Following blogrolls is something I tend to do when I’m bored and have a few moments to spare. It’s a habit I started way back when 50% of the web was just animated gifs with fire, MySpace pages and directories. The majority of the time it’s pretty easy to figure out right off the bat if there’s anything that would resonate with me just based off the site design or layout followed by a quick glance at the most recent blog/discussion topics. In following random links from strangers it’s led to some pretty crazy “destinations ” over the years but with that comes the rare occasion when I find something absolutely uniquely beautiful. In this case it’s the website, portfolio and blog for Henry Desroches . He’s a self-proclaimed “Front-of-the-front-end developer && design engineer && creative technologist && UX engineer && web developer from Denver, Colorado” and right off the bat you’re greeted with a beautiful mix of typography and space. If you keep clicking, you’ll find his previous work (impressive AF), a talk he gave in support of the IndieWeb and POSSE and then some articles both by a bunch of folks who seem to share the same aptitude for website design that Henry does as well as a few from the man himself.
His entire site is chock full of fun little features from random call-outs to even funny little Editor’s Notes in the articles:
He also hits on a topic that I didn’t expect from a design blog:
What To Say When You Don’t Know What To Say .
Growing up with ADHD & the anxiety that came with it I tended to react to things like grief by avoiding the even mention of it. Not only did I not know how to express my own feelings as a child but that also meant I felt like I was also unable to comfort others because of a self-imposed cycle of self-doubt. I was always second-guessing myself and was terrified of saying the wrong thing to someone I knew already was hurting.
What do you say to someone you know is in pain? To someone who just lost someone they love? It’s not an easy topic and sometimes there is no “right” answer, but as Henry so eloquently writes in his post, there are some things that should probably be avoided. Having been on the receiving end of at least one of his examples I have to say this post hit me in the feels and I definitely was not expecting that when I first was exploring his site. Instead of taking away from the well-written post that Henry wrote I will instead share with you one thing that will always be a safe way to convey that you care - “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Sometimes the less that is said can mean the most unspoken.
Now go check out his article then for a mood booster click on any of his blogroll or portfolio links as it seems most of his friends are also pretty good at web design.