recess recess

History

Notes, talks, then an alcove.

Recess started as two things that were never meant to be a publication: a design team’s short notes to colleagues, and four talks for people who build learning products. This is how they ended up in one place.

How it happened

  1. A series of notes for colleagues

    A design team working on learning products began sending colleagues short notes on designing with more clarity. One idea each, about five minutes to read. The first was about problem statements. The next two covered what to watch for when testing a build, and the gap between what users say and what they do. They are Nos. 01 to 03 here, with the internal references taken out.

  2. Four talks

    Separately, four talks were given to people who build, commission and work alongside learning products: on what design is, on designing for learning, on what forty years of edtech research does and doesn’t show, and on communicating work. Each ran to sixty slides or more, which is not a five-minute read. Recess splits each one into a short series. They are Nos. 04 to 17.

  3. Recess becomes Zamde’s seventh family

    Zamde had six families, each one a temperament with its own colour and icon, all making apps. Reading and reflecting is a different sensibility, unhurried where the apps are busy, so it got a family of its own. Recess took a lime colour and a single trait line: reflective, unhurried, generous.

    It also took a rule. The six founding families share the z in Zamde’s wordmark. Recess never joins it. It comes after the six in any list, set a little apart.

  4. The icon that looked like an n

    The icon is a niche: a rounded square with an arched alcove cut into it. The first draft left the alcove open at the bottom, and everyone who saw it read the letter n. Closing it with a sill turned it back into a place to stop.

    First draftAlcove open at the bottom. Reads as n.
    The nicheA sill below the arch. Now it is somewhere to stand.
    The tileRecess has no apps, so the tile is the masthead mark.

  5. Four working titles, none of which made it

    The Zamde home page announced a first issue in preparation, with four working titles: an essay called “The meeting about the meeting”, field notes on “Five participants, one loud voice”, an interview called “Judgement is the job”, and “Words we’ve stopped using”. They were placeholders, and placeholders are allowed to lose. They may come back.

  6. recess.zennia.sg opens with 17 pieces

    The notes and the talks were rewritten for one audience and one voice, and every piece got the same ending: takeaways, an exercise for the week, and questions to mull over. Most gained a moment to predict before you look. The internal tools the originals pointed to were replaced with things you can do yourself.

What comes next

More pieces, at the pace of a break rather than a feed. The rules stay the same: one idea at a time, claims you can check, and something to try before the bell.

Start with No. 01, or read what Recess is for.