Rollin’ into 2026 like… [contains quote post or other embedded content]
Over the holiday period I created Chromacode. A visual identity system for my work inspired by Peter Saville’s Blue Monday cover. Read about it here brendandawes.com/chromacode/ or see it in action in any project page on my site.
Cut together some of my creative shenanigans 2025. Some Aardman bits, some passion project bits: directin’, designin’, animatin’, talkin’, music makin’, performin’, 3D printin’, pinballin’ + more! Thanks so much to everyone for the opportunities this year, I’ve been a lucky duck. #aardman #animation
Will give this a proper write up soon but finally figured out the JS to create a web component to mimic ‘shape-outside’ for text line boxes. Then I have to resubmit it to the CSSWG issue queue. Example and link to repo here: https://jpamental.github.io/shape-outside-line-box/example.html #typography #design
HE’S BEEN! HE’S BEEN!
Every once in a while I get a nudge from a friend I haven’t spoken with in a while. This week it was the wonderful Mr @zeldman.bsky.social - hello Jeffrey! Nice reminder that sometimes social networks can actually be, err, social :)
Dear Amazon, if you're going to use AI enhanced synthetic speech for Audio Description on your Prime TV series, the least you can do is check it for pronunciation quality. The voice being realistic isn't enough.
In Talamasca: The Secret Order, AD mispronunciations include "Surré" instead of "Surrey", "alyus" instead of "alias", and "one hundreds" instead of "hundreds".
https://aestheticamagazine.com/meet-the-aesthetica-art-prize-shortlist-brendan-dawes/
Let's Dance and Road To Hell (Part 2) are among the best tracks of my years. #RIP Chris Rea
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yUdH5JxbIEs
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=OcW-BSEB3ng&list=PLBV2UZtWGI5xjNXTrV_laLlXG7GQ9rV6-
Under the Skin is one of my all time fave films and I’ve just read the incredible book. Glazer’s film centre’s on the main character whilst Faber’s book is much more detailed. A book that will stay with me for a long time.
Smart Interface Design Patterns
• Vitaly Friedman
How To Stop Endless Stakeholder Reviews
You've been there before. Overlapping deadlines, conflicting stakeholder priorities, and design reviews turning into endless cycles of feedback without clear decisions. It's frustrating, inefficient, and often leads to poor UX compromises.
Yesterday I stumbled upon Parvaneh ...
Smart Interface Design Patterns
• Vitaly Friedman
How To Design For Deaf People
When we think about people who are deaf, we often assume stereotypes, such as "disabled" older adults with hearing aids. However, this perception is far from the truth, and often leads to poor decisions and broken products.
Let's look at when and how deafness emerges, and ho...
Martina Flor’s Open Studio
• Martina Flor
My Biggest Wins of 2025 and How You Can Copy Them
In 2025, I didn’t work longer hours, launch more products, or take on more projects — yet it became one of my strongest business years ever. The difference wasn’t talent or effort, but a few key decisions that changed how my work reached people and how its value was perceived...
Scientists recognize Type 5 Diabetes:
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/type-5-diabetes-signs-symptoms_l_69406860e4b043da371d2a3a
Type 1: insulin production collapse due to auto-immune reaction
Type 2: insulin resistance, often due to obesity
Type 3: insulin production collapse due to pancreatic damage (from cancer for example)
Type 4: age-related insulin resistance/collapse
Type 5: insulin resistance/collapse due to malnutrition, most often in childhood
The @TetraLogical team has gathered (online) for a day of retrospectives, updates, and opportunities to continue innovating what we do and the services we offer, plus a Christmas quiz to wrap it all up.
There might also be a selection of Christmas hats on display, and there's a rumour going around that my hat might not be black! 😊
Loved this conversation with @marcthiele.com and @bradfrost.com https://beyondtellerrand.com/blog/brad-frost-wake-up-excited-with-marc-thiele
What a week, huh? 😅
Listening to the news, you'd think we were being invaded by people arriving in small boats...
It's actually 40,652 people in 2025.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c70989jrdweo
In Aug, the UK Gov announced a £100m investment to "tackle people smuggling gangs".
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/investment-for-border-security-command-paves-way-for-new-crackdown-on-people-smuggling-gangs
That's basically £250k per person who arrives on a small boat.
WTF?
TA-DA! This is v0.8 of my neon-Norbot virtual pinball table! I’ve taken the digital recreation of a skate-themed 1990 Bally pinball called ‘Radical’ and rethemed it as ‘Gnarlybot’, the fluro-soaked design I created for the Gromit Unleashed 3 charity arts trail! #virtualpinball #vpinball #aardman
Swearing can make you stronger:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/does-swearing-make-you-stronger-science-says-yes
Well, thank f...