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A ten-panel Korean screen painted as shelves of books, scrolls, and a scholar's things.

Yi Taek-gyun, Books and Scholars’ Accoutrements, late 1800s. Cleveland Museum of Art.

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The archive · Build journal

I'm a creative operator, and I'm learning as I build. Every day I work with Claude and ChatGPT to make Corbie real, and Cof is where I write down what works, what breaks, and what I'm picking up along the way.

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Latest Captain's log

Callie27 Oct 2026

AI is the excuse, gobbledygook is the process

The real win is having a stronger direction for the website, and more of it in my voice. I'd tried to put this website together four or five times before, and every time I got hung up on what the process should be and what the visuals should look like, more than what the words should be.

I agonize more over something I'm building for me than something I'm building for a client. Client work doesn't represent me personally, so it's easier to ideate on the copy and the flow. When it's the way I launch myself into the world as a business owner, I go a little harder, and I'm harder on myself. And I'm trying to build a community and a client base at the same time, from not zero, but not one either. I would say a bunch of 0.5 clients.

…

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The archive

Every entry.

Every entry is a real Cof record. Daily and computer logs appear here as short summaries, and the full logs stay in the private Cof archive. Captain's logs are published in full.

  1. CallieCaptain's log

    AI is the excuse, gobbledygook is the process

    A stronger site direction after four or five tries, what to do when your role is cut "because of AI," and the night a husband found a page nobody could get back to.

  2. ClaudeComputer log

    A brand interview, one question at a time

    Callie answered 30 brand questions, one at a time, and the answers became approved brand guidelines. A contrast check of all 56 brand colors led to a simple rule: pair a dark with a light. The brand files now have one source of truth, plus a Figma file with the colors, type, and logo construction.

  3. ClaudeComputer log

    A site map review turns into new navigation

    A review of the site against UI and UX best practices produced an interactive site map with nine proposed changes, and Callie approved all nine. The rooms now link to each other, each door has one call to action, "Get on the list" replaced "Raise your hand," and the menu opens from a caret next to the crow. The Brand page and the Creed went up, accessibility and copy checks ran over every page, and Callie got a printable review of the whole site to mark up on her iPad.

  4. ClaudeComputer log

    A second session builds four pages in parallel

    While one session worked through decisions with Callie, a second Claude session built first drafts of /creatives, the Lore, the Principles, and the Dream, one pull request each. Cof moved under the Lore, with the old addresses redirected so links still work. All new wording stayed marked as draft until Callie approved it.

  5. ClaudeComputer log

    Almost every launch page in one day

    The work ran on two tracks at once: pages being built while Callie made the decisions they needed. The page for creatives became the Dream, written like Callie pitching her dream to her friends. /join, /privacy, the Principles, the Lore, and the Proof were all built and approved, and two broken links Callie found from her phone were fixed the same night.

  6. ClaudeComputer log

    Motion references, and a home for the library

    Matt Paige's post on five sites for video and motion inspiration went into the library, with the real links recovered from the post because the shared copy had none. Callie earmarked an idea for Corbie-wide AI skills that point to reference sites during a project's design phase. The library is moving to its own repository so team members can use it too.

  7. ClaudeComputer log

    Paying for the Read gets simpler

    The first plan was to take payment for the Read when a client booked it. After weighing card fees and how companies usually pay, Callie switched to a free first conversation, then a proposal and an invoice. The booking link stays, so signed clients can schedule their kickoff.

  8. ClaudeComputer log

    The crow becomes the way in to search

    Callie decided the crow will be the site's search at launch, with a smarter version to follow. She also started a library of things she's read and shared, meant to be searchable and credited, and eventually open to the community to add to. The crow-and-pitcher fable stays, though maybe not as the main Lore story.

  9. ClaudeComputer log

    The first pages ship: Home, /companies, and /share

    The site's foundation shipped, along with Home, the page for companies, and /share, the form for starting a project. /share offers three paths (a conversation, a read, or a full engagement), and every request lands in one place with an email notice. Callie rewrote much of the copy as it went, including the line "Bring me in to chart the path and walk it with you."

  10. ClaudeComputer log

    The library becomes searchable

    An interview turned Callie's ideas for the crow into a product plan with small build stages. Stage one made the public parts of her reading library searchable. Stage two built the crow's "Ask me" search, which is held back until after launch.

  11. ClaudeComputer log

    From blueprint to build plan in one evening

    The blueprint went into the website repo, and two inspiration screen recordings were stepped through frame by frame to shape a page-by-page build plan. Preview builds had been failing, and the fix went into the site's own settings. The design system moved into one place, form emails were set up, and the crow got his name: Aesop.

  12. ClaudeComputer log

    A day-long voice interview becomes the website blueprint

    Callie spent most of a day answering interview questions out loud, a lot of it while doing housework. Her answers became five blueprint files: voice, background, the fractional offer, the Collective, and the site map. The big idea that came out of it is one world with two front doors, one for companies and one for creatives.

  13. CallieCaptain's log

    We only ice baked cakes

    A new laptop, a move from Cowork to Claude Code, and where the rebellion behind Corbie comes from. Plus why a tagline is hard when the cake isn't baked yet.

  14. ClaudeComputer log

    Captain's Log published, with headings that work

    Last week's Captain's Log interview became a Q&A post and went live on Cof. The Cof pages now show interview questions as headings and the intro in italics. Three rounds of Instagram captions ended with one rewritten to follow Corbie's own voice rules.

  15. CallieCaptain's log

    The build is still hard

    Having my artwork move and having a direction feels better. I also need paid work now.

  16. ClaudeDaily log

    Website now publishes itself from GitHub

    The site moved into a private GitHub repository, and Cloudflare publishes every saved change automatically. Corbie Cof's feed became data, so new summaries go live without editing the page. The first attempt failed on an empty build setting; the fix went into the site's own configuration.

  17. ClaudeComputer log

    Instagram hashtag strategy for launch posts

    Claude proposed 3 to 5 tags per post in three tiers, with keyword-rich captions as the bigger lever. Nothing was decided. Logged mistake: tags were sorted into tiers without checking real post volume.

  18. ClaudeComputer log

    Sketch-to-Figma workflow, motion graphics, and a launch content plan

    Planning conversation only, with no Figma or content work done. Claude proposed one core piece per launch moment and a phased platform sequence. Callie corrected an assumption about Gist, and the plan moved it into launch week.

  19. ClaudeComputer log

    Color-token correction and locked typography, logo, and voice

    Claude had built a six-token color system as if it were locked. Callie caught it, the system was unwound, and her framing of 10 core tokens was adopted. Typography, the geometric wing mark, and a four-trait voice were confirmed.

  20. ClaudeComputer log

    The Diagram review: sub-brand roster and Corbie Cultivated

    Claude reviewed Callie's handwritten Diagram and interviewed her over three rounds. Logged correction: two docs wrongly called Cultivated a rename of Collection, and both were rewritten.

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