013: part 2

      15 May 2013

    9. You should come to ConfShop

      10 May 2013

    10. Typographica’s favourite typefaces of 2012

      18 March 2013

    11. Beware the free, invisible service

      14 March 2013

    12. Responsive web design: the war has not yet been won

      01 March 2013

    13. Coming soon: Countdone for iOS

      21 February 2013

    14. Designers I would recommend

      08 February 2013

    15. Somerset to San Francisco in pictures

      03 February 2013

    16. Studio diary 2013: part 1

      09 January 2013

  13. 2012

    1. 2012 in review

      31 December 2012

    2. Thirty-three

      18 December 2012

    3. Quatro

      13 December 2012

    4. A new model for the musician-to-listener relationship

      28 November 2012

    5. Hammer

      22 November 2012

    6. A conversation with Erik Spiekermann

      20 November 2012

    7. Typecast joins Monotype

      30 October 2012

    8. Music collections in the era of the cloud

      24 October 2012

    9. So, this is what I missed

      19 October 2012

    10. What did I miss?

      17 October 2012

    11. Thank you

      23 September 2012

    12. Why we created Insites: The Book

      21 September 2012

    13. Good riddance, PayPal

      04 September 2012

    14. Review: Doxie Go WiFi scanner

      01 August 2012

    15. Has adaptive design failed? Of course it bloody hasn’t.

      23 May 2012

    16. Tomorrow’s web type today: from Qaegkvwyz to Qaegkvwyz using stylesets

      15 May 2012

    17. Tomorrow’s web type today: Say it With a Swash

      14 May 2012

    18. Tomorrow’s web type today: Expert subsets for css in 123

      12 May 2012

    19. Tomorrow’s web type today: The fine flourish of the ligature

      10 May 2012

    20. The cloud-centric Mac set-up: 8 months on

      10 April 2012

    21. Ideas of March 2.0

      15 March 2012

    22. Responsive Summit

      28 February 2012

    23. Better background images for responsive web design

      15 February 2012

    24. Review: Mantis Stand for iPad

      10 February 2012

    25. Dog days

      25 January 2012

    26. A better Photoshop grid for responsive web design

      20 January 2012

  14. 2011

    1. 2011 in review goals for 2012

      29 December 2011

    2. Announcing Insites: The Book

      21 December 2011

    3. With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

      16 December 2011

    4. 8 Faces #4

      06 December 2011

    5. Viewport Industries & The 2012 Experiment

      17 November 2011

    6. The typography-out approach in the world of browser-based web design

      07 October 2011

    7. Steve Jobs

      06 October 2011

    8. Help us raise $35,000 for clean water in Ethiopia

      30 September 2011

    9. The Kindle Fire

      29 September 2011

    10. Review: ColcaSac MacBook Air 11" sleeve

      22 September 2011

    11. Extensis’ Web Font Plug-In

      13 September 2011

    12. Choose your web fonts wisely

      01 September 2011

    13. The relevance of the baseline grid

      24 August 2011

    14. Profiled in Computer Arts Projects

      23 August 2011

    15. I'm redesigning Smashing Magazine

      18 August 2011

    16. 8 Faces #3

      17 August 2011

    17. A note about my new Mac set-up

      09 August 2011

    18. A cloud-centric software licence

      25 July 2011

    19. Three things

      08 July 2011

    20. Font-weight in the age of web fonts

      07 July 2011

    21. The Email Charter

      04 July 2011

    22. First impressions of Google Plus

      30 June 2011

    23. Free HTML / CSS for type & palette proposals

      24 June 2011

    24. Get away from your desk

      02 June 2011

    25. CSS transitions & media queries

      31 May 2011

    26. Authentic Jobs UK

      26 May 2011

    27. Using TextExpander to conquer email

      11 May 2011

    28. Tracked

      06 May 2011

    29. Posthumous posting

      05 May 2011

    30. A preview of Codex: the journal of typography

      27 April 2011

    31. Introducing: Insites

      21 April 2011

    32. Time away from email

      18 April 2011

    33. An open letter to Dropbox

      10 April 2011

    34. A cloud-centric Mac set-up

      05 April 2011

    35. Allow yourself a sick day

      24 March 2011

    36. Using web fonts in desktop design apps

      22 March 2011

    37. Ideas of March (a return to blogging)

      21 March 2011

  15. 2010

    1. 2010 in review goals for 2011

      27 December 2010

    2. The best web conferences of 2010

      22 December 2010

    3. The search for the perfect media centre

      22 November 2010

    4. 8 Faces #2

      10 November 2010

    5. Hardboiled Web Design by Andy Clarke

      19 October 2010

    6. The fine art of saying hello

      15 September 2010

    7. Win a special edition of 8 Faces

      17 August 2010

    8. MoviePeg alphabet

      09 August 2010

    9. On publishing

      28 July 2010

    10. 8 Faces #1 now available to pre-order

      16 July 2010

    11. 8 Faces: very, very soon

      09 July 2010

    12. EP 2 is on its way

      28 June 2010

    13. Starkers 3.0

      21 June 2010

    14. Perfect Harmony

      21 June 2010

    15. Pulse news reader for iPad

      11 June 2010

    16. Back up

      10 June 2010

    17. Steve Jobs on Flash

      30 April 2010

    18. The inevitable failure of e-readers

      24 April 2010

    19. Web designers who can't code

      18 February 2010

    20. First thoughts on the iPad

      28 January 2010

    21. Starkers: HTML5 the future

      25 January 2010

    22. Bristol bound

      23 January 2010

    23. The Apple Tablet

      12 January 2010

  16. 2009

    1. 2009 in review goals for 2010

      30 December 2009

    2. Introducing: 8 Faces magazine

      23 December 2009

    3. A pet project in the works

      18 December 2009

    4. Branding The Money Pig

      09 December 2009

    5. URL ABC

      27 November 2009

    6. Ghostly Discovery

      30 October 2009

    7. English lesson #1: it's / its

      13 August 2009

    8. The Font-As-Service

      07 August 2009

    9. Starkers grows up

      17 July 2009

    10. ‘How to design a portfolio site’ screencast

      13 July 2009

    11. Tutorial: Multiple single.php templates in WordPress

      09 July 2009

    12. Win a signed copy of Sexy Web Design

      16 April 2009

    13. Don't check work email outside of work hours

      27 March 2009

    14. Announcing... EP 1. Come and get it.

      23 March 2009

    15. Sexy Web Design

      19 March 2009

    16. EP1: the details (and how to get it for free)

      15 March 2009

    17. Web Directions North 2009

      17 February 2009

    18. Studio diary: part 5

      05 February 2009

    19. Studio diary: part 4

      30 January 2009

    20. Studio diary: part 3

      20 January 2009

    21. Design trends in 2009

      15 January 2009

    22. Let’s talk money

      08 January 2009

  17. 2008

    1. Goals, old and new

      22 December 2008

    2. Studio diary: part 2

      15 December 2008

    3. LittleSnapper

      11 December 2008

    4. Studio diary: part 1

      02 December 2008

    5. Write off that first hour

      27 November 2008

    6. A quick word on advertising

      19 November 2008

    7. Round-up of 2008 speaking events

      14 November 2008

    8. Samantha Cliffe Photography

      24 October 2008

    9. Speaking events in early 2009

      21 October 2008

    10. Build your profile to get more freelance work

      13 October 2008

    11. Why being freelance does not mean you have to work more hours

      06 October 2008

    12. Starkers for WordPress 2.6.2

      18 September 2008

    13. Thwart the design thieves feature in .net magazine

      01 September 2008

    14. Death to IE6

      27 August 2008

    15. Vote for my SXSW ‘09 panels

      13 August 2008

    16. Bypassing the new Delicious site

      12 August 2008

    17. Interview on Boagworld (and appearance on The BeerCast)

      16 July 2008

    18. Introducing WooThemes; or, How you can own my WordPress theme designs

      09 July 2008

    19. Tutorial: create a textured background image

      28 June 2008

    20. iPhone 3G disappointments

      10 June 2008

    21. A blessay about Twitter

      23 May 2008

    22. Happy National Day!

      18 May 2008

    23. Learning lessons

      07 May 2008

    24. The to-do list problem & the ‘Things’ solution

      01 May 2008

    25. Week one of working for myself

      26 April 2008

    26. FOWD London 2008 wrap-up

      23 April 2008

    27. Create the perfect logo feature in .net magazine

      03 April 2008

    28. ‘A Gosling’ by Stuart Kolakovic

      26 March 2008

    29. Speaking and teaching at FOWD

      12 March 2008

    30. Want to help create the next version of elliotjaystocks.com?

      07 March 2008

    31. Wordpress tutorial:how to apply a dynamic body class or ID

      23 February 2008

    32. I’m leaving Carsonified

      20 February 2008

    33. How can we stop the thieves?

      08 February 2008

    34. Typesites

      07 February 2008

    35. Free ‘Starkers’ Wordpress theme

      27 January 2008

    36. Video on CommandShift3

      25 January 2008

    37. Catastroph-IE

      25 January 2008

    38. Kning Disk: beautiful Swedish design

      19 January 2008

    39. Cooking With Beer, episode 1:‘Mussels in Hoegaarden with Chips’

      11 January 2008

    40. Goals for 2008

      04 January 2008

  18. 2007

    1. Round-up of 2007 speaking events

      25 December 2007

    2. Tutorial: create transparent PNGs from your application icons

      19 December 2007

    3. Best of CSS Design 2007 / Top Blog Designs of 2007 / snap2objects interview

      13 December 2007

    4. 24 ways

      03 December 2007

    5. The iPhone can make you a better person

      30 November 2007

    6. Always (mis)read the label

      22 November 2007

    7. ‘Destroy The Web 2.0 Look’ @ Future of Web Design, New York

      13 November 2007

    8. CSS Tutorial: better nav image replacement

      27 October 2007

    9. Writeroom: minimalism at its best

      24 October 2007

    10. A week in books

      12 October 2007

    11. I’m speaking at Future Of Web Design, New York

      09 October 2007

    12. A little story about Airbag Industries’ new Sundance Film Festival site

      05 October 2007

    13. I’m speaking at SkillSwap Bristol

      14 September 2007

    14. Win tickets to ‘iDesign’ next Tuesday

      11 September 2007

    15. The new iPods

      06 September 2007

    16. I’m speaking at the London Design Festival

      01 September 2007

    17. Apple’s new iMac & keyboard

      08 August 2007

    18. Feature in .net / Practical Web Design magazine

      26 July 2007

    19. I’m speaking at Oxford Geek Night 3

      20 July 2007

    20. 5 apps for a new MacBook Pro

      13 July 2007

    21. Some pretty big news

      20 June 2007

    22. Tutorial in Computer Arts magazine

      09 June 2007

    23. Apollo at Adobe Live 2007

      06 June 2007

    24. Transcending CSS by Andy Clarke

      10 May 2007

    25. Thoughts on Coda

      24 April 2007

    26. ‘Gimmi’ custom Photoshop brushes (v1)

      24 April 2007

    27. Three mistakes Apple have made with the UK market

      26 March 2007

  19. 2006

    1. Bonnie, 1994 - 2006

      30 December 2006

    2. Christmas shopping: online, instore

      29 November 2006

    3. Misunderstanding web standards

      09 November 2006

    4. The joke that is IE7

      03 November 2006

    5. iTunes 7: I take it back

      29 September 2006

    6. iTunes 7

      17 September 2006

    7. Pedantic Semantics

      05 September 2006

    8. Beer heaven

      28 June 2006

    9. This is the end…

      17 June 2006

    10. A change of plan

      15 June 2006

    11. Dracula unspectacular

      03 June 2006

    12. Amsterdam > Prague > Vienna

      25 May 2006

    13. Aboard the ship surreal

      22 May 2006

    14. Brussels

      20 May 2006

    15. New site!

      18 May 2006

  20. 2005

    1. Waking up to trees

      05 September 2005

    2. (Re)Thinking Aloud

      05 September 2005

    3. On the deck

      05 September 2005

    4. After the London bombings

      07 July 2005

    5. Untitled

      26 January 2005

Looking for something you can’t find here? When relaunching this website, I decided to ‘de-list’ several articles I considered to be outdated / irrelevant / embarrassing. It’s possible they are actually still here and Google might be able to help you find them.