#side projects
Articles tagged with #side projects, part of Rich McNabb's ongoing writing work.
Designing a four-metre high art gallery wall in my stairwell
A year and a half in the making: 50 album covers, custom framing, and a four-metre gallery wall built from scratch in my stairwell. Here's how the whole thing actually came together, one frame and one wall bracket at a time.
I know the pieces fit: Designing custom Hi-Fi furniture
How a search for a simple turntable stand turned into a genuine lesson in design thinking, prototyping, and communicating ideas clearly enough for someone else to actually go and build them. A prototype first, the real thing came after.
Claude Assist: Rebuilding my UX/UI design portfolio no-code
Six weeks of nights and weekends, hundreds of AI prompts, and one very old, PHP-patched website. Here's everything I learned rebuilding my UX/UI portfolio from the ground up, no-code, on WordPress. Every mistake included, nothing glossed.
Where to buy vinyl records in-store & online in New Zealand
Real Groovy offers points on every purchase and free shipping over $100, New Zealand's largest supplier of new and used music since 1981. A guide to where to actually buy vinyl records in New Zealand, in-store and online.
My love of music & building a vinyl collection with Discogs
I just finished adding my entire record collection to Discogs, the largest online music database where collectors buy and sell with each other. A look at the collection itself, my home listening setup, and how it all came together.
How to make the perfect Espresso Martini
I met Angus while we were both working at HazardCo back in 2020. Little did I know he'd end up giving me his go-to Espresso Martini recipe, equal parts vodka, espresso and Kahlúa, shaken hard for the best result every time.
Baked chicken recipe based on the KFC 11 herbs & spices
These are the fonts professional designers keep coming back to, again and again, to convey style, tone, emotion and readability. The serif and sans-serif typefaces that actually earn a place in real projects, with the history behind each.
Designing two custom geometric typefaces from the ground up
Two free geometric fonts built 30 minutes at a time. One inspired by modular Lego-like shapes, the other by Herbert Bayer's 1925 universal typeface, both released free to download, use, and adapt for personal or commercial work.
Small collection of logo design & brand identity projects
Logo design isn't my primary service, but it's something I genuinely enjoy doing. Over the years I've taken on the occasional branding project alongside my core UX/UI work, plus a few personal ones just for the fun of it.