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Kevin Muldoon

@caoimghgin.bsky.social
34 followers 41 following 91 posts

Systems theorist & writer. Former architect of the Dow Jones Design System (WSJ, Barron's, MarketWatch). I study how organizations and systems shape each other — and what happens next.

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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
thedesignsystemsjournal.substack.com/p/stop-using...
thedesignsystemsjournal.substack.com
OKLCH is a Brush, not a Ruler
It's brilliant at generating color, but it can't predict contrast. There's a better number for your palette weights.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
saperejournal.substack.com/p/what-the-b...
saperejournal.substack.com
What the Bible Actually Says About Abortion
The one law the preachers never quote
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Everyone says the human eye can see 10 million colors. That number comes from a 1943 estimate that assumed color space was a box. It’s shaped like a shell. I counted the colors inside. I just published in @uxdesigncc The color statistic that’s been wrong for 80 years uxdesign.cc/the-color-st...
uxdesign.cc
The color statistic that’s been wrong for 80 years
The estimate everyone repeated and nobody verified
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
I've been writing about design systems for a decade. Turns out I was writing about something else the whole time. New piece explaining where this work is actually going — and why the tools are the same regardless of the domain. I just published Systems All the Way Down medium.com/p/systems-al...
medium.com
Systems All the Way Down
Why I’m no longer exclusively writing about design systems
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Every front-end developer has typed font-weight: 400 without asking why 400 means "normal." The answer involves a 24-year-old Swiss designer and German dairy terminology. I just published in @gitconnected Why font-weight: 400 is ‘Normal’ levelup.gitconnected.com/why-font-wei...
levelup.gitconnected.com
Why font-weight: 400 is ‘Normal’
The typographic history behind CSS’s most misunderstood number
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
We obsess over what design systems contain. We almost never ask what they actually do. New piece on why that distinction matters more than it sounds. I just published What Design Systems Actually Do www.designsystemscollective.com/what-design-...
designsystemscollective.com
What Design Systems Actually Do
Not just enforcing consistency; they’re reallocating your team’s most constrained resource.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
There is a persistent belief in the design systems community that code is the single source of truth. But if code were the sole source of truth in every sense, there would be nothing to test it against. I just published in @uxdesigncc Why code is not the source of truth uxdesign.cc/why-code-is-...
uxdesign.cc
Why code is not the source of truth
And why AI just made it urgent.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Every methodology you've been forced to adopt is a watered-down version of something that actually worked. I just published The Scrum That Actually Worked medium.com/agileinsider...
medium.com
The Scrum That Actually Worked
Extreme Programming and the Success Story We Chose to Forget
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 06/02/2026
At Dow Jones, we had eighteen brands running on a single design system. The system looked fine. It wasn't. I just published Design Tokens Aren’t a Contract www.designsystemscollective.com/design-token...
designsystemscollective.com
Design Tokens Aren’t a Contract
Moving beyond ‘gentleman’s agreements’ toward enforceable design contracts.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
I'm attending No Kings's event, “Eyes on ICE: Document and Record” - sign up now to join me! www.mobilize.us/nokings/even...
mobilize.us
Eyes on ICE: Document and Record · No Kings
On Saturday, federal agents horrifically shot and killed 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who cared for veterans, in the Eat Street neighborhood of south Minneapolis after brutally beating him in...
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Reposted by Kevin Muldoon
Ariel Salminen @arielsalminen.com · 20/01/2026
Would you like to work with me? 👋🏻 I’m currently helping to strengthen the existing design systems team at Kesko and we’re looking for a nice & talented designer/developer to join us. arielsalminen.com/2026/hiring-...
arielsalminen.com
Hiring a Design Engineer for Kesko Design System
Hi 👋🏻, I’m Arielle, a Design Systems Architect working with Kesko. I’m currently helping to strengthen the existing design systems team in the organization and we’re looking for an experienced Design ...
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Design once had what engineering still has: a tradition of history, theory, and critique that let practitioners appeal to shared principles outside any individual's authority. I just published Why Engineers Can Say ‘This Is Wrong’ and Designers Can’t www.designsystemscollective.com/why-engineer...
designsystemscollective.com
Why Engineers Can Say “This Is Wrong” and Designers Can’t
One ships. The other schedules more meetings
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Massimo Vignelli's claimed that without criticism, standards cannot exist at all. I just published in @uxdesigncc Why design systems fail to resolve disagreements uxdesign.cc/when-agreeme...
uxdesign.cc
Why design systems fail to resolve disagreements
How design lost the ability to evaluate work
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Your design system arguments never resolve because the profession destroyed the tools that would let them. Here's when, here's how, and here's what it would take to get them back. uxdesign.cc/when-agreeme...
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Welcome to the Credibility Laundry, where corporate money goes in one end and "Nobel Prize-winning scientific expertise" comes out the other open.substack.com/pub/theguthr...
The Longest Con in American Economics. Picture men working at a large old fashioned machine turning dollars into Nobel Prizes, diplomas and certificates
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Anti-fascism isn’t foreign to America — it is America. 🇺🇸 open.substack.com/pub/theguthr...
open.substack.com
Fighting Fascists: An American Tradition
How America's greatest heroes would hang an anti-fascist flag
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
open.substack.com/pub/theguthr...
open.substack.com
MAGA Is Fascism: Stop Calling It Anything Else
Finding the Courage to Tell It Like It Is
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
theguthriemachine.substack.com/p/constituti...
theguthriemachine.substack.com
Constitutional Cancer and America's Reichstag Fire
Outcome Fundamentalism and the Destruction of American Democracy
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
open.substack.com/pub/theguthr...
open.substack.com
The Fascist's Playbook: A Pocket Guide to Spotting the Con
When you hear these seven lines, you're listening to the oldest con in the book. Here's what it sounds like today.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
🚨 The Charlie Kirk case reveals concerning patterns: FBI immediately assuming control in a civilian murder without clear jurisdiction or invitation - Kash Patel personally flew to Utah to manage the response.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
A red-blooded American male will think about the Empire of Rome at least once per day. Alternatively, how many ways to kill Hitler if you had a time machine.
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Reposted by Kevin Muldoon
Bess Hamilton @besshamilton.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
My boss: Can't you get Copilot to validate the info in the spreadsheet? Me: Well, do we want it to be accurate or not? Because either I check it myself or I ask Copilot and then check its output *and* the spreadsheet, so... Boss: What's the point of Copilot then? Me: Exactly.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
It is impossible to maintain democratic norms when a substantial minority has abandoned them. American democracy was purpose-built to prevent the tyranny of the majority, but who could have predicted the minority would shout, 'Democracy is broken, burn it all to the ground'.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
If you're drinking coffee with "bright with Floral Notes", it's not coffee. Sunshine and bouquets have no place in coffee.
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Reposted by Kevin Muldoon
Astrea65(pic is ©)💙🌊🦋🐸 @astrea65.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
Goodnight BlueSky 💙🌊✊🏻
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Reposted by Kevin Muldoon
Guy Segal @guysegal.com · 27/05/2025
One of the things that can kill your design system adoption is all the assumptions your consumers make about it. I'll be co-hosting The Question with @bencallahan.com this Thursday, where we will discuss all those assumptions, whether explicit or hidden, and what you can do to surface them.
bit.ly
The Question is a weekly conversation for anyone seriously interested in Design Systems.
Each Monday, you’ll receive an email from me with a design system related question. You’ll have 48 hours to answer. If you choose to do so, you’ll receive an invite to the deep dive on Thursday (or Fr...
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
I ordered the children's plate, but they wouldn't serve me because I was an adult. I stomped out because I didn't get my way. Showed them!
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 22/04/2025
Please share this link! Answer the poll! I have an upcoming podcast this Monday talking about palette colors and it would be great to have more respondents! www.linkedin.com/posts/kevinr...
linkedin.com
Kevin Muldoon posted on LinkedIn
Kevin Muldoon posted on LinkedIn
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 14/04/2025
This ain't right. I love it. www.reddit.com/r/GenX/comme...
reddit.com
From the GenX community on Reddit: Easter - GenX style.
Explore this post and more from the GenX community
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
When I make an amazing Béchamel sauce, I name it Zoey.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
RECRUITER: "When are you available for a meeting for this position?" ME: "Here is a URL with my availability where you can schedule a meeting with me." RECRUITER: "I sent an email so you can schedule a meeting with me." ME: [sets up meeting] RECRUTER: "Is that the only time you're available?"
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 09/04/2025
The practicality of wearing overalls, t-shirt, zip up hoody and Dr. Who scarf cannot be denied. You want fashion? I am fashion!
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
What can I use an old iPad 4 for today? Maxed out on iOS 10. Seems a shame to not use it.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 05/04/2025
They say you should never time the markets by selling stock in a downturn, but this seems to be an exception.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Some say birds don't exist. I say sourdough bread doesn't.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 02/04/2025
Voice of America was silenced for the first time in over 80 years of broadcasting. VOA initially served as an anti-propaganda tool against Axis misinformation in WWII. Today, primary audience is people in countries without press freedom or independent journalism. America never needed VOA more.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
If you are creating a personal brand and self-promotion feels 'ick', congratulations! You're not a psychopath. Keep at it. Don't let the psychopaths win.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Considering printing card decks to anyone who believes Trump is not extremely dangerous because I just can't say it all in one breath.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
I'm sorry, I heard you ask me to complete SEVEN more job interviews and a homework assignment just to be considered for the position?! Nope. Just nope.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
If a boss gives you a rule making it more difficult for you to land another job, that rule is automatically invalid.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
One of the most humbling experiences is doing a live code exercise in a task/language you don't use that often. Still, they wouldn't allow me to give up, and that felt pretty good.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
There are no songs released in the last decade that cause anyone to turn up the volume. Prove me wrong. 🤘
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 08/03/2025
A prototypical hypertext link color is 550/250, or a slightly denser mid-tone for light backgrounds (55%) and a quartertone (25%) for dark backgrounds. Note the WCAG tags on the clock face and the patterns they form for light/dark backgrounds.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Contextual Colors can be visualized as a gradient around a clock where the little hand indicates light mode and the big hand dark. A common pattern for body text is 12:01 (Deep shadow and white). What time do you think hyperlink text is?
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
What you don't know about color palettes makes a difference. Which palette is the right one for you?
Slide showing the difference between the palette ramps of IBM Carbon, Material Design 3 and proposed Universal.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
Irrational exuberance snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. All we had to do is hold the line.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
"So, are you gonna believe the documentation or your lying eyes?".
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
"Perhaps the most misunderstood word in Engish is ‘Truth.’ It has only five letters, but Dictionary.com contains 11 entries to describe what it means. That's a lot of definitions for such a short word, which seems highly suspicious to me." medium.com/user-experie...
medium.com
A “single source of truth”-and other Design System lies
Truth as shared responsibility.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
When it comes to layoffs, I suspect "Taking it well" only serves to encourage the behavior. Maybe a little emotional scarring can help deter random and pointless reorganizations.
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Kevin Muldoon @caoimghgin.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
"No matter how much I write about good programming techniques, at the end of the day, until you have shot yourself in the foot a thousand times, you're not going to be good. You're not going to be an expert." -- www.youtube.com/@ThePrimeTim...
youtube.com
ThePrimeTime
This is a place for all the things that are awesome on stream.
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