1. An IDEO team combined human design talent and machine learning to create Font Map, a tool for designers to compare and find similar fonts. This started with Google’s ~750 typefaces, but can scale to many more. Explore for yourself.
2. More and more of my searches start and end in the Google ecosystem, including those short snippets results in Q&A format. There’s an argument to be made that these snippets are damaging small business websites — and might move upstream from there.
3. The wireframe strikes me as a kind of dress rehearsal: vital foundational work being done with little fanfare. Look at this collection of wireframes from top UX designers to learn more about why they matter.
4. I use my camera less for beautiful images than data capture. What hotel room am I in (anyone remember when keys had number tags)? What was that guy’s title? And, of course, where did I park my car? Google is trying to solve this last one.
5. One last link: Paul Ford’s beautiful speech on 10 timeframes. Let’s always be mindful of the experiences we create for all the creators out there.

Weekend fun: We’re finally getting our flying cars. And an edible water bottle, I guess.

Consumed: This was a week of breakfasts. It’s hard to go wrong with the fancy menu at Beaubourg, but I have an enduring fondness for the good food, weak coffee, and brusque service at The Red Flame.

Planned obsolescence: This is the final edition of this Friday 5 newsletter (or at least this incarnation of it!), as I take a deep dive into a couple of projects. Thanks for all your notes this week — may be back in the fall post summer research!