Hi, I'm Callum Flack, an Australian designer-engineer. I write about how attention becomes judgment, and how judgment shapes tools, groups and systems.

2026A chair’s form emerges from its material and joinery. An interface’s form emerges from its code. You cannot design either surface independently of the structure that makes it work.

2018We rely on the pre-verbal language of aesthetics to sense our environment before we can think. We are naturally attuned to beauty because we innately know it represents a higher possibility of worthwhile information.

2018When business hinges on the user experience and how products make people feel, success or failure is often a matter of taste. But only when one understands taste as intuitive knowhow, not subjective preference.

2023Iteration and prototyping are not the same thing but they're related over time during a build process. To determine which method you're using, ask yourself are we trying to test a solution or are we trying to release a solution?

2023Because Generative AI is a new general purpose platform, it is difficult to reason about its current use case potential, and what shape its native products will take. To help me think about it, here's some frames, metaphors and questions from the past year of thinking about it.

2018Making something new doesn't happen by magic. An irresistible itch has to be scratched, love has to be found. An accidental essay about the missing triggers in the creative process, inspired by my years of collecting soul 45s.