Notes from the workshop. Side projects, design diaries, and the geeky things that get made along the way.

The Journal is the long-form sibling to the shop. Where the shop is product pages and PDPs, the Journal is the bit between: the half-finished sketchbook, the rejected logo, the migration that took longer than the meeting that scoped it. It exists so the work doesn't have to fit into a product description.

Posts here aren't case studies. They're closer to a working notebook, written when something's worth writing down, not on a schedule.

If you found us through a tee, hoodie or mug, thanks for the click through. If you found us through the writing, the shop is one link away and probably has something you'd wear.

Made in a workshop, not a content factory.

Every post is written by someone who's actually shipped the thing they're writing about. No AI ghost-writing, no generic SEO bait, no "what is X and why does it matter" listicles. If a post exists, it's because something was worth saying.

That means we publish less than a content calendar would say to. The trade is: when something does land, it's been chewed on.

Connected to the shop, but not a salesman.

The Journal lives at journal.myfirstraygun.com because the shop and the writing each deserve their own room. There's no upsell sidebar, no "shop the look" CTA bolted onto a paragraph, no banner asking you to buy a tee on the way out.

That said, if a post is about a specific design, or a drop, or a process behind a product, we'll link to it. Once. In the body. Where it belongs.

What you'll find here.

• Build notes. The unglamorous bits of designing eCommerce, brand, and the occasional 3D character.
• Print + product. Why we use the garments we use, why a design ends up on a hoodie not a tee, what we'd never put on a mug.
• Tech we use. Tailwind v4, Craft CMS 5, Printful, Stripe, the stack behind the storefront.
• Occasional opinions. Usually mild. Sometimes not.