design, engineering, everything in between.

I'm Rush Ali, team lead in software engineering and designer based in Germany. Software and hardware fascinate me in equal measure, and most of what I make draws on both - code, design and art.

Automation, frontend tooling and developer experience are where most of my attention goes. What I look for in a codebase is simplicity that still scales, and adaptability that doesn't tie itself to one tool. I breathe free and open source software and the idea behind it: sharing what you know, helping each other out, and building something people keep in their everyday carry.

Besides engineering, I make quiet, moody, atmospheric renders, which I also post on Instagram. What pulls me in is architecture, repeating patterns, the contrast of light and shadow, and the sense of scale that comes with them. The camera is the same interest by another route, so I photograph and share what I see on Instagram. Every once in a while, I illustrate too.

Growing up multilingual left me with a lasting interest in languages and linguistics. Somewhere along the way that turned into a fascination with input devices - keyboards, their layouts, and how efficiently they let you get an idea out of your head. I keep tuning how I interact with them, because ergonomics is the last thing I would compromise on at a desk.

I have always read a lot, and every so often I write about whatever I happen to be deep in at the time. That's what the blog posts are for.