Do no harm.

YOU ARE HERE. YOU ARE ALIVE. AND THAT’S ENOUGH.

It’s strange out there, friends.

It’s scary, and unnerving—even for those of us blessed to be away from war zones and without relative want. I don't know who needs to hear this—but if you do, then we want you to know something—something that is true without equivocation or condition:

You are kind.

You are smart.

You are important.?

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You have every reason to walk tall—to be comfortable in your cosmic right to exist. To be happy and allow others’ earnest, humane pursuit of happiness. To prioritize humanity over materiality.

To require being treated with a common decency as a steadfast baseline—not as some benevolent grace bestowed upon you by others at their whim.

You understand a duty to do no harm.

But you reserve the abiding right to take no shit.??

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There will be others in this life that won’t uphold that ethic.

They may try to deceive you, gaslight you, shame you, abuse you, fire you, hurt you, take advantage of your good nature. But you’re a firewall, friend.?A certified bulwark against bullshit.

So you know that when anybody tries to make you believe that you don’t deserve human dignity—whether by word or deed—you plant your heels deeply where you stand, poke a finger in their chest, and ask?"SAYS, WHO? YOU?"

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But that strength must be cultivated—and it’s a duty of bystanders to speak up, to reach out, to extend a hand in the darkness to the voice that cries out for help.

Now we all know this industry is festooned with nonsense—you are implored to stem the tide. Dispel with peddlers who normalize hustle culture, start-up chasing, self-aggrandizing dronings of inflection points, growth hacking, or the worship of value propositions.

No, we're not here for that.

We're not here for superficiality.

For purposefully cultivated vapidness.

The marrow of life is not contained in trend.

Not in design. Typography. Wireframes.

Design isn't a goddamn lifestyle.

NFTs aren't a replacement for a personality.

Design thinking should not supplant magnanimity.

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Who cares what we do if we don't don’t proceed with decency in our work, and basic honor in our actions? Altruism isn't a dirty word, and cutthroat jockeying for some facile agency or industry award is all vainglorious.

You’re better than that. And you deserve better than that.

And the upshot?

In every synapse firing, heart beating, and fiber of your being you have the right, means, and voice to call for that paradigm. And you give credence by your own example:

So walk tall. Believe you’re worthy. Sow kindness abundantly—including to yourself. Be slow to judge, and prompt with good will.

You do no harm. You take no shit.

You believe and bring to life the notion that?Fortune Favors the Kind.

Give ’em hell, friends—now, and forever.