Anthony Hobday

I probably think and write about interface design more than anyone else. Email me or find me on X/Twitter.

14 side projects

  1. Visual design rules you can safely follow
  2. Complementary, an interface design podcast I co-host
  3. A YouTube channel where I review website designs
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  1. Quick start guides to interface design topics
  2. A collection of visual design techniques
  3. A list of every visual design concept
  4. A list of every interaction design concept
  5. Interviews about visual design
  6. Anonymous interviews with designers
  7. Background/container colour combinations you can use
  8. Quotes about design
  9. Notes on design books
  10. Breakdowns of well-designed interfaces
  11. Sample copy you can practice visual design with

Paid feedback and advice

Want my advice? I’ve helped 50 people and companies improve their websites, apps, and ideas.

66 blog posts

  1. Beliefs about quality I want to disprove
  2. Defensible visual design
  3. Universal creative techniques
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  1. Bold visual styles are hard to use
  2. A designer group interview
  3. What I’d put in an interface design museum
  4. A practical career approach for generalist designers
  5. Cynical advice for designers
  6. What defines a visual style
  7. Style choices that make visual design harder
  8. How to choose between design options
  9. When it’s safe to copy something
  10. Factors of good animation
  11. Interface quality of life improvements
  12. How I think about novelty
  13. Levels of complexity in website design
  14. How I think about quality
  15. Non-interface factors that affect interface design
  16. Uncommon but useful design terms
  17. A critique of the Linear website
  18. Short design books I recommend
  19. A list of every interaction design book
  20. How I define “interface design”
  21. How interfaces change with frequency of use
  22. Why designers don’t talk about interface design
  23. The website visual design hall of fame
  24. Evidence that designers don’t talk about visual design
  25. Others’ classification of software design
  26. Ways that software design is different
  27. My definitions of “beauty” and “taste”
  28. The four universal signals of quality
  29. Classical and expressive aesthetics
  30. Foundations of the visual design skillset
  31. Types of elements in visual design
  32. Visual design exercises
  33. The six layers of interaction design
  34. Evidence that quality is impossible at scale
  35. The five purposes of elements in visual design
  36. The ways software competes
  37. Things I learned about visual design
  38. Levels of visual design inspiration
  39. Why quality is impossible at scale
  40. The twelve interaction design spectrums
  41. Where novel visual styles come from
  42. The benefits of software quality
  43. Tensions in interface design
  44. A critique of the Stripe website
  45. Factors of a good interface designer
  46. How to look impressive without impressive projects or past jobs
  47. The seventeen spectrums that define software “type”
  48. The best WWDC videos about interface design
  49. Common problems with design career advice
  50. Signs that an organisation values interface design
  51. Types of pattern in design
  52. The building blocks of visual design
  53. The twelve types of contrast in visual design
  54. The six signals of quality in software
  55. A list of every visual design book
  56. The five purposes of visual design
  57. The thirteen visual design spectrums
  58. The eight purposes of colour in visual design
  59. All possible parts of the design interview process
  60. The five minute design curriculum
  61. My design principles
  62. What outsiders look for in a good designer
  63. The six layers of visual design

6 books

  1. How to improve your visual design
  2. What is good interaction and visual design?
  3. What is simple web design?
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  1. What is good craftspersonship?
  2. Come up with design ideas alone
  3. Design interesting one-column websites

3 case studies

  1. Here are some examples of my visual design practice.
  2. I designed a collaboration feature for the Beauhurst platform (2022).
  3. I designed an app to encourage people to eat in a planet-friendly way (2021).

5 appearances

  1. I was interviewed by Dive Club.
  2. I taught a class on interface design principles for Hyper Island.
  3. I wrote a guest post for the Learn UI Design blog.
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  1. I did a Q&A with UX Talks.
  2. I was interviewed on Design Discipline.

2 other interests

  1. I run Before I Play, a video game tip wiki.
  2. I design solo tabletop RPGs.