{"id":2261,"date":"2023-04-05T18:56:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T18:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/?p=2261"},"modified":"2025-10-23T17:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:02:12","slug":"into-the-mind-of-designer-founder-andy-allen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/into-the-mind-of-designer-founder-andy-allen","title":{"rendered":"Into the mind of designer Andy Allen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-video interviewee-picture\"><video autoplay loop muted src=\"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/cdSzORxakR2dMHmOm2GyhX.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andy Allen is a designer and founder of <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.andy.works\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Not Boring Software Corporation<\/a>, focused on bringing play, beauty and quality-of-life back to our everyday apps. As you might guess, this ethos could not resonate with us more. Always one to speak his mind, Andy kindly agreed to share his thoughts with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What\u2019s the best compliment you received recently?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m bad at taking compliments so I don\u2019t tend to remember them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What\u2019s the last game you played?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m catching up on old classics and just finished the DLC in <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nintendo.com\/store\/products\/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-switch\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What game do you want to play next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are a few games in development that I\u2019m excited about, like <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.waytothewoodsgame.com\" target=\"_blank\">Way to the Woods<\/a> by the 16-year old Anthony Tan and the castle-builder <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PounceLight\" target=\"_blank\">Tiny Glade<\/a> by Anastasia Opara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">Best gift you\u2019ve ever given?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like to think of every creation as a gift to the world, and my best creation thus far are my three young daughters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">A quote that\u2019s meaningful to you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I have a mindless little phrase written on a post-it that I keep next to my desk that says \u201cDo what you want, not what you should.\u201d My kids protest and tell me I\u2019ve got it backwards. I find it funny how we each envy something from the other\u2014they\u2019re training to become adults while I\u2019m learning how to be a kid again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">Where do you want to travel to next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaska \u2014 it\u2019s where I was born and raised. Nothing will make you feel small like the scale of Alaska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What would you buy, if money weren\u2019t an issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone asked British fashion designer, Paul Smith, what luxury meant to him and his reply was, \u201cFreedom.\u201d If money is good for anything it\u2019s to buy yourself the freedom to do the things that matter most and live by your own values. Funny enough, it doesn\u2019t take much money to do either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What hobby would you take up, if you had the time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/asallen\/status\/1617643320343420929\" target=\"_blank\">I love woodworking<\/a> \u2014 designing &amp; building furniture for family &amp; friends. I\u2019d spend all day doing it if I could and may yet one day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">What\u2019s an image or piece of art you can\u2019t get out of your head?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/190537820\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Eran Hilleli\u2019s Style Frames Opener<\/a> is a feast for the eyes and just a world I want to live in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.07.46-PM-1-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.07.46-PM-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.07.46-PM-1-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.07.46-PM-1-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.07.46-PM-1-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.07.46-PM-1.png 1918w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large article-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.08.50-PM-1024x576.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2267\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.08.50-PM-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.08.50-PM-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.08.50-PM-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.08.50-PM-1536x864.png 1536w, https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/Screenshot-2023-04-04-at-4.08.50-PM.png 1916w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">The funniest thing you\u2019ve seen lately?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I find podcasts to be where the funny is happening these days. I love improv and falling down rabbit holes, and nothing scratches that itch better than a stupid podcast like <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/smartless\/id1521578868\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Smartless<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_5dzmfzg0c\">If you could build an extension of your own mind, what would it look like? How would it work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019d look exactly like David Bowie\u2019s endless maze in <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0091369\/\" target=\"_blank\">\"Labyrinth.\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-custom_kxolv5b1c\">\u2698<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andy Allen is a designer and founder of The Not Boring Software Corporation, focused on bringing play, beauty and quality-of-life back to our everyday apps. As you might guess, this ethos could not resonate with us more. Always one to speak his mind, Andy kindly agreed to share his thoughts with us. What\u2019s the best [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2291,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10],"class_list":["post-2261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-thoughts","tag-interviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2261"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5059,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2261\/revisions\/5059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mymind.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}