dave standing next to a really small bike
dave standing next to a really small bike
Howdy, I'm Dave!

Thanks for stopping by my internet stoop. Here’s a snapshot of what's goin' on.

NOW

dave standing next to a really small bike

Offering product strategy and founder coaching at Choicing Down

dave standing next to a really small bike

Product design and packaging a musical practice system called Play Every Day (in partnership with Jason and Kristen)


RECENTLY

dave standing next to a really small bike

I’ve just come off 4+ years of applied community design research at Relational.org. Where we produced a slew of playful remote collab practices, a bunch of collective media, and a few promising prototypes.


AWHILE AGO

dave standing next to a really small bike

I co-founded and design-directed Carbonmade, a simple and fun portfolio site builder which was used by a big portion of the creative internet at one point. I've also designed lots of software, done branding and community work for bands, made some talk shows, created popular art gifs, and generally tried to live artfully.

Thoughts from the Studio

A weekly-ish vlog about the practice of living a creative life

Current Quests

Questions and intentions directing my exploration

Offering product strategy & coaching (reach out!)

Pondering what conscious capitalism might entail

How can we design for community-centered business?

Interviewing founders who are balancing meaning and market

Experimenting with vlogging

Practicing designing for emergence

Recent Projects

Work I’ve helped shape and ship in the last little while

Gathern

WIP

AI-facilitated conversational cafe based on dialoguing around a piece of media

Exquisite Land

💤

A web3 game show and collaborative on-chain pixel-art experience

Relational

WIP

A self-funded social media design lab researching novel ways of organizing, communicating, and playing

Ponder

🪦

A collaborative small-group blogging app to make the web feel smaller and more social

carbonmade!
carbonmade!

My work from 2000-2016 lives at
dave.carbonmade.com

Side Projects

Smaller works for fun or collaboration or both

2020—

invitational site design for a community discovery process

invitational site design for a community discovery process

site design for Tanaki, a creative collaborative AI community host

site design for Tanaki, a creative collaborative AI community host

co-hosting a podcast with Pasquale from the Lingonberry Friend Ship

co-hosting a podcast with Pasquale from the Lingonberry Friend Ship

writing experiments published occasionally

writing experiments published occasionally

generate a lil moody computer. made with Glif

generate a lil moody computer. made with Glif

a branding concept with Kristen for a WeCo initiative

a branding concept with Kristen for a WeCo initiative

posting a trickle of my latent image space finds

posting a trickle of my latent image space finds

prompt-engineered a GPT toy mirror for journal entries

prompt-engineered a GPT toy mirror for journal entries

directed a three month design fiction roleplay to shape a sense making game

directed a three month design fiction roleplay to shape a sense making game

designed a web3 community prompt response game. lost cohesion before shipping

designed a web3 community prompt response game. lost cohesion before shipping

fundraise for research into a collective intelligence system

fundraise for research into a collective intelligence system

an on-chain call and response social camera game led by Shahruz

an on-chain call and response social camera game led by Shahruz

a real-time look at figuring out some of the early Relational.org practices. I go through a philosophical period and am intense and talkative

a real-time look at figuring out some of the early Relational.org practices. I go through a philosophical period and am intense and talkative

2016—2020

co-hosted a podcast with Kristen and Gustavo loosely about building the group journaling app Ponder

co-hosted a podcast with Kristen and Gustavo loosely about building the group journaling app Ponder

co-hosted a prompt-based lockdown zine writen remotely by a small group

co-hosted a prompt-based lockdown zine writen remotely by a small group

made iOS app to offer some of my loops as Live Photo wallpapers. lots of downloads from Korea

made iOS app to offer some of my loops as Live Photo wallpapers. lots of downloads from Korea

relaxing art videos produced toward the end of lockdown

relaxing art videos produced toward the end of lockdown

2008—2016

co-hosted a podcast with Chuck and Pasquale.

co-hosted a podcast with Chuck and Pasquale.

directed and shot an experimental vignette video with Mike

directed and shot an experimental vignette video with Mike

co-hosted a 20 episode comedy podcast with Mike and Bee. got featured by Apple

co-hosted a 20 episode comedy podcast with Mike and Bee. got featured by Apple

filmed and posted hundreds of GIFS here over a few years. made friends, went viral some, had fun

filmed and posted hundreds of GIFS here over a few years. made friends, went viral some, had fun

This site is built with Framer. Which I have mixed feelings about. It's a lovely piece of software and their pricing makes my teeth hurt.

I aspire to tend this place like a 🪴 garden. This is my first pass.

If while reading this you have the slightest instinct to get in touch:
DO NOT HESITATE
send an email to calculator at gmail dot com before the feeling wears off!

Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for stopping by!