# essentials

Published articles for essentials.

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## Ebb, Meet Flow: Intrinsic Design in a Nutshell

DevFeed: [Ebb, Meet Flow: Intrinsic Design in a Nutshell](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/ebb-meet-flow-intrinsic-design-in-a-nutshell-40788.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://zeldman.com/2026/08/18/ebb-meet-flow-intrinsic-design-in-a-nutshell/>)

Author: L. Jeffrey Zeldman

Published: 2026-08-18T17:24:50Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Jeffrey Zeldman](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jeffrey-zeldman.md>)

Topics: [Responsive Design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/responsive-design.md>), [web design](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-design.md>), [Front end](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/frontend.md>), [web-standards](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-standards.md>)

Tags: [authoring](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/authoring.md>), [best-practices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/best-practices.md>), [css](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/css.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [essentials](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/essentials.md>), [responsive](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/responsive.md>), [responsive-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/responsive-design.md>), [responsive-web-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/responsive-web-design.md>), [rwd](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rwd.md>), [standards](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/standards.md>), [state-of-the-web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/state-of-the-web.md>), [the-essentials](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/the-essentials.md>), [the-profession](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/the-profession.md>), [type](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/type.md>), [typography](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/typography.md>), [usability](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/usability.md>), [user-experience](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/user-experience.md>), [ux](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ux.md>), [w3c](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/w3c.md>), [web-design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-design.md>), [web-design-history](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-design-history.md>), [web-standards](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-standards.md>), [webdesign](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/webdesign.md>), [webtype](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/webtype.md>)

### AI overview

This article explains intrinsic or fluid responsive design: define type scales for small and large screens, then let the browser interpolate between them according to viewport width. It connects the approach to earlier ideas about designing for the web's natural ebb and flow and to the development of Responsive Web Design through improved web standards and browser support.

### Source excerpt

In 2020, the gifted makers of websites at Clearleft shared methods to achieve fluid responsive design. "Utopian" web design was (and still is) their half-kidding name for this approach, which Apple's Jen Simmons, working indendently, called "intrinsic design." Instead of chasing an ever-changing number of fixed breakpoints, utopian or intrinsic design follows the web's intrinsic [...] The post Ebb, Meet Flow: Intrinsic Design in a Nutshell appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.

## Memories Can't Wait--or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying About the Web

DevFeed: [Memories Can't Wait--or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying About the Web](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/memories-can-t-wait-or-how-i-learned-to-keep-worrying-about-the-web-40781.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://zeldman.com/2026/07/06/memories-cant-wait-or-how-i-learned-to-keep-worrying-about-the-web/>)

Author: L. Jeffrey Zeldman

Published: 2026-07-06T15:07:11Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Jeffrey Zeldman](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/jeffrey-zeldman.md>)

Topics: [Web](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web.md>), [Cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/cloud.md>), [digital](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/digital.md>)

Tags: [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [archiving](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/archiving.md>), [best-practices](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/best-practices.md>), [cloud](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/cloud.md>), [community](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/community.md>), [corporatism](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/corporatism.md>), [curation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/curation.md>), [decentralized](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/decentralized.md>), [design](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/design.md>), [digital-curation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-curation.md>), [digital-preservation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/digital-preservation.md>), [essentials](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/essentials.md>), [extractive-capitalism](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/extractive-capitalism.md>), [free-advice](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/free-advice.md>), [future-friendly](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/future-friendly.md>), [ideas](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ideas.md>), [indieweb](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/indieweb.md>), [industry](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/industry.md>), [local](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/local.md>), [lockss](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/lockss.md>), [networks](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/networks.md>), [off-my-lawn](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/off-my-lawn.md>), [open-source](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-source.md>), [open-web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/open-web.md>), [own-your-content](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/own-your-content.md>), [platforms](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/platforms.md>), [state-of-the-web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/state-of-the-web.md>), [storage](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/storage.md>), [surviving](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/surviving.md>), [the-essentials](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/the-essentials.md>), [web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web.md>)

### AI overview

An opinion essay argues that digital memories are vulnerable because online services, platforms, domains, and content systems can disappear or change ownership. It recommends owning domains and keeping multiple local copies rather than relying solely on cloud services.

### Source excerpt

The web is still the best hope we have for a durable, shared memory. But it requires us to be gardeners, not merely tenants. The post Memories Can't Wait--or, How I Learned to Keep Worrying About the Web appeared first on Jeffrey Zeldman Presents.