Sign in

Scott Riley

@scott.is
2.1K followers 244 following 1.8K posts

designer for real humans / author / speaker / educator / acab / buy my fuckin book / take my fuckin course Mindful Design video course: piccalil.li/mindful-design Other gaffs: scott.is mindfuldesign.xyz

PostsRepliesMedia
Scott Riley @scott.is · 3h
a lot of us out here putting in a tonne of effort to teach folks useful shit with just wildly diminished pay-off for the effort, even compared to a few years back. i think there's a bunch of reasons for this, most of which makes me incredibly grateful for folks who do invest in learning new shit.
1203
Reposted by Scott Riley
Andy Bell @bell.bz · 9h
New on the blog
bell.bz
In response to “The death of web development education”
I read Mat​hia⁠s S​chäf⁠er’s excellent post, titled The death of web development education. I was thinking about how I can contribute to the conversation and really struggled to articulate the problem. The most effective way I can contribute, in my opinion, is a crude sketch I just did of Piccalilli‘s Stripe chart for all time…
24713
Reposted by Scott Riley
jordan @jordantyranny.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
RONALD REAGAN IS IN HELL WAITING FOR HEAVEN TO TRICKLE DOWN
RONALD REAGAN IS IN HELL WAITING FOR HEAVEN TO TRICKLE DOWN
152891663
Scott Riley @scott.is · 28/09/2026
i really enjoyed the first season of dept q and now i learn they've replaced kelly macdonald with… james corden? are casting directors okay?
440
Scott Riley @scott.is · 28/09/2026
one thing that i've noticed has just gone away in The Age Of Shipping Six Thousand Fucking Pointless Features is the purposeful pessimism that helps you realise how your work could be used for harm. it was never popular, but now it's almost fucking impossible to get people to slow down and think.
1131
Scott Riley @scott.is · 28/09/2026
doing this but it's just 14 cans of pink monster arranged in a shrine to baphomet and six vegan pepperamis covered in vajazzle
1151
Reposted by Scott Riley
Large Heydon Collider @heydonworks.com · 28/09/2026
✍️ The AI Artist Paradox heydonworks.com/article/the-... Where AI is *either* intelligent or unintelligent, its usage precludes you from making art.
heydonworks.com
The AI Artist Paradox
Whichever way you cut it, you cannot be an AI artist.
0175
Scott Riley @scott.is · 27/09/2026
a hill i will die on is that interstellar is not the greatest movie soundtrack. it is not even the greatest hans zimmer soundtrack. kung fu panda is both.
200
Reposted by Scott Riley
James Nash @cirrus.twiddles.com · 23/09/2026
Terrazzo's parser can be used standalone: terrazzo.app/docs/referen... For very noddy stuff there's also my own, half-arsed thing: github.com/c1rrus/dtcg-... ..though, as the name suggests, it's more of building block you might use to build a proper parser :-P
terrazzo.app
JS API
Design systems for everyone. MIT Licensed tools for developing and managing design systems. Use the W3C design token format to build multi-platform apps quickly and easily.
221
Scott Riley @scott.is · 23/09/2026
i worded this really badly. i am specifically looking for a package/util that can help parse DTCG JSON (preferably with strong types) so i can then _do the things_ with the parsed data (e.g. auto-populate a table with a list of color tokens). i am not looking for a design system/token platform.
100
Scott Riley @scott.is · 23/09/2026
has anyone built a reliable DTCG JSON parser yet that isn't part of some huge AI-design-kit bundle? i really do not want to have to do this myself with all the idiosyncratic types and data shapes they have.
400
Scott Riley @scott.is · 23/09/2026
when the world moves on from all this ‘make shitty things but make them very quickly’ nonsense there’s gonna be a lot of folks out there who could’ve learned to make great things but spent three years stuck in a cycle of toxic adequacy. i really hope we stop this incessant devaluing of craft.
4411
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
the fun thing with these/this product(s) is that if you like them but hate that there’s no remote sync then you can self-host and then (if you want to use dexie cloud) enabling live sync is like a three-line non-breaking change and will cost you a whopping twelve pence a month.
092
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
kanban enjoyers: do you see a value in having an explicit 'priority' on your cards? my heart says yes (because i have built it) but my head says that implicit priority through card ordering is kinda the whole point. if no, does your answer change if you’re kanbanananning multiple projects?
320
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
wild how every app just breaks all the time during these Times of Unprecedented Creativity and Efficiency™
3190
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
dungeon synth might just be the best coding background music www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYbX...
youtube.com
Witch Bolt - Bellow (Dungeon Synth, Dungeon Ambient, Non-AI DS)
YouTube video by Witch Bolt
250
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
okay this is sick
030
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
i knew i’d eventually have to remove the contact page from my site and predictably enough it’s down to someone spamming with racist shit. hope you used a vpn bro xoxo
150
Reposted by Scott Riley
Ygrene @ygrene.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
calling in sick to the kickflip factory and confusing everyone as to whether i'm coming in or not
71312382
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
new carly rae jepsen is ~okay but can't get past how it sounds like someone just found all the stock vocal plugins in logic and decided to have a one-per-song rule for all the weird ones.
130
Reposted by Scott Riley
Andy Bell @bell.bz · 22/09/2026
The @piccalil.li PRICEFALL event ends at midnight UTC so there's still time to save 80 big ones piccalil.li/courses/
Autumn sale, September 8th until September 22nd. 

35% off all courses. 

Save over £80 with code “PRICEFALL”
165
Scott Riley @scott.is · 22/09/2026
scaling back training means scaling back food and let me tell you folks, going from maintaining weight at ~3,500kcal to living off whatever the fuck these hello fresh baby meals are is an absolute nightmare.
140
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
hey babe can u check this captcha i think something’s wrong ur not on it ❣️🥹 👉👈
captcha that asks the visitor to 'find things that shine with their own light'
161
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
i don’t think you get to simultaneously call yourself a leftist and champion ai. i am not the socialism police. i am not lieutenant engels. but i don’t know how you can square away ‘mass theft of labour in the name of further labour exploitation’ as anything other than deeply orthodox capitalism.
4359
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
toby lutke looks like he got distracted by a cool racist tweet half way through transforming into a lesser horseshoe bat futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
"Slop Grenades": Shopify CEO Who Pushed Staff to Use AI Is Now Horrified by What He's Wrought
Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke is getting a first-hand look at the AI-workplace revolution, and it isn't a pretty sight.
2110
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
seven more new (to you?) bangers have been added to tha_fuckin_jukebox m8s. give your ears a lil treat this week. scott.is
scott.is
Scott is… making fun shit
Welcome, dear friend, to my little slice of the web. This is where you’ll find whatever piece of myself I have been able to plonk into the ether.
060
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
only new github feature i give a fuck about is them no longer helping ICE put kids in cages. can someone whose job it is to try and make github still appear good on the socials tag me when that happens?
0101
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
css: i can do anything bro. i can do fuckin a-level maths. i can do blend modes bro. i can oklch any fuckin time. i do layers bro so sick bro. me: can i make checkbox not ugly pls? css: i am going to the shops to get some milk
2390
Scott Riley @scott.is · 21/09/2026
hello i am a very cool and talented professional marketer! i think that writing a ’top 10 [x] tools’ article that includes our own product and pollutes any search anyone might run is one of the best marketing strategies in the world!! i also still get a bath with my dad!!!
2220
Reposted by Scott Riley
Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Every chatbot prompt box says "check answers for accuracy." But increasingly, "humans in the loop" refuse to do that. Instead, they become complicit in the AI industry's project of destroying the provenance of information. But you are person, and it is an app. It can't take responsibility for you.
productpicnic.beehiiv.com
Assigning agency to AI means surrendering your own
Claude is not a colleague, collaborator, or sentient being. It is a SaaS product.
825385
Reposted by Scott Riley
Mark Tomlinson @marktomlinson.dev · 18/09/2026
Fewer startups, more co-ops. Fewer founders, more communities.
612227
Reposted by Scott Riley
Stella Sacco @antlervel.vet · 18/09/2026
Share if you agree
Fat little chihuahua puppy (maybe?) looking extremely round and smiling lying on a tan fleece blanket
190103323296
Scott Riley @scott.is · 18/09/2026
reckon i owe like 17% of my career to @fontawesome.com at this point. don’t think i’d start half the projects i finish if i had to actually look for icons.
271
Scott Riley @scott.is · 18/09/2026
i see your stepdad is posting ai tool tier lists on linkedin again
020
Scott Riley @scott.is · 18/09/2026
honestly wild how many truly fantastic folks are out of work and then there’s just absolute reams of mediocrity spilling out into this hellscape of an industry every single day. it’s like not a single tech company has made anything good since 2021.
1342
Reposted by Scott Riley
Andy Bell @bell.bz · 18/09/2026
New on the blog
bell.bz
You’ll miss publishers when they’re gone
Ever since Piccalilli started to get traction, I’ve always seen CSS-Tricks, Smashing Magazine and A List Apart (among others) as peers. We all help each other behind the scenes and importantly, back each other. When CSS-Tricks was initially acquired by DigitalOcean, I was really happy for Chris. The work that he’d put into that publication…
08825
Scott Riley @scott.is · 17/09/2026
depending on your location you can get the digital version of mindful design: second edition on sale for as little as £13.99. this is quite rare because the publisher usually insists on charging far too much for this book. link.springer.com/book/10.1007...
link.springer.com
Mindful Design
This fully updated version shows how to create seamless designs backed by a responsible understanding of the human mind.
1125
Scott Riley @scott.is · 17/09/2026
clockin in at the code factory to commit my daily 8hrs of corporate-sanctioned-fascist-adjacent fraud! sure am a creative and productive human being! there is a hole in my brain where art used to live! soon i will forget entirely how to love!!!
0120
Scott Riley @scott.is · 17/09/2026
hell yeah i’m ready for the agentic era. the agent i am most excited for is agentlebreeze on my face as i gaze upon the beauty of nature in a moment of serenity and contentedness knowing that at least this sanctuary survived us (i am staring wistfully, knowingly, into the pond at zoomies zone)
1232
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
i am very burned out but tomorrow i have cleared my calendar so i can take my dog to a closed off field (she is v. sweet but also reactive) called zoomies zone and honestly i might just fuckin stay there forever.
3150
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
actually on second thought lemme check the fridge i think i’ve got a tupperware full of broken glass i’d rather fucking snack on
Your AI interview

You're about to have a relaxed conversation with Lisa, our AI recruiter. Just be yourself and answer in your own words. Afterwards, a human hiring manager will personally review your interview and decide on the next steps.
4311
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
a big chunk of what you think ‘only ai can do’ with design systems can be solved by doing the one thing that design systems are perfectly set up to do that no one actually does: build a declarative ui layer on top of it. you will build faster than ur fav lil guessbox and stay in full control.
2170
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
sometimes i get sad when i’m overlooked for certain roles or projects and then i remember what my website looks like and how my portfolio is the equivalent of a fallout new vegas data log that no one ever reads and yeah okay maybe i need to just design a landing page for my actual work.
7270
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
did a lil poll in the course discord about what to add as a new module (or NEW GAME PLUS BABEYYY as @wil.to would have it) and looks like NG+ is gonna be all about design systems. should be a nice lil new year launch. you can grab the course now if you wanna get ahead! piccalil.li/mindful-desi...
piccalil.li
Mindful Design
A high quality, expansive video course that will elevate your design skills to a level you never thought was achievable.
0102
Reposted by Scott Riley
da share z0ne @dasharez0ne.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"DA TIPING POINT " - dashare.zone ADMIN
THINK ABOUT IT ONE DAY YA HAD TO BUY A LIGHT BULB AND IT WAS BLUE HOSPITAL LIGHT INSTEAD OF A CALM ORANGE , ROOM TOO BRIGHT , BATHROOM LOOK'S LIKE WORK , LIVING ROOM LOOK'S LIKE DOCTERS OFFICE , WHOLE WORLD LITERALY CAST IN UNFLATTERING LIGHT , AND THATS WHERE IT ALL STARTED - "THINGS WERE GOING MOSTLY FINE UNTIL THEY INVENTED WRONG COLOR LIGHT BULPS" AND YEA THEY MAKE THE 2700K BULBS NOW AND YEA ITS ALOT LESS WASTEFUL TO USE LED INSTEAD OF THE EDISON BOYS BUT TELL ME THIS WHY IS ANY ONE USING THOSE BLUE GROSS COLOR BULBS WHY DO THEY TRY TO MAKE US BUY THEM,,, THINK ABOUT IT - DASHARE.ZONE ADMIN
024934
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
'i am not complicit just because i am complicit' fuck off edward
190
Scott Riley @scott.is · 16/09/2026
every design job posting rn: wE uSe CuRSoR aNd CLaUdE tO cRaFt eArLy pRoToTyPes ThAt wE tHeN rEfiNe bY hAnD grow up. get a life. i’m just gonna build better things than your shitty saas as a hobby and learn to fuckin lay bricks.
3340
Scott Riley @scott.is · 15/09/2026
one cool thing i learned building apps where drag-and-drop reordering was a focal feature, as someone who has previously been bodied by trying to get dnd to work, is fractional indexing. i’m no expert, but it’s a great way to say ‘give me an index that is reliably between this thing and that thing’.
260
Scott Riley @scott.is · 15/09/2026
almost…
a kanban board with various tasks in backlog, to-do, in progress and done columnsa kanban view with various cards in backlog, to-do, in progress and done columns. the cards are in an unselected state, a message saying 'select the cards you want to focus on for this session’ is visible.screen for preparing for a work cycle, with a pomodoro style timer and some questions to answer before starting: why is this work valuable? how will you know when this work is done? any risks or distractions? any other notes?screen during a break between work cycles. a heading reads time to reflect and relax. there are two questions: did you achieve what you wanted (the 'yes' option is selected)? anything noteworthy? and a button to start cycle 2.
7563
Reposted by Scott Riley
Piccalilli @piccalil.li · 15/09/2026
There's only one week left of our huge 35% discount on all courses if you use the coupon code PRICEFALL at checkout. Don't miss out! piccalil.li/courses/
Autumn sale, September 8th until September 22nd. 

35% off all courses. 

Save over £80 with code “PRICEFALL”
045