rfong is creating workshops and zines to unblock your thing-doing capabilities
13
patrons$104
per monthHi, I'm rfong! (One word, lowercase, no punctuation.) You might know me for my blobby cartoons, deadpan writing, or insatiable love of persimmons.
what's this
I really savor making complex stuff accessible and engaging. Recently, I've been doing this through presentations, blog posts, zines, worksheets, and infographics, which I'll be posting drafts of here. I always strive to pull out the underlying rules that will lead to true understanding of a skill, instead of just instructing you how to do something one way.
what's this
I really savor making complex stuff accessible and engaging. Recently, I've been doing this through presentations, blog posts, zines, worksheets, and infographics, which I'll be posting drafts of here. I always strive to pull out the underlying rules that will lead to true understanding of a skill, instead of just instructing you how to do something one way.
I like doing a lot of things seriously. I've been drawing since I could hold a pen and I see the world through over-the-top cartoon lenses. My first love was mathematics. I started writing code in 2001, got distracted by robotics engineering, studied computer science at MIT, and usually work as a software platform engineer. I occasionally moonlight as a freelance photographer, played classical piano for some 13 years, got too excited about sculpting a Skyrim dragon priest mask, and have probably taught over 100 people how to solve a Rubik's cube. In the past few years, I've enjoyed practicing hand lettering, rope dart, and empathy.
I have always been a jack of all trades, jumping around from one topic or medium to the next. At some point I realized I was topically all over the place because I was motivated by process itself -- analyzing how to make anything more accessible, streamlined, or unblocked.
I want your perspective and thoughts! Sometimes I communicate way too abstractly because that's how my brain likes to operate. Feedback from other people helps anchor my runaway brain train and fill in my blind spots. In return, the stuff I make will become more useful to you.
A Patreon community will make it possible for me to better understand and hone value in the things I make, and figure out how to sustainably do this part-time. During full-time jobs, I usually juggle 45 hours of work with 15-40 hours of personal projects, which is...possible, but often splattered with stretches of burnout or mediocrity.
We'll see how this goes! Thank you for joining me on this journey.
Tiers
Persimmon Acolyte
$1 or more per month ∙ 2 patrons
- Thanks! You helped me buy two persimmons.
- Vote on Patron-only polls!
- Early access to announcements!
Wizard Eyes
$5 or more per month ∙ 6 patrons
- Behind-the-scenes process posts! (Fair warning that this will be topically all over the place.)
- + all the previous rewards
Runaway Brain Train
$10 or more per month ∙ 3 patrons
- Early access to drafts I haven't released yet!
- My glowing appreciation for your added support!
- + all the previous rewards
Analog Braintrust
$25 or more per month ∙ 2 of 3 patrons
- I will snail mail you a monthly assortment of lovingly curated sketchbook pages, drafts, doodles, etc!
- + all the previous rewards
Goals
13 of 15 patrons
This milestone will give me the confidence that I should be doing this :) As thanks, I will make my zine-making workshop FREE to the first 15 patrons.
1 of 2Hi, I'm rfong! (One word, lowercase, no punctuation.) You might know me for my blobby cartoons, deadpan writing, or insatiable love of persimmons.
what's this
I really savor making complex stuff accessible and engaging. Recently, I've been doing this through presentations, blog posts, zines, worksheets, and infographics, which I'll be posting drafts of here. I always strive to pull out the underlying rules that will lead to true understanding of a skill, instead of just instructing you how to do something one way.
what's this
I really savor making complex stuff accessible and engaging. Recently, I've been doing this through presentations, blog posts, zines, worksheets, and infographics, which I'll be posting drafts of here. I always strive to pull out the underlying rules that will lead to true understanding of a skill, instead of just instructing you how to do something one way.
I like doing a lot of things seriously. I've been drawing since I could hold a pen and I see the world through over-the-top cartoon lenses. My first love was mathematics. I started writing code in 2001, got distracted by robotics engineering, studied computer science at MIT, and usually work as a software platform engineer. I occasionally moonlight as a freelance photographer, played classical piano for some 13 years, got too excited about sculpting a Skyrim dragon priest mask, and have probably taught over 100 people how to solve a Rubik's cube. In the past few years, I've enjoyed practicing hand lettering, rope dart, and empathy.
I have always been a jack of all trades, jumping around from one topic or medium to the next. At some point I realized I was topically all over the place because I was motivated by process itself -- analyzing how to make anything more accessible, streamlined, or unblocked.
I want your perspective and thoughts! Sometimes I communicate way too abstractly because that's how my brain likes to operate. Feedback from other people helps anchor my runaway brain train and fill in my blind spots. In return, the stuff I make will become more useful to you.
A Patreon community will make it possible for me to better understand and hone value in the things I make, and figure out how to sustainably do this part-time. During full-time jobs, I usually juggle 45 hours of work with 15-40 hours of personal projects, which is...possible, but often splattered with stretches of burnout or mediocrity.
We'll see how this goes! Thank you for joining me on this journey.
Recent posts by rfong
Tiers
Persimmon Acolyte
$1 or more per month ∙ 2 patrons
- Thanks! You helped me buy two persimmons.
- Vote on Patron-only polls!
- Early access to announcements!
Wizard Eyes
$5 or more per month ∙ 6 patrons
- Behind-the-scenes process posts! (Fair warning that this will be topically all over the place.)
- + all the previous rewards
Runaway Brain Train
$10 or more per month ∙ 3 patrons
- Early access to drafts I haven't released yet!
- My glowing appreciation for your added support!
- + all the previous rewards
Analog Braintrust
$25 or more per month ∙ 2 of 3 patrons
- I will snail mail you a monthly assortment of lovingly curated sketchbook pages, drafts, doodles, etc!
- + all the previous rewards