Tom Ayling
www.theshellout.com
Tom Ayling
@www.theshellout.com
I write theshellout.com - this is where I lurk to find cool design stuff.
If you have something cool that you've designed, let me know about it.
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Hey there. You’ve probably arrived on this page because you know me from my writing at theshellout.com

I have no idea if I’ll use Bluesky. Is joining another social media platform really the answer?

I’m here to find cool things people have designed – hopefully like Design Twitter #designsky
The Shell-Out 🐢 | Tom Ayling | Substack
Your informal monthly dose of cool stuff from the world of visual design and tech. Expect a light-hearted, turtle-paced journey through UX/UI, branding, and product design ✨. Click to read The Shell-O...
theshellout.com
POV: Apple acquires Substack ✨

A quick Liquid Glass experiment made with Apple’s Icon Composer Beta.

What app should I give the Apple treatment next? Drop your suggestions below 👇

#UI #Apple #WWDC
June 11, 2025 at 6:27 PM
iOS 7 was genuinely revolutionary. Clean typography, generous whitespace, and readable text became the foundation for every touch interface that followed.

iOS 26 feels like the opposite, and is accessibility hell.

#WWDC #iOS #DesignSky
June 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Experimented with a ‘liquid glass’ look in Figma. It’s gonna take some getting used to, and makes Figma lag like crazy with all the effects! #liquidglass #WWDC #DesignSky #UI
June 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
45-minute experimental hero design on the theme of ‘*upside-down’* 🙃

Loved how the display type turned out — huge fan of Fontshare when I need expressive type in a hurry.

#figma #DesignSky #UISky #UIDesign #webdesign
April 15, 2025 at 2:05 PM
📸🪐🖨️🎨✨
This month’s round-up of cool stuff features: a killer film-look camera app, more space stuff, printed risograph animations, scary chemicals, and more!

open.substack.com/pub/tomaylin...

#designsky #design #graphicdesign #newsletter #risograph
Rust, Film, and Pixel-Peepin’
Discover the best film-look camera app, AI tools, space mission patches, risograph animation, and more in this month’s creative roundup.
open.substack.com
March 16, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Who else is posting about visual/graphic/UI/UX design on Bluesky?
While some of Design Twitter has moved over, I’m really struggling to find the cool visual design stuff here on Bluesky.
If you make (or know someone that makes) cool visual stuff - leave a reply.

#designsky #UI #UX #graphicdesign
February 17, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Love the rule-breaking overlaps and bold z-index choices from Vino Potable. A clever way to make the visuals stand out and pull focus to the product.

#designsky #UI #UX #figma #UIsky #webdesign #dev
February 4, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Back to the one-hour UI/UX design experiments! This time with keyhole as the prompt 🔑

Super pleased with how the light peeks through on hover, adding some anticipation for the user.

#designsky #UI #UX #figma #UIsky #webdesign #dev
February 1, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Experimented today with offset looping patterns to portray circular economies/cities.

#designsky #UI #UX #webdesign
January 17, 2025 at 3:57 PM
In this month’s round-up of cool design things:

• A website that looks like engravings ✒️

• Caring for yourself (through a birb 🐦)

• Silky smooth microinteractions 🥵

• Random pre-2012 iPhone videos 🎥

• How app design changes around the world 🌏

#designsky #UI #UX #UIUX #substack #newsletter
Virtual Pets, Nostalgia, and Engravings
and satisfying micro-interactions
www.theshellout.com
January 16, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Love this pricing page interaction design from Cursor.

The little shadow/fade on the mask really sells it.

Definitely adding this one to my monthly newsletter of cool finds.

#designsky #UI #UX #webdesign
January 5, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I see loads of “CHECK OUT MY DESIGN!” posts. Instead:

• Give context: Client work, passion project, or experiment?
• Get people excited: What’s interesting or worth sharing? What does it mean to you? Why is it worth someone's attention?

So… what’s your latest design project about?

#designsky
January 4, 2025 at 8:13 PM
January 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Absolutely gorgeous.
DIN meets terminal.
#typography #typedesign
December 26, 2024 at 6:41 PM
Hey there. You’ve probably arrived on this page because you know me from my writing at theshellout.com

I have no idea if I’ll use Bluesky. Is joining another social media platform really the answer?

I’m here to find cool things people have designed – hopefully like Design Twitter #designsky
The Shell-Out 🐢 | Tom Ayling | Substack
Your informal monthly dose of cool stuff from the world of visual design and tech. Expect a light-hearted, turtle-paced journey through UX/UI, branding, and product design ✨. Click to read The Shell-O...
theshellout.com
December 22, 2024 at 8:06 PM