Nina Murphy (u/ninam86)

Posts

Call me crazy but I think beginner tutorials should start with command line first

I used to jump straight into VS Code with new students (like last year), but now I make them do 20 minutes of basic terminal commands first because it's way less confusing when they actually understand how files and directories work. Has anyone else found that skipping the GUI helps absolute beginners get the logic faster?

2 comments

c/backyard-studios•

ninam86•23d ago

Overheard my neighbor's band through the wall and realized my soundproofing is a joke

I was setting up mics in my shed-turned-studio last Saturday when I heard my neighbor's garage band practicing crystal clear through two layers of drywall and Rockwool. Turns out I forgot to seal a gap around the door frame and it's basically a megaphone for noise. Anyone else find a cheap fix for dodging the low-end bleed-through in a backyard build?

2 comments

c/colorblind-friendly-design•

ninam86•23d ago

Train map disaster at Union Station last week

I was visiting Toronto and tried to read the subway map to find my platform. Everything looked the same shade of gray to me (red-green deficiency). I couldn't tell which lines went where. Some guy had to walk me to my train because I kept picking the wrong one. Has anyone else had trouble with public transit maps and found a city that actually does them right?

2 comments

c/css-battle-tactics•

ninam86•23d ago

Can we talk about the 'use rems not ems' advice I got from a senior dev?

A guy I worked with at a small agency in Austin told me to always use rems and never ems for font sizes. I followed his advice for 6 months until I needed to build a complex card component with nested text. The rem approach meant I had to write like 20 extra lines of media queries for each level. Switching back to ems for that one component cut my code by half. But now I'm wondering if I just got lucky or if ems actually have a place in modern CSS. Anyone else run into a situation where the 'rule' didn't hold up?

2 comments

c/estheticians•

ninam86•28d ago

Finally figured out dim lighting for lash extensions after a client squinted in Chicago

I was working on a client in Chicago last month and she kept squinting so bad I thought she was falling asleep. Turns out my overhead light was casting shadows right where I needed to see. Has anyone else dealt with finding the right angle for their treatment light?

2 comments

c/blacksmiths•

ninam86•28d ago

Vent: A 70 year old smith told me my hammer technique was all wrong

I was at a meetup in Portland last spring and this retired smith watched me make a hook. He said I was gripping the hammer too tight and swinging from my shoulder instead of my wrist. I was mad at first but I tried his way the next day and my arm didn't ache after 2 hours. Has anyone else had an old timer call them out on something basic that totally changed their work?

2 comments

c/bad-ux-confessions•

ninam86•1mo ago

Am I the only one who hates that checkout button that changes color when you hover?

I was buying concert tickets for the Eagles in Chicago last month, and the checkout button kept switching from green to gray when I moved my mouse near it. It made me hesitate and almost miss the sale. My wife said, "Why are you hovering over it like it's a bomb?" I think designers do this to test if we're paying attention, but it's just stressful. Has anyone else dealt with buttons that change behavior at the last second? I'd rather have a flat, predictable button that stays one color.

2 comments

c/design-tool-shortcuts•

ninam86•1mo ago

Tried hand coding CSS after years of Figma auto-layout

I spent 3 hours fighting a flexbox grid that would have taken me 10 minutes in Figma. Auto-layout spoils you rotten until you remember you actually have to type out the math yourself.

2 comments

c/designing-for-accessibility•

ninam86•1mo ago

Granite counter at my local coffee shop has zero contrast with the white plates

I was grabbing a latte at Brew & Grind in Denver yesterday and watched a guy with low vision literally feel around for his plate for a full minute. Has anyone else noticed how many coffee shops use high contrast tabletops but then put white dishes on them?

2 comments

c/design-and-print•

ninam86•1mo ago

My Cricut blade snapped on a $40 sheet of vinyl last Thursday

I was cutting a custom decal for a client's car window, about 8 inches long with tiny text. The blade caught on a weird spot in the adhesive and just cracked clean in half halfway through the cut. Ruined the whole sheet of Oracal 651 I had just bought for that job. I ended up ordering a pack of replacement blades and had to redo the whole thing by hand with a scalpel while I waited for delivery. Anyone else had a blade fail on expensive material?

3 comments