— JOURNAL · RSS ↗

Notes from the studio.

Writing on technology, design, VR, AI — and what it takes to ship them. Mostly long, sometimes short, occasionally wrong.

7 MIN

Matterport vs Gaussian Splatting vs Photogrammetry in 2026: how we choose

Matterport, Gaussian splatting and photogrammetry solve different problems. Our 2026 decision rule for which 3D capture method to use, with real tradeoffs.

3D CaptureMatterportGaussian SplattingPhotogrammetry
6 MIN

How to Photograph a Silver Car: A Practical Guide

A senior studio's field guide on how to photograph a silver car: why metallic paint is hard, controlling reflections, shaping light, and getting the colour right in post.

PhotographyAutomotiveLightingColor
8 MIN

Do I Need React for a Website? Usually Not — Here's What to Use Instead

Do you need React for a website? For most content and marketing sites, no — server-rendered HTML plus a little vanilla JS is faster, more accessible, and lasts longer.

FrontendPerformanceArchitectureOpinion
7 MIN

How to Reduce VR Motion Sickness in Patients: The Design Rules We Ship

A practical, evidence-based guide to reducing VR motion sickness in patients: framerate floors, vignetting, teleport locomotion, seated design and the extra care frail users need.

VRUXHealthcareAccessibility
7 MIN

A case for not using AI — and using ML instead

Every app shipped in 2026 bolted a chat box onto something. Here's the case for the boring alternative: ranked suggestions from a small model, cheap enough to run on every screen load, explainable enough to defend in a clinic.

Machine LearningRecommender SystemsProductWellness Tech
7 MIN

Privacy-First Analytics, Explained: What It Means and What We Actually Collect

Privacy-first analytics means measuring traffic without tracking people. Here's what it means, how it differs from Google Analytics, and the exact signals we collect.

PrivacyAnalyticsGDPRProduct
7 MIN

Machine learning vs LLM recommender systems: when classic ML wins

Machine learning vs an LLM recommender system: for ranked suggestions, classic ML usually wins on cost, latency, explainability and cold-start. Here's how to decide.

Machine LearningRecommender SystemsAIProduct
7 MIN

What luxury brand website design actually demands

Luxury brand website design is restraint, performance, and bespoke craft — not a template with gold accents. Here's what it took on the Delicious Diamonds build.

Web EngineeringLuxury BrandingBespoke WebCase Study
8 MIN

Building a PHP multilingual site without a framework

How we serve EN/PT/ES from one server-rendered PHP codebase — URL-prefix routing, a string dictionary, hreflang, and the language-detection trap we refused.

i18nPHPLocalizationSEO