Uses

This is a non-exhaustive list of the tools I use in my day-to-day operation for design, development, and life as a human. If I’m missing something, let me know!

Hardware

• Main Computer — 2023 MacBook Pro, 14-inch, 16GB M2
• Webcam — Onboard Mac laptop camera Logitech C920 Pro HD
• Microphone — Blue Microphones Yeti Blackout. Got it for streaming, use it for everything.
• Keys — GK64 custom build, with an acacia case, Elven keycaps, and Kailh box jade switches.
• Phone — iPhone 14 Pro 256GB. Wouldn’t recommend it. I don’t think Apple holds the future of phones anymore. Might try a Nothing phone next.
• Headphones — Nothing ear(open) for being out and about, Nothing ear(2) for when I need noise canceling, and Sennheiser HD 650at home. Love the wide sound stage.
• Luggage — Chrome Niko Pack laptop & camera bag. It’s like bulletproof, effectively waterproof, and looks really tech-wear-y and rad.

Software

• IDE — VS Code.
  • Theme: Nord or Horizon Light (I know, *GASP*, a light theme) depending on the day (and the time of day).
  • Font: Menlo, Monaco, 'Courier New', monospace; SF Mono with a Fira Code fallback.
  • Must-Have Extensions: Prettier, GitLens & Vetur.
• Terminal — I like Hyper.js — recently switched from iTerm almost solely based on the visual customization and JSON-based (instead of GUI) config.
  • Theme: Nord, again.
  • Prompt: Used to be a die-hard oh-my-zsh user, but it’s more than I need by a lot. Now I just use Spaceship.
• Notes/Content — Obsidian.md and flat files for almost everything. Notion. Notion holds my life together. This blog is published using Contentful.
• Messaging — I use Discord and Telegram to message most folks.
• UI/Prototype Design — I use Figma pretty much exclusively now. It just came down to like one frustrating day of fighting with Framer’s layout tools. Framer X! I recently made the switch from Sketch and have not looked back. The code extensibility makes it a must-have for devsigners 🦄. Figma is also good.
• 3D Design — Gotta be Cinema 4D. I initially got hooked on it via Devon Ko’s amazing 3D For Designers course and now I can’t stop making weird stuff with it. I use Octane Renderer for most things.
• Memes & One-Off Imagery — Photoshop lol
• Vector Art & Iconography — Usually the twin swords of Illustrator, and Figma get me sorted.
• Music — Spotify for everything. Spotify *used to actually do a really good job of suggesting music I’ll like.
• VPN — It’s ${new Date().getCurrentYear()} — please, please, please use a VPN. I prefer Nord (lmao) but any one that you pay for is probably decent.
• Password Management — I use 1Password for login management these days!
• Productivity: — Alfred is a replacement for your Spotlight on Mac OS X that supercharges it with all kinds of useful featureset. It’s well worth paying for a license.

Deprecated

• Backup Computer — 2015 MacBook Pro, 15" Retina, 2.2GHz Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM, Intel Iris Pro.
• Additional Monitors — LG 4K for screen design and browsers/etc. and an LG Ultrawide riding shotgun, vertically-mounted for contextual peripherals (IRC, Telegram, Spotify, usually Hyper too!).
• Tracking — Apple Magic Trackpad in Space Grey