Guides
The thinking behind the tools. Plain-English explainers on colour, type, encoding and UK money, written to be read once and remembered, not skimmed past an advert.
Design
- Placeholder text done right6 min read
- HEX, RGB, HSL and OKLCH: which colour format to use6 min read
- Designing with OKLCH in modern CSS5 min read
- Accessible colour contrast without killing your palette5 min read
- Building a type scale that survives contact with real content5 min read
- Aspect ratios explained: web, video and social5 min read
Development
- Base64 explained: what it is and when to use it6 min read
- Data URLs and inline assets: the real trade-offs5 min read
- QR codes that actually scan6 min read
- How to make a Wi-Fi QR code for guests5 min read
- px, rem and em: sizing text and space in CSS6 min read
- Sizing images and video without layout shift6 min read
Money
- UK income tax explained: bands, allowances and your tax code7 min read
- National Insurance explained for employees and the self-employed6 min read
- Student loan repayments: plans, thresholds and what comes off your payslip6 min read
- How to read your payslip line by line6 min read
- Negotiating salary: work backwards from the take-home you need6 min read
- Self-employed tax in the UK: what a sole trader actually pays5 min read
- Salary vs dividends: how limited company directors pay themselves5 min read
- Setting a freelance day rate you can live on5 min read
- Going freelance: the money side, step by step5 min read
- Pension contributions and salary sacrifice, explained simply5 min read
- UK mortgages explained: LTV, terms and what drives your payment7 min read
- Should you overpay your mortgage? How to run the numbers6 min read
- APR vs interest rate: what a loan really costs6 min read
- Compound interest explained, with the maths made simple6 min read
- Building an emergency fund on an irregular income6 min read