• “Why Apple is Right to Challenge an Order to Help the F.B.I.” by The New York Times Editorial Board
• “The Golden Generation: Why China’s Super-rich Send Their Children Abroad” by Jiayang Fan
• “A Black Police Officer’s Fight Against the N.Y.P.D.” by Saki Knafo
• “How Hillary Clinton Won Harlem” by Rembert Browne
• “How to Listen to Music” by Hua Hsu

Mới đó mà đã gần hai tuần. Việt Xuân đã hét to hơn nhiều so với lúc mới chào đời. Với đứa thứ ba thì không còn gì bỡ ngỡ hay mới lạ nhưng tôi vẫn cảm nhận được cái kỳ diệu mỗi khi ôm nó vào lòng. Nhìn thấy nét mặt khoái chí của nó mỗi khi được bồng thật đáng yêu.

Hai đứa anh lớn của nó cũng thương nó lắm. Thằng Đán mỗi khi đi học về là đòi được bế em rồi hôn em. Khi thấy em khóc nó bảo mẹ cho em bú ngay vì em đói. Thằng Đán thì tình cảm lắm. Thằng Đạo thì cũng hôn em nhưng chỉ ôm iPad thôi. Mỗi đứa mỗi tính. Không biết mai mốt thằng này có quậy như hai thằng anh nó không. Hy vọng là không nhưng làm sao tránh khỏi.

An Asian mom parks her SUV Benz (with the engine running) in front of her big house waiting for the school bus. When the school bus stops right in front of her driveway, she carries her daughter (around the age of 10) into the bus, returns to her car, and backs into her garage.

• Apple’s open letter on customer’s privacy
• “One Man’s Impossible Quest to Read—and Review—the World” by Karan Mahajan
• “Last Days: Preparing for the apocalypse in San Bernardino” by William Finnegan
• “How Staying Small Helps New Directions Publish Great Books” by Maria Bustillos
• “‘Please stop’ with Times New Roman: Graphic design rules for everyone, from an unlikely expert” by Anne Quito
• “The Digital Dirt: How TMZ gets the videos and photos that celebrities want to hide” by Nicholas Schmidle

At the time when everyone wants to kill the sidebar, I am bringing it back with the 2016 redesign. After separating my professional work from my personal blog and launching my online portfolio, I am now focusing this site as my writing platform. I am no longer interested in posting on other places such as Medium, LinkedIn, or Facebook.

The first order of business for the redesign is to get rid of the navigation since I no longer needed it. The main focus is still on the readability of the articles, but I also played up the sidebar. Readers can find everything they need to know about me and my work right on the sidebar.

As far as the new design goes, I am once again returning to Swiss design. For the typeface, I am setting neo-grotesque Acumin Pro, designed by Robert Slimbach, on the entire site. I also wanted to move away from white background and play with pink.

For the backend, I am still rocking WordPress, but reducing my theme to just two files (index.php and CSS). For the layout, I am using flexbox for the columns instead of floats. I am loving flexbox.

That’s it. I hope you like the new change.

1. An A-Z of Type Designers, by Neil Macmillan, is a quick, useful reference on type designers and their works.
2. The Adobe Original Silver Anniversary Story, by Tamye Riggs, provides insights on the talented team at Adobe Type.
3. Adrian Frutiger Typefaces, by Heidrun Osterer & Philipp Stamm, is a big, beautiful, and comprehensive documentation of Frutiger’s typefaces completed with detailed analysis.
4. Anatomy of a Typeface, by Alexander Lawson, is an informative analytical study of classic typefaces and their letter forms.
5. The Anatomy of Type, by Stephen Coles, is as delightful to read as insightful to study.
6. Book Typography, by Michael and Susan Wightman Mitchell, is indeed a designer’s manual for making beautiful books while still focusing on legibility and readability.
7. Building Ligatures, by TypeTogether, features inspiring behind-the-scenes stories of the foundry as well as informative how-to essays. It is an essential and enjoyable read for anyone who touches types.
8. The Complete Manual of Typography, by James Felici, is a concise yet comprehensive manual on typesetting drawing from over thirty years of experience.
9. The Complete Typographer, by Christopher Perfect, manages to provide a comprehensive history of typography starting from 3000BC to 1990s within the first 35 pages.
10. Designing Type, by Karen Cheng, is a must-read for anyone who is interested in type design and typography.
11. Detail In Typography, by Jost Hochuli, exams the elements of micro-typography including letters, words, lines, and spacing.
12. The Elements of Typographic Style, by Robert Bringhurst, is the quintessential text on typography.
13. The Evolution of Type, by Tony Seddon, is useful, insightful, and a perfect complement to Stephen Coles’s The Anatomy of Type.
14. The Field Guide to Typography, by Peter Dawson, is a breezy and beautiful introduction to the world of typography we see everyday.
15. Flexible Typesetting, by Tim Brown, is an essential guide to shape better typography on the web.
16. Inside Paragraphs, by Cyrus Highsmith, advises designers to look at the space (such as glyph, counter, letter, and line) rather than the text.
17. Just My Type, by Simon Garfield, is an engaging book about fonts that even non-type nerds will enjoy.
18. Mastering Type, by Denise Bosler, teaches all basic parts of typography and points out good-vs.-bad examples.
19. The New Typography, by Jan Tschichold, provides practical principles for contemporary design.
20. On Web Typography, by Jason Santa Maria, proves that the process of working with types on the web could be rewarding, engaging, and not daunting.
21. Reading Letters, by Sofie Beier, is packed with research on the history of reading and typography.
22. Revival Type, by Paul Shaw, is an awe-inspiring collection of typefaces that have been reinvented and reinterpreted from the past to the present.
23. Shady Characters, by Keith Houston, reserves a place on my bookshelf to remind me these characters whenever I work on my typographic design.
24. Shaping Text, by Jan Middendorp, covers the basics of typesetting and the nuances of typography.
25. Stop Stealing Sheep & Find Out How Type Works, by Erik Spiekermann and E.M. Ginger, uses amusing, relatable analogies to help readers understand the important of typography.
26. Thinking with Type, by Ellen Lupton, is a rare gem—a book on typography that is as thoughtfully explained as it is designed.
27. Type Tricks, by Sofie Beier, is not only an essential guide for type designers, but also a useful reference for typographers who want to make better typographic choices.
28. Twentieth Century Type Designers, by Sebastian Carter, features short profiles of prominent type designers starting from Frederic W. Goudy to Carol Twombly.
29. Universal Principles of Typography, by Elliot Jay Stocks, features 100 clearly written principles accompanied by beautiful illustrations to help readers understand the key concepts.
30. Web Typography, by Richard Rutter, is a comprehensive resource that has everything you need to know for setting beautiful, readable, and responsive type on the web.

1. CSS Secrets, by Lea Verou, unveils the rare power of CSS that allows designers to create stunning visual effects with ease.
2. DOM Scripting, by Jeremy Keith and Jeffrey Sambells, is a designer-friendly approach to learning unobtrusive JavaScript to enhance the user experience.
3. Form Design Patterns, by Adam Silver, walks you through 10 different design patterns that focus on the user experience.
4. HTML & CSS: Design and Build Websites, by Jon Duckett, is an absolute beginner’s book for designers who want to learn the basic languages of the web.
5. JavaScript & jQuery: Interactive Front-End Web Development, by Jon Duckett, features pleasing design, clear writing, and comprehensive coverage of the programming language for the web.
6. JavaScript: The Definitive Guide, by David Flanagan, is comprehensive reference for programmers.
7. JavaScript: A Beginner’s Guide, by John Pollock, is, by far, the most approachable and practical book on learning JavaScript.
8. jQuery: A Beginner’s Guide, by John Pollock ,is for anyone who wants to add rich user interaction to the web.
9. MODX: The Official Guide, by Bob Ray, is a must-have if you develop websites with MODX.
10. SMACSS, by Jonathan Snook, explains analytical process on CSS categorization.

1. The Best Punctuation Book, Period., by June Casagrande, is an excellent reference that lives up to its title.
2. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern, is a breezy and practical guide to keep by your side.
3. The Chicago Guide to Grammar, Usage, and Punctuation, by Bryan A. Garner, provides one of the most thorough, comprehensive explanations of the parts of speech I have read.
4. The Classic Guide to Better Writing, by Rudolf Flesch and A.H. Lass, is an old treasure I always had but only recently discovered.
5. Dreyer’s English, by Benjamin Dreyer, is an informative guide to clarity and style written in Dreyer’s concise and humorous prose, which draws from over twenty years of his copyediting experience.
6. The Elements of Style, by William Struck Jr.and E.B. White, is still a good reference for clear, no-nonsense writing.
7. HBR Guide to Better Business Writing, by Bryan A. Garner, is brief and helpful for daily writing in your job.
8. Mortal Syntax, by June Casagrande, is an informative read on the clobbered usage of grammar.
9. Nicely Said, by Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee, is a required reading for anyone who writes content on the web.
10. On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, reminds me the reason I have been blogging for over ten years.
11. Origins of the Specious, by Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman, debunks words and usage that are often misunderstood.
12. Several Short Sentences About Writing, by Verlyn Klinkenborg, teaches writing one sentence at a time. Klinkenborg wrote this book using his own approach.
13. Woe is I, by Patricia T. O’Conner, makes grammar refreshingly clear and enjoyable.
14. Word by Word, by Kory Stamper, is a fun and fascinating read that will make you appreciate the art, science, and hard work invested into a lexicon.

1. Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth, by John Szwed, helps readers understand and appreciate Holiday’s unconventional approach to singing, distinctive vocals, and controversial song choices.
2. Classic Material: The Hip-Hop Album Guide, by Oliver Wang, taps into the progression of hip-hop with constructed criticism of classic albums that elevated the game.
3. Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, by Terry Teachout, is an engaging biography of an accomplished composer, renowned bandleader, and skillful pianist whose obsessions included music, food, and women.
4. Flyboy in the Buttermilk, by Greg Tate, is packed with the author’s ingenious criticisms ranging from music (jazz, funk, punk-rock, and hip-hop) to book to film.
5. Flyboy 2, by Greg Tate, features a collection of Tate’s influential and critical essays in the past 30 years.
6. The History of Jazz, by Ted Gioia, is a must-read for anyone who is interested in the fascinating story of jazz.
7. I Hate Myself and Want to Die, by Tom Reynolds, is depressingly hilarious because of the author’s wit, incisive, heartless, and sometimes silly criticisms.
8. It’s About That Time, by Richard Cook, which begins with Birth of the Cool and ends with posthumous Doo Bop, is ingenious assessment of Miles’s music and life based on his albums.
9. Jazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, by Ben Ratliff, is a pleasurable read for both jazz novices and aficionados.
10. JAY-Z: Made In America, by Michael Eric Dyson, is a concise, engaging, and thoughtful examination of JAY-Z’s lyrics.
11. The Last Miles, by George Cole, is a 450-page analysis that covers every track from The Man With The Horn all the way up to Doo-Bop.
12. Me, by Elton John and Alexis Petridis, is an engaging, honest, emotional, and incredibly funny memoir.
13. Miles Beyond, by Paul Tingen, is an insightful read on Davis’s electric journey from 1967-1991.
14. Mo’ Meta Blues, by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Ben Greenman, is a fresh, funny, fulfilling music memoir of one of hip-hop’s rare drummers.
15. Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong, by Terry Teachout, unfolds of the controversy of Armstrong’s old-fashioned way of mixing high art with low comedy and the dark side behind his clowning face.
16. Running the Voodoo Down, by Philip Freeman, is a detailed analysis of Davis’s fusion albums.
17. So What, by John Szwed, is a well-researched and thoughtful biography of Davis.
18. Trịnh Công Sơn (1939 – 2001) Cuộc Đời, Âm Nhạc, Thơ, Hội Họa & Suy Tưởng is a collection of essays on the life and work of one of the greatest Vietnamese songwriters written by his closed friends and confidants around the world.

Some projects I had worked on during my study for my MA in Graphic Design at the George Mason School of Art.

Vietnamese Typography: Nghệ thuật chữ Việt Nam
Wrote, designed, and published a web-based book on Vietnamese typography as a final project (AVT 794) to complete my MA in Graphic Design. Read more.

Professional Web Typography
Wrote, designed, and published a web-based book on web typography in Practices in Graphic Design (AVT 519). Read more.

Post Binding
Handcrafted a book for the final project in Experiential History of Graphic Design (AVT 613). Read more.

Web Typography: A Brief History
Wrote a research paper on the history of web typography in Experiential History of Graphic Design (AVT 613).

Nas’s Quote
Created my first calligraphy using pen, ink, and paper in Experiential History of Graphic Design (AVT 613). Learn more.

Mobile App Prototype for Sketches of Miles
Designed an app prototype for a do-over project in Professional Design Practices (AVT 599). Read more.

Video Résumé
Created a short typographic animation in Professional Design Practices (AVT 599) to show why I love the web. Read more.

Four Words
Created four words (“fire, water, earth, and air”) using analog typography in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 596). Read more.

Magazine Ads for Simplexpression
Created an integrative design of handcrafted types and digital components in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 596). Read more.

The Jazz Board Game
Created the concept and designed a jazz board game in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 611). Read more.

The Vietjazz Branding Guide
Designed a branding guide web site for Vietjazz Records in Brand Identity Design (AVT 614). Read more.

Unitea
A fictitious tea company developed in Graduate Design Seminar (AVT 611). Read more.