Did Tincan die? Is it back from the dead? Was it simply just a casual hiatus that no one noticed (except Alice! hi Alice!!)?

Even though I wasn’t writing this summer, I was busy behind the scenes of Tincan: reorganizing the blog, redesigning the site, and doing some editorial scheming. What I thought would take a week somehow ate the whole season, helped along by my goal of working as little as possible and logging off as quickly as possible.

The summer circuit

Mostly, I spent the summer in the yard (a lot of my planted areas turned 3yo this summer and so they’re all really growing), sketching plans for a pond (the final nut to crack), and doing the usual summer circuit: being so happy to have so many plans, but also feeling like, wtf I have so many plans. I also worked on a really fun Playspace Design Guide for KABOOM! which gave me the rare joy of seeing my work in print. All in all, I meant to get Tincan back up and running in September, but suddenly…it’s October. Whoops.

Digital publication design for KABOOM!

But we’re back. Finally. Thanks so much for sticking around through a summer of nothing and for opening this issue at all.

This time, two new things:

  • A Let’s Discuss section where the comments are officially turned ON.
  • And there’s Tincan Brands, a new series where I design simple brand identities for imaginary businesses. 

And one little programming note: after testing every possible cadence (weekly, bimonthly, and whenever the spirit moves me), Tincan will now arrive once a month. 

See you in November. :)

Some Brand Notes

A few brands (and one person) that caught my eye this summer:

  • Glidden Oyster Farm: Up in Maine, we took their farm tour: a little history, a little science, a peek at their docks, a lot of oysters. By the end, I was so attached to their business (the biggest perk of a tour, I think!). Their merch is so good, too (Liza spotted that first), as is their website.
  • Making Time ∞: A three-day Philly music festival inside a Revolutionary War fort, dreamed up and run by one guy, Dave P. He’s been building this thing for two decades (he dished about it here), and people are really catching on en masse to his vision. 
  • And not exactly a brand, but a person, Jeff Hiller. I so connected with one of his interview quotes: “I kept being like, ‘Is this embarrassing that I’m still following this dream?’ That was really the only time when I was like, ‘Should I give up?’ Other than that, I just kept going.” 

Let's Discuss: Are We Making Too Much Content?

Taylor Swift might’ve just pinpointed the fine line between the right and wrong amount of content.

We used to tolerate (and even encourage) nonstop content. But have we hit a tipping point? Every small brand I know is juggling the same mix: a newsletter, a website, an active Instagram or TikTok, maybe even a podcast. All of it feels necessary at the individual level, but zoom out, and the result is that we’re all now keeping tabs on hundreds of brands, hundreds of social accounts, hundreds of insightful newsletters. 

So… Is it too much? Should we stop? Should we keep going?

Read it here and join the discussion →

Tincan Brands: Trash Habitats

I’ve been deep in house projects lately, and somewhere along the way I decided we needed a trash can shelter. We’ve needed one for years, actually, because our bins are constantly being toppled by squirrels or wind. We live on a hill, so one fallen can means a mess of scattered junk.

But because I’m me, after mining the internet for inspiration and sketching out a design, I fell completely in love with the idea and started thinking bigger. Out came the calculator and the spreadsheet, and before long, I was trying to convince Alyssa to let me ditch freelancing to start a trash cabinet empire. 

The fever dream passed, as it always does. But instead of letting the idea roll away with the wind, I decided to turn it into a small creative project. I’m calling it Tincan Brands, a new series of simple brand identities and websites for fictitious businesses. (Do you do this too? Send me your ideas!)

First up: Trash Habitats.

See all the brand elements and visit the fake website →

...Ironically, I still haven't constructed my own Trash Habitat.

Last Scraps