Alright, I know, it’s Thursday. Still, we’re cutting ourselves some slack this week because tomorrow is a day off. Happy independence day everyone. Enjoy these:
A group of folks from the Indiana University School of Informatics (my alma mater) put together a video for Marty Siegel, my favorite professor. I think the video is great, and says a ton about the impact Marty has had on all of his students:
For those of you who are interested, I make an appearance around the 10:40 mark. Hope you enjoy it!
We’re also on the lookout for:
All animals may apply.
No animals have been hurt in the making of this blog post.
Hola readers, I am writing to you from cloudy (and rainy) Monteverde, Costa Rica. Karen and I just arrived to the country yesterday, and am already having a blast.
It is gorgeous here. The drive to Monteverde was 4.5 hours long and the end was extreeeemly bumpy. We climbed to the top of a mountain on a tiny dirt road. Great stuff. I’ll post pictures when I get home.
Today we toured a cheese factory (great cheese). Tomorrow is a canopy tour. Monday is canyoning near Volcan Arenal. Woo!
More later when I’m on a faster internet connection (hopefully).
(If you’re reading this from a feed reader, you’ll want to jump to my site so you can see the images.)
Today I want to talk about something a bit academic. More of a thinking game than anything else. I chose to start with Graphic Design because, well, it seems a bit more established as a field than Interaction Design and I think there’s a lot we could learn from them.
In two-dimensional graphic design, a core set of elements have been defined to specify the designer’s most basic toolset. These three elements can be combined to create a rich array of visual objects that give the designer near limitless options. Let me explain visually:
A Point simply denotes a position in space. Many points in space can show contrast, and from an appropriate height will tend to show texture. This is the most basic of the basic graphic design elements. But oh so much can come of this simple dot.
If a Point is made the first time a piece of chalk is touched to a chalkboard, then a Line is created as that chalk is dragged across the surface. That Line is an infinite chain of Points, or the connection between two starting and ending points.
Moving the chalk perpendicularly to the original line creates an intersection. Multiple intersections eventually create shape. That is, when multiple Lines are strung together, they take Shape. Shape is where we begin to embrace the power of visual imagery. People will create meaning out of multiple shapes strung together, and the meaning that is elicited is the core goal of Graphic Design.
Of course, this is by no means all a Graphic Designer must know to be successful. This is just the start. In Part 2 of this series I’ll consider Dan Saffer’s Elements of Interaction Design. Prepare yourself for that.
The last few days I’ve been reading Richard Florida’s Who’s Your City? In this book he talks about how populations centers have changed since the rise of the creative class. For the most part, Florida refutes Thomas Friedman’s theories in The World is Flat. Florida believes that where you live still matters, despite today’s advanced communication technologies. I definitely agree with this thesis. One can only do so much over a phone or internet connection. I have had my most rewarding moments in the workplace when I am able to sit and think about something with a coworker on a shared whiteboard.
Florida’s site has a Place Finder survey that attempts to rate which cities you should consider moving to. Here are my results:
I’m not so sure I agree on all counts, but it is quite an interesting result. One that I wasn’t expecting.
Of course, the survey is all self-report, so it’s definitely bound for some level of error. But still…it’s interesting to think about: in this ever so mobile era, where will any of us live a year from now?
If you’d like to take the survey, you can do it right now! Check it out:
And she’s right. I haven’t uploaded pictures in a long time. I’ve slowly stopped putting myself out there, up on the web. I don’t know why. Mostly I think it’s because I’ve been busy. I’ve been spending far too much time on planes. And at work. My brain has just spent too much time running.
I need to idle. I’m ready for a break. In 3 weeks Karen and I leave for Costa Rica. We’re not running away (this time). For now we’re just off for a quick vacation. Any recommendations? We’re looking for good stuff to do.
I’m home this week. It feels good so far. It feels like a real change of pace. Part of me just wants to stay here indefinitely. Travel is hard on the body and soul, and I’m in need of some repair.
Look out for some more substantive posts. Soon enough, my friends, soon enough. Tide yourself over with my sister’s adventures throughout the middle east.
Counting Crows via Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers via The Byrds:
So you wanna be a rock & roll star? Well listen now to what I say: Just get an electric guitar, take some time, and learn how to play.”
Well, when you put it that way, it seems pretty simple really. Now I should go take this inspiration & do something with it…
And it felt good. I ran through downtown Nashville this evening. Good stuff. I can feel the shape getting back into me.
“You’ll be bothered from time to time by storms, fog, snow. When you are, think of those who went through it before you, and say to yourself, ‘What they could do, I can do.’”
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery, Wind, Sand, and Stars, 5
No deeper applicable meaning, just thought it was a good quote.
Hi, I'm Josh! I'm a designer, ThoughtWorker, traveler, and altogether fun-haver.
www.flickr.com
|
