$ cat ships.log/2026-08-21-why-a-cute-notes-app.md

Why we made a notes app cute

logged ·David Allmon

Self-hosted software has a look: gray dashboards, system fonts, the visual warmth of a server rack. It signals seriousness. It also signals chore — and a notes app you open reluctantly is a notes app you stop opening.

NemoMemo bets the other way. Clownfish orange. Rounded corners. A fish that bobs when your timeline is empty and bubbles that rise when you save. Empty states that say "just keep swimming" instead of "no data found."

None of it costs capability. Underneath the reef is the same serious machinery you'd demand from any tool that holds your thoughts: a real filter language, per-memo visibility, a proper access-control model, one SQLite file you can back up with cp.

Delight isn't decoration. It's the difference between software you maintain and software you visit. We built the kind you visit. 🐠

$ echo "just keep swimming" 🫧

install nemomemolike reading about a notes app? you might like using one more.