Hello again, happy September 👋
It's been a while, sorry. I’ve had some health stuff over the summer, but I'm back now. Here are some design and product discoveries from the last few months 👇
Poolsuite 2.0 makes everything better 🌞
I've enjoyed using Poolsuite, the retro-inspired music service, for a couple of years now. It's wonderful to play some early '90s ✨poolside vibes✨ on a sunny afternoon.
Version 2.0 arrived this summer with curated mixtapes that I love for deep work sessions. The improved mobile apps bring that same energy; perfect for when you need some funk on the move 🕺🪩
I made free wallpapers for you 🌌
I hid from another European heatwave underneath a patio umbrella… and gave Turkish marbling a go.
You can download these wallpapers via the button below, with thanks to
for the inspiration to share my work on Gumroad.Fictional brand archive 🗄️
I discovered the Fictional Brands Archive via
. It houses a large collection of brands used in TV, film, and games. I loved the study of Lumon Industries — and yes, consider this another unsubtle reminder to watch Severance if you haven't.
Pretty colours 🌈
While I find colour psychology a little reductive (as mentioned in the video, context matters more than colour alone), this animation by the studio Oddfellows is a gorgeous, blurry and noisy summary of colour within design.
Ableton’s music playground 🎼
When I hear "music theory", I'm reminded of endless (and boring) paper workbooks as a child. My limited childhood attention span struggled with it.
Ableton's interactive music production fundamentals shows how good UI/UX transforms learning. They've made complex concepts accessible and engaging to everyone. Poke buttons, hear beeps and boops, and understand why pop music sounds the way it does.
Doctor’s logos ✍️
I loved this fun experiment from Dave Officer featuring popular brands in 'doctor's handwriting'. Not far from my own handwriting, to be honest.
Thanks for reading.
After a summer hiatus, I'm back with a different approach. I'm voice-dictating these newsletters now — it keeps me from rewriting every paragraph a bajillion times and helps maintain the conversational tone I’m actually after.
The newsletter had become too polished and curated. Each edition felt like building a product rather than sharing discoveries with friends. Speaking aloud forces me to just talk about what I've found, hopefully without the perfectionist spiral.
The turtle doodles stay, of course.
Best wishes,
Tom 🐢
