Writing
2026
JoshMob
Eleven pop-up community gatherings over two years, taking place in Boulder, Denver, DC, Philly, NYC, Providence, Boston, Raleigh, LA, and Seattle.
Keeping abundance
On a weekend in New Orleans, a pendulum of progress, and abundance as a practice that begins inside.
On CCA’s closing: what we owe each other now
California College of the Arts announced it's closing after nearly 120 years. On what the community owes each other next.
2025
New set
A new apartment in North Oakland, and a visual and spiritual reset.
When I die…
On purpose, impact, and helping others discover their own why.
I Am Here.
On resistance, community, and an election night in November 2025.
Prayer
A poem.
2024
Unexpected poetry
A parting gift from a colleague, marking the end of one collaboration and the start of something ongoing.
Five years later
Returning to speak to the Sioux Falls, SD creative community, five years after the first visit.
2023
First Month back in Oakland
Returning to the Bay Area after the pandemic years in Philadelphia.
Sunny Sunday morning, French press with cardamom pod, almond horn
On mothers, almond horns, and the ritual of grinding coffee with a cardamom pod.
Poem, March 13, 12:57am
forecast — a poem.
2022
Poem, August 20
Making the bed (a meditation) — a poem.
2021
Poem (Superku), August 8
A poem -- comes a hummingbird.
Poem, August 31
Dolores Park sounds -- a super-haiku.
Tradition(s)
On attending Saturday morning services with family, and the Jewish traditions worth keeping.
Poem, May 26
A poem -- count the seconds between lightning and thunder.
2020
to name things
A poem on naming, time, and epochs.
Holzeresque
On making Jenny Holzer-inspired business-card life tips at an instant print shop in 1990s Boston.
Accepting the Chair role
On accepting the Chair of the Master of Interaction Design program at CCA, during the early weeks of the pandemic.
Poem, March 28
A poem written in the early weeks of the pandemic.
2019
Under Over: 2019 edition
A year-end reflection on independence, networks, and what I'm done tolerating.
A Christmas Eve Three
Napkins, brand smiles, and a handwritten note found in an old record sleeve.
Getting it right, Part 2
Guest essays on the tensions of leadership and joining an existing team, from Meg Lightheart and Randy J. Hunt.
Getting it right
The first in a series on successful business strategies and design team operations, with guest essays from Michelle Morrison, Dan Mall, and Tatiana Mac.
Starting off
Four new things for the year ahead: a first full semester teaching at CCA, quarterly writing retreats, office hours, and independent workshops.
2018
Poem, 8/11
A poem.
Welcome to San Francisco
A local's guide to San Francisco -- places, eats, cafés, and getting around.
What Actually Works
On Milton Glaser's maxim and naming a podcast in one tweet.
2017
Poem, 9/10
A poem.
Selling the story of your work
On the difference between telling and selling, and ten steps to creating a successful story about your design work.
Twitter ALC kits
Designed riding kits for the Twitter Open AIDS LifeCycle team, who raised $45,000.
Ribbon Bed v1
The original build log for the Ribbon Bed -- sketch, schematic, mold, and finished frame.
2016
Poem, 9/26
A poem.
Place, Product, and People: My take on the IBM Bluemix Garage
Nine months inside IBM's Bluemix Garage -- on place, product, people, and IBM Design Thinking.
Time with family
On teaching Mom what a Tweet is, and a five-hour drive with Dad from New York to DC.
Two haiku Sunday, 8/14
Two haiku.
Poem, 6/7
A poem, for Suzanne Vega.
Ride highlights
Training for the AIDS LifeCycle ride to LA -- five training rides, from 22 to 58 miles.
My books
Unpacking and arranging a lifetime of books into new built-in shelves.
Poem, 4/24
A poem.
Aww & awe
On returning a 16-year-old favor, and an unexpected donation to an AIDS LifeCycle ride.
Poem, 3/6
A poem.
2015
Poem, 12/11
A poem.
Live from Studio D, it's my first Creative Live class!
Teaching my first CreativeLive class, Building a Brand Book, to 2500 live-streamed students.
Backing and forthing
A visualization of time spent between NYC, SFO, and PVD, 2012-2015.
Poem, 9/19
A poem.
Thoughts last night and this morning after meeting Elle Luna and being in a room full of empowered attentive people
Seven reflections after a Women Catalysts event with Elle Luna.
Meyer Lemon Sorbet and Jarry
On meeting a Jarry magazine co-founder, writing a piece for Issue #1, and a Meyer lemon cocktail recipe.
Poem, 8/9
A poem.
Poem, 7/29
A poem.
Yes I Understand and Wish to Continue
Designing the book cover for James Schiller's poetry collection, with cover art by Matt Underwood and typography by Jesse Ragan.
Vision + traction = scale
The fourth Designtrepreneurs panel, 150+ attendees at WeWork Soma during SF Design Week.
Teaching Visual Design at General Assembly
A two-day Visual Design workshop for nearly 60 students at GA San Francisco, culminating in a same-day poster campaign about the California drought.
Print at 75
One of 75 designers commissioned by Debbie Millman for Print Magazine's 75th anniversary, made in one hour from found materials.
Beyond words.
On attending Sensorium, a dance evening curated by James Buckhouse, and what moved beyond words.
Nom Chompsky (a post-modern pop-up bistro)
A linguistics-pun menu, with Michael Schuler.
Poem, 1/12
A poem.
Poem, 1/3
A poem.
Trekkin'
60,000 miles traveled in 2014, mapped.
2014
Poem, 11/17
A poem.
Where we speak from
A short reflection on speaking from the heart.
Poem, 11/6
A poem, with Jim.
The week in gay
Hosting Designtrepreneurs in New York, Tim Cook coming out, and launching Startnership.
Cage quote
A John Cage quote clipped from the NYTimes years ago, resonating more with time.
Poem, 10/12
A poem.
Poem, 8/18
A poem.
Poem, 6/2
A poem.
Poem, 5/6
A poem, with apologies to Edna St. Vincent Millay's Recuerdo.
Poem, 3/14
A poem.
Poem, 2/14
A poem.
Poem, 2/1
A poem.
2013
Marty's Metaskills
Taking Marty Neumeier's Metaskills quiz.
NY/SF: A Hypothesis
A hypothesis about how the physical and natural environment shapes the very different cultures of New York and San Francisco.
On iOS 7
What iOS 7 got right, and a wish list for what's next.
Visual Parallel
A visual parallel between Thaana script and Woodstock's language.
Love and Family
On surprising a friend at his going-away party in Baltimore, and witnessing the family a community bar can become.
Poem, 4/21
A poem.
Musical Parallel
A vocal parallel between They Might Be Giants and The Smashing Pumpkins.
A to Z (but not X)
The websites I typed one letter to reach, back in 2013.
Notes on Cliff
Originally published in the first issue of Hello Mr. -- a memoir of a chat-room meeting arranged as a teenager in 1986, and the moment of recognizing something was wrong.
Poem, 1/14
A poem.
2012
Thoughts on 4'33"
On seeing a live performance of John Cage's 4'33" at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Poem, 5/20
A poem, for Greg.
My time with Maurice
Maurice Sendak has died, and I am pondering temporality. On the summer of 1995, when I hand-lettered his Sendak in Philadelphia poster and got to know him.
Poem, 3/18
Glimpse -- a poem.
Cooking mantra?
Just Put Bacon In It.
Tears of joy in the awesome war.
New Year's Eve in Amsterdam, and a full 90 minutes of fireworks that moved me to tears.
2011
Heaven: Day 7 of 40x40
A week in Barcelona -- cooking classes, La Boqueria, and dreaming in olives.
Day 5 of 40x40
A few days of graphic inspiration in Barcelona -- bars, wine shops, and a first custom-tailored coat.
Observation
A one-line observation.
Day one of 40x40
On starting a 40-day trip, and holding onto the freshness of travel.
Preparations for 40x40
Preparing for a trip to Barcelona -- physical and spiritual.
Couplet, 11/4
A couplet.
40x40
Planning 40 days off to mark turning 40 -- Barcelona, Budapest, Paris, and Amsterdam.
On clipboards & leadership.
On starting a childhood club with clipboards and assignments, and where those instincts led.
A lifetime of things.
A prescient old journal entry, found while unpacking books and records.
(Not so) funny
On making room for fun-lovingness after years of conveying seriousness.
Poem, 7/17
A poem.
My first three lessons as a Jeep Wrangler owner.
Three lessons from the first week in a friend's '97 Wrangler.
Couplet, 6/26
A couplet.
Pride reminder
You can feel your pride every day, not just one night a year.
Pinball wizard 3.0
A night at Barcade in Jersey City, and generational thoughts on arcade games vs. modern controllers.
What's (a) meta (for)
Are you looking at the road, or the windshield?
2010
They never end.
A theory that Chuck Mangione wrote The Price is Right theme song.
How to describe me
You are like rainbow toe socks.
The original... Three. Word. Tagline.
On the trend of three-word taglines, and the two sets we were taught as kids.
Liking is the new lugging
On curating physical possessions before a first home purchase, and the freedom of digital ones.
Poem, 8/28
Flight 2033 -- a poem, to be read aloud Whitman style.
Poem, 3/15
A poem.
2008
Poem, 8/28
A poem, at the end of Provincetown.
2007
Tartine
A cameo in a NYTimes video and article about Tartine Bakery.
2005
Poem, 12/15
A poem.
2004
Poem, 11/22
A poem.
2002
Whatsoever
A flash of handwritten poetry.