Elizabeth Goodspeed

Elizabeth Goodspeed

@goodspeed.bsky.social

Independent designer, writer, trend spotter, & casual archivist (she/her)

1,948 Followers 44 Following 92 Posts Joined Apr 2023
2 weeks ago
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Poetic Justice Today’s collection is a set of Ottoman-era data visualizations from Cerîde-i Adliyye (The Journal of Justice), a Ministry of Justice publication printed in Turkey in the mid-1920s.

New Casual Archivist about legal charts that look like blades of grass—from Cerîde-i Adliyye, a Ministry of Justice publication printed in Turkey in the mid-1920s 📊 casualarchivist.substack.com/p/poetic-jus...

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3 months ago
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Elizabeth Goodspeed on how many designers it takes to make a studio > www.itsnicethat.com/articles/eli...

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1 month ago
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Gave a talk at Pentagram and it felt like the warmest family reunion!!!

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1 month ago
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“Faking ‘realness’ on a computer doesn’t get us anywhere new.” – Elizabeth Goodspeed on imperfection as design strategy As AI and digital tools make polish effortless, analogue imperfection has taken on new cultural weight. But what does “analogue” actually mean when most things are made, shared, and consumed digitally...

Another banger from @goodspeed.bsky.social

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1 month ago

thank you so much!

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1 month ago

“If the goal is to prove something wasn’t made by AI, faking ‘realness’ on a computer doesn’t really get us anywhere new.

[…]

What’s being described as an ‘analogue revival’ is less a material shift than a semiotic one.”👇

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1 month ago
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Elizabeth Goodspeed on the limits of imperfection as a design strategy As AI and digital tools make polish effortless, analogue imperfection has taken on new cultural weight. But what does “analogue” actually mean when most things are made, shared, and consumed digitally...

My first @its-nice-that.bsky.social column of the year is about faking imperfection (fauxbi-sabi) and what it means to have a resurgence of analog aesthetics without analog tools 📷
www.itsnicethat.com/articles/eli...

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1 month ago
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Special Guest Elizabeth Goodspeed on Design Education, Experimental Branding, Weird References, and Archiving Everything Podcast Episode · Works But Makes Noises · 01/26/2026 · 1h 5m

Thank you to Works But Makes Noises for having me on their podcast! Topics discussed include: what design school doesn’t teach, my scanner, archives versus mood boards, folk packaging, trend reports vs. in–out lists, and writing as a way of thinking → podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...

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1 month ago
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We watched John Carpenter's "They Live" recently and I'm gobsmacked that no one has recommended it to me before. Twilight Zone if it included a 10 minute wrestling scene and more people getting drop-kicked out of windows. And, of course, SO much Futura. Perfect movie, 10/10.

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1 month ago
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One Small Step for Advertising Today’s collection is a series of moon-themed ads from 1969-ish. I found these via my local library book sale, which is put on twice a year by a group of chatty octogenarians (plus one sprightly fifty...

One small step for advertising; new Casual Archivist issue about proto-virality and 1960s moonvertising 🌝
casualarchivist.substack.com/p/apollo-11

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1 month ago
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🌙🚀 One Small Step for Advertising
by Elizabeth Goodspeed @goodspeed.bsky.social
Moon-themed ads from the 60s.

+ The E. F. Caldwell & Co. Collection at the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Library
#ads #vintage #Ephemera
casualarchivist.substack.com/p/apollo-11?...

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2 months ago
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Magical Athlete — Elizabeth Goodspeed

Great look at the distinct design of one of the goofiest board games of the year.

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2 months ago

Thank you!

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2 months ago

For me, Bluesky is still missing a lot of the functionality that Twitter has, especially on the app—the media tab, drafts, more support for link previews, etc.—as well as a lot of the people whose posts I tend to like to repost or reply to!

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2 months ago

It definitely plays that role a bit less for me these days—function of being 30 / on the internet for so long. I guess I mostly chat with online friends on Instagram DM just because that's where I think I post the most "personal" stuff (pictures of my dog, etc.) that warrants chatting!

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3 months ago

I try! Just hard to keep up with remembering to cross-post to Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Substack every time I have something to share 🥲

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3 months ago

Responding to @goodspeed.bsky.social timely op-ed in The Architect's Newspaper about how rebranding some websites is a problem in search of a solution www.archpaper.com/2025/12/nati...

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3 months ago

I wrote a piece for @archpaper.com about 18F, the National Design Studio, and the insidiousness of “rebranding” government services instead of improving them. Thanks to my editors for letting me use the phrase “tread on me daddy” in an architecture publication 🫡
www.archpaper.com/2025/12/nati...

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3 months ago

Oh to be clear they're both bad, just in different ways. Bluesky is generally better but missing a lot of the functionality of Twitter!

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3 months ago

I like this a lot.

@blackfreelance.bsky.social this is about designers but might be of interest to you.

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3 months ago
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🥭 Elizabeth @goodspeed.bsky.social on how many #designers it takes to make a #studio
#itsnicethat
The question of what counts as a “studio” – and what you call one – reveals the industry’s ongoing tension around identity, ambition and scale.
#design
www.itsnicethat.com/articles/eli...

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3 months ago
Cover of the article Signs by Elizabeth Goodspeed. Behind, a picture of a black and white street with vintage cars and signs

⚫ Signs of Life
by @goodspeed.bsky.social
at #SunsetOverSunset
Signs are actors. Some are wallflowers, barely speaking above a whisper, while others shout and flirt, beckoning for attention.
#sign #design

www.sunsetoversunset.org/stories/signs

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3 months ago

I'm so glad it resonated, and so appreciative of all the work the folks at 18F accomplished—if I had more time / word count I would have loved to speak to some of you for the piece! Hopefully an ongoing conversation : )

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3 months ago

“the United States is a lot more generous to corporations than it is to people”

I’ve written about why I’m an S-corp as a freelancer, but this is the distillation of it all

We find safety and security in numbers…and as corporations

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3 months ago

Oops cc @alex.cmyk.games and @cmyk.games I never know who is on this weirdo app

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3 months ago

Ah, thank you for sharing though! I'll have to ask her if she can send it to me...

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3 months ago

Ah, yes, she told us about that—I wish it was recorded, would love to hear her share her side of things! Truly a dream collaborator <3

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3 months ago
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I collaborated with CMYK and Angela Kirkwood on the redesign of cult classic game Magical Athlete! I worked on the brand identity, art direction, and all the graphic design for components like cards & tokens. Now ask me how much math I had to do to make an evenly spaced game board with 31 spaces...

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3 months ago

Thank you!

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3 months ago
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Elizabeth Goodspeed reveals the industry’s ongoing tension around identity, ambition and scale. https://ow.ly/xTc150XBTmR

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