From the Studio

Close-up of blooming pink and white flowers with reddish-brown leaves on a tree branch, blurred background.

Thoughts on design, process, and the work in between.

A running log of ideas, experiments, and lessons learned — from freelance life and code deep dives to design thinking and the occasional creative block. Written in real time, mostly for myself, but maybe useful to you too.

Featured Posts

Taking the Pivot — And Why It's Not What You Think

7/6/2026

Career Notes from the Studio

Taking the Pivot — And Why It's Not What You Think

A year after a layoff, three rounds of interviews, and a phone call from John — the pivot worked. Just not the way I expected.

The Best 404 Page I've Ever Built Involved a Cat Named Dr. Pete and Zero Regrets

6/16/2026

Notes from the Studio Design Techniques Web

The Best 404 Page I've Ever Built Involved a Cat Named Dr. Pete and Zero Regrets

A five-minute task, a medium sized and confident brown tabby, and one reused component later — here's how a utility closet became one of my favorite things on my portfolio site.

5/29/2026

Life Notes from the Studio

Two Years Without Vinz Clortho

Two years ago today, I said goodbye to my soul/heart cat, Vinz Clortho. This is for him.

2026 Posts

Forty Years After Pretty in Pink & The Purple Karmann Ghia Named Dragonfly

7/10/2026

Life

Forty Years After Pretty in Pink & The Purple Karmann Ghia Named Dragonfly

A cider, a phone, Facebook Marketplace, and a 1971 purple Karmann Ghia named Dragonfly. Forty years after seeing Pretty in Pink, I think I'm about to drive one home.

One Year Later: What Six Years at Vernier Taught Me

7/8/2026

Career Notes from the Studio

One Year Later: What Six Years at Vernier Taught Me

A year ago today I was laid off after six and a half years. Here's what I actually learned — about design, about work, and about what happens when a job ends and the rest of your life doesn't.

7/6/2026

Career Notes from the Studio

Taking the Pivot — And Why It's Not What You Think

A year after a layoff, three rounds of interviews, and a phone call from John — the pivot worked. Just not the way I expected.

Why I Built a Collection Page (And Why Your Portfolio Might Need One Too)

7/3/2026

Portfolio Design Techniques Web

Why I Built a Collection Page (And Why Your Portfolio Might Need One Too)

Individual case studies tell project stories. A collection page tells a career story. Here's why I built one — and why yours might need one too.

Print Is a Craft — And It's Rarer Than You Think

6/26/2026

Design Techniques Notes from the Studio

Print Is a Craft — And It's Rarer Than You Think

Six years of prepress work taught me something most designers never learn. Print isn't just a deliverable — it's a discipline, and it's disappearing.

6/16/2026

Notes from the Studio Design Techniques Web

The Best 404 Page I've Ever Built Involved a Cat Named Dr. Pete and Zero Regrets

A five-minute task, a medium-sized confident brown tabby, and one reused component later — here's how a utility closet became one of my favorite things on my portfolio site.

How I Use AI as a Design Tool (Without Losing My Voice)

6/12/2026

Tools Workflow Design Techniques

How I Use AI as a Design Tool (Without Losing My Voice)

Where AI fits into my process, where it doesn't, and how I've kept my own voice intact while using it as a tool rather than a crutch.

From Interview High to Blinking Question Mark

6/11/2026

Notes from the Studio Tools Workflow

From Interview High to Blinking Question Mark — The Day My iMac Died

A good interview, a cup of coffee, and then a blinking folder with a question mark. How a Tuesday turned into a Mac Studio M4 Max order.

6/5/2026

Notes from the Studio Design Techniques

Why My Best Ideas Happen at the Gym

It's not coincidence — it's chemistry. On BDNF, the Default Mode Network, and why stepping away from the screen is sometimes the most productive thing you can do.

6/1/2026

Life Notes from the Studio Design Techniques

The Ball Is Smaller Now: Grief, the Brain, and the Work That Comes After

Grief doesn't shrink. The world just grows around it. On loss, the brain, and finding your way back to the work.

5/29/2026

Life Notes from the Studio

Two Years Without Vinz Clortho

Two years ago today, I said goodbye to my soul/heart cat, Vinz Clortho. This is for him.

I found my 1990s Design Portfolio on discs!

5/27/2026

Notes from the Studio Tools

I Found My 1990s Design Portfolio on a Zip Disc

Getting 25-year-old files off vintage Zip discs — a hardware adventure and the start of a time capsule series.

5/21/2026

Brand Identity Web Code

The PDXWIT Website Rebrand & Website Refresh

Some projects find you. Others you find yourself coming back to — not because you have to, but because the work mattered enough the first time that walking away from the second chapter wasn't really an option.

4/27/2026

Portfolio Career

What I Learned Rebuilding My Portfolio from a Logo Grid to Case Studies

A logo grid wasn't telling the right story. What happened when I rebuilt from scratch. For years, my portfolio homepage was a clean grid of client logos. No context. No story. Just names — and the assumption that visitors would connect the dots between a recognizable brand and what I actually did for them.

Earlier Blog Posts

2017

6/23/2017 Design Techniques Creative Blocks and How to Bust Through Them

2016

8/5/2016 Web Piano. Push. Play + CAS 280W

7/29/2016 Brand An Interesting Turn of Events...

7/12/2016 Freelancing New Client! So exciting!

7/7/2016 Design Techniques An Ongoing Conversation: Favorite Fonts + Rebranding Myself

6/30/2016 Design Techniques Summit the Cascade

6/4/2016 Workflow MM 130 + MM 140: Multimedia Again...

2/11/2016 Freelancing Back in the Design Game!

2015

Wedding Guestbook - Japanese Stab Bookbinding

7/30/2015 Notes from the Studio Japanese Stab Bookbinding & A Star Wars/Assassin's Creed Wedding

Meghan Lewis 6/30/16 Meghan Lewis 6/30/16

Summit the Cascade

A talk about CSS hosted + Presented by developer Andrew Hedges

Recently, I attended a talk at the Epicodus code school by successful web developer, Andrew Hedges. He is most known for work at a certain "Cupertino based Fruit Company" and a company that specializes in Animation and Princesses.

Meghan Lewis 6/4/16 Meghan Lewis 6/4/16

MM 130 + MM 140: Multimedia Again...

I must like stress. During my last go around at school, I took very demanding Multimedia courses at Bradley. I did it again during the last few terms at PCC.

Meghan Lewis 2/11/16 Meghan Lewis 2/11/16

Back in the Design Game!

Volunteer as a Designer for a Good Cause? Sure!

I recently accepted a Volunteer position doing design projects for the non-profit: Community Cycling Center. I had a wonderful conversation with them over the phone.

Meghan Lewis 7/30/15 Meghan Lewis 7/30/15

Japanese Stab Bookbinding & A Star Wars/Assassin's Creed Wedding

When you can't find the perfect guestbook, you make one. And when your wedding theme is Star Wars meets Assassin's Creed, "the perfect guestbook" is definitely not something you'll find at a store.