thoughts from blackspikehttps://www.blackspike.com/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/where-we-hosted-our-webapps-websites-wordpress-and-data-in-2025/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/where-we-hosted-our-webapps-websites-wordpress-and-data-in-2025/And how our attempt to be less reliant on US services and more EU based is goingFri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/converting-an-astro-website-to-nuxt-4/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/converting-an-astro-website-to-nuxt-4/We released a free Astro theme using the experimental fonts api, image components and imported SVGs. This is how we recreated it in Nuxt 4 alpha.Fri, 11 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/blackspike-wallpapers/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/blackspike-wallpapers/We made a blackspike-branded wallpaper in Blender, grab it and the .blend file hereFri, 20 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/vibe-coding-a-nuxt-4-pwa/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/vibe-coding-a-nuxt-4-pwa/As a web design agency in the business of coding web apps, we tried prompting out a flashcard app to probe the state of ai coding.Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/creating-mac-app-webdev-tools-with-ai-and-applescript/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/creating-mac-app-webdev-tools-with-ai-and-applescript/We use ai to write single-use AppleScript mac applications to automate routine web development tasks. Example: a drag-and-drop app to optimise and encode website-ready video.Sun, 25 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/blackspike-free-astro-tailwind-theme/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/blackspike-free-astro-tailwind-theme/A free, modern, Astro landing page theme made with Tailwind to help kick start your next Astro project. Built with cutting edge HTML, CSS and Astro features.Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/kompass-astro-directus-tailwind-website/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/kompass-astro-directus-tailwind-website/We converted supplied designs to Astro with Tailwind, and configured Directus as a headless CMS for a modern, fast, SEO-friendly websiteSat, 17 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/osmf-branding-starlight-website/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/osmf-branding-starlight-website/A great opportunity to help a fledgling non-profit get off the ground with fresh branding and an Astro / Starlight website for the new non-profit Open Source Maintenance FeeFri, 02 May 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/firegiant-astro-starlight-website/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/firegiant-astro-starlight-website/The folks at FireGiant were looking for a design & dev team expert in Astro, Starlight and Vue, to create them a new static website with docs. That is exactly our bag, and we were delighted to help.Wed, 30 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/azure-weekly-logo-redesign/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/azure-weekly-logo-redesign/We were asked to refresh the suite of logos for endjin's Azure & PowerBI Weekly newslettersWed, 16 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/astro-server-islands-cloudflare-geolocation/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/astro-server-islands-cloudflare-geolocation/A client needed to show different currencies and prices depending on the region they were visiting from. Here's how we used Cloudflare and Astro server islands to do thatSat, 21 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/ffmpeg-commands-for-video-alternative-to-gifs/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/ffmpeg-commands-for-video-alternative-to-gifs/Thinking of using a gif on your website? Use a video instead, with these FFmpeg settingsTue, 09 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/sqlbits-website/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/sqlbits-website/SQLBits is the leading conference for data pros, and needed a website to reflect their status and showcase their vast video library of recorded sessionsMon, 06 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/svg-gobbler-browser-extension/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/svg-gobbler-browser-extension/We use this browser extension to grab SVG images from webpages almost every daySun, 30 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/netlify-puppeteer/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/netlify-puppeteer/We had quite a hassle getting Puppeteer working in Netlify functions, but we did and here is proof in a demo project.Mon, 24 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/firefish-social-logo/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/firefish-social-logo/Firefish is an open-source social media platform in the fediverse. They were rebranding with a new, funkier name and needed a new logo to match.Wed, 19 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/our-video-toolbox/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/our-video-toolbox/A selection of useful video editing toolsWed, 07 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/learning-svelte-by-building-a-single-page-application/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/learning-svelte-by-building-a-single-page-application/We've been looking for an excuse to try out Svelte so we wrote a canvas-to-video web app. These are our first impressions.Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/dot-net-razor-and-bootstrap-lob-tool-design/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/dot-net-razor-and-bootstrap-lob-tool-design/We designed an ASP.NET Core MVC line-of-business app to look greatWed, 31 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/10-lesser-known-mac-web-development-apps/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/10-lesser-known-mac-web-development-apps/These Mac web development apps may be niche but they are great additions to any webdev toolboxTue, 30 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/why-we-chose-astro-over-nuxt/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/why-we-chose-astro-over-nuxt/We've shipped dozens of Nuxt websites, so why build our own website with Astro?Wed, 17 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/firefox-get-info/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/firefox-get-info/In Firefox you can cmd+i to get info on the current tab; which shows copy-able meta tags and easy to grab images/video/svg etcSun, 14 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/blog/blackspike-tshirts/https://www.blackspike.com/blog/blackspike-tshirts/It's easier than you think to design your own T-Shirt. You can upload your logo or artwork and print one off tees for less than £20Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/reaqtive-logo-branding/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/reaqtive-logo-branding/Logos, motion graphics, slide decks and more!Mon, 05 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/spike-news-progressive-web-app/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/spike-news-progressive-web-app/Aggregating news from around the web every minute.Sun, 04 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/reaqtor-3d-animation/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/reaqtor-3d-animation/Interactive 3D model animation with Blender & Three.jsSat, 03 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/brightondog-bespoke-website/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/brightondog-bespoke-website/Your guide to dog-friendly Brighton & Hove!Fri, 02 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/spikebot-browser-extension/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/spikebot-browser-extension/A Firebase, Serverless API, RSS and Mastodon mashupThu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/esg-3d-animation/https://www.blackspike.com/case-studies/esg-3d-animation/2D animation with BlenderTue, 01 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT