Rework of ‘MIDI Sans Frontières’, originally composed as a response to the EU referendum in 2016. The score and recorded stems of ‘MIDI Sans Frontières’ were...

Squarepusher - Midi Sans Frontieres (Avec Batterie)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=X_k2lih0T6U&si=Dua1pQ3Ql720H9Vx

Wacky puzzle found  called “proud to be British” featuring several pictures of British royalty, Buckingham palace, and people wearing Union Jack clothes

screenshot of Francesco's substack metrics for open rate in the last 30 days. Figures show 76.19%.

Bush with flowers and many snails attached to it

Two people sat next to each other by a pebble beach as seen from behind bushes of valerian

A cemetery in the foreground the sea with people looking at it in the background

Two books laying next to each other on a table. One is a book called “a celebration of creativity from Italy”, the other is called “The Passenger: Mediterranean”.

Indoor plants on the floor on an apartment hit by morning sun rays

The English Channel sea at sunrise and it's

Intercom phone from a brand called “Bellissimo”

Glimpse of a beach and a blue container from an opening on a wall

Fresh buns

open.substack.com/pub/oddandwonderful/p/fresh-buns

Building front reading “rage”, likely cropped from sto-rage

happy Bernese mountain dog smiling at the camera

Glazed swedish buns stacked high on a glass tray in a cafe

Map of a fictional town made up entirely of green space. All pieces collages from bits of an old map of Britain.

Screenshot of are.na channel called “people at the intersection of things” and my website showing up as the first and only block in this channel

Sustainability chapter of the 2024 Web Almanac covering environmental impacts of web pages, where they come from and how to reduce them.

Sustainability | 2024 | The Web Almanac by HTTP Archive

https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/sustainability#reducing-the-environmental-impact-of-websites

Screenshots of my two pages in my new websites positioned side to side

Charli xcx singing on stage under an artificial rainfall

Handwritten message in the post from a gutter cleaning company

Vintage teapots shaped like cars, pianos, bourse and other silly objects

Harbour with small fishing boats and speedboat, as well as a little floating house.

Two armchairs in a garden are lit by the sun at golden hour

On finding courage, community and the strength to move slow

Things people don’t tell you about your first years in business

https://open.substack.com/pub/notbadnotbad/p/things-people-dont-tell-you-about?r=123caf&utm_medium=ios

Promotional image featuring graphic design with: on the left, a poem about website-making, and on the right, the details about the event (location, time, date). All info is available on the website.

Holding a book called Francesco’s Mediterranean voyage” with a man standing on a boat

it's here. it's real. it's black. and it's got so much more than you've wished for. OP–XY is the world’s most complete, portable sequencer that demonstrates the true power of step sequencing.  explore: teenage.engineering/products/op-xy shop: teenage.engineering/store/op–xy guide: teenage.engineering/guides/op–xy

OP–XY

https://youtu.be/ukES66CtiAg?si=UE7jj7SlAYb6eQ49

screenshot of the Never Not Ready website

High chair that looks like it’s made of pretzel

Folkestone harbour and lighthouse pictured against a blue sky and super still sea

On forgetting the rules, AI grannies, tiny logos, and everything in between.

This may contain traces of sanity

https://open.substack.com/pub/notbadnotbad/p/may-contain-traces-of-sanity

Met this very tall and beautiful boy today

I'll bite the bullet. I've been working in cafes and bars for a month. The job hunt had taken over my mental health. It wasn't sustainable anymore. I'm still keeping an eye out for cool collabs, but for now, I'm enjoying being out there, making & serving things that people love.

Been away from posts for ages and, for the first time, I didn't miss anything from not being active on a particular platform. Knowing I didn't experience FOMO or any other side effect of social media "distancing", is that maybe a sign that is a healthy platform?

Obsessed with this tune. It makes you feel instantly nostalgic. https://youtube.com/watch?v=X_k2lih0T6U&si=Dua1pQ3Ql720H9Vx

Yesterday, I helped my partner update his CV and write a letter to apply for a job. Less than 50 minutes later, his phone rang: he had got himself an interview! 🤯 

He deserves it, and I should be humble...admit I had nothing to do with it. But boy, did it feel good.

Sandwich is apparently home to a stunning medieval church which has been transformed into a…ahem, a charity shop.

Show me a more cursed puzzle, I’ll wait

Purely anecdotal but anytime someone has assured me "don't worry, I'll follow up with you" — 100% of the time they do not do that lol 

And it may be a "polite" way of telling me "for the love of god please don't message me" but idk, there must be a better way

I don't usually obsess over numbers when it comes to my writing, but looking at the open rate for my Substack makes me want to give a big fat middle finger to all the companies that have turned me down for email marketing roles in the past.

Went on a lovely foraging walk this morning. Found sticky weed, fennel, sea kale, and valerian – lots of valerian.

The light today, have you seen the light out here today!?

Just hit send on my first-ever proposal & quote for a freelance job. Head is pounding, it's been a long day. But gosh it feels good!

Spent almost two hours this morning sharing stories about our journeys to creative freelancing with a new local friend I've made through my other job in food service. It was wonderful and so, so refreshing.

For the series “more books I’ll take ages to get to”: this time the theme is *clearly* nostalgia (for Italy) through design and documentary.

The sunrise over the Channel this morning

I’m taking my days one at a time lately. There’s some interesting news I’d love to share but I want to fully savour the moment myself first. And the weather on gorgeous days like today definitely helps.

Don’t have enough words to describe all the change that’s been happening lately. But it's good, mostly good.

And while I process it (over chocolate, hugs and downward dogs), I wrote about it here open.substack.com/pub/oddandwonderful/p/fresh-buns

Evening report: this building spoke to me

Has anyone read this before? Thinking of ordering but slightly worried it might be one of those books with great intentions but poor execution.

Career update: I’m building my freelance business 🏗️ The goal is providing support and resources for busy creative professionals.

Not now, but soon. I’m working on it everyday. Hold on for news. It’ll be worth it.

In the meantime, enjoy this pic of my partner’s gorgeous Izzie.

We made plenty of cinnamon buns today 🧁

Went collaging with friends and strangers at the pub the other day and went all in on the “rebuild” theme 😬 I cut and pasted dozens of parks from an old British map to form a fictional town, made entirely of green space.

Someone added my site as the first block to an arena channel with the greatest name

The 2024 Web Almanac is out, and once again it includes a brilliant chapter on web sustainability, packed with data and real-world tips for reducing your online carbon footprint. https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2024/sustainability#reducing-the-environmental-impact-of-websites

Someone’s finally instagrammed a coffee I made. It’s a first. Feels like graduating coffee elementary school.

Lil pat on my own back: I redesigned my personal website! francescoimola.com

I'm back to basics: only HTML and CSS (Framer was fun but I needed freedom). And being handmade, the site's carbon footprint is also lower than 97 % of all web pages globally!!!

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

I’m a sucker for print marketing…when it’s done well, and I genuinely love messages like this!

Disappeared for a while. I’ve been busy moving. This is the view out of my kitchen window at the moment ✌️🌞

Freelancing has been full of challenges and surprises, and as I look back on my first few months, a few lessons stand out. 

Hope there’s something here that speaks to you.

https://open.substack.com/pub/notbadnotbad/p/things-people-dont-tell-you-about?r=123caf&utm_medium=ios

I'll be hosting my first HTML freewrite later this month. I'm feeling pretty excited that it's actually happening! If you live nearby Folkestone and fancy some website-making on 23 June, you know where we'll be! htmlbythesea.site

Why are we so addicted to strengthening our bodies? Pilates for a steel core. Yoga for a powerful mind. Weights for a muscular look.

What are we trying to accomplish when mindlessly pursuing strength? Why not pursue softness and admit that it all really won’t matter in the end?

A book about me that I didn’t know existed?

I’m starting to be a little disappointed that Posts has not grown as much beyond its “original” tech and design audience. Is it just me?

Just got the umpteenth job rejection, this time through the phone. Kinder, but no less painful. This one stings more than others because I donated a lot of my time to their interview task and was super into the idea of joining.

Someone give these guys an award for best music product launch video (not sure it's even a thing, but we could make it up for once!) https://youtu.be/ukES66CtiAg?si=UE7jj7SlAYb6eQ49

My solo VA agency is now up and running and I'm feeling hugely proud of how the site has turned out www.nevernotready.club

I almost wrote a LinkedIn post about why I won't write more LinkedIn posts. What a dumb idea.

Might have found my new favourite chair guys

Who would have thought that a rescue husky could pull so hard on a leash that it would take two people to hold her

Another week, another Not Bad newsletter. In this last one we talk about relatable writing, great people I've come across, and some (very needed) good news. 

Don't say I never gave you anything! https://open.substack.com/pub/notbadnotbad/p/may-contain-traces-of-sanity