February 2010
15 posts
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“i don’t know, let’s drink”
– Subject line of Class of 2010 email advertising tonight’s back-to-school pub night. BEST CLASS EMAIL EVER.
January 2010
34 posts
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On the iPad and ubiquitous media
Naturally, many geeks are writing up their thoughts on Apple’s new tablet tonight. Without being overwhelmingly detailed, here are mine.
I’m not unimpressed
In fact, I think the iPad is actually a big step toward the future we’ve been talking about for quite a while now. I also think that the major reason everyone’s so disappointed is that they were looking for a...
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A happiness project:
Dear everyone (and everyone else you know),
A friend of mine is undertaking what I consider to be a Very Important Project, which is to create a compendium of happiness—or rather, a book filled with contributions of “happy moments, happy stories, and happy memories.” I want you to help.
I have no idea what final form this project will take, but I do hope that it becomes something...
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Learning the ABCs of Graphics →
Quick tips for information design from expert Dona Wong (basically a sample of her new and invaluable book, The Wall Street Journal Guide to Information Graphics).
Disclosure: I work with Dona at Siegel+Gale, but this book is truly invaluable regardless.
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WatchWhat’s next? (On the mixed reality future-world)
Here’s an interesting fascinating take on the future of interfaces and environmental indicators: Keiichi Matsuda’s final M.Arch. project is a short film exploring how one might interact with their hot water kettle through a pair of augmented reality spectacles and sensors in various kitchen appliances. (via Nate via BLDGBLOG)
I...
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WatchVanishing Point, by Takuya Hosogane
AWESOME. Speakers on; this is really well done. (via booooooom)
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Information design series I will buy eventually
Or rather, as soon as I have a good amount of spare cash.
A no-brainer: the Rosenfeld Media series. These books are just so relevant and practical. I remember when everyone was aching to design usable web forms; soon enough, along came Luke Wroblewski’s Web Form Design, with applicable, well-constructed recommendations. I’ve had my eye on the rest of the series for quite some time...
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“The great thing about graphic design is that it is almost always about something...”
– Michael Bierut, from his essay “Warning: May Contain Non-Design Content,” which leads off the wonderful Seventy-nine Short Essays on Design. Read the essay in full, as it’s short and worthwhile. His conclusion, “the more things you’re interested in, the better your work...
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“Just when you start thinking you’ve repeated yourself too many times,...”
– Alan Spoon (MIT MSM ‘73), over dinner at his house several months ago. There’s a fine line between repeating for clarity and being redundant, although I find that often it’s better to err on the side of the latter.
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Websites described as food
From firmuhment; “Twitter: a box of Crackerjacks without a prize in it.”
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The most relevant identity work of the 00s →
Armin Vit (of Under Consideration and Brand New) revisits the last decade in logos. (Has the new UPS shield really been around for seven years already?)
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“Yes, son; I know you can’t imagine what it must have been like, but I...”
– What we’ll tell our kids in fifteen to twenty years. As much as I am tired of the rumor-mongering (just release it already), I can’t help the feeling that we’re on the cusp of a digital consumption revolution: one that began with the iPhone, really, and is just barely picking up...
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WatchLots and lots of good via @GOOD lately, including this “Real Good Experiment” in which Blu Dot tracks 25 “thieves” of nice, modern chairs they planted throughout New York City (GPS tracking, hidden cameras and all). I particularly liked this last line: “I really have a hard time putting any object that has a useful life… in the garbage. It should be given a...
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method does laundry →
Yes. Yes yes yes. Method’s new answer to laundry came out this morning, and it’s not an all-in-one solution or simply a new scent. It’s a whole new bottle and a completely new, hyper-concentrated formula. And I am so excited. Which perhaps says more about my own affinity for doing laundry than anything else, but let’s get real here, this is revolutionary.
In fact, this...
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Why I love Tumblr, reason no. 1
The Dashboard and its neverendingness (read: endless scrolling).
Usually, I can click “play” on an audio file on my dashboard, and by the time I get to the next video or audio I want to enjoy, the previous one is finished. It works rather seamlessly, and moreover it provides that feeling which is all-important to good user experience design, which is the Feeling That This Was Made...
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Lots of good stuff in the next issue of GOOD
I am a pretty big fan of this magazine. They focus on design, photography, architecture, and sustainability; create many excellent infographics; and donate your subscription straight to a charity of your choice.
Highlights from “the Slow issue” (#18):
Aubrey de Grey thinks that we will eventually be able to reverse cell deterioration (which causes us to die) so that we can live...
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WatchI would be insane not to post this. Lovely. Beautiful. Incredible. It’s worth watching despite the length (12:29) and save for the fact that it’s entirely computer generated. Holy mackerel. (via @dunstan)
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“This notice is ATTORNEY ADVERTISING. Prior results cannot and do not guarantee...”
– Fine print of an advertisement for accident and immigration lawyers on the subway this morning. As in, beware, this is an attorney advertisement. Unlike other advertisements, you should not trust anything this one says.
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“Paul Rand Inc.,” by James Phillips Williams →
Here is a compelling story about Paul Rand (but mostly about Peter Arnell), as told by a designer who studied under him, and who now works in New York. The story is compelling because it says nothing about Paul Rand and yet so much about his imprint. To that end, the story leads off with a snapshot of Rand’s classically simple and elegant business card. Worth a glance if just for that (via...
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OH iTunes YOU TRICKY DEVIL YOU and your stupid iTunes Media organization, tricking me into thinking I had but fifty artists in my library (because the whole botched thing isn’t synced at all) and instead making me hunt down the “Music” folder with the more appropriate 1,947 nested artist folders. You devious little software program.
Keep it up. You’ll see.
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WatchHiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous lipdub from Bryan J Busch on Vimeo. Watch this.
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New year, new city
Today was the first full day I spent as a resident of Manhattan, and it was wonderful—pretty much exactly what I wanted and expected it to be.
I awoke in the early afternoon to the freezing cold outside and the broken heat inside (which is now fortunately fixed), grabbed a late lunch at an awesome sandwich deli inside a vietnamese grocery, watched a DVD in bed earlier this evening, and finished...
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The thing about design is that while it’s never possible to lose your eye, it’s easy to lose your touch. The one way to prevent this from happening is to keep producing; consistently applying and reapplying your instincts so to keep them sharp.
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Me: Georgia, that's champagne...
Georgia: (gulp, gulp) AWESOME! HAPPY NEW YEAR!