August 2006 Entries

Links

 

08.31.2006

Great Typography = Design

I really relished SvN's commentary on Penguin’s Great Ideas = great design. I love great typography and am sickened when a client (or two) look at type-only directions as being bereft... [+]

08.31.2006

All The News That's Fit to Air

A publicity photo of new CBS anchor, Katie Couric, was apparently Photoshopped to make her look slimmer. Hmm, it's not like her petite frame doesn't fit in a widescreen. CBS Makes New Anchor Katie Couric Slimmer, via The Raw Feed. [+]

08.29.2006

Smart Letter Opener

Epistola is no just a gorgeous sliver of a letter opener, it can also determine the weight of your mail. [+]

08.29.2006

You can take it(unes) with you

It's the next best thing to an iPod: Musicast: Broadcast Your Music. [+]

08.27.2006

WDW Presentations

Google videos of presentations from Web Design World 2006, Seattle includes Jeffrey Veen on Designing Next Gen Web Apps and Molly Holzschlag on Designing for Web 2.0: From Markup to Microformats, from Semantics to Ajax. [+]

08.27.2006

Location-Based Bus Ads

GPS-powered geo-targeted ads: London Bus Ads Change as Locations Do. [+]

08.25.2006

Packaging Font ID, part 2

Another FontShop instalment on identifying fonts used on product packaging. This time around, they roam the aisles of Target: Design Outside the Box. [+]

08.24.2006

Shorty: Improving URL Abbreviation Tools

In the same vein as URL(x), Shorty produces human readable shortened URLs, but with a twist: you host it so you can track clicks and aren't dependent on someone else's server. Brought to you by Khoi Vinh and Reed Morse. Shorty. [+]

08.24.2006

PMS to RGB Decoder Ring

A lookup table for converting Pantone colors to Hex values. Color Codes Matching Chart HTML (Pantone, CMYK, RGB Hex). Now if only someone would do the same for TOYO. [+]

08.24.2006

Six-Sided Design

My favorite mentor calls it "six-sided design". BusinessWeek's sensible tips on package design, The Art of Boxing, applies to just about anything in a box -- not just games. [+]

08.22.2006

Boxes and...not much else

A few popular websites shown with their contents stripped: Internet Soul Portraits. Sad thing is, some sites are just ugly right down to their bones. [+]

08.22.2006

IE7 CSS Changes

IE has made "over 200 behavior changes" which includes fixing a number of bugs from Position Is Everything. Oh joy! Well, that is, if only folks would stop using earlier versions of IE altogether. IE Blog: Details on our CSS changes for IE7. [+]

08.22.2006

Today's Funny Site: 5ives

5ives is from Merlin Mann, the guy who brought you 43 Folders. He has my sense of humor and my taste in music. (And, from the looks of his site, shares a similar minimalist aesthetic!) [+]

08.18.2006

CSS3 Sneak Peek

I got pretty excited about the proposed CSS3 column spec. Here is a sneak peek at a few more proposed features in CSS3: CSS3 Preview. Especially exciting: rounded borders! But, do we really need CSS support for text drop shadows? [+]

08.17.2006

Infographics for Everyday People

Indexed features a wealth of charts and visual aids for life's common conundrums. Via Core77.com. [+]

08.17.2006

CSS Optimizers Tested

Blogging Pro does a great job of testing a handful of free CSS optimizers so you don't have to: CSS Optimization: Make Your Sites Load Faster for Free [+]

08.17.2006

del.icio.us Thumbnails

The popular bookmarking site, del.icio.us, now sports thumbnails. Nice technical feat but I'm not sure if it helps clutter and other usability issues. [+]

08.16.2006

DIY Heatmaps

Create your own heatmap based on user clicks. The Definitive Heatmap [+]

08.16.2006

SERPs: Placement Matters

Most AOL users tend to click on the first page of search results according to Davor Strehar @ Europe: AOL: 90% clicks on the first page, 4% on second. Wonder how much of this can be extrapolated to other search engines? [+]

08.14.2006

Hilarious Error Messages

Screen captures of error message head-scratchers: Pop-up Potpourri: Announced By God. [+]

08.13.2006

Google Tries to Micro-Manage Language

Odd move by Google who recently sent legal papers to media organizations which forbade the use of google as a verb. Google, the verb, was officially accepted into the Oxford English dictionary last June -- a feat that most brand experts could only dream of. To google or not to google? It's a legal question. [+]

08.13.2006

Retrospective of Past Operating Systems

The Evolution of Desktops via Room 101. Gee, even in black and white, Mac's OS2 still looks pretty darned good by today's standards. [+]

08.12.2006

Quotes on Design

For those who think knowing Photoshop automatically makes one a designer then, please, read Thoughts on Design and be enlightened. For the rest of us, read on and reaffirm what you already know. As Jane Jacobs put it so beautifully: "Design is people." [+]

08.08.2006

More Fun in the Supermarket

Earlier, FontShop identified a number of popular magazine typefaces. This time, they've hit the supermarket and uncovered the typefaces found in packaging. Tasty Type. Also, if you missed it last time, Typographica identified a handful of Threadless T-shirt fonts. [+]

08.08.2006

Free Font

FF Milo Regular available for free this month from FontShop. Also, Charriot Deluxe bitmap font available for free August 8 only via MyFonts.com. [+]

08.08.2006

Ode to Helvetica

The ultimate tribute to that ubiquitous typeface: Helvetica, a documentary film by Gary Hustwit. [+]

08.08.2006

AOL's Mea Culpa...Sort Of

AOL's an incredibly rigid, top-heavy organization where nothing ever gets done without approvals from several executives. I'm not buying this. AOL apologises over search data 'screw-up' [+]

08.06.2006

AOL Releases Search Data from 500k Users

Boy, AOL sure likes to piss people off...AOL Research exposes data; we've got a little sick feeling. [+]

08.05.2006

The "At Sign"

In Holland it's called "apestaart" (monkey tail) and in Germany it's known as "Klammeraffe" (hanging monkey). In France, it's either "arobas" or "petit escargot" (small snail). But in English, it's simply called the rather colorless "at sign". Interesting backstory on the web's darling symbol: A Sign of the TImes and Symbols.com: the @ symbol. [+]

08.05.2006

Overheard at Panera

There's a Panera (no, not Pantera) within walking distance from my house. I love their muffies (muffins without the less-favored bottoms), their asiago cheese bagels and, of course, the free wi-fi. So when I read about how Jeff Jarvis made Panera his office for a week and became an accidental spectator in the Panera theater, I chuckled. I've overheard quite a few NDAs breached while I've been trying to do some work there myself. Thank you, Panera. [+]

08.03.2006

IMs, Texting More Popular Than Email Among Teens

E-mail losing ground to IM, text messaging, according to an Associated Press article, presumably because "young people [are] driving [the] switch to instant gratification communication." Huh? Last time I checked, I can delay and selectively respond to IMs and text messages the same way I do with emails. I'd say the reason IMs and text messages are gaining popularity is they're most similar to a dialog format. Once again, MSM misses the point. [+]

08.03.2006

Saffer's Intro to Interaction Design

An interview with Adaptive Path's Dan Saffer offers a historical tour of the evolving field of interaction design. Interaction Design: An Introduction. [+]

08.03.2006

Confirmed: AOL to Lay Off 5,000 Employees

Not quite as extensive as originally rumored in Valleywag but significant staffing cuts nonetheless: AOL to slash payroll by 5,000 employees. [+]

08.03.2006

Lost in the Supermarket

While shopping for food at the supermarket the other day, I was surprised to hear The Clash's "Lost in the Supermarket" being played on their Muzak selection. I certainly appreciated hearing a tune that I could identify with but also began to wonder why supermarkets in general haven't changed in decades. First, there's the shopping cart. Certainly IDEO has considered that shopping carts can be improved upon. Then, In Austria, MPREIS, billed as the "seriously sexy supermarket" has really upended... [+]

 

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