Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 10h

I’m weirdly getting a lot of unsolicited emails from real people to my Gmail account. It’s a custom domain, it’s not listed publicly anywhere.

Does Google make you discoverable in this way if a person knows your name? Feels off.

(It’s a work email, Gmail not my choice!)

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 6d

Penpot Fest is kicking off now! You can join in and watch live at penpot.app/penpotfest
#penpotFest #penpot #opensource

Penpot | The event that brings design, code and open source together.

The design event for designers and developers

penpot.app

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Penpot @penpot.app · 8d

Just one day to go!!! We couldn’t be more excited! 😍

🤩See you tomorrow!

And if you can’t attend in person, don’t worry, we’ll be broadcasting live🔴

⬇️⬇️⬇️
penpot.app/penpotfest

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Penpot @penpot.app · 13d

In just one week we’ll be enjoying Penpot Fest and its amazing keynotes and workshops! 🎉

Last chance to grab your ticket!
penpot.app/penpotfest/s...

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 20d

If you’ve got any feedback or questions about the template, I’ve started a post on the Penpot community: community.penpot.app/t/component-...

Component variant examples template

Now that component variants have landed in Penpot, I thought it might be handy to share how I would set up and use variants: Variant examples template in the Penpot Hub. This template contains so...

community.penpot.app

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 20d

I’ve made a free template for component variants and it’s now up in the Penpot Hub. Import the file to see how simple and complex components can utilise variants (including using design tokens!)

penpot.app/penpothub/li...
#Penpot #OpenSource

Penpot Libraries & Templates | Variant examples

Ten components showcasing different use cases for variants. Including basic examples, UI components, and variants using design tokens.

penpot.app

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 21d

Thank you for being there. It was so lovely to see you pop up!

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 21d

Live in 10 minutes!

Penpot @penpot.app · 22d

🚀 We’re so excited about our latest release: Variants!!!

Don’t miss our LIVE stream tomorrow with @laurakalbag.bsky.social 👇
🔴 Design Systems with Variants | Hands-on Demo
🗓️Wed, Sep 24th
🕑UTC 2-3 pm
▶️PeerTube, Youtube & Linkedin

community.penpot.app/t/design-sys...

Design Systems with Variants | Hands-on Demo, Sept 24th

Hello friends! It’s time for another Hands-on demo and you really won’t want to miss this one. Mark your calendars for next week, Wednesday September 24th! 📅 If we’ve not met before, I’...

community.penpot.app

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 22d

Variants have landed in @penpot.app and tomorrow I’m doing a live hands-on demo to get you up to date.

I’ll also cover some component basics and design tokens goodness. Join me at 2PM UTC for live Q&A.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLuT...

#Penpot

Design Systems with Variants | Penpot Hands-On Demo

YouTube video by Penpot

www.youtube.com

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · 27d

Next week! And yes, that’s right, variants!

Join me live…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLuT...

Design Systems with Variants | Penpot Hands-On Demo

YouTube video by Penpot

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Penpot @penpot.app · Sep 11

Bitmaps are images saved at a fixed resolution. Vectors are paths that can be scaled to any size while keeping the same resolution.

Learn UI design with our free Penpot course: https://penpot.app/courses/block-1/use-booleans-to-create-complex-shapes/

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Sep 9

One month til #PenpotFest! We’ll be topping off Day 2 with a panel on collaboration with the fabulous Catina, Layshi and Glória.

Join us in person!

penpot.app/penpotfest

Penpot Fest panel discussion. Wait, did we just collaborate? Moderator: Laura Kalbag. Panelists: Catina Yiu, Layshi Curbelo, Glòria Langreo.

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Penpot @penpot.app · Sep 8

When you notice blurry boards in Penpot, it’s a performance feature. You can usually get a sharper rendering of all your boards by selecting the board or zooming in.

Learn UI design with our free Penpot course: penpot.app/courses/bloc...

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Sep 5

Memory unlocked: a gang of us sitting at the back of the coach on a school trip to France singing along to Chop Suey. Swiftly followed by the school chaplain asking us if we were all doing ok…

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Mia (online) @miriam.codes · Sep 4

Please stop inheriting the box-model. The supposed use-case for that is extremely out-dated, inheritance doesn't really help, and it actively makes real box-sizing use-cases more difficult!

This #CSS best practice was never the best to begin with:

www.oddbird.net/2025/09/04/b...

Don't Inherit the Box Model

It's time to stop spreading this out-dated practice

www.oddbird.net

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Sep 2

Friends! Join me next month in Madrid for #PenpotFest.

I’ve got a fun new talk (and more!) planned. Looking forward to nerding out about @penpot.app , design, and dev in-person…

penpot.app/penpotfest

Penpot Fest Keynote: Laura Kalbag: Who Wants to Be a Unicorn?

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Aug 26

And happy birthday! You’re one of the best!

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Aug 26

❤️ I love how hopeful your post feels. I’ve found 1-1 counselling really helpful, and it’s given me a bunch of tools for what I think of as my mental health tool belt. Pilates is another one of those tools for me too!

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Aug 22

Yes please!

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Mat “Wilto” Marquis @wil.to · Aug 12

JavaScript for Everyone is a course designed to teach you not just the how, but the why of JavaScript — the kind of deep-magic knowledge that can otherwise take years to develop.

For the next two weeks, you can pre-order for £149, saving £100 off the full price of £249.

piccalil.li/javascript-f...

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Reposted by Laura Kalbag

Mia (online) @miriam.codes · Aug 19

If you appreciate the features I've helped develop - container queries, cascade layers, mixins & functions, scope, progress, logical shorthands - consider supporting that work though open collective:

opencollective.com/oddbird-open...

or hire me to teach a workshop:

www.oddbird.net/talks/

OddBird Open Source - Open Collective

We love contributing to the languages & tools developers rely on. Our focus is Popover & Anchor Positioning polyfills, and CSS specifications for functions, mixins, and responsive typography. Help us ...

opencollective.com

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Aug 13

I’ve also made a load of improvements for modular and linear scales, and you can now use the golden ratio, minor second, major third, and so on.

All feedback and suggestions very welcome!

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Aug 13

Version 2 of my design tokens starter kit is now downloadable from the Penpot Hub.

@penpot.app introduced support for font size tokens in last week’s 2.9 release, so I’ve added some starter tokens and demos for those.

penpot.app/penpothub/li...

Design tokens starter kit. Version 2, August 2025.

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Aug 12

Tempted to do this as a refresher. Learn from the best and kindest people.

Piccalilli @piccalil.li · Aug 12

Pre-orders for JavaScript for Everyone are available now.

Get a pre-order copy for £149, saving £100 off the full price of £249 for two weeks only.

Pre-orders close again after August 26, 2025.

piccalilli.link/js4e-pre-ord...

JavaScript for Everyone

A high quality, expansive written course that will elevate your JavaScript skills to a level you never thought was achievable.

piccalilli.link

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Laura Kalbag @laurakalbag.bsky.social · Jul 21

I’ve been using Paper when I need a distraction-free UI. Found it through Setapp paper.pro

Paper — Writing App for your iPhone, iPad, and Mac

Super-clean writing space with a lot of configurability that stays out of sight when you don’t need it.

paper.pro