The Other Stuff with internetVin The Other Stuff #28 — Kepano: The Interconnectedness of Everything
4 snips
Dec 10, 2025 
Steph Ango, a designer and CEO of Obsidian, shares his creative journey from crafting Winamp skins to pioneering innovative product design. He explores the importance of craftsmanship and interconnectedness through tools like Obsidian, emphasizing bi-directional linking's role in enhancing thought clarity. Steph also discusses his unique approach to furniture design and reveals his deluxe chocolate chip cookie recipe—detailing the joys of exploring sensory experiences. The conversation wraps up with thoughts on AI's impact on creativity and the value of hands-on learning.
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Winamp Skin Sparked A Career
- Steph Ango made a Winamp skin called Impulse as a teenager and hundreds of thousands downloaded it.
- That early success proved you can make something small that impacts many people and changed his sense of what matters.
Why Design Uniformity Loses Soul
- Design consistency (the 'blob') improves usability and interchangeability but strips personality and maker connection.
- Steph argues the trade-off reduces meaning and severs direct relationships between makers and users.
Tools That Match How Ideas Work
- Obsidian applies bidirectional linking and markdown to reflect how ideas naturally interrelate.
- The graph visualization helps users grasp and leverage those interconnections even if they don't use it daily.
