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2023 Recap

We made it another year. 2023 will probably go down in history as pretty bad. But I personally had a good time overall. I got to make some cool stuff, landed a new job that I really like, and made it through without any bumps or scratches. Here are a few highlights, in no particular order.

I made an actual video game.

It’s a very small game that takes less than five minutes to complete (if you’re good at platformers). But it’s playable, has a beginning and an end, and I’m extremely proud of it. Made in GB Studio, it can be played on real Game Boy hardware. But you can also play it in your browser or on your phone. Give it a shot!

We launched a new forum.

Will Hackworth did all the hard work. But me and Andrew Elmore gave feedback, designed some graphics, and told all our friends about it. It’s called Famiclub and it's meant to be a place to discuss video games and the various forms of creativity surrounding them. Check it out!

I designed a book cover.

My good friend Brice self-published their first novel and I had the immense honor of doing the typesetting and cover design. Legitimately one of the most satisfying graphic design projects I’ve ever worked on. This book is now on my bookshelf and even available at my local library. Bucket list stuff. (And there may be more on the horizon.) Get it on Amazon.

I launched a gimmick Tumblr account.

It’s called PSXUI and its goal is to showcase and celebrate the user interface design of PlayStation 1 games. There’s a lot of classic design work to obsess over, such as Ridge Racer Type 4 and Wip3out. But there’s also a lot of lesser-known and weird stuff that I’ve discovered thanks to this project. Since launch, it's highlighted over 150 games. And other people seem to like it, too! Follow along.

I designed some official merch for Tumblr.

My friend and frequent-collaborator Nick somehow got himself involved in Tumblr merchandise production. He tapped me for help on a couple of projects and I got to design a camp mug, a tumbler, a hardcover journal, an embroidered patch, a few bumper stickers, and more. I’ve been a regular Tumblr user for more than a decade, so this was incredibly neat to work on.

I released two new display fonts.

I’m frequently tinkering with new font ideas. (And revisiting old ones — Kilby received a lot of attention this year, with a yet-to-be-released pixel version that may be better than the original.) In 2023 I released two weird display fonts: Boba Mono and Globlin. Both inspired by blobby Y2K aesthetics. Get 'em from the Resources page.

My book club turned a year old.

In December 2023, the Last Words Book Club celebrated its one-year anniversary. It also gained several more members (but only a dedicated few are actually active, lol). Together in 2023, we read 12 horror novels and hosted one movie watch party. Learn more and/or join at: last-words.club.

We got a second cat.

The shelter had named him Moe, but we quickly realized that sounds a lot like "no." So we renamed him Rex, keeping with the theme of naming our cats after Fallout: New Vegas characters. He's extremely friendly, but maybe a little too food obsessed. Arcade loves him.