Nor Sanavongsay

8 Things to Know Before Writing Children’s Books

Writing stories for kids sounds simple, right? Bright pictures, silly characters, and a happily-ever-after. But after years of writing and illustrating, I’ve learned that crafting a great children’s book is a lot more than that. If you want your story to land with young readers (and their grown-ups), here are…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

Exploring the Purpose of Obfuscated CSS Class Names in Modern Web Design

When I first started as a self-taught web developer, I loved the thrill of clicking "View Source" on websites, eagerly exploring how the pages were structured. Nowadays, with Chrome's Inspect tool, I can dig even deeper. As someone who enjoys breaking things apart, reverse engineering, and learning through exploration, I…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts, Personal Reflections

Reflecting on Fifty

My journey to the half century mark has been a winding path paved by refugee experiences, creative pursuits, digital innovations, and family life. The Wonder Years My earliest memories are fragments from our refugee camp, burned into my three-year-old mind like faded photographs. I can still smell the fresh fruits…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

How Pixar Tells Unforgettable Stories: 22 Essential Principles

It started with a tweet. Well, twenty-two of them actually. Back in 2011, Pixar story artist Emma Coats shared what she'd learned about storytelling while working at the studio that gave us Toy Story, Finding Nemo, and Up. Her insights quickly became known as "Pixar's 22 Rules of Storytelling," though…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

Squarespace Payments vs. Stripe

If you've ever tried to create a website, you've probably heard of Squarespace. It's that all-in-one website builder that promises to make your life easier with its drag-and-drop interface and beautiful templates. You know, the one with those Super Bowl ads featuring celebrities telling you how simple it is to…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

Don’t Apologize for Being an Introvert

Ever sit in a meeting with your brain buzzing with ideas, but by the time you’re ready to speak, the topic’s already moved on?Yeah. Been there. Being an introvert at work can feel like playing a game where you never got the rulebook. People assume you're shy, indecisive, or not…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts, Personal Reflections

Nine, nunchucks, and now forty-nine

Turning another year older. Crazy, right? It feels like just yesterday I was that kid, you know, the one who lived for Saturday morning cartoons. 1984. Nine years old, just getting into comics and trying to draw all my favorite superheroes. And man, I’d trudge a mile to Channing Elementary,…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

Essential Writing Tips to Improve Your Communication Skills

We all want to be better writers. Clear and engaging writing always makes an impact, whether for a personal blog, work communication for positive results, or a novel idea buzzing in your head. But there’s something truly frustrating about sitting down to write and feeling like a complete amateur. You need to…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

Design Systems: Your Fighting Style for Building Efficient Products

Ever use an app or website that feels like a bad kung fu flick? Forms that jump around, colors that have a bad mighty morphing time! That's what happens when you build stuff without a design system. Think of a design system as your fighting system. It's where you master…

Nor Sanavongsay In My Thoughts

10 Essential Skills for Mastering UX Design

Welcome! My journey into UX Design began in the 90s when my love for art and technology first intersected. From early experiments with AppleScript to creating interactive Flash websites, my path has led me to focus on Design Systems. Today, I want to share ten essential skills that make a…