Hi, I’m Mara.

I’m a designer and writer in Bristol. For fifteen years I’ve made things for screens — interfaces, type, the occasional book — mostly for small studios and stubborn independent companies who care more about getting it right than getting it fast.

Offcuts started in 2023 as a way to keep the good scraps. Every week I’d come across something — an essay, a tool, a turn of phrase, a way of working — that didn’t fit into any project but felt too good to lose. The newsletter is that pile, trimmed and tidied, sent to anyone who wants it. The name is a workshop word: an offcut is the piece left over after the cut. Useful, just not for the thing you were making.

The whole letter is written by hand. No AI summaries, no automated “content,” no tracking pixels watching whether you opened it. If a link is in here, it’s because I read the whole thing. If a tool is in here, it’s because I actually used it. That’s the only editorial rule, and it’s the one I’m proudest of.

Why it’s free

Because the best thing about a newsletter is forwarding it, and paywalls kill that. Offcuts will always be free to read and free to leave. If you ever want to support it, the most valuable thing you can do is send one issue to one person who’d like it.

— Mara Ellison