for creative people
"I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library."
This old book is a periodic table of known mechanical movements, first published in 1868. The book has been scanned onto the web, with many of the gears animated into looping gifs so you can see precisely how their ingenious mechanisms work and what movements they create.
American Science & SurplusScience kits, educational toys, school supplies, arts and crafts items, hobby tools, scales, lab glass, housewares, electronics. All the good stuff.
Cool ToolsTools. Cool ones.
Are.na“Spend less time ‘liking’ and more time thinking. Are.na frees your mind from distraction and lets you organise your internet more mindfully.”
Ian’s Shoelace SiteYes, a site all about lacing and tying shoes. I use Ian’s own knot, aptly named “The Ian Knot.”
Jessica Hische’s ResourcesJessica Hische is a lettering artist and author. Her resources page is fantastic (and the inspiration for this one).
Scope of Work“Writing about work, attention, and the built world”.
Present & Correct“Office sundries for the modern workspace. New & vintage stationery available online & from our London store.”
McMaster-Carr Editor’s Choice,An industrial supplier with a huge selection (US only).
Nero’s NotesUK-based stationer. Romantics for traditional, analogue writing supplies.
thistothat.comA dirt-simple glue guide: choose the two materials you’d like to glue together and voilà—your answer for the perfect adhesive.
Super-duper rubber bands with a wooden toggle thing. A million and one uses.
An ongoing list of filmmakers, YouTube channels, and other online films that I think are exceptional:
Alec Soth Editor’s Choice, , The Art Assignment, Beau Miles, Essential Craftsman, Everything is a Remix, Harry Dwyer, Scott Brown Carpentry Editor’s Choice, 2024, Technology Connections, Ten Bullets, Van Neistat Vimeo & YouTubeAuthor of the hit 2016 book Deep Work (about the merits of mono-tasking and deep concentration in a world of constant distraction) and his newest release: A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload.
Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelryby Leanne Shapton
Michael PollanAuthor of five New York Times bestsellers: Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation (2013), Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual (2010), In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (2008), The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals (2006), and The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World (2001).
A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction Editor’s Choice,An encyclopaedia of over two hundred design patterns for creating spaces that are comfortable, humane, and inviting. An essential read. Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, Murray Silverstein, et al. Oxford University Press, 1977. 1,171 pages.
Tyler on GoodreadsI keep my Goodreads account pretty up-to-date with what I’m reading.
Wink BooksFabulous books that “belong on paper.”
Producers of films, photo papers, and chemistry, including many classic formulas from defunct brands like Agfa.
Bostick & SullivanSupplier of materials and chemicals for alternative processes.
FILM FerraniaFILM Ferrania is restarting production for analogue film in both still photo and motion picture formats.
KEHIn my opinion, the internet’s best camera store, great for used gear and analogue equipment.
Photographers’ FormularyChemistry galore.
Sprint Systems of PhotographyProducers of black and white liquid chemistry.
Willem is an analogue photography wunderkind; his YouTube channel is as tranquil as it is informative.
The huge archive.
Rubrication Design ExamplesA gallery of typographic and graphic design examples of rubrication, a classic pattern of using red against black for emphasis.
ShorpyHuge archive of scanned, restored, and curated historic photographs.
Two Hundred Fifty Things an Architect Should Know Webster’s 1913“Connoisseur’s reference to American English—a dictionary for writers and wordsmiths.”
An exhaustive reference for sensor and lens data—dynamic range, read noise, photographic DR, and more—across a huge range of cameras. Indispensable for comparing analogue and digital systems on equal technical footing.
SquooshPowerful image resizing and compression tool.
“A web and iPhone application for copying the ‘hidden’ characters that come with the computer’s typefaces, to be pasted into emails, tweets, text documents, forums and whatever else you might need to spice up with an extra ♚, ฿ or ❒.”
Resources for better type.
TypewolfPossibly the greatest type resource online. Great for print and web.
“Anthropologist, art director, illustrator, metaphor designer, and mediocre developer”—London, England.
Simon WalkerDesigner & lettering artist—Austin, Texas.
A smorgasbord of tools for tweaking macOS, also adds Windows 7-style window snapping. Worth every penny. macOS
Pastebot“If copy & paste is a part of your workflow, Pastebot is an indispensable tool to improve your productivity. Quickly recall clippings that you have copied before and apply powerful text filters to format before pasting. Queue up multiple clippings to paste in sequence.” macOS
Pixlr & GIMPTwo free alternatives to Adobe Photoshop. macOS Windows
Processing“Processing is a flexible software sketchbook and a language for learning how to code within the context of the visual arts.” macOS Windows
macapps.linkThe best alternative to Ninite for macOS. Choose what apps to install and get them automatically installed, quietly, fast, and easy. Use it to set up your new computer. macOS
NovaA native Mac code editor from the amazing team at Panic. macOS
nvALT (Notational Velocity)nvALT is a minimalist note-taking app for macOS with a unique user interface. macOS
HazelAutomated organisation for your Mac by Noodlesoft. macOS
Soulver“Soulver is a notepad calculator app for Mac. It’s a notepad that gives instant answers to calculations in your text. A better way to work things out than a classic calculator and a more lightweight tool than a spreadsheet.” macOS
TextExpander Editor’s Choice,A more full-featured, cross-platform alternative to aText. Pricier, but has become my go-to as I have been working in Windows more and more. macOS Windows
TextSniper Editor’s Choice, 2021“Instantly capture non-selectable text from YouTube videos, PDFs, images, online courses, screencasts, presentations, webpages, video tutorials, photos, etc.” macOS
“Since 2001, the Apostrophe Protection Society has had a mission to preserve the correct use of this important, though much misused, item of punctuation.”
Glitch Art ResourcesPhillip Stearns’ collection of resources concerning Glitch Art.
styleguides.ioWebsite style guide resources.
Tyler’s Telephony PageTyler’s (yes, me!) telephony resources page.
“In its ruggedness and lack of concern to look comfortable or easy, Brutalism can be seen as a reaction by a younger generation to the lightness, optimism, and frivolity of today’s web design.”
The Museum of Online Museums (MoOM)A curated collection of online museums.
— Editor’s Choice. Year indicates when the recommendation was last confirmed current.
This page is constantly growing and is probably in some disarray. Report broken links—or just send nice thoughts to—tyler(at)tylerdickey.com