CSS Sans is a very intriguing and poetic project, I wanna make something like this, a long term but simple project that evolve with the internet, like an organism.

The thing I hate about our work that it can never be a fossil, it just dissapear or worst become irrelevant.

“Most artists and designers I know would rather work all night than turn in a sub-standard job. It is a universal truth that all artists think they a [sic] frauds and charlatans, and live in constant fear of being exposed. We believe by working harder than anyone else we can evaded [sic] detection. The bean-counters rumbled this centuries ago and have been profitably exploiting this weakness ever since. You don’t have to drive creative folk like most workers. They drive themselves. Just wind ‘em up and let ‘em go.”

— Linds Redding, A Short Lesson in Perspective.

John Scalzi quotes a few one-star reviews of Redshirts, his latest bestseller. And he says:

It’s part of the territory, and the sooner one as a creator comes to grips with it and accepts it as part of the process, the better off one will be. I think as a creator you owe your audience your best efforts, but if at the end of your best effort some of them are still not happy, the best response is, oh, well, maybe next time. You will never make everyone happy. If you try, you’ll likely create something mediocre, and then nobody will be happy. Least of all you.

(via Brent Simmons)

But when you love what you do money begins to matter a whole lot less. Yes, you still need it to live, but it’s no longer your source of happiness — your source of happiness and your purpose is your work. Money driven people cannot see art for what it is because they never make it

Another great post by Dmitry Fadeyev.

Traditionally, developers aren’t great designers, and vice versa. There are many exceptions (ahem), but generally the art of one group is a mystery to the other - yet we routinely have to collaborate on projects. As someone who has worked in both areas, I’ve put together a list of tips for designers, on how they can make life easier for the developers who have to bring those designs to life as apps and web sites.

Another stellar (back-to-back) post by Matt Gemmell. If you care to cultivate a more healthy collaboration with fellow designer/developer, then it’s a must read.

Liz Elcoate:

Let me give you a little background detail as to why I became a freelancer in the first place. The long and the short of it is I didn’t like doing what I did for the company I worked for, I felt like a factory worker and I wanted to branch out and take on new challenges. I also needed to have flexibility with my hours but most of all I wanted a new beginning where I was in charge. Feelings, I would imagine, many employed people can relate too.

So I decided to leave.

That’s the easy bit. 

Things got trickier.

I now needed to find work…

Freelance or not this piece is a good read.

Mr. Jeffrey Zeldman:

The first thing I got about the web was its ability to empower the maker. The year was 1995, and I was tinkering at my first website. The medium was raw and ugly, like a forceps baby; yet even in its blind, howling state, it made me a writer, a designer, and a publisher — ambitions which had eluded me during more than a decade of underachieving desert wanderings.

In line with Ira Glass’ opinion, it’s gonna take a while:

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.

A transcript from this video (via Daring Fireball). Perseverance will pays-off.