Hi, I’m Joel. I work at GitHub where I’m a Sr. Product Designer focused on github.com workflow. I'm also a core contributor on HospitalRun. I make Dev Tees. I enjoy writing, speaking, and learning new things. I work hard and I work smart. Ask me anything.
October 25, 2016 • 5 min read
Disclaimer: I am not an infrastructure expert. My basic knowledge of internet infrastructure has been absorbed through osmosis while being a develo...
June 5, 2016 • 10 min read
NOTE: Ironically enough, I started writing this post around New Year’s Day. However, I’m just now getting around to publishing it. But I promise I’...
May 12, 2016 • 3 min read
I haven’t blogged in the past year. Actually more than a year. The past year turned out to be one of the most difficult of my adult life after my m...
April 5, 2015 • 3 min read
The story of humanity is a story of brokenness.
March 17, 2015 • 3 min read
I recently shared an article on Facebook which garnered some discussion. Here's some further thoughts.
March 5, 2015 • 10 min read
I often talk to developers who say they feel bad about their level of design skill. In fact, a Redditor recently posted as much, seeking advice abo...
February 28, 2015 • 4 min read
Today I got some news that scared the shit out of me. Someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer rather unexpectedly. My heart sunk, and it...
January 27, 2015 • 3 min read
A few months ago I was at Circles Conference where I had a chance to join a panel of designers to talk about challenges we commonly face. One of th...
January 8, 2015 • 8 min read
Last year I set five simple personal goals for 2014. I wrote them on a chalkboard in a visible location in my office where I see them daily, and it...
November 12, 2014 • via medium
Over the course of 10 years in the workforce, I’ve been a freelancer for 9 years, and I’ve been an employee for 5 years. These are some of my refle...
July 5, 2014 • 7 min read
Growing up, I often heard people I respect say, “trust God, and work hard.” That saying epitomizes the American dream: the idea that with a combina...
May 12, 2014 • 10 min read
It’s no secret that airlines have been trying to push their profit margin and increase ticket sales at the same time by a relatively common practic...
March 23, 2014 • 4 min read
I have four outdoor lights. One is a porch light at our front door. Two more are lights on either side of the garage. And the fourth is a lamppost ...
February 10, 2014 • 9 min read
I tend to get into about one iOS game at a time. For a while I was really into Temple Run, then Subway Surfers, then Real Racing 3. For the last fe...
January 16, 2014 • 5 min read
I randomly ran across a YouTube clip today of Steve Jobs speaking at WWDC 1997. Specifically, it’s his response to an audience member who was allow...
January 4, 2014 • 9 min read
I love setting goals. In fact, that’s pretty much the best part of New Year. Oh and of course there’s the partying. New Years is great for that too.
December 23, 2013 • 3 min read
A couple days ago I talked about how easy it is to create an RSS feed with Jekyll. Well just as easy is creating a sitemap.
December 20, 2013 • 3 min read
Recently I rebuilt my blog on Jekyll, a sweet static site generator. However when a friend noticed I had no way for him to subscribe to my content,...
December 13, 2013 • 5 min read
I’m a naturally athletic person. But I’m not a naturally fit person. There’s a difference.
December 4, 2013 • 3 min read
One of the beauties of authoring code is that apart from basic syntax rules, formatting is flexible. But, we all know there are best practices for ...
November 12, 2013 • 2 min read
The last version of my personal site was something I was proud of from an aesthetic design perspective, but from a performance perspective it was a...
October 11, 2013 • 5 min read
This is Part 2 in my experience on making gravlax. You can read Part 1 here.
October 9, 2013 • 6 min read
This site is my personal home on the World Wide Intarnetz™. I write about stuff, I link to other stuff, and I showcase stuff I’ve done/built/design...
October 8, 2013 • 5 min read
This is Part 1 in my experience on making gravlax. You can read Part 2 here.
June 14, 2013 • 1 min read
To the world, love means “you make me happy.”
June 5, 2013 • 2 min read
A few weeks ago I discovered a bug with my newly launched site Remote Jobs. The site is fully responsive, and I happened to be at a Verizon store u...
June 3, 2013 • 2 min read
Over the past year I’ve had the enormous privilege to be part of an amazing team of professionals called appendTo. AppendTo provides front-end deve...
May 2, 2013 • 5 min read
I have a markerboard in my office. I also have a Macbook Air with as many prototyping and design creation apps as you can think of. But I prefer to...
March 27, 2013 • via appendto
March 23, 2013 • 2 min read
Like most designers, I’ve read more articles, blog posts, and tweets about Flat Design versus Skeuomorphic design over the past several months than...
December 19, 2012 • 4 min read
Long gone are the days of the Dot-com boom. And yet, premium dot-com domain names still go for tens of thousands of dollars.
December 5, 2012 • 6 min read
I want to share some thoughts on something almost everyone pays attention to, but nobody talks much about: Twitter followers.
October 11, 2012 • 1 min read
Have an iPhone 4, or 3G, or ANY iPhone with an unresponsive home button? I do. Lately I've been frustrated that when I hit the "home" button on my ...
October 8, 2012 • 1 min read
So if you’re on a mac, you probably know that you can hit alt + r to get the © symbol directly in your input. Or, that alt + r will get you the ® s...
September 15, 2012 • 1 min read
Ever wonder how to turn on caps lock on your iPhone? If you're like me, sometimes you want to type a whole word in capitals - or several words - an...
September 12, 2012 • 4 min read
Before you get the wrong idea from the title, I'm not claiming this dream to be as meaningful or significant as what Martin Luther King's envisione...
September 5, 2012 • 1 min read
So the last couple days I've encountered some issues with rebooting my new 2012 Macbook Air from sleep (new as in this years model, actually had it...
August 30, 2012 • 2 min read
I was doing a code review for a friend recently when I noticed something I’ve seen people do from time to time: use the <hr> (horizon...
August 28, 2012 • 5 min read
So I write my stylesheets in the browser. Or at least - I prefer to. I have been doing this for a few years now, ever since I discovered Chris Pede...
August 16, 2012 • 2 min read
One of the core concepts of user experience design - and of graphic design in general - is the idea of "visual hierarchy." It also happens to be on...
July 11, 2012 • 1 min read
June 29, 2012 • 1 min read
So for everyone keeping track, Google has officially acknowledged that the current stable build of Chrome is causing a kernel panic (system crash) ...
June 28, 2012 • 1 min read
Did you buy one of the new Macbook Airs or Macbook Pros that were released a few weeks ago and now you're wondering, "What do I do with the new Mag...
June 10, 2012 • 7 min read
The web standards movement has done amazing things for the web over the past few years. Not just for the web vaguely - specifically for web develop...
June 10, 2012 • 3 min read
June 4, 2012 • 2 min read
Recently I was introduced to a wonderful piece of project/task management software by Fran Lukesh, CD at andCulture, while working on a contract pr...
May 25, 2012 • 2 min read
I've been working with Photoshop for 11 years now (since version 6 back in 2000 as a freshman in college). I've used it as a student, as a casual u...
May 23, 2012 • 1 min read
Stumbled across this script today (I think Mozilla tweeted it) and it looks like something with huge potential.
May 10, 2012 • 1 min read
So you're working on styling a list of elements that have borders between them. Of course everyone knows to style said list of elements you can jus...
April 14, 2012 • 1 min read
So I'm developing a Wordpress powered site for a client, and I'm using Wordpress custom post-types to power different sections on the site, like a ...
April 9, 2012 • 2 min read
An open note to my colleagues, family, and friends:
April 6, 2012 • 1 min read
So recently I had this problem with iChat where every time I'd try to screenshare with somebody, I'd get an error from iChat that said it could not...
April 4, 2012 • 2 min read
In working at CURE the past two and a half years, I've had the chance to work alongside two of the most brilliant and talented programmer/developer...
March 30, 2012 • 4 min read
If you're like any modern web designer worth their salt, you love you some @font-face. And with the coming of the retina display to laptops (still ...
January 16, 2012 • 3 min read
In the coming months I'm going to be publishing snippets from my work on <a href="http://joelglovier.com/books/religion-vs-faith/" target+="_bla...
January 15, 2012 • 1 min read
Religion puts God in my debt when I adhere to required standards of behavior and makes me an idolator by putting the things I am trying to get from...
January 11, 2012 • 30 sec read
Ever tried to remove a sidebar shortcut in Finder only to have it refuse to disappear? Well here's the secret:
January 10, 2012 • 2 min read
Disclaimer: This morning I received an email from Stickermule offering a free set of DuckDuckGo stickers to the first 100 people who wrote about th...
January 6, 2012 • 4 min read
Coming from a church background, I've always heard people talk about "child-like faith." But where do we get that concept anyway?
January 4, 2012 • 3 min read
So recently I decided to get back into the gym and get myself back in shape after about a 2 year gym workout hiatus (courtesy of getting adjusted t...
December 30, 2011 • 4 min read
This year Christmas fell on a Sunday. ("You're welcome" - sincerely, Captain Obvious)
December 9, 2011 • 2 min read
So you have more than one machine - say a Macbook Pro and an iMac, or two Macbook Pros, or a Mac Pro and a Macbook Pro - whatever.
December 8, 2011 • 2 min read
So I work from two machines on an ongoing basis: a Mid 2010 15" Macbook Pro with 8GB of Ram and a i7 Dual Core processor a Late 2009 Mac Pro tower...
November 11, 2011 • 1 min read
November 1, 2011 • 1 min read
I recently upgraded to OSX Lion - and by recently I mean several weeks ago. But ever since one thing has really been bugging me: the lack of my han...
October 6, 2011 • 1 min read
So a couple times it's happened to me that when I was using Photoshop or Illustrator in Mac OSX, I couldn't access the hand tool with the spacebar.
October 2, 2011 • 3 min read
I'm a Christian. Not a religious nut, but a committed follower of the Way, Jesus Christ.
September 27, 2011 • 1 min read
Excellent advice from the man who wrote the book (literally) on web usability. In this article he advocates for DIY usability testing when you can'...
September 24, 2011 • 1 min read
So yesterday I was trying to style a blockquote element on a landing page and I wanted to use the cool technique Chris Coyier emphasized at Front E...
September 24, 2011 • 1 min read
So last night I finally bit the bullet and plunked $29.99 to upgrade my Mac Pro and my MacBook Pro to OSX Lion.
September 20, 2011 • 1 min read
Great advice for all of us professionals - whether you're looking for a job or not. The great thing about the web is that it lets us connect with a...
September 16, 2011 • 8 min read
*Disclaimer: some of you will read this and think, "Yay, another 'Should designer's know how to code' blog post." And'll you'll be right. Or at lea...
September 12, 2011 • 1 min read
I just got my first iPhone a few months ago: a shiny new iPhone 4. I love it (about as much as you can love a device).
September 6, 2011 • 4 min read
So I meet a lot of people in the design community, many of which are just starting out in their work. I'm always interested to see other designer's...
August 27, 2011 • 3 min read
I just wanted to share this quick tip I stumbled on recently for setting up guides a little faster in Photoshop when you make a new document, speci...
August 7, 2011 • 2 min read
For the past week I’ve spent time with my Kenyan brother in Colorado for his wedding. I’ve had the amazing privilege of meeting and experiencing th...
July 10, 2011 • 4 min read
Recently I listened to a Village Church podcast and I was really challenged by a particular thing he said. I was listening to the message from 4/30...
July 4, 2011 • 5 min read
So Google release Google+ (Google Plus) the other day. And no one seems to be making too much of a fuss. LOL, jk, but seriously.
June 29, 2011 • 1 min read
If you have any connection to the web or tech world at all, you are at least familiar with the ensuing battle of "Flash vs HTML5". In fact, last ye...
June 22, 2011 • 2 min read
We've all heard the expression "fight fire with fire." It's an interesting phrase that comes from the strategy that firemen who fight forest fires ...
June 19, 2011 • 1 min read
Help! My Apple TV remote keeps turning on Front Row and messing with the volume on my Macbook Pro! How do I get my Apple TV remote to stop control...
June 17, 2011 • 4 min read
June 6, 2011 • 1 min read
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blo...
June 3, 2011 • 3 min read
Everyone wants to get rich, right? It's part of the "American dream" after all. Proving that point are lots of "get rich quick" scams that you can ...
May 31, 2011 • 1 min read
May 30, 2011 • 4 min read
DISCLAIMER: So I want to rant about gum for a little bit...and marketing. This post has nothing to do with design, code, or anything even remotely ...
May 26, 2011 • 1 min read
Are you brand new to web development? Can you believe that lot’s of people pick up web development without ever having gone to school or received f...
May 18, 2011 • 1 min read
QR codes are everywhere now. Not literally, but almost. Consider the following examples...
May 10, 2011 • 1 min read
I manage a group on LinkedIn called Design and Develop. Today somebody posted a discussion titled, “Name 5 best web design tutorial on the web?”. I...
May 5, 2011 • 1 min read
<opinion>Chrome is the best browser ever.</opinion> Seriously though, ever since switching to Chrome shortly after they had a stable re...
May 3, 2011 • 3 min read
So everyone thinks different things about social media. (For the unenlightened, I'm referring to Facebook and Twitter, as the most popular examples...
May 3, 2011 • 3 min read
So by now some of you that know me know I'm a huge Chrome fan - in fact I try to convert anybody I know using Firefox to jump to the Chrome boat. I...
May 1, 2011 • 30 sec read
This looks awesome. So apparently you can sit under one on one mentoring and also a classroom setting (20 students max) for a few days in a luxurio...
April 30, 2011 • 5 min read
Recently life has been filled with changes and new things. In so many ways this is just great. I thrive on the excitement of change and fresh thing...
April 28, 2011 • 30 sec read
This guy's work is UNBELIEVABLE. He makes masterpieces that most people couldn't create with a simple pencil and paper...but he actually makes them...
April 26, 2011 • via slidedeck
April 26, 2011 • 1 min read
So I'm working on this page at CURE.org which we are launching shortly, and I noticed that my super-script dollar signs in the appeal offer look of...
April 17, 2011 • 3 min read
April 2, 2011 • 3 min read
I have an amazing wife, in many ways and I love her deeply. She just proved how amazing she is yet again, and that I really don't deserve this woma...
March 30, 2011 • 1 min read
EDIT: This blog is no longer on Tumblr. I've moved to a static Jekyll powered site for the blog.
March 30, 2011 • 4 min read
A cursory glance through the early part of Hebrews chapter 13 reveals several instructional verses more of the random nature than of a pattern of a...