Tracey Le

15 years in and there's still no place else like the Recurse Center. Courses are rigid and don't provide community. Founder residencies are just about building startups. Working alone is lonely. Only RC provides community, lightweight structure, and freedom to follow your curiosity. @recurse.com

What's it like being an unschooler? What are the weirdest projects people have done at the Recurse Center? What surprises people about our admissions criteria? I talked with Samuel Arbesman about these questions and more. Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/23Kr... YouTube: youtu.be/URxJxTu1WBY

Agents can't design. Here's what my share link feature I just launched looked like to start, versus where it ended. I'm convinced more than ever that UX and design will win more than it ever has. Everyone can ship now, not everyone can make it look and feel right.

I can't stand it anymore. Don't do this... don't do that... from artists trying to give advice without understanding it, or give proper context. It always depends and isn't always generally true. - Just because an artist doesn't know how or why we do grayscale/value, doesn't mean it's bad or wrong.

Designers who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.

The best software design is not happening at the biggest companies anymore. (credit: @gruber.foo)

You can build things that promise to automate work so people can “focus on the things that actually matter”… Or you can, you know… build the things that actually matter.

How much you play is my favorite measure of success in this industry. You stop looking up to tech execs (who look miserable) or hyper-growth founders (stressed) and start looking up to independent creative minds who shape a space that allows them to play.

🗡️🌊 @mattnava.bsky.social and @awintory.bsky.social have a long career of collaboration, their two creative disciplines intertwined. I remember distinctly how exciting it was when Journey was nominated for a Grammy, and now Sword of the Sea is the latest winner. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04...

Build an idea, not a business. Share work rather than guard it. Find collaborators rather than competitors. Move culture rather than markets. Build an idea, not a business.

Reached that day on a prototype for after Australia Did It work wraps up where it has proven good enough that I'm starting from scratch to make it proper now.

If your goal is to reach as many as possible… go cross-platform. But if your goal is to make the best software possible… focus on one. Anything else is compromised.

Collects no data. Stores no data. Shares no data. We have a zero data policy with 6 apps now. It is possible to operate a software business on zero data.

We overcomplicate productivity tools. You can get a lot done fast with just a scratch pad and a message thread.

Easy to make the mistake thinking things are better elsewhere. As you grow, you learn that everywhere is kinda fucked up. The places that look like they have it together—know what they’re doing & how to execute—are just as lost, wasteful, & barely holding center.

The world needs more hand-drawn software

The new company size… 1 is lonely 2 is perfect 3 is doable 4 is overkill

I don't much love talking, but Tommy has a way of making it interesting. Learn about our craft and the ideas behind 5 years of !Boring software. Watch the full 37 minutes and sub to Tommy's channel for more conversations with software designers. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XA...

Shadows shift based on the tilt of your phone in @notbor.ing Camera

I coloured in the Sky gondola coloring page with magenta, pastel purple and blues this time 🩷💜🩵 Coloring page by @thatgamecompany.com @thatskygame.bsky.social #thatskygame #skycotl #skychildrenofthelight #thatgamecompany

Where rivers weave through emerald rice fields and karst mountains pierce the sky 🌾⛰️ This is not a dream — it’s Vietnam, at sunset.

Creativity doesn't require talent. Many people just lost the ability to play. Have fun with an idea, and not let rational thinking dominate. The unexpected combination of things, experimentation. Letting go of perfectionism.

I either start with chaos and try make it simple, or start simple and clean and try to add chaos.

Journey developer thatgamecompany to co-host game jam with $10,000 prize pool

For sure, all my fav mobile/tablet apps & tools with amazing, thoughtful & fun UX start as iOS-only: • Paper 53 & Pencil 53 press.fiftythree.com 👀 • Procreate & Procreate Dreams 🖌️ • Hopscotch (also worked there) • Codea codea.io • Auxy 🎶 auxy.co • Bear 📝 bear.app • Feather 🪶 feather.art • !Boring 🫶🏼

Once I just like... Gave myself permission to write about what I care about instead of trying to force myself to focus on the topics I covered in the past, I've found myself with countless ideas, more ideas and enthusiasm than I've had in years.

via @gruber.foo

The process of drawing a building✏️ Draw in @feather3d.bsky.social Now Available on the Ipad App Store.

I will never know when he gave me the shot, but I will always remember what he responded. "My work is to ensure people are healthy, but health without happiness isn't worth much. Playing games makes people happy, doesn't it? Why don't we collaborate? I'll keep people healthy, you keep them happy."

Vestige. a brush test morphing into a full sketch. painted while listening to: lan Hawgood - Celia Ashen

The 10th(!) episode of the @deepdishswift.com Podcast is out 🍕 This time, @kaidombrowski.com and I chat with @laksh-chak.bsky.social about animations, shaders, and adding those finishing touches to make an app shine! ✨ podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/s... #DeepDishSwift

ACMI has announced Game Worlds, a new video game exhibition spotlighting 30 pioneering video games, including Neopets, The Sims, and World of Warcraft. https://www.gameshub.com/news/news/acmi-game-worlds-exhibition-2694727/

Forgotton Annie vs. The Smooth Criminals🕴 (Featuring 'Smooth Criminal' by Michael Jackson 🎵) Posted on @throughlinegames.com Discord earlier this week 😜 Make sure to turn on the sound! 🔊 #forgotlings #forgottonanne #indiegames

"to democratize art is not every person having a cute drawing made in seconds, to democratize art is every person having time and health to learn and make art if they chose to, and mainly to have the means to think and relate introspectively with art."

📰 Announcing Swift 6.1 📰 With ergonomic improvements to concurrency, simpler Objective-C interop, productivity and package improvements: swift.org/blog/swift-6... Install with Xcode 16.3 or the new swiftly version manager!

One of the resources mentioned at the Prosocial Design Workshop at #GDC2025 was the Digital Thriving Playbook 👾 digitalthrivingplaybook.org It has a lot of interesting modules and resources on both prosocial design as well as helping players thrive in our games. (Part of my #GDCNotes series 📝)

"Because every machine we build is different, every narrative design also needs to be different in intentional ways. Because you either stumble into greatness or fall into mediocrity, bit by terrifying bit." ~ @writnelson.bsky.social