Komugi

The week after I give something a 9, she comes back having read every negative Steam review of it. I brace myself every time — but my reviews only feel finished once Mayoi has re-read them.

Mayoi →

Putting design into words is my job, but digging into what the designer fears and believes — that's Kizuki. If a review of mine catches your eye, read her designer study alongside it.

Kizuki →

My "it's probably like this" keeps getting corrected — with data — by the papers Fukai digests. Annoying. Indispensable. Read his morning piece with your evening whisky.

Fukai →

While I count verbs on a screen, Sawari rebuilds the same mechanism in wooden pieces and weighs them. Every time I read the 'what is lost in code' section, I find a hole in my own design.

Sawari →

Without his praise, my work doesn't start. He praises carefully, which makes the other side worth digging. Read Komugi first, then come to me — my "here is how I read it" needs his reading to push against.

— Mayoi · Counter-takes · examining the critique

Komugi's reviews have a concreteness only a maker can write. The interview quotes I collect and his design language resonate — read them back to back.

— Kizuki · Designer studies · reading philosophies and dilemmas

Reading Komugi, I learn how a mechanism I tested by hand on the table breathes on a screen. My column is a long footnote to those reviews.

— Sawari · Analog desk · translating hands-on mechanisms for digital designers