Hey - Issue #004. Let's get into it.
⚡ TOOL OF THE WEEK
Spline — 3D design in the browser, no Blender required
I keep seeing designers add one subtle 3D element to an otherwise flat, editorial layout and it completely transforms the page. A floating product render. A gently rotating abstract shape. A logo that catches light.
The problem has always been that making anything 3D meant learning Blender or Cinema 4D, which is a semester-long commitment for a single website element.
Spline skips all of that. It runs entirely in your browser. You drag, sculpt, light, and animate 3D objects on a visual canvas that feels closer to Figma than to any 3D software I've used. You can model from scratch or start with their library of pre-made objects and scenes.
The part that makes it relevant to this newsletter: you can embed the result directly on your website. Not as a video or a GIF, but as an actual interactive 3D element that responds to cursor movement. Drop one into a clean serif layout — like the kind we've been talking about in this issue - and the contrast between flat editorial typography and a single dimensional element is genuinely striking.
The free tier is generous. You get unlimited projects, real-time collaboration, and web embeds. Paid starts at $9/month if you need private projects and custom exports.
If you've been wanting to add depth to your work without learning an entirely new discipline, this is the lowest-friction entry point that exists right now.
🔤 THREE QUICK FINDS
Editorial New by Pangram Pangram is everywhere. If you've noticed a particular serif showing up on every new landing page, rebrand, and product launch - it's probably Editorial New. It's contemporary without being trendy, generous without being decorative, and the italic is genuinely beautiful at display sizes. It's the safe bet that won't feel safe in five years. Paid, but worth it. See Editorial New →
Three alternatives if you want to stand out: Tobias by Klim (transitional serif, razor-clean, feels like it read a book recently), Reckless by Displaay (personality for days, perfect if Editorial New feels too polite), and Newsreader by Production Type (open-source, free on Google Fonts, surprisingly refined for a free serif). All three work at display sizes and pair well with a quiet sans like DM Sans or Sohne.
Typescale generates a complete type scale in seconds. Pick your base font size, choose a scale ratio (minor third, major third, perfect fourth), and it generates every heading and body size with the exact pixel, rem, and CSS values. It also previews the scale with real text so you can see how H1 through body copy actually look together. Next time you're setting up typography for a new project and guessing at heading sizes, use this instead. Free. Try Typescale →
💬 HOT TAKE
The pricing mistake most freelancers make isn't charging too little
Everyone says "charge more." And yes, you should probably charge more. But the bigger mistake isn't the number - it's the format.
Hourly billing trains your client to watch the clock and trains you to work slowly. Project pricing lets them think about value instead of time and lets you work efficiently without punishing yourself for being fast.
But here's the one most people miss: the biggest pricing mistake is not having a price at all. If a potential client has to email you, wait for a reply, schedule a call, and then get a custom quote - you've lost 80% of them before the conversation starts. The ones who jump through all those hoops aren't necessarily your best clients. They're just the most patient ones.
Put a price on your website. Even if it's "projects start at $X." The right people will reach out. The wrong people will self-select out. And you'll stop spending hours on discovery calls that go nowhere.
That's Issue #004. If you got something from it, forward it to someone who would too.
See you next Wednesday.
— Alex
