j.r. ignacio 🎨👨‍💻

creative technologist, design engineer

Who are you, and what do you do?

Hello. I’m j.r. ignacio, a husband, girl dad, creative technologist, aspiring design engineer and musician.

I live in the Philippines with my lovely wife and daughter. I am constantly amazed at being able to carry a computer in my pocket. When not tinkering with computers, I enjoy reading, drumming, listening to music, and answering my daughter’s never-ending questions.

What hardware do you use?

I live in the Apple ecosystem. I use an iPhone 13 mini paired with an Apple Watch. I wanted the smallest iPhone that supports 5G. With the ongoing pandemic, the watch has been handy in keeping track of my health, like my blood oxygen and reminding me to move around being at home most of the time. It’s also great for unlocking the Mac and 1Password.

I use an iPad Air paired with an Apple Pencil when I need a bigger screen. The iPad with a pair of ANC headphones has been great for calls that don’t require turning a webcam on. Apple’s Voice Isolation feature lets you take calls in non-ideal environments. Most apps also support zooming in on the shared screen so there’s a lot less squinting.

For heavier workloads and a lot of multi-tasking, I use a 2021 14-inch MacBook Pro, hooked on to a BenQ GW2283 external monitor, a Keychron V1 mechanical keyboard with Gateron milky black switches, and a Magic Trackpad because I always miss the gestures when using a mouse. I use a Jabra Evolve 65 for most work calls, so I can mute my mic without clicking a button on the screen.

For music, I listen using AirPods Max at home and AirPods Pro on the go. What I love about both of them is it’s so easy to switch between  devices, I get to quickly shut off the world when it gets too loud from time to time, and the Headphone Safety feature makes it easier to quickly max the volume without worrying going too loud. When traveling, I also bring along a Sony WH-1000XM4. For downtime listening, I use an AKG K52.

I’ve started trying to make my own music using an M-Audio Oxygen Pro Mini.

I still write a lot of my notes in a physical notebook with a LAMY safari fountain pen fitted with a fine nib, filled with LAMY Benitoite ink.

And what software?

A typical day working will have using Launchbar to shuffle around Slack, Google Workspace, Things, Keynote, and various browsers. I primarily use Safari, then Chrome when doing web development work. Arc by the Browser Company is growing on me, though.

I use a mix of VSCode, Xcode, and TextMate when coding, debug APIs with Paw, work with graphics using Xscope, and Sourcetree when I need a GUI for git. I’m trying to use Notion for most of my work notes.

I organize windows with Divvy, manage my passwords with 1Password, email using Fastmail, and tweet using Tweetbot. Soulver is my go-to for quick calculations.

I use Apple Music for music because I have tracks from my old iTunes library that aren’t on any streaming services and sometimes Spotify. We primarily use Netflix, Apple TV+, and occasionally HBO GO for video streaming.

For music making, I’m using GarageBand both on Mac and iPad, but starting to look at other options specially on the Mac.

On the iPhone, my most used apps are Messages for messaging, Camera/Halide/Spectre for taking photos, Darkroom for processing, Instagram, and Flickr for posting.

For this website, I’m using Jekyll for static site generation, Github for code repository hosting, and Cloudflare Pages for deployment.

What would be your dream setup?

I’d probably get an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard as a daily driver and a 4K display to replace my current monitor for heavier workloads. Plus, a Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless for downtime listening.

Inspired by usesthis.com

Last updated: 2022-11-11