Hey, I’m Jake Zien.

I'm a living thing who's curious about why things are the way they are.
That's why I live in New York, and why I work in design.

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What I do / What I’ve done

I'm a designer with frontend developer chops. I see design as a way of thinking. I've used it to develop products, brands, software, and my worldview.

CBRE Build

A new brand to position an eccentric startup within the Fortune 150 company that acquired it

Pivot Power

"Inventing" the flexible power strip, a Red Dot Design award-winner that sold millions of units, with Quirky

Trump Censor

A browser extension that pixellates out the most offensive thing on the Internet

Site IQ

From scratch, defining, designing, and coleading a team to build a broker-friendly tool for creating client-ready reports

Psychedelic Graphic Design

Volunteer design work for MAPS and other organizations supporting psychedelic research and sensible policy

Willka Yachay

Volunteer visual identity, website development, and art direction for a Projects for Peace-funded nonprofit that supports indigenous Incans in the mountains of Peru

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All work
→All work

Things that are well designed

See also my post on things that aren't well designed. Emailing a photo of your electric meter instead of figuring out a UI or meter clock…

Things that are not well designed

See also my post on things that are well designed. Venmo Emojis autopick note required for transaction Business or tech reasons, which I…

Body by yogurt

I don't know if I'd call it my favorite food, but I eat this when I don't know what to eat, which is most of the time. It's filling enough…

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All writing
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Faves

Things I can recommend generally, publicly, indefinitely.

Tailwind

Holy shit, they solved CSS.

The Culture Clash

Jean Donaldson

Required reading for dog owners. Fascinating, funny, practical guide to behaviorism.

Bob's Red Mill Muesli

Old Country Style

Or as we call it in our house, Bob’s Moulin Rouge. Probably 60% of my diet.

Aphex Twin

The best kind of artist. A unique master craftsman, a mysterious mythical figure, a genius composer. Possibly an alien.

Lip Trip

Mountain Ocean

Low key the world’s greatest lip balm.

Wede Harer Guzo

Hailu Mergia and the Dahlak Band

Strange, beautiful music that captures a wistful happiness. It reminds me of life.

HEY

Email from Basecamp

Masterful design rescues email from decades of ossified ideas. A true solution to email hell.

Buddy's Burrito Bar

Brooklyn

Perfect neighborhood taqueria & grill in Carroll Gardens.

Zhenjiang Vinegar

Gold Plum

Black rice vinegar, the Shanghainese pantry staple that might beat out lemon juice as my favorite condiment. Complex, tangy, essential for a proper xiao long bao dipping sauce.

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All faves
→All faves