Bethink Studio

We put together a quick, fast, and dirty list of the most critical components and features to test before you launch your website—and shared some advice on how to simplify the process.

We're proud to celebrate #Juneteenth today—and we're proud to be an agency grounded in values like diversity, equity, and inclusion. Read more from our founder, @bethsoderberg.bsky.social, in this month's Bethink Bee: bethink.studio/happy-junete...

It just feels right that the Internet Archive Press has published a physical book—and that it's an in-depth exploration of the digital artifacts of our cultural history by Luca Messarra, Chris Freeland, and Juliya Ziskina. We've already ordered our copies!

We work hard and we play hard, especially when it comes to Tinto—a color game so good that multiple Bethinkers have continued playing several days in a row.

Who gets left behind by the AI hype? And what do we lose when we relentlessly chase shiny, new innovations? These were the questions at the heart of Bethink COO Courtney O’Callaghan’s talk at MCN 2025. And the answers they invoke continue to resonate. Tune in! (It only takes five minutes.)

Today's must-read: This super thoughtful read from data and analytics expert Mariya Mansurova on the proliferation of “vibe coding,” its drawbacks, and real ways to incorporate AI language learning models into coding work.

As soon as we found out that Harvest, our long-time time-tracking tool, was increasing rates exponentially, we got to work picking a new tool. And we're sharing our research and notes so you can, too. Let us help you find the (next) right fit!

We are *very* excited to try this Chrome Extension that lets you pull the markup and design of any site into Figma. The next time a client says “I want it to be just like X site, but better,” we'll be ready!

This is an exciting step forward for WordPress! The Accessibility Team has released new guidelines for themes to qualify as “accessibility-ready”—and theme authors must comply by June 30 or may be suspended from the theme repository.

Cue the Ross GIF! It's time to talk about pivots. Whether it's researching software alternatives as auto-renewals loom or navigating the overwhelming rise of AI, we dig into how to navigate it all with care in the latest Bethink Bee.

And now: A delightful deep dive from Mat Marquis, HTML specification expert, into the evolution of image delivery—and how support for sizes=”auto” will be a game changer.

When you were designing your website, you may not have been focused on the experience of an anxious user. But crafting clear and calm experiences is better for *everyone.*

Turns out even the most powerful AI is no match for making a backup, saving it to a hard drive, and hiding it in your sock drawer.

If you also love a good backstory, this piece from designer and typographer @aresluna.org is today's must-read. Let's go deep on the cursor: Where did it come from? Why is it the way it is?

We do digital differently than most agencies—because we don’t want to gatekeep. In other words: We'll happily teach you how to post content, fix little issues, or otherwise generally work on a website. Because what we really want is to to ideate and build, fix novel problems, and be a resource.

Don't worry: You don't need to manage your Cloudflare account alone. Here are some quick instructions for creating an account—and giving your developer access.

In this month's Bethink Bee: a treasure trove of talks from the archives, a whole lot of color theory, and the power of perspective in web design—and social justice.

The next time you shrink a window slightly and end up looking at a view meant for a cell phone, let it be a reminder that your website projects need more breakpoints.

Before we began using the word to describe our devices, "computer" was a job title for a human being. It's a fact that pokes a hole in the idea that those devices could ever replace us—because we built them to think *like us.*

If you're looking for evidence that good design is all in the details—then look no further.

Calling all self-taught front-end developers! Don't skip these insights into writing better code (and writing code better) from @kilianvalkhof.com.

An important reminder: "In a field that keeps changing its tools, the only sustainable advantage is how you think, what you notice and how honest you’re willing to be."

Alicia Catherine Mant. Elizabeth Rowse. Margaret Bryan. Anne Young. Abelinde Prince. Abbie T. Hays. Sarah W. Featherstone. Together, they shaped the tradition of gamifying music education—and paved the way for apps like Solfege Story, programs like ToneGym, and even your favorite Guitar Hero set.

It's not just SEO anymore. Now it's GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). But some things never change—like the importance of producing content that's clear, unique, and impactful.

Does your design system have an enforcer?

"Humans don’t operate best at machine speed. We think, hesitate, reconsider, and change our minds. Design that ignores this doesn’t make people more efficient — it instead pushes them to move faster than their intent." Loving this ode to friction—and design that lets people think.

Tech was once women-dominated—until the "computer nerd" stereotype began reshaping hiring norms and practices. This Women's History Month, it's worth asking: "What might the 'Computer Girls' of later generations have created if they continued to flood tech and business with their talents?"

Ten years, four days—and five newsletters. It's Bethink's birthday, and in the latest Bethink Bee, our founder @bethsoderberg.bsky.social reflected on how it started, how it's going, and how much we all love snacks from Trader Joe's.

"If we want an internet where publishers retain autonomy and readers retain agency, we need to treat RSS not as legacy plumbing but as strategic infrastructure."

It takes a lot of (invisible!) work to make a project succeed, run efficiently, and run smoothly. We should all learn how to pay attention differently so we can spot it.

Print 👏 isn't 👏 dead! Just ask these next-gen printmakers.

"FAIR has borrowed from an architecture that’s already proven itself at scale in another federated ecosystem: Bluesky’s approach to distributed moderation."

If those Tahoe icons are disrupting your workflow these days, take heart: You're not alone!

Laatz v. Zazzle poses a complicated question: Can you copyright a font or not?

ICYMI: This month's Bethink Bee was all about intention—in web design, in process-building, and, of course, in all the rest of life. Read + Subscribe: bethink.studio/life-as-an-i...

These practical UX guidelines will help you make sure the 466 million people who experience hearing loss can still access all the good stuff you're sharing online.

BRB, adding "code like a surgeon" to our list of resolutions.

The ADA requires websites, digital content, and mobile applications to comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—and to do it soon. Here’s everything you need to know to demonstrate compliance.

"Life is one big experiment. Move forward with intent. Take a minute to make the small adjustment you’ve been thinking about and see how it feels." In this month's Bethink Bee: tech stories we loved, insight into FSE themes, and the story of a very intentional build. (Also: Free stickers!)

"I am so tired of hearing about AI. Unfortunately, this is a talk about AI." @frankchimero.com took on creative agency in the AI landscape in his latest talk, at Kinference in Brooklyn.

In this month's Bethink newsletter, @bethsoderberg.bsky.social reflects on the chaos of an increasingly fragile Internet infrastructure. (Also inside: a WordPress deep dive, next-gen digital organizing, and our favorite fall beverages.) Welcome to the Bethink Bee: view.flodesk.com/emails/690c2...

(Almost) everything you've ever wanted to know about dithering — and it turns out that may be more than you think. Thank you for this fascinating and immersive explainer, @damarberlari.bsky.social!

@emilkowal.ski shared seven simple ideas for improving your animations.

A new report from Harvard's @belfercenter.bsky.social explains the Design From the Margins (DFM) process — and why we should be using it from ideation to launch.

How many layers deep is your architectural debt? @maybefrederick.bsky.social dives into it.

"In design, pure productivity is corrosive. Inundate a team with output and no one can tell what’s good anymore." @renderg.host breaks down why we need to value outcomes over outputs.

Happy 40th birthday to dot com! (and dot org, and dot net, and dot edu, and dotgov, and dot mil...)

Sometimes the best question you can ask to solve a problem is "do you really need this?"

This one is for everyone who has ever thought: I really need a fluid type scaling tool. (It's a fluid type scaling tool.)

"I want to argue that the web should not be understood as a momentary stepping stone in a linear history of technological advancement or measured solely as a vehicle for marketing, self-promotion, personal advancement and delivering kill-time."