Super8: Eight intriguing articles from July.

We’re sticklers for a good routine. Whether you fiend for caffeine, find comfort in a crumpet, or kick-start every day with a run, there’s huge value in finding a schedule that works and sticking to it.

Alternatively, you can always stick to mine—particularly if you’re not a morning person—with eight invigorating articles served hot off the press and plated up for your convenience. This month, I’m providing a reliable spread spanning design sprints, tips for resilience, and more.

So what are you waiting for? Let’s tuck in to Super8 in July.

1. These 20 pictures will teach you more than reading 100 books.

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Benjamin Hardy. 
• Contributor: Mike McCusker.

How do you start your day? Benjamin Hardy explains how you can make (or break) your life before 8am. With an easy-to-digest combination of messages and imagery—this piece will encourage you to craft quality work and make the most of every 24 hours.

Every single day matters. You can either spend those 24 hours or you can use them to create something that brings your life forward.

Using the concept of a ‘culture wall’ to convey a shared vision, belief or direction, Benjamin communicates how to make your day-to-day more productive. 20 images and 20 insightful takeaways: start your own culture wall today.

2. The nine hottest tech trends in 1776.

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Shelly Palmer.  
• Contributor: Zoe Warne.

As an industry, we tend to look ahead. In this piece, Shelly Palmer explores why it’s worth turning back time to the hottest tech trends of the 18th century.

Covering everything from underwater exploration to indoor plumbing—the year of 1776 was fundamental in supporting the technology we take for granted.

My favourite from this list is the development of multitasking: according to this article, there’s something futuristic about a morning routine of listening to a podcast, sipping a coffee, and driving to work simultaneously.

3. Glowing reviews aren’t always the most persuasive.

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Havard Business Review.
• Contributor: Rowan Barnes.

Online reviews can work as a tool to win over the opinion and purchase decisions of potential customers—but here’s why getting five stars isn’t the be all and end all.

In this piece from the Harvard Business Review, Daniella Kupor and Zakary Tormala share how customers are highly influenced by moderately positive reviews—as they appear more thoughtful, accurate, and objective.

Whether you’re choosing reviews to promote your business, or advocating for someone else’s, there’s a persuasive case for practicing moderation.

4. Hamburger menus and hidden navigation hurt UX metrics.

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Kara Pernice.
• Contributor: John Broadfoot.

There’s plenty of merit in responsive design for our mobile-first world, but there’s still a case for those of us on monitors. Hidden navigation, such as the hamburger menu, is one of the many patterns inspired by mobile screens.

When space is a commodity, designers can rely on hiding navigation behind a menu—represented by the infamous hamburger icon.

Like a cheap fast food chain, it got designers addicted to its convenience, and now serves millions each day, both on mobile devices and on desktops.

It may seem obvious, but a hidden nav is less discoverable than visible or partially visible navigation. Here’s how to combat the perceived challenges in discoverability and UX with a few simple tips.

5. The ideological Turing test: how to be less wrong.

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Charles Chu .
• Contributor: Aziza Mohamed.

Here’s a simple truth: being right is really, really, hard. We all spend most of our lives feeling like we’re right, but—in reality—we spend most of our lives being wrong. In our connected world, we’re increasingly exposed to contradictory ideas, opinions and ways of thinking.

If you want to be right all the time, go be an accountant. The rest of us — paleontologists, internet dating specialists, serial entrepreneurs (read: homeless millenials), policymakers, and scholars of Japanese religions — will just have to get used to being wrong.

It’s never been more important to learn that being wrong is both necessary, and an opportunity.

In this piece, Charles Chu advocates for being less-wrong over attempts to be right. Here’s why admitting when you’re wrong can transform the way you look at your life: helping you become more humble, empathetic, and fun to be around.

6.  A quick guide to choosing a colour palette.

• Read full article here.
• Written by Will Fanguy.
• Contributor: Melanie Bruning.

Choosing a colour palette to suit a new product, brand or website can be one of the most challenging decisions a designer makes.

In this article from InVision, Will Fanguy shares a quick guide to colour theory to help you pick a colour palette that looks the part.

If you want to up your colour knowledge, or refresh your memory of the theory, this piece is worth the read—covering terminology, types of palettes, definitions, and how accessibility should inform your decisions along the way.

7. Apple’s product development process: inside the world’s greatest design organisation.

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Interaction Design Foundation.
• Contributor: Mark Davis.

On the verge of being the world’s first $1 trillion business, Apple’s Product Development Process plays a significant role in the company’s ongoing design success.

Based on the insights of Adam Lashinsky, author of Inside Apple, this piece explores some of the different processes that help keep Apple’s approach unique.

While what we know of Apple’s process appears complex, extensive, and demanding—learning more about different processes is an opportunity to cherry pick the elements you can apply to your next product or project.

8. Are Kilian Jornet’s speed records too good to be true?

• Read the full article here.
• Written by Nick Heil.
• Contributor: Sarah El-Atm. 

Kilian Jornet is one of the greatest endurance athletes in the world. This piece by Nick Heil covers Kilian’s near-impossible journey in weathering Everest twice without additional oxygen.

When the news emerged that Jornet had climbed Everest not once but twice in a single week, it seemed extraordinary to the point of confusion. Two ascents, back-to-back? Without oxygen? By himself?

Kilian’s achievements in ultrarunning, ski mountaineering, and endurance sports may seem worlds apart from your day-to-day, but his grit and resilience for craft doesn’t have to be.

Maintaining velocity, momentum, and joy when striving towards personal or professional goals is a lesson that can help anyone go the distance.