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The Elements of Design (Part 1)
(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…
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Who’s My City?
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…
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“What they could do, I can do.”
“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.
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Design for a messy world
So often we assume that the problems we are solving for are “pure”, even if they are somewhat complex. The images we see in advertisements help this base assumption survive, and so we don’t think to go a little deeper in our analysis of a problem before we jump right in to offering a solution.…
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LinkedIn looks so fresh & clean clean
One of my little delights in life comes when I see a website or tool that I use has been refreshed. This morning, I was surprised to notice that LinkedIn has a new look. Check it out: There’s a nice entry up on the LinkedIn Blog that talks about the three major changes: System Navigation…
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Am I the only one who gets lost at Target?
Every other weekend or so I take a trip to my local Target store to stock up on necessities. Let me start by saying this: I love Target. For the most part I have a wonderful experience there…well, except for one section: the toiletries area. For some reason, I can never find the things I’m…
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You should see my sketchbook
It is truly one of my favorite design “tools:” A good notebook. Personally, I like the full size Moleskine models, but whatever you can manage to carry around will work best. I carry mine everywhere with me, always with a pencil attached. Check out these notes, if you dare, which preceded my recent talk with…
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Bill Buxton Inspires Me
The greatest lesson I learned at Interaction08 last weekend was from Bill Buxton, during his keynote talk. Here’s his list of things that, as a designer, you must know: What makes you distinct. Your value lies in your distinctiveness. That makes you a minority. There will be pressure to conform. Your value is lost in…
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Super Tuesday 2008 Infographic Design
As I’ve mentioned before, election night is one of my favorite nights of the year. All the big media outlets pull out their infographic design “big guns.” One of my favorites for the Super Tuesday 2008 Primary results is at the New York Times: It simply describes the current situation in the largest states that…
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The Potential of Bathroom Air Dryers
It’s a really nice bathroom sign. It really is. But seriously, can we do something about the air dryers in this country? I appreciate the fact paper towels are a complete and total waste of resources, but the hand dryer situation is…well…out of hand. If those things could blow just 2 or 3 times harder,…