John Brownlee – Medium

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

Why Designing Affordances Is Apple’s Secret Design Superpower

Apple products aren’t usually the first to market in new categories, but what lifts their products into design icons is usually one…

5 min readDec 10, 2019

--

3

Why Designing Affordances Is Apple’s Secret Design Superpower

--

3

John Brownlee
in
Modus

What Siri Could Learn from Thanos

Relying on one voice assistant to rule them all might be expecting too much

6 min readNov 5, 2019

--

1

What Siri Could Learn from Thanos

--

1

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

Spoofing the Advertising Industry from the Inside

Huge art directors Jae Who and John Spinnenweber bill their new project as a “shotgun blast to society.”

3 min readOct 8, 2019

--

2

Spoofing the Advertising Industry from the Inside

--

2

John Brownlee
in
Modus

What Ever Happened to Steampunk?

How the iPhone popularized steampunk… and how the iPhone killed it off

6 min readOct 3, 2019

--

16

What Ever Happened to Steampunk?

--

16

John Brownlee
in
Modus

Why Accessibility Is the Future of Tech

Designing solutions for people with disabilities offers a peephole into the future

6 min readSep 4, 2019

--

8

Why Accessibility Is the Future of Tech

--

8

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

It’s Time to Start Using Emotive Punctuation Marks

Emojis are great. But shouldn’t our punctuation also evolve to express our nuanced emotions?

6 min readAug 9, 2019

--

2

It’s Time to Start Using Emotive Punctuation Marks

--

2

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

Why Productivity Gadgets Won’t Save Us

Technology isn’t standing in the way of our creativity; we are.

6 min readJul 9, 2019

--

1

Why Productivity Gadgets Won’t Save Us

--

1

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

An Inside Look at the Coders Shaping Our World

Clive Thompson, the author of the new book Coders, pulls back the curtain on a group of influential computer programmers.

7 min readJun 4, 2019

--

An Inside Look at the Coders Shaping Our World

--

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

The Next Frontier for AR? Your Ear

When augmented reality goes mainstream, you’re most likely to experience it through a product you already own — headphones.

6 min readMay 9, 2019

--

The Next Frontier for AR? Your Ear

--

John Brownlee
in
Magenta

How Yuri Suzuki Designs Sound Without Being Able to Read Music

The introverted Pentagram partner talks about finding inspiration, embracing structure, and the importance of listening.

4 min readApr 24, 2019

--

How Yuri Suzuki Designs Sound Without Being Able to Read Music

--

John Brownlee

John Brownlee

writer, editor, journowhatsit. Design, tech, and health is my beat. Editor-in-chief of Folks (folks.pillpack.com). Ex-Fast Company, Wired, and more.

Following

Help
Status
About
Careers
Blog
Privacy
Terms
Text to speech
Teams