2024

This content originally appeared on Brad Frost and was authored by Brad Frost

2024 was a giant Kamehameha blast of self actualization. Through triumphant highs and addressing challenging situations head-on, I feel like I’ve grown so much, I’ve gotten so much closer to my true self, and I’m so incredibly excited to embark on new life adventures in 2025.

Looking back, holy smokes 2024 was a really huge year! Huge trips! Huge milestones! Huge events! Huge changes! Let’s get into it.

The Philippines & a tiny taste of Japan

We kicked the year off with a bang! We traveled to The Philippines with a brief pit stop in Japan on our way there and back. When our favorite Filipino Aussie Robertino invited us to his wedding in The Philippines, we knew we had a great opportunity on our hands. Melissa’s mom is from The Philippines, so not only could we celebrate our dear friend but we could also visit our gigantic Filipino family.

We thankfully had a healthy year-and-a-half to plan our travel, which was necessary considering we were traveling to the other side of the world with 3 generations in tow.

Mid-January we flew from Pittsburgh to Tokyo. We unfortunately had less than 24 hours in Japan, but hey better than nothing! We walked around this massive and immaculate city, taking it all in. We ate a great sushi dinner, walked around, woke up the next morning, found breakfast, walked around some more, and before we knew it we were on a plane to The Philippines.

As soon as we arrived in Cagayan de Oro on the island of Mindanao, we were surrounded by so much family and delicious food. Ella got to meet dozens of cousins, aunts, and uncles she’s never met before; it was truly a magical experience to travel to the other side of the world and be met by your family’s love.

After a blur of family gatherings, local adventures, and a big family reunion we flew from Mindanao to the small island of Bohol. Out of 7000+ islands that make up The Philippines, Robertino’s wedding happened to be on the same tiny island that my mother-in-law was born and lived until she was 8. Absolutely crazy and serendipitous.

We got settled into the resort, and before we knew it a crew of old R/GA pals were back together in a wildly different environment than early 2010s Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan. For the next few days all of the wedding guests, family, friends old and new had an absolute blast. We took expiditions that included witnessing a massive pod of dolphins, snorkeling with fish/turtles/starfish/urchins, visiting the otherworldly Chocolate Hills, and a whole lot more. Rob and Gaby’s wedding was easily the most baller wedding I’ve ever been to! Absolutely beautiful! At the reception, the excellent wedding band even let me sit in on drums for Uptown Funk .

There was a shared understanding that this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, being in this paradise surrounded by love and natural beauty. Not only was the wedding experience fantastic, we got to explore the island so central to Melissa’s family history.

Melissa really dug in and reconnected with her Filipino roots as a way of processing all of our hardships over the last few years, so I knew this was a really important trip for her. While on Bohol, Melissa visited her mom’s childhood home, visited her grandfather’s grave, and see the banana trees he planted about 100 years ago. She visited the church whose interior was painted by one of her relatives! We now know where her artistic genes came from.

It was difficult to leave this magical place, but it was time to being our journey home. Thankfully our journey home involved a night in Cebu, which we arrived to be ferry. I wanted to maximize our remaining time by the ocean so asked if there was any chance to snorkel. They replied, “Oh, you want to go to the fish sanctuary?” “…Yes? Yes!” I replied. 30 minutes later we were immersed in the most fish I’ve ever seen in my life. My phone camera plunked in a waterproof bag I got for $2 cannot begin to capture what an awe-inspiring experience this was.

We flew from Cebu to Tokyo, where we had yet another small window of time to explore the largest city in the world. Our great friend Jessi lived in Japan with her family for a while and she recommended visiting teamLab Planets with Ella. Oh man, this immersive, multi-sensory art adventure was SO FREAKING COOL.

Pictures and videos don’t do it justice, so I’d highly recommend checking it out if you find yourself in Tokyo. Afterwards, we enjoyed wandering wide-eyed around the city, finding underground malls and stuffing as much exotic Japanese candy in our bags as we could fit. Ella got some delicious ice cream, and when I went to order some for me and Melissa I was denied because we weren’t children .

Before too long our multi-generational entourage were on a flight back to Pittsburgh with a trip of a lifetime in the books. This trip should have captured in its own expansive post, but as soon as we got back it was all-systems go.

Winter and spring

For the next few months I was head-down on work, back life, and scheming big things. In April, Will and Aaron visited Pittsburgh for what can only be described as running a musical ultra-marathon. We played over 17 hours of music in the course of 48 hours in preparation for Frostapalooza! I wrote more about Frostapalooza here, but being able to hang out and play a shitload with some of my best friends (and Aaron’s amazing partner Jill!) was a definitely a highlight of 2024.

In May, we made a trip to Maryland for a memorial service for Melissa’s uncle. We carried on with Melissa’s family to Bethany Beach for some great and healing family time. The weather was unseasonably warm and Ella and her cousin had a great couple days together, playing in the sand and sea, cracking each other up, and having dance parties.

London and Paris

In June, our family traveled to London for UXLondon and Paris for a masterclass and talk I ran with Le Laptop. It was a whirlwind trip! I gave 3 talks and 2 workshops while also doing my best to be a tourist with my family.

London was fantastic. UXLondon was fantastic, which is no surprise as Jeremy and Clearleft put the thing on. I kicked off the design systems day, and afterwards Ella helped me pitch my afternoon workshop:

I also love being an unapologetic tourist, and we did as many touristy things that we could squeeze in during our time there: The London Eye, double-decker bus tour, Buckingham Palace, and a whole lot more.

I also had the opportunity to FINALLY meet my friend and colleague Kevin Coyle — and most importantly his and Jimmy’s amazing beagles! — in real life for the first time, despite working together for years.

We took the Eurostar from London to Paris, and before we knew it we were at a cafe people watching and thoroughly enjoying a smorgasbord of delicious bread, cheese, wine, and food.

As it happened, three families from our quiet, 13-house street were going to be in Paris at the same time. Wild and serendipitous! Our neighbors are from Paris and were kind enough to invite us over for coffee at their parents’ home (which has been in their family for generations!) a few short blocks from the Eiffel Tower.

It was incredibly special for our little neighborhood to share this intercontinental adventure together. Ella does really well traveling and is super adaptable, but it can be hard traveling as an only child. So Ella really loved having a chance to goof around with her close pals in a totally new environment!

We packed in as much as we could! The Louvre, Montmartre, Musée d’Orsay, and a whole lot more. But we also just enjoyed casually wandering around, eating, and experiencing this incredibly beautiful city.

We also got to visit with friends. We had a lovely dinner with the newly-arrived Lea Verou and Chris Lilley while our daughters cracked each other up and pissed off the wait staff. We also got to hang with my Oil City friend Victoria, who was in the midst of packing up and preparing to move from Paris to Portugal. Our daughters chased bubbles in a beautiful plaza while we drink wine and caught up.

As for my work, Le Laptop lined up two events for me: an evening “wine and cheese” talk followed by a full-day masterclass. Holy smokes, everyone was such a pleasure! The Paris web & design community is so passionate and wonderful; I thoroughly enjoyed all of the great conversation and enthusiasm!

With work done, we flew back across the Atlantic. As if these big trips weren’t big enough, it was time to turn my attention to some really big things!

I turned 40!

Birthdays give us an opportunity to reflect, and milestone birthdays even more so. I was in my usual happy place in the Outer Banks to celebrate my 40th birthday, and I used the opportunity to share 40 thoughts and lessons I’ve learned over 40 years of life.

Crossing over the 40 mark hits people differently. Some dread it, I don’t share that sentiment in the slightest (which probably comes as a surprise to absolutely no one). My perspective is one of overwhelming gratitude, love, and enthusiasm that I will carry into my next 40 years and beyond. And the best thing is that this perspective feels durable, not naïve. 40 feels absolutely amazing, and I’m excited for what lies ahead.

Frostapalooza

I celebrated my 40th birthday in the biggest and craziest way possible: by throwing a giant, one-night-only benefit concert featuring nearly 40 of my musician friends and family from all over the country (and Europe!). Frostapalooza wasn’t just one of the big highlights of 2024, but of my entire life. I finally had a chance to write about the experience here, where I broke down the ~15-month process of planning and executing this totally unique and epic event.

For me, this experience was a lot deeper than just throwing a fun concert (though of course it was also that!); it was a real exploration of human potential and picked at what it is I’m doing here with my time here on Earth. More on this in a bit!

15 years of marriage!

On August 29th, Melissa and I celebrated 15 years of blissful marriage! And what a ride it’s been!

To say our life together has been an adventure is a supreme understatement. We’ve traveled to over 30 countries across 6 continents, climbed mountains, endured some of the most harrowing valleys life has to offer, get to raise our amazing Ella, and continue to find new ways to grow, explore, and live life to the fullest.

Our love grows stronger every day as we both enter new exciting chapters in our lives. I’m truly proud of us and our continued commitment to each other.

Erin’s wedding

In late September, our friend and former nanny Erin got married! Ella was a flower girl, and Melissa and I had the honor of performing I Belong To You by Brandi Carlisle as Erin and her amazing partner Stephen danced their first dance. Erin’s been with us through thick and thin, so it was such an honor to celebrate with them!

Smashing Conf NYC

In October I made my way to my old stomping grounds in Hell’s Kitchen for Smashing Conf. The conference was a freaking blast, and it really felt like a return to pre-COVID vibes, energy, and enthusiasm. The talks were fantastic, the attendees were engaged and had so many great questions/perspectives, and the side events and get-togethers kept the energy and discussion going. It truly felt like a real return to form! And I AM HERE FOR IT.

I kicked off the conference running a sold-out design systems workshop at Microsoft in Times Square. It’s a magical experience to be able to connect with so many design systems people; as many people know design systems work can be a bit different than other product work, so I relish the opportunity to give all the design systems misfits a space to commiserate, swap insights, and learn things together. It often feels like I’m facilitating group therapy, and I really enjoy creating a space for like-minded people to connect.

I got to kick off the conference the next day. The stage was unique to say the least, as it was the set of Drag: The Musical! There’s a first time for everything, including talking about web design on a stage with a stripper pole on it.

The whole show was electric, and after the second day was over the incredible Smashing crew set up a jam session for us. Conference attendees and speakers, including Josh Comeau and my pal Jessica Hische, arrived at a rehearsal space located just south of Times Square. “What do we do?” people asked. “Play music!” I replied. And we proceeded to do just that. We had a phenomenal time jamming and feeling around for cover songs to play. It was so much fun!

For your health

I’m really proud that I made some serious health improvements in 2024. Frostapalooza was such a driver for me to get on top of my health, tackle my chronic pain head on, and improve my strength.

I’ll write at length about my decade-long TMJ issues another time, but 2024 is the year I finally found some lasting relief from my TMJ pain. My chiropractor adjusted my jaw that sounded like a freaking velcro wallet being ripped open. We both exclaimed “holy shit!”, and for the first time in years my jaw felt loose and normal. At the same time, I worked with a dentist that specializes in TMJ disorders, and I got fitted for a dental orthotic that holds my jaw in a much healthier position that greatly relieves my pain. To find relief after this years-long journey feels so..relieving.

I got glasses! I did without them for my entire life, but found myself squinting at my screen more than I’d like, and I wondered if it was impacting my ability to get shit done. Now that I’m 40, it feels fitting to have some spectacles. I really enjoy them!

In mid-November I was also diagnosed with ADHD, and getting treatment has been an absolutely wonderful and transformative experience. My ability to focus and function has vastly improved, and I feel like I’m finally operating as myself. What a relief! Many people asked me about it, so I shared my process and some other thoughts on the topic. Excited to keep the conversation going as there is still so much unnecessary stigma around mental healthcare.

Productivity/Life Coaching with Faruk Ateş

Somewhere along the line, I scrolled past a Facebook post from my friend Faruk Ateş that mentioned that they were offering productivity and life coaching sessions. I’d been contemplating working with a productivity and/or life coach for a while, and I’ve always loved Faruk’s uniquely open & positive spirit. So I reached out!

Working with Faruk warrants its own post at some point because this type of coaching was exactly what I needed. Our sessions were somewhere between therapy, self-help, getting things done, consulting, and spirituality. I did my absolute best to show up with an open heart and mind for our sessions together. I was so incredibly impressed with Faruk’s ability to deftly weave between psychology, spirituality, productivity, and other topics to help me better myself.

We did some helpful brass-tacks work like digging into Notion databases, and blocking out calendar time for focus, lunch, and after-lunch walks. But much of our time explored unpacking my core values as a human being and figuring out how to live more in alignment with those values. Our time together really helped me work through some challenging situations and helped me think deeply about how I should be living my life. It’s a shame but Faruk is taking a break from 1:1 coaching, but I have no doubt they’ll continue to inspire and spread the Love First philosophy through many avenues.

Pittsburgh Plays The Cure

After Frostapalooza I wanted to keep the musical momentum going and connect with the local Pittsburgh music scene. I wrote a post on Facebook saying something along those lines, and a friend shared Pittsburgh Plays with me. I applied to perform on the due date!

Pittsburgh Plays is a semi-annual concert where a collection of Pittsburgh-based musicians get together and play the musical catalog of a specific artist. I was thrilled to be selected to play bass in one of the 4 groups that performed the music of The Cure.

I had the privilege to play with an incredibly talented — and ultra friendly — group of musicians. We arrived to our first practice and everyone already had the songs down pat. Freaking pros! The night of the concert was such a fun and special event and felt very spiritually aligned with what we did with Frostapalooza. Everyone was so amazingly talented, the music sounded tight across the board, and everyone was so kind and warm. Crossing my fingers to make this a tradition if they’ll have me at future concerts!

Client work

Our team at Big Medium spent 2024 advancing thinking about design and AI as well as working at the intersection of AI and design systems. It’s such a rapid moving landscape that a lot changed between when we first wrote about design systems and AI and a few months later when we did an online event on the topic.

We worked with several Fortune 500 companies to help them evolve their design systems practice and also help them adopt AI in useful, realistic ways. Alongside that client work, Josh Clark and Veronika Kindred have been working hard at their forthcoming book, Sentient Design, which articulates how AI can be wielded as a design material to create the next generation of user experiences.

Like everyone else we are navigating the AI waters with some excitement and a fair amount of anxiety. AI is neither god nor satan, which is why it’s been great having someone like Josh around to paint a realistic picture and garner enthusiasm about the potential of these technologies without any of the breathless hype-cycle bullshit. It’s all been super interesting to explore to figure out what’s easy, what’s hard, what’s here now, what’s coming, what’s real, and what’s a pipe dream. 2024 got me outside of my comfort zone, and I’m grateful for the added perspective.

Launched our design tokens course!

In December, Ian and I launched our first online course called Subatomic: The Complete Guide To Design Tokens!

We even made an infomercial for it!

I explain why we’re so excited:

We’ve have seen so many design system teams struggle to establish/evolve a solid design token architecture, which is why we’re so excited to create this comprehensive course. We want to save teams time, money, and agony by sharing all of our hard-earned lessons, core concepts, Figma and code architecture, naming conventions, and processes to help teams successfully create and maintain robust design token systems.

Right now we have over 2 hours of preorder-exclusive content published and we’re going to be rolling out the full course content iteratively over the coming weeks. If you’re interested in advancing your design systems game, consider preordering the course!

This is a new adventure, and to say we are PUMPED is a supreme understatement. More soon!

2024 by the numbers

• Wrote 40 posts on my blog! Not only is this double what I published in 2023, but it’s also fitting as this was my year of 40. How about that!
• Shared 55 links on my site, which is an decent improvement from last year. I feel like I’m getting back into the habit and want to keep it going.
• Spoke at 3 conferences, gave 3 in-person workshops and ran 2 online workshops.
• At Big Medium, I consulted with 10 clients, helping them evolve their design systems, tackle design token architecture, and introduce AI tools & practices to help digital teams work smarter and faster.
• Processed 887 ebook orders of Atomic Design
• Traveled 25,940 miles to 16 cities in 5 countries on 3 continents.
• Read 13 books, which is significantly less than the prior year. But I’m ok with it as I was up to a whole lot of other good stuff.
• Listened to 6,545 songs on 3,959 albums by 2,281 artists. Unsurprisingly, my top tracks were dominated by the songs we performed at Frostapalooza.
• Threw 1 giant concert, and also performed in 1 other concert and 1 wedding
• Attended 5 concerts, (still really want to start keeping track of this more formally)

What’s next

In past year-in-review posts, I’ve said been cautiously optimistic that nothing terrible will befall me and my family in the new year. But you know what? I’m fucking done with that attitude! I’m done being cautious and bracing myself. I’m moving forward with nothing but intention, love, and unabashed enthusiasm. If lousy things happen (which they inevitably will for all of us), I will meet them head on and will act to the best of my ability to facilitate health, happiness, and safety.

Going independent!

I’m excited to share that I — along with my brother Ian — are going fully independent and will be focusing on courses, training, and other fun adventures.

Josh Clark and I had been closely collaborating since 2013, and at the beginning of 2023, I (along with Ian) joined Big Medium. It made sense to finally present as a unified front since we were already effectively operating as an agency with our fantastic group of stalwart collaborators.

We carried out our stellar work as usual, helping clients evolve design systems, adopt new technologies, and establish more collaborative and effective workflows. However, operating under a banner set up an interesting dynamic for me; my interests, passions, and enthusiasms are diverse, many, and don’t always neatly fit into the boundaries of a single business. Josh as always was encouraging and accommodating of my other adventures, but even with Josh’s blessing I’d still found myself feeling guilty if I was working on, writing about, or doing things that weren’t directly related to Big Medium. It’s a weird mental dynamic!

But beyond that dynamic, I began to reconsider the nature of the work I wanted to do. I’ve been working in client services for my entire 20-year career, and while my core mission has always been to make great things and help people, I began to realize that there might be better ways for me to accomplish my mission than doing in-the-weeds client services work. I genuinely love all of our clients and collaborators, but I’ll admit I don’t love collecting authenticator apps like Pokemon or having hour-long calls to figure out who to escalate my login issue to. Those paper cuts all add up and I felt like I wasn’t able to operate as effectively as I’d like.

It’s taken a lot of deep soul searching and incredibly difficult work to arrive at the decision to set out on my own, but ultimately it became clear that it needed to happen in order for me to realize my true potential.

It’s an end of an era for sure! Bittersweet is such a weird and complex emotion, and I’m allowing myself to feel all the weirdness and complexity. But I do know how grateful I am to Josh for all he’s done for me. I do know how grateful I am for Jessi, Kevin, Veronika, Abby, Sam, TJ, and all of our other collaborators. I do know how grateful I am for all of the clients who welcomed us into their worlds and trusted us to help them grow and evolve. I’m so incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished together over the years, and these vast and varied experiences will continue to shape my work and life.

Big Medium is up to some exciting new work; they’ll continue helping clients design for what’s next and will continue being thoughtful, pragmatic leaders to guide the design community through this ever-changing digital landscape. I’m so excited for this new — and overwhelmingly positive — chapter for Josh, the Big Medium crew, and everyone!

So how will I be spending my time? Ian and I are laser focused on creating our course Subatomic: The Complete Guide To Design Tokens. Creating courses will be our main focus, so we’d welcome any and all help getting the word out! In addition to courses, we’ll continue to help teams through workshops — both as a supplement to our courses and as a standalone team training — as well as some light consulting. If you’re interested in our courses or would welcome a workshop to level up your team’s design system game, get in touch!

Positivity, creativity, and my life’s work

Over the years I’ve been told by many people that I am a unique and positive force of nature. I’ve always “aww shucks”ed it away because goddamn is it awkward for me to receive compliments. But what if I actually embraced it? Leaned into it? Acted on it? Act not in an ego-centric “look how awesome I am!” way, but rather in a vehicle to make great things and help people?

I want to direct my energy, enthusiasm, perspective, and skills at pursuits that will lift people up, inspire them, empower them, help them lead more creative and fulfilling lives.

Frostapalooza was kinda the pilot project for this attitude. I write:

I also had this palpable-yet-ineffable desire to counter all of the negativity that seemed to be plaguing my family — and society writ large — for years. I’ve endured some awful and traumatic things, and the question on loop in my head was “What’s the exact opposite of those awful things?”

I feel an urgent mission to remind them of the wonder, joy, fun, love, and transcendence we’re capable of experiencing in our finite time on earth. I want to help people (re)discover their potential as human beings. I want to connect people and lift them up. I want people to feel the boundless love and positive energy that is always there even though it’s often elusive in our day-to-day lives. I want to do creative things and help people.

I truly feel we accomplished that mission with Frostapalooza. This concert was an embodiment of my philosophy of life, and I have have the confidence and perspective to carry that into all aspects of my life.

I learned a lot about myself through the course of this adventure. I learned I’m capable of doing amazing things in this life and in this world. I learned that I can bring amazing people together to do unique and creative things. I learned to finally and fully trust myself, my intuition, my energy, and my abilities. I learned that I don’t need to compromise my instincts or my vision. I learned that my passions and enthusiasms are too big for any defined box. I learned that not only can I realize what really matters in life for myself, I can help others see it as well.

What does this mean, exactly? Stick around and find out. I’ve got projects and ideas galore that I will be pursuing and launching in 2025 and beyond. I. AM. VERY. VERY. VERY. EXCITED.

Onwards!

As always, thanks so much for reading, for your support, and for being you. I wish you nothing but health, happiness, safety, and success in 2025 and beyond. Here we go!

This content originally appeared on Brad Frost and was authored by Brad Frost