Ethan Marcotte (@ethanmarcotte) · DIRTY

Ethan Marcotte

@ethanmarcotte

designer, writer, roommate to two kittens. here’s my website: I think you deserve a union, and I wrote a book about that: hi friend (headshot by @elaina.bsky.social)

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Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 1d

Screenshot of a cropped OpenAI ad on LinkedIn. A dropdown menu has been opened to reveal five items: Save, Copy link to post, Embed this post, Hide this ad, and (highlighted) Seems like AI slop.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 1d

that’s a fairly load-bearing “and more,” youtube

Two YouTube thumbnails from the Criterion Collection, both grouped under the category “World War II and more.” The first is titled “Thomas Bangalter's Closet Picks,” the second is titled “Charlie Day's Closet Picks.”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 1d

logging on

Screenshot of a post from username nondelphic. Post reads, “writing tip: put words on page. hope this helps. i will not be taking questions because i have not done this”.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 5d

actual, out loud cackles

A pair of black sunglasses floating in front of a wall of text that says “NORMAL F****** SUNGLASSES” over and over again. Overlaid caption reads, “Normal F****** Sunglasses”.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 9d

Altered photograph of Edward Woodward’s character from The Wicker Man, holding his arms aloft from behind the wooden bars of his cage. A speech balloon has been added to make it look like he’s saying the previous post.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 12d

@phirephoenix.com is doing such good work with Show Up Toronto, y’all.

Screenshot of an excerpt from the email newsletter Show Up Toronto. Except reads, “ Organizing is not about putting coins in a change vending machine. It’s about trying things and throwing stuff against the wall and building networks of care that sustain to the next fight, whether you win this one or not. The things that won last time may not win this time. The things that lost this time may win the next. The point is, you gotta try even when it seems pointless, as long as you try together.”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· 13d

Captain America points and says, “I understood that reference.”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jul 6

Wow, Ryan. Love all of this, and maybe especially this bit. (And AGREED.)

“ I’m far less interested in moralizing about the use of “AI” tools than in considering their use symptomatically. What desire lines or unmet needs can we perceive by critically observing the ways people make use of these tools?”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jul 4

Screenshot of a tweet from username @getfiscal says, “ me: 'So, Karl Marx, that's basically what the world is like in 2018. What's your analysis of the situation? Is capitalism still doomed?'
Karl Marx: 'Holy shit, you went to the moon?'
me: 'Does communism still have a future?'
Karl Marx: 'The moon in the fucking sky?'”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 25

Digitally altered copy of Karl Marx’s “Das Kapital”, but the title has been clumsily replaced with the words “Das Goose”.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 24

Screenshot of the phrase “Become the weird space wizard you want to see airbrushed on the side of a van” overlaid atop a cosmic, star-filled background.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 24

LOGGING ON

Photograph of a rainbow partially eclipsed by a massive, dark tornado. Caption reads “YOU CAN BE BOTH.”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 22

Oh great guess, Stef, thank you! But sadly, no—nothing changed in my a11y settings.

Screenshot of the Accessibility/Motion preferences on my phone. Reduce Motion is turned off, Show Vehicle Motion Cues is off, and Dim Flashing Lights is off. Auto-Play Animated Images, Auto-Play Video Previews, and Auto-Play Message Effects are all set to on.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 17

call me a24

Screenshot of a post from a user named Wraith, which says, “Goblin adventurer whose catchphrase is ’no goblemo’”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 15

in which a red veil descends over my vision, and the kill bill klaxon begins sounding in my ears

Screenshot of a massive overlay that says, “Get the app to keep using Reddit. Search better, personalize your feed, and never miss an update on your favorite communities. Get the Reddit App.” This overlay popped up over the bottom of Reddit while I was reading in my phone browser, preventing me from scrolling any further.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 11

A Star Trek shuttlecraft flies through a cloudy sky. Caption reads, “(screaming)”.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 11

welp guess i’m not working today

A gray-and-white cat named Olive stands proudly on an open laptop’s keyboard, having just locked the screen with her feet.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 9

okay; sure

Screenshot of the word “precarity” underlined by macOS as a misspelled word, which it isn’t, and with the word “precocity” suggested as a possible replacement.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 4

Current status: bukk.it/spray-nope.gif

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 3

said hi to a river this morning 💜

Photograph of the Charles River on a sunny day, winding its way past a tree-lined park on its way to the ocean. The Zacom bridge is in the background.

Photograph of the Boston skyline on a sunny summer day. The Charles River is in the foreground, and reflects the deep blue of the cloud-flecked sky above.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 2

I was quite literally in the middle of typing something when this happened

A gray-and-white kitten named Olive sits loaf-style on my open laptop’s keyboard.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· Jun 1

logging on

A sleeping gray-and-white kitten has a green blanket pulled up over them. Some headphones have been placed over their ears, and an audio player of some sort has been placed next to one of the kitten’s front paws. Caption reads, “it can be friday again if we all agree”.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 23

i’m helping this is me helping www.twitch.tv/wiltostreams

Screenshot of a Twitch chat, with two messages from user “thatbeep” that read: “chat is that good” and “time to lock in”

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 22

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 20

bet my electric mop can outrun it

Detail from a poorly-rendered, AI-generated “illustration,” showing two spools of wire connected to each other and also to a nearby mop handle.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 18

just blorped out a printout of this what can it mean

Screenshot of a social media post by rob elliott says “The amount of cookies l've watched the Cookie Monster waste with his bullshit chewing makes me sick”.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 18

Said hi to a river today. 💜

Long shot of the underside of a bridge, with great sweeping arches along the sides and top. The Charles River is flowing beneath.

A view of the Boston skyline on a sunny summer day. The shoreline of the Charles River is flecked with leafy green trees, and the Hancock Tower skyscraper gleams in the sunlight.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 4

Forgot to report back: I had a LOVELY time speaking at last week’s meetup! I got to flap my arms about making design systems human-sized, and got to hear Mary Hubbard (mary.blog) speak. All in front of some truly lovely people — the organizers made me feel welcome, and the attendees did too.

Photo of Ethan standing next to a projector screen showing a slide titled “The design systems between us.” He’s wearing an N95 respirator mask, glasses, and a gray cardigan, and is gesturing with his presentation remote.

Photograph of web designer Ethan Marcotte standing next to Mary Hubbard, executive director of the WordPress Foundation. Ethan is a tall middle-aged man wearing glasses and an N95 respirator mask; Mary is wearing a tan sweatshirt with rainbow stripes on each arm, and has glasses perched on top of her head.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 3

written by a different milton

Milton, a character from the movie “Office Space,” is a disheveled-looking man wearing extremely thick glasses while sitting alone in a messy office cubicle. He’s on the phone.

Ethan Marcotte@ethanmarcotte· May 1

Digital illustration showing two silhouetted people shushing a computer covered in red alert icons. Caption reads, “Dear computers! Thank you for all the ‘notifications’ but from now on WE will notify YOU. Oh sorry!! Let me speak your language!!! Beep Boop shut the hell up!”