Hi, I'm Andy.
- Full name I go by is Andy Chung.
- Iβm the designer and founder of Read.cv.
- An interesting fact about me is that half of my family is from Zimbabwe.
I've been helping friends buildpersonalwebsites since college. While I love designing and building unique individual websites, I've also found that person to person their needs are fairly ubiquitous.
My favorite products, digital or physical, are the ones that feel hardened and reliable and that don't occupy a lot of brain space or require constant upkeep.
ο»ΏIndexhibit, a web publishing tool built by Daniel Eatock and Jeffery Vaska in 2006, has been influential in how I personally think about product. In his book Imprint, Eatock describes Indexhibit:
I felt that the web had so many options and standards were not embraced enough. I wanted to create a structure that could be navigated intuitively by all users, that was easy to maintain, and did not detract from the content. The more people use the format, the more recessive and archetypal it becomes, allowing the content to come to the forefront.
The opportunity to meet a ubiquitous personal need in a thoughtfully designed, archetypal way is very compelling to me!
Donβt be afraid to start small. Read.cv was started and launched as a solo side project without any funding or marketing strategy. By simply putting the idea out into the world, we could see how it resonated with people and built the confidence to turn it into a real company. You are uniquely positioned to envision something out of nothing as a designer.
I am a big believer in doing it yourself, and I donβt think publishing software needs to be any different than releasing music. Sure, you can spend millions producing and marketing the next big pop album, but the really interesting stuff is going to be made by some producer operating out of their bedroom.
Strong communities tend to form around soulful products. If you look at products that have really strong communities, like Notion or Figma, I would describe these as such. Products born out of conviction, not just capital. Itβs hard to put your finger on it, but you know it when you see it. And itβs obvious when something doesnβt have it!
Mehdi Mulani is my good friend, engineer, and co-founder at Read.cv. Not only is he an incredible engineer who complements my design and bad programming, but heβs the one who has the patience to dig into European tax policy or keep me accountable for updating our burn rate spreadsheet every month. Most importantly he keeps the vibes super positive and is an all-around hilarious guy to spend a ton of time with.
Soleio was one of the first people who DMβd me about pursuing Read.cv when it was just a side project, and in general, is someone who has done a ton to advocate for design within the world of software.
We are working on a project with Laurel Schwulst right now who has an incredible perspective on art and design. Every time we meet I end up with a pile of fascinating links to dig into. This is a nice mix from Love on the Run playing in the studio right now.
Want to follow more from Andy?
Follow him @_andychung and check out his Read.cv here.