It started off with a toast. As I was crisping my bread, I wondered why UI notifications were called ‘toasts’. Curious, I started digging into the etymology of UI components. Toast When your toast is ready, it pops up from the toaster to signal that to you. Similarly, toast notifications are…

A tale of 2 cultures. — Growing up in Singapore, I am exposed to cultural influences from the West as well as the East. I use Western apps like Pinterest as well as its Chinese close equivalent 小红书 (Xiao Hong Shu). …

There is no speed limit. — User Interface (UI) Design is deceptively simple, especially when done right. It’s a bunch of lines, boxes, and text after all. It is easy to grasp basic concepts but hard to become good at it. While there are many design systems out there to get you up and running quickly…

The future is bright — Lately, I’ve embarked on a no-code development journey. What started out as a desire to improve my offerings as a freelancer turned into a blossoming passion for no-code tools. Even tech juggernauts are building their own version of no-code tech tools, Amazon is building Honeycode (still in beta), Apple recently…

The ones that I actually use regularly. Is your Chrome extensions library looking a little bloated? Over the years, I’ve tested many extensions and slowly whittled down my list to only include the ones I actually use. Here are the 6 Chrome Extensions I love as a designer: 1. FPS extension This FPS…

Is it .. Multiply? Or is it Screen? — It’s always a guessing game when it comes to blend modes, isn’t it? In this article, I hope to introduce some practical ways on how you can use Figma blend modes in your designs! Before we dive into the use cases, here are the 2 areas where you can find…

I confess — I’m a Figma plugin addict. Plugins have saved me so much time and made me a better designer. From improving my design handovers to creating cool project shots, I created a list of my favourites! I’ll be breaking it down into 2 categories: A) Plugins that speed…

As a child, I was an eager writer. I would pen down short stories, create mini-storybooks for circulation. I kept a diary that contained my random musings, pointing out particular words and conversations that stuck to my mind. The urge to tell stories is innate in all of us. But…

Why I talk to Cab Drivers — Cab drivers give us the darndest advice sometimes. There’s something about sharing a space with a taxi driver that is both intimate yet distant. Barriers slowly come down and conversations ebb and flow. On this particular instance, I got on a cab that had the most decked-out audio system I’ve…