Feb 6
Web Design
Would it be useful to you, as a designer, to be a fly on the wall of Facebook headquarters and to hear what the leadership believes are its strengths and vulnerabilities? Wouldn't it be educational to know all about the current platform and hear about the products and services Mark Zuckerberg and his team are planning for the future?
This is a close as we may get — absolutely fascinating stuff: The Facebook Form S-1 Registration Statement as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Thanks to my friend Bruce Schneider for pointing us to it.
The Facebook Form S-1 Registration Statement...
"Risk Factors" talks about the potential risks and uncertainties of the business model...
The "Business" section tells, in detail, how the Facebook platform works, what products and technologies it includes, how it currently fits into the social networking landscape, and reveals where its leadership wants to take it...
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Feb 3
Graphics Tech
If not, you might be surprised to know that many folks believe he, his colleagues, and the institution of Stanford University in Santa Clara Valley, California created the very seedbed of the Technological Renaissance known as Silicon Valley.
Is renaissance too big a word to describe it? Not when you consider the fact that this one small part of the planet produced (in large part) the transistor, microprocessors, personal computers, genetic engineering, and the protocols which would become the standard for Internet communication between computers.
And much, much more.
I point you to this because, until I spent some time reading about it, I did not fully appreciate the magnitude of the what happened here in the last 50 years.
A capsule history of Stanford and The Rise of Silicon Valley...
From the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, a list of achievements...
An interview with Frederick Emmons Terman...
Another Silicon Valley father, William Bradford Shockley Jr....
A goldmine of interesting insights...
Interviews with and about the inventors...
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Jan 20
Graphics Tech
You don't need to read the research to know that many workflows and types of communication are shifting from desktops and laptops to mobile devices. One stat says there are already 1.2 BILLION mobile Web users worldwide. That's WEB users. Another asserts that 87 percent of the world population or 5.9 people are already mobile subscribers. Wow, I realized we were in another big technological shift, but (I must admit) I didn't fully appreciate the scope of it.
How will all this effect you and your business? I encourage you to read some of the research. That's what I've been doing. As my clients get more deeply involved with mobile, I do too. And if you need an orientation on the subject, mobiThinking's Global mobile statistics for 2012 is a good place to start.
The link below will take you to the full listing plus I have chosen a few other reports and linked you to them, just to give you a sense of the depth of research available.
mobiThinking's Global mobile statistics for 2012...
From On Device Research: Mobile Media and TV...
From Gartner: iPad and Beyond: What the Future of Computing Holds...
From comScore: 14 Million Americans Scanned QR Codes on their Mobile Phones in June 2011...
From Adobe: What Users Want from Media, Finance, Travel & Shopping...
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Jan 9
Illustration
How do you make a better map? Ask cartographer David Imus. Mapmaking is not only about measurements and data, a great map is a feat of graphic design.
David Imus recently won the Cartography and Geographic Information Society's (CaGIS) annual Map Design Competition, Best of Show designation for his acclaimed new map: The Essential Geography of the United States of America.
Seth Stevenson takes a look the making of the map and explains what makes it significant in a piece he wrote for Slate.com.
Many thanks to Wendy Hersh for pointing us to it.
The Essential Geography of the United States of America...
An insightful piece about the map by Seth Stevenson for Slate.com...
The Imus Geographics website...
The Cartography and Geographic Information Society's (CaGIS) website...
About David Imus...
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Jan 6
Photography
This paper, mentioned widely in recent days, addresses the digital alteration of photographs. Eric Kee and Hany Farid are the authors of A perceptual metric for photo retouching, published by the Department of Computer Science at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH.
I found this passage and much that follows to be most interesting, "We propose that the interests of advertisers, publishers, and consumers may be protected by providing a perceptually meaningful rating of the amount by which a person's appearance has been digitally altered. When published alongside a photo, such a rating can inform consumers of how much a photo has strayed from reality, and can also inform photo editors of exaggerated and perhaps unintended alterations to a person's appearance."
You can image the ramifications of such a rating could be both good and bad. Thought the authors devote much of their focus to "...highly idealized and unobtainable body images," I can image particularly practical uses of the technology such as detecting the amount of retouching used in creating that mouth-watering photograph of a hamburger.
Interesting, the acknowledgements tell us, "This work was supported by a gift from Adobe Systems, Inc., a gift from Microsoft, Inc. and a grant from the National Science Foundation...".
Describe pic link...
A perceptual metric for photo retouching (2.6MB PDF)...
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Jan 2
Basic design
The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York have co-organized an international exhibition titled Graphic Design: Now in Production — what is being called, "an ambitious look at the broad-ranging field of graphic design".
As the exhibit's website describes it, the exhibit "explores how graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool." The work featured, "explores design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters as well as branding programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations".
Whether or not you are able to visit the exhibit, I encourage you to order a copy of the exhibit catalogue, a 225-page book that includes hundreds of examples plus twenty-some opinion pieces on the recent history and current state of graphic design by the exhibit's curatorial team and others.
The irony is graphic design, as Ellen Lupton puts it, is "about doing something in the world" or pragmatics — and the very nature of such an exhibit is to look at the work and describe it (for the most part) outside the context for which it takes action. It will fascinating to see how well the exhibit is able to bridge that divide.
I'm anxious to see it — here are the venues:
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis through January 22, 2012
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, May 16, 2012
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, September 30, 2012
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas, July 19, 2013
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, Oct 24, 2013
A quick overview...
The exhibit web page...
About the exhibit catalogue...
Purchase the exhibit catalogue...
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Dec 7
Graphics Tech
When you add up the costs of hardware and software, there has never been a time when there was LESS of a barrier to entry to 3D rendering and animation.
Here are some examples of what can be created with a system and software that I can't image would cost more than $10,000. By comparison, thirty years ago, though such technology didn't even exist, similar results would have cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.
We're clearly headed into an era when the barrier to creativity is the intellect, not the tools.
An example of a piece produced (in part) using CINEMA 4D....
One version of the software...
Some of many examples...
Curious? Here, from Lynda.com, is a very brief summary of the Cinema 4D workflow...
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Dec 5
Illustration
Let's talk a little bit about film production design and art direction. I live in Richmond, Virginia where Steven Spielberg is currently filming his latest motion picture, Lincoln. We walked around the Virginia State Capitol this afternoon and took a look at how Spielberg's production company is transforming it into an 1860's White House.
It got me thinking about my days writing and directing industrial videotapes — how-to videos and small productions on budgets, most of which, wouldn't equal the cost of one days lunch for the cast and crew of a major film. But it reminded me of the importance of art direction in film, how much hard work it is, and how satisfying the results can be.
As described by Media Match (an online database of over TV and film professionals), the Production Designer is responsible for the entire art department and helps the director achieve the film's visual requirements. The Art Director facilitates the production designer's creative vision for all the locations and sets.
If you've ever wondered why films cost what they do, take a look around this one location and at the extent to which the producers have gone to make it believable. (Please excuse the quality of the images, I was documenting, not composing.)
First, a quick panorama of the scene that I stitched together (you may have to click on it twice to see it full-sized)...
The shot below shows what is actually the back side of the Virginia State Capital. The columns and roof are a facade build for the picture to simulate the White House in Washington DC at that time...
The paved drive that surrounds the Capital has been covered with a thin layer of mulch...
Something in the shot we don't want the camera to see? Put some trees in front of it...
Need to hide a trash receptacle? Camouflage it with a pile of supplies...
What separates one film from another? One thing is the level of detail. Check out the coloring of the tents, the fabric on the chairs, and the labeling on the ammunition...
The Governor's Mansion is just outside your view beyond the portico....
On the periphery there are other props being readied...
and remnants of production everywhere...
This is the full job description for a Production Designer...
And a job description for an Art Director...
The Production Designer for Lincoln is Rick Carter whose credits include Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump, and Avatar...
The Art Director for Lincoln is Curt Beech who Art Directed Star Trek and The Social Network...
Veteran Production Designer Jim Bissell talks about judging the Best Art Direction Oscar...
A look at Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln...
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Nov 30
Illustration
Apologies in advance to you if you're not a map freak like I am. I love maps (graphic designs of detailed information) so it's exciting to read about this new development and to contemplate, yet again, how a new technology will impact our lives. Wow.
A quick look at Google Maps Indoors...
From the Official Google Blog: A new frontier for Google Maps: mapping the indoors...
Add your building floor plan..
An indepth walkthrough of Google Maps...
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Nov 25
Photography
How often are you asked to use an image that is too small for the application? If you're like me, you typically explain that it is impossible to add information to an image that isn't already there.
Yes that's true, but to be fair, there are ways of faking it — techniques, applications, and plug-ins for up-resing or increasing the resolution of an image to match print or online applications that require an image larger than the original.
Though this first explanation is a bit dated, the science holds true. The links that follow it will introduce you to the current crop of tools and to further insights on the subject.
Digital Photo Enlargement by Sean McHugh...
PhotoZoom Pro...
Perfect Resize...
Blow Up...
Qimage Ultimate...
Further analysis... Interpolation Revisited by Ron Bigelow...
Digital Photo Interpolation Review: Which image interpolation (photo resizing / resampling) method is the best? by Kevin Venator...
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Nov 9
Graphics Tech
There are plenty of theories about where interaction design is headed — the trick is to separate hyperbole from true vision. Why should you care? Because, as designer and engineer Bret Victor puts it, we shouldn't, "...just extrapolate yesterday's technology and then cram people into it."
"Technology doesn't just happen." Victor says, "It doesn't emerge spontaneously, like mold on cheese. Revolutionary technology comes out of long research, and research is performed and funded by inspired people."
He knows what he's talking about. Among his many accomplishments Victor, "...designed the initial user interface concepts for iPad, iPod Nano, and half a dozen experimental hardware platforms. Initiated, designed, and prototyped over seventy concept projects, including radically reinvented interfaces for video editing, animation, drawing, learning, collaboration, mail, photos, and much more. Invented features for Mac OS X Lion. Worked with designers and engineers from all parts of Apple. (And) Routinely presented to top-level management."
If you're anything like me you'll find his insights and predictions fascinating. Thanks to my friend Monique Larsen for pointing us to it.
A brief rant on the future of interaction design...
Victor's information graphics bio...
Thinking about user interfaces in very different ways...
Magic Ink: a revolutionary approach to UI...
Victor's website: WorryDream.com...
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Oct 31
Web Design
That's a quote from a member of the development team for Muse, a new web design and publishing product Adobe is creating for professional graphic designers (now in public beta).
I haven't used it so I have no opinion about its value, but if you aren't familiar with it, you need to be. Why? Because the barriers to design are going to continue to fall away. To make a living at graphic design we're going to need to be independent thinkers and doers.
I believe that, as the tools become easier to use and proliferate, more and more people with want to design. And that, as the field expands, good design will be more widely recognized, better understood, and the best of it will be more highly valued.
But being a good designer will be more difficult too — it will no longer be enough to simply make our designs look good, we're going to have to know how to make them work well.
In other words, more than ever, we'll need examine and understand the entire picture:
1. What is my client trying accomplish?
2. How can I optimize the content and design to facilitate that goal?
3. What combination of devices, technologies, and messages will we use to draw our audience into the conversation?
4. How will my client keep their marketing fluid?
Yes it's all moving quickly and it can get a bit overwhelming, but don't be discouraged, if you love it, you can find your place in it.
The Adobe Muse website (made using Muse)...
A series of videos that explain the product...
Some anti-Muse sentiment...
Another recent post about fundamental changes in the world of graphic design...
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Oct 26
Marketing PR
I like this animated presentation for two reasons: First, the information is fascinating. The author cites statistics that point to radical changes in world markets in the future. Second, I like the look, feel, and sound of it. I flows nicely and uses type to emphasize the soundtrack.
If you don't already know Fredrik Härén, he is an author and speaker on the subject of creativity (his book like mine is an "idea book").
How is your idea perception?...
About Fredrik Härén (the other Idea Book author)...
Härén's Idea Book Facebook page...
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Oct 21
Graphics Tech
Once again I've missed the cruise ship in the sink — meaning I'm so often focused on seeing the small thing, I miss the big thing.
Luckily I'm surrounded by people who challenge my thinking. In this case, my friend Lee Garvey pointed me to the term "augmented reality". (I can hear all you AR freaks moaning, wondering how did this guy get so old being this stupid? I agree.) I've seen augmented reality applications, I just didn't know that's what I was looking at.
For the rest of us, Adobe defines augmented reality as, "...a field of computer science that involves combining the physical world and an interactive, three-dimensional virtual world." You've doubtlessly seen examples like the changing yard lines that are projected on a football field or the caption balloon that points to a particular car on a racetrack and shows you some stats on its driver.
But that, as they say, is the tip of the iceberg. I didn't realize how many folks are already using this technology and hadn't considered how big a role it will play in the design world in the future.
Imagine the countless opportunities this will afford graphic designers. For example, to create a live, mobile brochure that pops up when a passerby points their device at your client's business. And the endless extensions of imagery that will be applied to all manner of applications.
If you thought there were limits to the potential for your work as a designer, a dose of augmented reality will make you think differently.
An overview...
Examples from GigantiCo..
Examples from hidden...
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Oct 19
Web Design
Mobile devices, mobile searches, and mobile commerce are not big, they're huge. How do we design for mobile devices? If you're not up on it, it's time to start the climb.
One source for mobile design insights is Luke Wroblewski, among his many credits he wa the co-founder of Bagcheck, Chief Design Architect (VP) at Yahoo! Inc., and co-founder of the Interaction Design Association (IxDA).
I happened on his work through an interesting new training piece on Lynda.com titled, Web Form Design Best Practices (see the link below).
Why Separate Mobile & Desktop Web Pages?...
Mobile QR Code Usage...
On Lynda.com, Web Form Design Best Practices (the listings in blue can be viewed without a subscription)...
Luke's writings...
And a new book: Mobile First...
Can Mobile Search Be as Big for Google as Desktop Search?...
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Oct 14
Print Design
Technology can be a little overwhelming sometimes. We're moving so fast, it's difficult to know which ideas to adopt and when to adopt them. Just when you settle on a content management system, for example, someone invents a new system that makes the one you just adopted looking kinda lame.
But it's inevitable. Hardware and software companies are like sharks, unless they keep moving forward, they drown — so they relentlessly invent and re-invent devices and tools in the hope that they'll maintain and grow their audience.
The good news is the creative options are ever expanding, the downside is it's almost a full time job separating the necessary and valuable from the gingerbread and hype. I love Adobe, in my lifetime they have played a major role in transforming my profession from a craft to a way of life.
I know it has become the industry way — but the Broadway show stuff makes me uneasy. I'm beginning to feel less like a partner and more like a member of the audience. Honestly, given the forces at work, I don't know that it is a problem that can be resolved, I just feel compelled to point to the obviousness of it.
You be the judge: Adobe's next big thing -- the creative cloud.
Adobe Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch's keynote presentation at MAX 2011...
The expressive web...
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Oct 5
Web Design
Much of the time the principles large companies use to develop and market their products does not translate well to small- and medium-sized concerns. The web is different. All websites have one significant thing in common — they all pursue a one-to-one relationship with the reader.
So it stands to reason that there is some value in understanding how successful websites make that connection. And there is no website that has more experience at it than Google. Here are their design principles.
Ten principles that contribute to a Googley user experience...
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Oct 3
Copywriting
Last week, on his Facebook page, Bob Bly (the copywriter's copywriter), pointed to a service that is developing technology that, "...Generates news stories, industry reports, headlines and more — at scale and without human authoring or editing." As they characterize it, they are working to "turn data into stories."
It's one more step in the struggle between art and science. Faster than we could ever hope of adapting to it, science marches forward attempting (with a fair amount of success) to automate all manner of human interaction, thought, and effort.
I wonder if the media will cover this or if the story will be written by its new competitor?
Narrative Science...
An article on the idea and the organization...
This all folds into Seth Godin's seismic column last week, The forever recession (and the coming revolution...
As implemented in the WSJ...
My reply to Bob Bly's post on Facebook: Ironic — I'm working on an application that reads data-generated text and converts it to clean drinking water. Here is his website...
And just for fun, Bob Newhart's wonderful bit, An Infinite Number Of Monkeys...
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Sep 26
Packaging
If you're enamored with Dieline.com, you'll love Boxvox.com. How do I explain the difference? Let me put it this way, I've come to think of Dieline.com as a fashion show and Boxvox.com as a sewing machine. Randy Ludacer's blog looks at the fabric of packaging: the current state of packaging, the history of packaging, the technical side of packaging, and all threads in between.
Chained Polyhedral Portion Packs...
Package as a metaphore...
Geografia's Polyhedral Planet...
Edge matching puzzles...
Randy, who is also a musician, even writes songs about packaging (bottom of the page)...
But don't miss Dieline.com either...
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Sep 16
Ideas 101
Attention, in particular, managers. Here's a rare interview with one of the co-founders of Adobe, John Warnock where he discusses innovation and the manager's role in it.
On the future of computing, Warnock tell those students contemplating a career in computer science, "...There is so much more room to innovate now than there was when I was growing up with computers — and there's so many more inventions to make, and there's so much more to conceive of and build because of the capabilities of the machines, that the opportunity now is greater than ever — and the returns are greater than ever..."
No business lasts forever (except PostScript)...
An official Warnock bio...
And on Wikipedia..
From The Wharton School: Warnock on the Competitive Advantages of Aesthetics and the 'Right' Technology...
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Aug 17
Typography
Wordmark is wonderful online tool that allows you to see words and phrases in all of the typefaces loaded on your computer. So, for example, I can type in "ideabook" and see it rendered in all of the hundreds of the typefaces on my system -- every family and every typeface within them.
A Pro version allows you to save selections, zoom in and out, toggle cases, adjust spacing and so on (free for one month).
Thanks to Jay Nelson and Design Tools Monthly for pointing us to it.
Try it here...
Thanks go to its designer and developer Fahri Özkaramanlı...
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Aug 5
Graphics Tech
There was a time when seeing was believing — those days are clearly gone. As you know, it's now possible to model, render, and animate fictional people, places, and things in ways that make them seem real.
But I lost track of how convincingly and affordably it can be done. I recently saw that my friend Chris Miller is consulting with a company called Pacificom Multimedia. As I looked through its portfolio, I was surprised how far this field has progressed. I see work here for big brands, but I also see work for projects that you wouldn't think have the budgets that renderings once cost. The marketing and design equation is ever-changing. I guess it's time we add 3D to our solution mix.
Take a tour of a Northern Power Systems wind turbine...
Here's how one of their animations is being used on the Holland America Line website...
An interactive architectural rendering...
The Pacificom Multimedia website...
If you're interested, here are two of the tools used to produce this type of work... First, Autodesk Maya...
And second, NewTek LightWave...
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Jul 22
Graphics Tech
I'm a lover of signage so when I came across Dan Sawatzky's Imagination Corporation I was truly enthralled.
Sawatzky and his crew use their creative skills, craftsmanship, and engineering expertise to produce signs and environments. They design, sculpt, build, and paint -- plus they are experts at using CNC routers (a computer numerical controlled cutting tool) to produce some of their work from CAD/CAM drawings.
There's just enough here to get you exploring — and lots more to see beyond that.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
Dan Sawatzky's Blog...
And the Imagination Corporation website...
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Jul 1
Basic design
As the story goes, Adobe was founded in 1982 and named for the Adobe Creek that ran behind John Warnock's house in Los Altos, California. Who could have predicted what Adobe would become — the company that started as the home of the PostScript page description language, ended up precipitating the desktop publishing revolution and today has 9000-plus employees and revenues of $3.8 billion.
But the magic, to me, is what Adobe has done for my profession. It has helped to grow seemingly creative disciplines -- graphic design, photo editing, illustration, animation, and so on -- into scientific collaborations and pursuits of the highest order.
Adobe invests 20% of its revenues in research and development. But, as they explain it, "The company's commitment to innovation... goes far beyond dollars spent. With a wide range of initiatives that provide resources, tools, and support to stimulate innovative practices at every level of the company's activities, Adobe has ensured that innovation remains an essential element of its long-term strategy."
For a guy who once used a T-square and press type, the stuff going on in places like the Adobe Advance Technology Labs is science fiction made real.
Cosaliency and image triage...
Video Tapestries...
Articulated puppet building...
PatchMatch...
About Innovation at Adobe...
Adobe Advanced Technology Labs home page (Above are just a few of the many developments Abobe has pursued on its own and in collaboration with other organizations. Be sure to explore the many headings under "Technologies" in the right column and meet the some of the players.)...
The Adobe Creek
Haha... press type
Hahahaha... the olden days...
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Jun 24
Graphics Tech
In his "Thoughts on Flash" article of April 2010, Steve Jobs makes his argument for why Apple no longer supports Flash — that Adobe's Flash is proprietary and therefor a "closed" platform and that Apple wants an "open" one.
Enter HTML5. As Jobs explains it, "...we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the web should be open. Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript - all open standards."
"HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member."
That's a necessary preface to showing you the official HTML5 website. I point you to it because of the technology it represents AND for the design of it's logo and icons.
The logo and website design...
The technology...
Thoughts on Flash by Steve Jobs...
If you're ready to dig in, check out James Williamson's tutorial on Lynda.com: HTML5: Structure, Syntax, and Semantics (a few tidbits of which can be viewed for free)...
When will HTML5 be ready for primetime? This recent article by Stephen Shankland for CNET News ends with the following "...although the HTML5 standardization process is very drawn out, it's not charting some future ideas. More often, it's codifying the present, settling down practices already supported in browsers and used on the Web. So in many regards, HTML5 is already here"...
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Jun 22
Illustration
If you're a writer, designer, illustrator, photographer, editor, developer, or marketer, the obvious answer is yes. The proof is in the many new studios popping up to specialize in the development of content for the new generation of phones and tablets.
Electric Type, for example, bills itself as a digital book foundry. Here, they provide us with a taste of how some of the aforementioned players have collaborated to reinvent a storybook.
A video tour of their first project: The Jungle Book...
How it was made...
About Electric Type...
Illustrator Nigel Buchanan's portfolio...
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Jun 13
Illustration
SeventhStreet bills itself as a retouching and design shop. That's kind of like calling Pixar an animation studio — accurate but modest. These folks, under creative director Mike Campau, do amazing things with tools such as Photoshop, Poser, and other 3d and CG rendering programs.
Look and you'll find many examples of finished images and details about the many images that were used in their making.
Example 1...
Example 2...
Example 3...
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Jun 3
Graphics Tech
It looks as if the next version of Windows is going to adopt the touch screen and web-connected apps we've come to know through the iPhone and iPad. It will also include a new user interface, a "portable workspace" feature, and will use the processor and the physical memory more efficiently. Makes you wonder if, five years from now, there will be any significant user interface differences between Mac and Windows operating systems.
Maybe Apple and Microsoft will have a historic, west coast summit and merge the two companies with a happy handshake — orrrr... maybe not.
The first demo of Windows 8...
From the Microsoft News Center...
The Wikipedia entry offers lots of detail...
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Jun 1
Print Design
Though huge amounts of advertising and marketing stock have moved online, there are still lots of innovative and effective uses for conventional mail. To that end I think marketers and designers should have a seat at the table as changes are made to the postal system — and changes are coming.
If you hadn't noticed, the United States Postal Service is in the news. Last week, for example, Businessweek's cover story was titled, The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse. And on June 15th, technology, government, and business heavyweights are convening in Washington D.C. to discuss their ideas for addressing postal system issues.
If you don't already have an opinion about what we can do to reform this important resource, I'll point you to some resources that will get you started in forming one.
I won't lie to you, I have a prejudice: I LOVE mail. Even thought I'm a total technology junkie, I still appreciate and enjoy picking up a magazine, a catalog, opening a letter, and getting a hand-written note. I still see the mailbox as a gift package that I dig through in the hope of discovering something interesting and new.
Even the most dire of predictions estimates the annual US mail volume in 2020 to be 118 billion. For some clients, products, and services, now is actually a pretty good time to be using direct mail — in some cases it's actually the out-of-the-ordinary way of contacting prospects.
What do you think about direct mail? Do you use it?
A Newsweek cover story: The U.S. Postal Service Nears Collapse...
The United States Postal Service Five Year Plan (550KB PDF)...
The PostalVision 2020 Conference...
Check out the USPS's Deliver Magazine companion site for ideas about mail marketing strategies...
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May 30
Graphics Tech
If you're in need of a quick solution for creating an iPad compatible publication/app, I've seen a demo of a product that might interest you. Twixl Publisher is a plug-in (and service) of Twixl Media. It allows you to create a publication/app which can include features such as links, audio, video, slide shows — even a storefront.
Simply put, you create the document in InDesign and then save it using Twixl Publisher. How it works from there depends on the license you purchase. For example, you can purchase a standard license for $1400 and pay $350 for the final build of each app you create and you can purchase an advance license for $7100 and publish as many apps as you want without an additional charge.
I haven't used Twixl Publisher but, having seen some of the other solutions, it looks like a reasonable price. In essence, first time out, you're publishing an app for under $2000.
Have you used Twixl Publisher? Please comment here and share your experience with us.
A quick demo...
The features...
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May 25
Graphics Tech
I'm just back from the aforementioned conference and I thought I'd sit down and share some impressions. My hope is that, if you don't normally attend these events (I don't either), that you might be interested in the goings-on...
First impression: It's a global thing.
Roughly 400 folks attended the conference from 33 states and 11 countries — I believe it was a sell-out. I heard mention of Australia, Hong Kong, Serbia, Belgium, United Kingdom, Guatemala, and others. I know that kind of diverse participation is no great revelation to people who move in design and software circles frequently, but to someone who doesn't, I am particularly aware of the privilege it is to be a part of this type of international event.
It's a community.
Equally as interesting is the sense of community I felt. Designers, geeks, authors, and designer-geek-authors have much in common. Many of us are most comfortable in designing our world and staying within its bounds — so it's particularly exciting to be with other folks who spend so much of their lives on the same layer. I love my wife, but she couldn't care less about which device and software I use to calibrate my HP ZR30w monitor (thank goodness). Occasionally, it's a good idea to sit with people whose brains are trying to solve similar problems and attain similar outcomes.
There is no single voice.
For some reason I had the expectation that I would hear one side of things. Yes, that sounds silly in hindsight, but that's what I was thinking. The reality of it reminds me that there are as many workflows, approaches, and opinions about design and production as there are people doing it. For example, I sat in a session with the InDesign development team who all seemed to think that it should be the printer's responsibility to produce final production PDFs from native InDesign files. That was followed by the "Long Live Ink" roundtable with Design Tools Monthly editor Jay Nelson and prepress troubleshooter and Adobe Certified Instructor James Wamser both of whom seemed to think the opposite — that most jobs are best prepared for printing by the user (using the printer's guidelines).
E-publishing is in its big-bang stage.
There are MANY ways to create and view e-publications and MANY devices and platforms on which to view them. That's about all anyone agrees on. Which software and software settings to use (including InDesign's EPUB export) will be dictated by the device you're preparing your publication for, the complexity of the document, the intended distribution channel, and so on. As conference organizer David Blatner pointed out, you can't, for example, produce PDFs to sell through Apple — not because you can't produce them, not because the iPad can't read them, but because Apple doesn't yet allow you to distribute them through iBooks.
There are also significant design considerations to be tackled. When you convert page layouts for different devices and orientations, you'll need to design different layouts for each setting or create simplified, "elastic" layouts that adapt to multiple uses. I heard someone refer to that conversion as changing your layout into a Microsoft Word document.
Software developers and designers alike are in the very early stages of figuring out how to recast information in ways that are compatible with the new devices yet as aesthetically pleasing as print and conventional web page design. I think even the folks at Adobe would agree that (for now), that InDesign's EPUB export is not for creating e-versions of complex layouts.
Chris Kitchener, Senior Product Manager for Adobe InDesign, "Meet my extended family," 2011 InDesignSecretsLive Print and ePublishing Conference (doctored image)
The best early tools are expensive.
It's not surprising that the tools that allow the most control over page layout and effects are being developed for the upper echelon of the publishing trade. James Fritz, another respected author and trainer, discussed some of the many platforms used to create digital versions of magazines — Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, WoodWing's Digital Magazine Tools, Mag+, and others — and the fact that the new pricing models require both upfront fees (most in the thousands of dollars) for the initial content management systems and ongoing monthly or per-piece publication fees. (The good news is that by the time you read this [a couple of hours after I write it] everything will have changed.)
Much of what I learned was from the audience.
I went because of the featured speakers but I learned lots from the audience too. Questions, suggestions, and comments from audience members were every bit a useful as those from the assembled experts. For example, in one session, Eddy Hagen, the managing director of VIGC in Belgium offered some excellent insights on the production of PDFs and pointed us to his own Flemish Innovation Centre for Graphical Communication and the Ghent PDF Workgroup. There we're lots of high-powered users and experts in the audience.
Technology is a moving target.
No revelation here, but it is impressive when a presenter changes her slides in the hours just preceding her presentation because of some new tidbit of information. From his view inside Adobe, the Lead Product Manager for Adobe InDesign, Chris Kitchener, explained the perplexing process of gathering suggestions for new features, fixing bugs, and working with engineers to update a program as complex as InDesign. It's easy to forget the divergent pressures applied by users, reviewers, stockholders, partners, marketers, and so on to influence the decisions about which features or fixes to produce when and why.
BTW, the Adobe team was particularly impressed by and thankful for this blog post which explains that InDesign is a database and why, for example, files are not backward compatible.
There is a modicum of tension between Adobe and its community.
One of the most intriguing revelations of the experience was the respectful tension there is between the product producers and their users. All of it was friendly and in good humor, but it's obviously, a real issue. Adobe wants everyone to like its products and users are great at pointing to flaws. None less than Michael Ninness, now the VP of Content for Lynda.com, formally the Senior Product Manager for InDesign, rose to ask the current Senior Product Manager when certain features (such as charting) would be added to InDesign. It was all good-natured (especially when Ninness pointed out that he, himself, hadn't added the feature when he could have), it is a complicated dance.
There are few better venues for meeting the people you want to meet.
I had the pleasure of meeting, face-to-face, some of the many people I communicate with online and introducing myself to others I would not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet.
First and foremost I got to meet and speak with one of the conference organizers, David Blatner. My only complaint about the entire conference is we didn't hear more from David. He is a smart, personable guy who knew as much or more about InDesign (from a user standpoint) as anyone in attendance.
If you don't know Blatner, he's the editorial director of InDesign Magazine, wrote Real World InDesign (and 14 other books), teaches courses on InDesign at Lynda.com, and co-hosts InDesignSecrets.com with Anne-Marie Concepción.
Their combined experience with InDesign, the InDesign community, and Adobe corporate made David and Anne-Marie uniquely qualified to pull together this wide and deep gathering of designers, technicians, and developers.
If you don't know Anne-Marie Concepción, she too teaches courses on InDesign at Lynda.com, does the InDesignSecrets.com thing, plus rules her own creative empire at Seneca Design & Training.
This was also an opportunity to sit with Jay Nelson and Lesa Snider. Jay is the affable publisher of Design Tools Monthly, the only industry publication I read cover to cover, every issue. It was a real treat to spend some time comparing notes with someone else who is as interested as I am in finding and sharing the the best of design and publishing ideas. Lesa is a writer for Macworld, author of numerous books, chief evangelist for iStockphoto.com, and host of graphicreporter.com
I also had the good fortune to have one-to-one discussions with conference speakers Gabriel Powell, InDesign and Photoshop author and Senior Solutions for Typifi Systems, Ron Bilodeau, the Production and Design Specialist at O'Rielly (who once worked for the beautifully designed Cooks Illustrated), Chris Kitchener, Lead Product Manager of Adobe InDesign, Nigel French, the author of InDesign Type (who spoke about designing with a grid), and Cari Jansen, a technical writer and print and publishing consultant who spoke about the challenges of this new medium.
And I gathered some great insights from Keith Gilbert, a brilliant tech- and design-savvy guy who spoke about XML and data publishing and who showed me an impressive project he had just finished. It's a beautifully designed iPad-based catalog/brochure his client's sales force will use at an upcoming trade show.
All that and, of course, all of the good stuff I learned (I just downloaded a 344-page PDF of conference slides that Anne-Marie Concepción made available to those who attended.)
Finally, most happily, I got to meet a few folks who subscribe to my newsletter at ideabook.com and who read my blog at PagePlane.com. Thank you all for introducing yourselves. (If I didn't get your business card please send me an email so we can stay in touch.)
So... where's the 2012 conference?
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May 11
Graphics Tech
I'm relatively new to QR (Quick Response) codes. Though they've been in wide use in Japan since the 1990s they haven't been adopted elsewhere (in a big way) until recent years.
The idea is simple: The code — which can be printed on a billboard, a business card, and everything in between — is scanned using a mobile device that is equipped with a QR code scanning APP.
The code — which can be used to contain text, map locations, web URLS, images, email addresses, and so on — then automatically finds the information contained in the code or to which the code points and displays it on the mobile device's screen. There are variations and other options, but that's the scenario most touted.
Some think the QR code will remain the standard for a time, others call it a gimmick. The latest controversy is that Google, an early adopter of QR codes is now turning it's attention to a chip-based scanner (reader) known as NFC (Near Field Communication). NFC is said to offer the prospect of even more advanced transaction capabilities.
In any case, whether you simply want to ride the wave by including a QR code on your client's business card or you want to fully implement a campaign and an accompanying mobile web site, the option should certainly be on your radar.
Here are some examples of how QR codes are being used...
An example of how a code is used in an advertisement. If you have an scanning APP you can follow the code to the mobile site created for the ad...
There are lots of sites that will allow you to generate a free QR code (I don't know the owners of this particular site so I can't recommend their paid services)...
Looks as if Starbucks is at the intersection of the QR/NFC battle...
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May 9
Web Design
Design is often a collaboration. If you're sharing files with clients, other designers, and developers, it's worth asking yourself if the files you produce are user-friendly. In the case of a program such as Adobe Photoshop it's possible to produce a similar result using two, or three, or ten different approaches and common to produce dozens of layers.
To every problem a solution -- enter Dan Rose and his Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web Designers: "A collection of ways to improve the clarity of a PSD when transferred. You stay organized, your developer stays happy."
I can't say every step is necessary, but it certainly offers some excellent ideas to consider.
Dan Rose's Manifesto...
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Apr 25
Basic design
In Facebook's own words, "Facebook Studio is a place to celebrate marketers who are creating and innovating on Facebook. It is a community where you can share your work, get recognized for your creativity, be inspired by your peers, and browse a collection of work that represents some of the best marketing on Facebook."
Ad Age reports, "Facebook executives say this move is a first step in a give-and-take dialogue between Facebook and the creative advertising world. Until now, Facebook has been mostly hands-off with agencies, letting them navigate the frequently changing Facebook waters without a compass."
Whatever it is, it's interesting. Assuming Facebook can maintain the enormous community it has been the recipient of in recent years — it is a platform that creatives must reckon with. Here is a spot for sanctioned conversation.
Facebook Studio...
An announcement from Ad Age...
The Learning Lab...
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Apr 1
Graphics Tech
The OpenStreetMap project is a wiki for maps. As it is explained on its site, "OpenStreetMap.org creates and provides free geographic data such as street maps to anyone who wants them. The project was started because most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways."
Since its inception in 2004, hundreds of thousands of users worldwide have contributed to OpenStreetMap's database, and (theoretically) have produced maps that are more relevant and current than those offered by any other map provider.
Today I want to point you to a valuable resource created by one of OpenStreetMap's co-founders, Steve Coast (he moved on to other projects in 2010). It is called CloudMade and it is a service that translates the OpenStreetMaps data into forms that can be tapped by designers and developers who want to build sites and applications that contain map information.
The CloudMade Style Editor...
You can see some of the innovative ways developers and designer are using the information on CloudMade's blog...
The CloudMade website...
the OpenStreetMap website...
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Mar 30
Graphics Tech
The burning desire of the search engine heart is to understand "intent". It wants to understand what the user is really after.
Enter Quora. As they explain it, "Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it. The most important thing is to have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question."
"Anyone can add questions and answers to Quora. They can also categorize questions by adding topics to them, summarize answers on a question page, and edit any question or summary. Duplicate questions and topics are unified so that the content on the site keeps getting better instead of getting fragmented. Users can follow questions, topics and people, which creates a stream of relevant questions and answers for each user. The site is closely monitored and maintained by its users so the quality of questions and answers stays high."
I've only been using Quora for a short time so I can't vouch for the quality of the information, but what I've seen is promising. I have used it enough to know that if you're interested in staying abreast of fast-moving technology, Quara should be on your radar.
Want to see it work? Sign in and ask, "What is Facebook's architecture?" You'll see the many options for discovering answers and leads to other related topics.
Quora questions and answers search...
Some analysis coming from BBH Labs...
More discussion of Quora on TechCrunch...
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Mar 21
Graphics Tech
Do these spots grab your attention? Yes. Do they show off the product? Certainly. Do they position the client, Sherwin-Williams as forward thinking and tech-smart? Yup. Don't know what more you could ask. McKinney and Buck did a terrific job.
The Bees spot...
The Color Chips spot...
The Birdhouse print ad...
McKinney...
The product house was Buck...
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Feb 17
Graphics Tech
As Guy Kawasaki defines it, "Evangelist" isn't simply a job title. It's a way of life. It means that the evangelist totally loves the product and sees it as a way to bring the "good news."
Product evangelists also know their area of expertise inside and out. In other words, they're going to review a depth of knowledge you typically won't find elsewhere.
List one...
List two...
What is an evangelist?...
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Feb 11
Print Design
Sappi is one of the big paper manufacturers (they bought a S.D. Warren back in the 1990s). So part of their business is to help printers and designers get the most from Sappi's products.
What I am pointing you to is Sappi's substantial collection of technical documents that describe everything from the basic printing process to very specific overviews of specific printing problems.
If you do some print work, you might want to bookmark these pages.
Sappi Technical Publications...
An example: How to Read a Press Sheet (2MB PDF)...
The Technical Tips section looks like it addresses the technical issues that sometimes arise during the process. Good to know...
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Jan 31
Graphics Tech
Do you have blocks of text you re-type or copy and paste all the time? If so, you need a text expander. It's a program that automatically pastes in a string of words or paragraphs when you type a short code. I can handle something as simple as a phone number or as complex as ten paragraphs of HTML code.
For example, when I type in "xsig", the program I'm using, TextExpander, pastes in my entire signature block. Trust me, this is one utility you'll use every day.
Thanks to my friend, writer and marketing expert Sean D'Souza for pointing us to the world of text expander utilities. Be sure to check out his website, PsychoTactics.com — it too is a valuable resource.
I am using TextExpander for the Mac...
But there are plenty of alternatives for both Mac and Windows here...
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Sep 6
Illustration
Earlier in the year I created a list of current desktop publishing software, here is the same type of list--this time for illustration software. As with the DTP software list, if I have missed something, please comment here and I'll add it.
And again, a note to the purists: Don't freak on me--this is merely a reference list, I'm not making any judgement of quality or suitability for any purpose.
Adobe Fireworks...
Adobe Illustrator...
ACD Canvas...
Alchemy...
CorelDRAW...
Inkscape...
Serif DrawPlus...
Xara Designer Pro 6...
My desktop publishing software list from earlier in the year...
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Sep 3
Learning
If you lived near Mainz, Germany in the 1450s, you may have heard of the machine Johannes Gutenberg was working on. I doubt Gutenberg had an inkling of how profoundly his printing press would effect mankind.
Today we are witnessing a similar phenomenon. Just down the proverbial road, great innovation is taking place. Yet we are so inundated with advancements, I think we tend to miss the advancements that move into our line of sight in a more subtle way.
Inkling (below) is one of the many new ideas born out of the development of the iPad. It proposes a new way of producing and navigating textbooks. I have no idea if it will be one of the ideas that catches on, but it's exciting to watch it sprout.
Which leads me to a point I continually remind myself of--don't miss this opportunity. All of these new technologies, devices, and ideas are new to ALL of us. I, you, we can contribute to their advancement. We have an opportunity, like none of those before us, to change the world for good. Pretty exciting.
Inkling for the iPad...
A press release about another quiet step...
A little perspective...
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Sep 1
Graphics Tech
Alex Roman (a pseudonym of Jorge Seva) uses software tools such as 3DS Max, Vray, Photoshop, AfterEffects, and Adobe Premiere to produce amazing computer graphic renderings. If you're like me, you'll look at his work and think, "That cannot be computer graphics." It is. If you haven't seen this, you're in for a treat.
Thanks to my son Jeff Green for pointing us to it.
Alex Roman's The Third & The Seventh...
An interview with the designer including images of the computer graphics framework...
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Aug 11
Graphics Tech
In twenty-five years we've gone from clunky slide projectors to graceful walls of high resolution LED video blocks. Twenty years ago the limitations of media (I believe) made our job as designers far easier.
I show you this new technology because it is yet another barrier removed. With each barrier removed, the creative focus sharpens another click. You'll need a more creative strategy, a better idea, and an innovative style to distinguish your client from their competition.
The future of graphic design is, at once, challenging, exciting, and unpredictable.
An introduction to Microtiles...
The manufacturer even provides a system for calculating the number of tiles you need for a particular design...
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Jul 30
Graphics Tech
TinEye.com offers a unique tool for searching out images: photographs, illustrations, logos, and so on. You show it an image--by uploading a file or pasting in an image url--and TinEye finds other occurrences of the same image in various places around the Web. As you will see, it is a technology being used in a growing number of commercial applications.
Why would you use it? To find the source of a photograph or illustration, to find modified versions of the same image, to find a higher resolution version of the image, and so on.
As you'll see, Idée (the maker), is developing all kinds of interesting image recognition technology. Worth a look.
The main search page...
A sample search...
About TinEye...
The Idée blog...
Another interesting project from Idée: Multicolor Search Lab...
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Jul 26
Illustration
This is SO cool. If you're interested in iPhone or iPad development, you know that the graphic user interface (GUI) for the devices is both deceptively simple and beautifully designed.
This is the cool part: Teehan+Lax, a design company in Toronto, Canada, has gone to the expense and trouble of reproducing both interfaces in Photoshop and have made the PSD files available to you and I so that we don't have to re-invent them.
Even if you have no plans to develop for these popular platforms--if you are a Photoshop devotee--you should download and parse these files just to see how they are constructed and organized. They're downright elegant.
Thank you Teehan+Lan for a lesson in Photoshop, GUI development, and kindness.
The latest version of the iPhone GUI as a Photoshop PSD...
The iPhone GUI PSD file (7.9MB)...
The latest version of the iPad GUI as a Photoshop PSD...
The iPad GUI PSD file (24MB)...
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Jul 16
Graphics Tech
Fortune magazine recently published "The smartest people in tech" with one category being "Smartest designer". I thought it would be interesting to do some digging to find further information about each.
Those chosen are:
Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design, Apple
Jan Chipchase, Executive Creative Director Of Global Insights, Frog Design
Indrani Medhi, Associate Researcher, Microsoft Research India
Shigeru Miyamoto, Senior Managing Director, Nintendo
Diego Rodriguez, Partner, IDEO
The Fortune article...
A profile of Jonathan Ive from the Design Museum...
Jan Chipchase's web site...
Indrani Medhi bio...
A recent interview with Shigeru Miyamoto...
Diego Rodriguez's blog...
Jan Chipchase's web site...
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Jun 30
Web Design
The great gift of the digital age is shared knowledge. Technology makes it possible to document levels of information that, until recently, were just too costly and difficult to capture and maintain. In the case of writing and design there is a repository of information, much of it freely available, that provides us with an extraordinary opportunity to dramatically improve the quality and effectiveness of communication.
It provides a foundation of ideas, expression, and practical information on which to build the next, better solutions. Want to write better documentation? Create a better web menu? Understand why people interact with messages the way they do? It's all there for the taking. Here's a taste...
Introduction to Apple Human Interface Guidelines...
Example: Menus...
Apple Publications Style Guide (1.14MB PDF)...
Windows User Experience Interaction Guidelines...
Example: Visual Index...
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Jun 9
Graphics Tech
Here's another chapter in the--of-interest-to-geeks-only--saga of the battle between Adobe's Flash and HTML5.
Huh?
It really is kind of interesting. In case you missed it, there has been a bit of a falling out between big players such as Adobe, Apple, and Microsoft regarding the adoption of the software used to code dynamic content.
Are you still with me? Read on...
An overview from AppleInsider...
The Adobe press release: Adobe Unveils Digital Viewer Technology for Magazines...
Introducing WIRED on iPad...
From the NYT: Does HTML5 Really Beat Flash? The Surprising Results of New Tests...
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May 28
Graphics Tech
I heard this week that Apple has surpassed Microsoft's market value so I'm going to use the occasion to share my perspective on the long standing Mac versus PC debate.
First, if you are still reading this after that intro I consider you a pretty hardcore geek. You, of all people, will understand that other designers are often surprised to hear that I am, primarily, a user of the Windows operating system. I started using computers in the mid 1980s—I worked with both IBM PCs and Apple computers early on but switched primarily to PCs when the company I worked for began doing projects for IBM.
As the battle played out in the design profession, Windows was a lonely place to be. I think the primary reason the Mac system captured the graphic design market was because, in those first years, a Mac system running QuarkXPress had superior type handling capabilities. That seems like a minor detail today, but back then it was critically important.
Before the introduction of desktop publishing software and digital typesetting, the process of working with type involved a good deal of craft. It was not unusual for a designer to spend hours pasting down sheets of type on a board and then cutting and repositioning individual words, even letters, until it looked right to their eye. (The same process is accomplished today by building complex collections of kerning pairs into a typeface design.) In any case, Apple won the lion's share of the graphic design market early on—an advantage they maintain even today.
I guess it was my rebellious nature that kept me in the Windows camp—most of my peers were using MACs but it seemed rather heavy-handed of Apple not to allow others access to its operating system the way Microsoft did. (I've always found it funny that the public perception was exactly opposite.) In any case, in hindsight, my reasoning sounds as silly as that of those who thought they were rebels for using a MAC.
The question of what system to use, to me, became moot 10 or 15 years ago. In the early days Quark and Aldus PageMaker (later Adobe) developed version updates first for the MAC and second for Windows. I really thought the tide had turned when most developers began releasing new versions simultaneously. In any case, for the last decade-plus, the user interface of the primary publishing and design software has worked almost identically on both platforms.
All that said, my next primary system will be a Mac. Why? Three reasons:
First, I received an iPod Touch as a gift and I have since purchased an iPhone. It is the single most elegant computer device I have ever used—the user interface makes it a joy to use. Any company that can make that device, is headed in the direction I want to go.
Second, the MAC now runs both operating systems simultaneously—and from what I understand—pretty reliably. Running both systems is useful when you are designing web sites, templates, and such.
Third, and more importantly, I think Microsoft may be headed in the wrong direction. If you ever used Office 2007 you know what I'm talking about. Microsoft has chosen the "complexity" path—the cram-everything-you-can-possibly-cram-into-the-software path. The be-all-things-to-all-people road. Apple, on the other hand, seems to be trying to create more complex devices that are easier to use.
To my way of thinking, we have entered into an era when, instead of being its own vocation, computer use (for many of us) has simply become an integral part of everyday life. And in that type of world, if you don't make features intuitive and accessible, you may as well not make the features at all.
I'm guessing the organizations that make devices and processes accessible will win out—and at this time in history, that looks like Apple.
A wiki article about the history of typesetting...
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May 19
Web Design
Pattern Tap is an invention of Matthew Smith at Squared Eye. It is (loosely) similar to other pattern libraries (Yahoo has a notable one) in that it presents the what, how, and why of user interface. The value is, instead of searching through a thousand sites for interesting and innovative UI ideas, you can discover designs someone else has found to be particularly notable.
I think you will find that Matthew Smith know of what he speaks. His company site, Squared Eye, is nice to look at AND easy to use—I have long admired it.
Pattern Tap...
The Pattern Tap Twitter page...
Matthew Smith's Squared Eye...
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Apr 30
Print Design
Graphic design is a quirky business. You can explain what you do to relatives and friends, but no matter how hard you try, only about 10 percent seem to get it. The say, "Yeah, ____ is a graphic designer. We're, uh, real proud...real proud."
So when I meet someone who speaks my language I appreciate it. Jeff Gamet and Jay Nelson do a podcast hosted by CreativePro called Design Tools Weekly--they speak my language. It's nice to sit down once a week and hear a discussion about the hardware, software, and the general state of our business. I recommend it highly.
The Design Tools Weekly Podcast...
AND, as always, you can checkout a free sample issue of Design Tools Monthly here(1.9MB PDF)...
Jay's Twitter page...
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Apr 2
Print Design
Surely printing on paper and systems for delivery of print have and are changing dramatically, but we are FAR from the disappearance of the print model.
There is a tendency for the web dog to bark at the print dog—as if the web dog is somehow smarter, more capable, better. But the web dog needs to remember where he came from. The web is awash in print metaphors—menus, file folders, pages, indexes, and so on—all foundational structures of the printed page.
It's exciting, to me, to discover people who are more interested in the next step than they are in the argument—in combining the strengths of both worlds to craft new solutions.
This is one of those cases. It is a new take on the conversion of the magazine from print to pixel. The producer is BERG, a design consultancy that works "with companies to research and develop their technologies and strategy, primarily by finding opportunities in networks and physical things."
A concept video on the future of digital magazines...
BERG's Twitter page...
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Mar 22
Photography
I came across some "wiggle" stereoviews the other day and it reminded me of the bullet-time (time-slice) stuff made famous by the motion picture, The Matrix. I was curious as to how the effect is created and thought you might be interested as well. Here are some examples of the technique and details about how it is achieved.
One version, 360 degree imagery created by photographer Mark Ruff...
Two examples from Time-Slice Films—example 1...
Example 2...
The folks from Time-Slice show how it's done...
Those "wiggle" stereoviews I was talking about...
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Mar 12
Print Design
The first issue of Popular Science magazine appeared just seven years after the close of the Civil War. This month it began offering (in partnership with Google) its entire 137-year archive for free browsing. Each issue appears just as it did at its original time of publication, complete with period advertisements. Amazing.
How the new Popular Science is printed, for example, is detailed in the October 1938 issue. It explains, "At the huge Dayton, Ohio, plant where POPULAR SCIENCE is printed, a workman, the other day, pressed an electric button and this record-breaking machine whirled into action." Then it goes on to show and tell one of its signature stories—filled with informative photographs and illustrations.
Thanks to Jim Green for passing this on—great find.
October 1938, page 74, How the new POPULAR SCIENCE is printed...
March 1984, page 99, Introducing the 32-bit Apple Macintosh...
August 1950, page 93, Typewriter with a memory "sets type" on photo film...
March 1963, page 35, Commercial art talent hunt open to you...
May 1872, page P5, Issue number one...
Search for yourself...
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Feb 17
Web Design
You really need to see this. Bronwyn van der Merwe, the Head of Design and User Experience at the BBC just posted an article explaining a system-wide redesign they have been working on. I recommend you read it because I think it demonstrates how sophisticated web design has become and because I think (if you are into web design) that you'll find smart thinking to incorporate into your own work. I certainly did.
The article: A new global visual language for the BBC's digital services...
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Feb 10
Basic design
What I like so much about Fred Showker is that he sees the graphic design industry from more than one angle--he's is a working designer, an experienced teacher and presenter, a bit of a technoid, and the creative mind behind one of the top marketing and design resources on the Web--the Graphic Design & Publishing Center.
Not only does he stay curious about what's next, he has amassed a huge archive of insightful articles and tutorials on design, photography, typography, marketing, and the business of graphic design.
He recently did a major reorganization and re-launch of the site so, if you haven't already, I urge you to take a look.
The Design & Publishing Center...
Example 1: Visual Proofreading: 10 Rules...
Example 2: Designing Spaces...
Example 3: Throw Your Press Release in the Trash...
Fred's bio...
I've been a subscriber to his newsletter, DT&G NEWS, for years...
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Jan 27
Graphics Tech
Today Apple announced a 9.7-inch, touch screen device that gives the user access to the Web, books, music, news, all types of social networking, commerce, plus every type of creative tool you can imagine--and a 16 gigabyte version will sell for $499.
Now pause and take that in. In 1980 IBM produced and sold the first one gigabyte hard drive for $40,000.00. And it weighed 550 pounds. Today--sixteen times the size for $500 at 1.5 pounds.
Makes me wonder how many people had the experience of being on planet earth when the wheel came into being? Or when the dramatic effects of the printing press were first taking hold? And I think how fortunate you and I are to be here at the dawn of an age where computing is becoming available to the billions.
What will it mean in decades to come for so many to have access to so much knowledge? For so many to connect with those so distant from their physical place on the planet? I'm guessing it will produce amazement we can not yet even comprehend.
Pretty cool.
Steve Jobs presents...
The Apple iPad...
Apple's official release...
Video overview...
Coverage and first comments on MacRumors.com...
Coverage and first comments on AppleInsider.com...
Okay developers let's get started...
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Jan 1
Graphics Tech
As the inventor defines it, Readability is a browser utility that "removes the junk around what you're reading and displays a clean, readable view." It is quite simple, what amounts to a series of generic style sheets that remove extraneous information and reformat text for optimum readability. Hats off to the folks at arc90 for seeing the trees and the forest.
Thanks to my friend Lee Garvey for pointing us to this.
arc90's Readability experiment...
More projects from the arc90 lab...
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Nov 25
Graphics Tech
Don't know if you caught this. Pranav Mistry, a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab, invented a wearable device that demonstrates one possible direction for future user interface. I am less interested in these early prototypes than I am in his broad vision for how we might integrate the digital with the physical down the road.
Though you certainly don't need a crystal ball to predict it, it would seem that the future of graphic design, likewise, will be more about 3D than 2D.
Thanks to my friend Wayne Belvin for pointing us to this.
Pranav Mistry discusses his ideas...
More about Mistry and SixthSense...
More projects from the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT...
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Sep 9
Graphics Tech
Bill Blinn's picture is at the bottom of each page of his podcast web site--Techbyter Worldwide. It shows the bearded, somewhat graying author with a caption that reads, "This explains why TechByter Worldwide was never on television, doesn't it?"
That sense of humor is one reason I enjoy listening to his podcast--another is his perspective. It is not an "old" perspective by any stretch of the imagination--it is an educated one. He's the kind of person who shows you the flower, but who also (obviously) understands the root system of the plant.
Blinn speaks on a variety of computer-related topics. You can listen to each podcast (the player is near the bottom of the page) or you can read it and look at the illustrations.
I will point you to two discussions of Adobe products.
Commentary about Adobe Illustrator (CS4)...
About Adobe InDesign and InCopy (CS4)...
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Sep 4
Marketing PR
We all know that sound research can help us avoid many of the mistakes typically necessary to arrive at good solutions to common graphic design and marketing problems.
One source of such research is the Software Usability Research Laboratory (SURL) at Wichita State University. This group specializes in software/website user interface design, usability testing, and research in human-computer interaction.
I'd like to hear of other sources of graphic design and marketing research--all types. Do you have a source to recommend? A favorite study? A particular statistic that had a significant effect on your work?
SURL...
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Aug 12
Graphics Tech
One of the great things about being a graphic designer in the year 2009 is that the playing field is almost perfectly flat. The tools cost next to nothing and clients are more willing than ever to work with you because of the quality of your work versus the size of your sign. We are judged by what we produce and little else.
But being a graphic designer in 2009 requires a skill we didn't even contemplate 20 years ago--an understanding of usability. By usability, I mean how people access information and accomplish tasks. It wasn't long ago that the primary mediums for messaging, collateral and advertisements, were pretty straight-forward. The vast majority of brochures had a headline on the cover, text and images inside, and a call to action toward the back. Similarly, though the information was situational, print, radio, and TV advertising were also presented in very predictable ways.
That has changed. Not only does the designer have to contend with communicating the message, they have to (at a minimum) understand the scope of the platforms available for presenting it.
Adobe's Scene7 site is a great place to see some of the most interesting and intuitive ways that are currently being used to present product information.
The demos page...
An overview of "rich media" in presentation form...
The Adobe Scene7 cover...
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Aug 7
Packaging
A couple of days ago I wrote a post on the design of street fashions, T-shirts, caps, and such (When the brand is the product). I understand the value of it, I like to look at it, I am intrigued by the designs.
But for some reason I have trouble with sneaker design. My mind does not recognize the same connection between design and footwear that it does between design and shirts and caps. I see people walking around with what looks like little sports cars on their feet and it looks weird to me.
So, in the interest of facing your fears, I sought out and sampled a site devoted to sneaker design--sneakerfreaker.com. I still haven't totally overcome my lack of interest in sneakers, but I do have a better appreciation for the craft of sneaker design.
An article about profiling Keep and Una Kim...
More interviews with sneaker designers...
A recent design from Puma...
Luxury sneakers?...
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Jul 27
Graphics Tech
File this under "curiosity" (I have absolutely no connection with any of the players here). I happened on this case study and thought it was of enough interest to share (I know many pageplane.com and ideabook.com readers use InDesign — as I do). I found it interesting to learn a little about how a publication that has over 120 people working on it is put together using a version of InDesign that operates within a larger, more complex framework--in this case a publishing platform called K4.
The National Geographic case study (1.5MB PDF)...
A screen shot of the software interface within InDesign...
Managing Editor Inc. is the exclusive distributor of K4 in the Americas...
German-based vjoon GmbH is the developer of the K4 Publishing System...
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Jun 10
Graphics Tech
In less than 25 years we have moved from pasteups and X-acto knives to simplistic desktop publishing to the advanced graphic design systems and software of the moment. The transition from the board to desktop publishing software made it possible for the designer, who once spent a day assembling the parts and pieces of an advertisement, to produce the same product in an hour. In doing so, it allowed them to increase their work load and/or to devote more time to substance.
I'm guessing that transition will pale in comparison to the transition we now face. "Assisted" design further automates aspects parts of the production process. Instead of inventing your own systems for moving tasks forward you adopt a process built and perfected by others. Assuming it is equal to or better than a system you could create, why wouldn't you use it?
Content management systems are one example of how this transition is manifesting itself, EightShapes Unify offers another. Unify is a comprehensive collection of (primarily) Adobe InDesign templates and graphic elements you can use to present and prototype web pages. I point you to it not only because it is a very cool (free) product, but because it appears to me as another signal of a shift.
As the tools are improved, expectations increase, process is diminished, more resources are devoted to substance, and (in most cases) quality and effectiveness improves. You can easily see how each step prepares us for the next--the question is: where are we headed?
An overview of EightShapes Unify...
Samples of the results...
Download Unify...
The EightShapes web (the folks who created the templates and libraries and released them to the community)...
Nathan Curtis, one of the founders of EightShapes, has a book coming out this summer--Modular Web Design...
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Apr 10
Graphics Tech
I happened on a site this week that caused me to glance back at the road behind us. It is tempting to always be looking forward, but a dose of history from time to time doesn't hurt. The page I point you to offers the reflections of a man who ran THE most successful software company of its day--Pete Peterson and WordPerfect.
There are many points to be made about marketing, program development, competition in the industry and so on, but what I recall most by my encounter is the dramatic transition between the stark, code-like programs of the DOS era and the what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) programs of today.
Want to feel really old? Did you use any of the original versions of these: WordStar, Ami Pro, MultiMate, DisplayWrite, WordPerfect.
Almost Perfect...
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Mar 18
Graphics Tech
If you use Adobe products you are likely curious about the future of those products and, perhaps, the workings of the company that invents, produces, and markets them. Adobe makes itself known in many ways but I think this unassuming little page is among the most interesting.
Adobe Blogs aggregates posts from blogs written by the folks who do the work--the execs, engineers, writers, designers, and so on. If you have a passion for a particular Adobe software product or technology, this is where you will find someone who shares it.
Abobe Blogs aggregates the most recent posts from a long list of Adobe blogs...
And here is the LONG list of blogs from which it draws...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Becoming a Graphic Designer
Jan 16
Graphics Tech
A friend asked recently how I troubleshoot Adobe software and hardware problems. While I realize they have an excellent support department, I know too that they can't answer every question, every time.
When I hit the wall--I turn to the Adobe User to User Forums. That is where you will find a bunch of other folks who are using the same software, sometimes even on the same brand and model of machine. More often than not, you will find someone who has run into the same issue and who, in many cases, has already discovered the answer.
Here, for example, is the Creative Suite for Windows forum...
Here's a listing of all the forums...
They even have forums on specific subjects such as design and typography...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Art Parts Clip Art...
Jan 9
Graphics Tech
Whenever a major software upgrade surfaces, I am tempted to dive right in. I have been using Aldus and Adobe products for over twenty years and I have yet to be disappointed.
But as the programs are more and more feature-laden, I find that my skill level and/or production time is not all that much improved. Perhaps it's because when you have used a program for a long time, you discover ways to work around missing functionality. By the time a better or faster way comes along, the work around you created is so ingrained, doing it the way you've always done it just seems simpler.
So, this time around, I need to do some homework. To delve into whether the features are compelling enough to justify adjusting my workflow. It is less a about cost than it is about the investment of time and resources it requires to purchase, install, and learn a new version of a complex program.
To that end, Adobe TV is an excellent place to hear and see the Adobe evangelists talk about the latest and greatest program features.
Here, for example, is a feature tour of Adobe Illustrator CS4...
Hard to believe it was 1985 when I first started using Version 1.0 of PageMaker...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Getting It Printed...
Nov 21
Graphics Tech
There mountains of speculation about what makes a web site search engine friendly. On November 12th, Google published a paper that sets the standards. There is nothing new here, what is new is that Google put their name on it. To me, we now know the standard. Seems like everyone who wants to be Google-friendly should check to ensure that their sites comply.
The post on Google's Webmaster Central Blog...
Google's SEO Starter Guide PDF (519KB)...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Templates for InDesign, QuarkXpress, or PageMaker...
Nov 19
Graphics Tech
If you are familiar with terms such as "Amberlith," "burnisher," "waxer," and "Presstype," I suspect you will experience a bit of joy from a tour of The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies.
The Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Oct 20
Graphics Tech
A word cloud is a visual representation of how often a particular word appears within a particular document. So if you have a document in which the word "design" appears 20 times and the word "color" appears 10 times, "design" will be shown at twice the size of "colors."
Jonathan Feinberg's Wordle is a cool online utility for creating a cloud from any web page, web site, or a document. You identify the text and then choose a font, layout, and color scheme.
It's very interesting to see what words predominate.
A word cloud for ideabook.com...
Jonathan Feinberg's Wordle...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Oct 17
Graphics Tech
A good communications designer knows how to parse what they see—they disassemble the parts to figure out what's going on. One key part that is easy to overlook is the influence of the medium on the design. For example, the difference between a typeface in print and the same face displayed by pixels on a computer screen.
Recently, the folks at Mister Retro were kind enough to share a new product with me. Permanent Press is a collection of filters for Photoshop that allow you to simulate the effects of various forms of printing. The filters include effects such as rubber stamp, vintage decal, washed out CMYK, and and so on.
The results are very convincing. You have only to look at the samples shown on the page I have linked to. If you are interested in a subtle (and not so subtle way) to distinguish one piece from the others, I encourage you to check it out.
Mister Retro's Permanent Press vintage print plug-in for Photoshop...
MR offers a bunch of very interesting filters...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Sep 26
Graphics Tech
That claim, of course, is the what we hope any new software upgrade will provide. For those who love new tools, Adobe has announced what they are calling a major upgrade of Creative Suite: CS4.
I, of course, will need all of this—and not just the wimpy pro packages. I will need the gigantic MASTER Collection which will allow me to conquer both the Earth AND many of the outlying planets. (Anybody got $900?)
Adobe Creative Suite 4...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Sep 12
Graphics Tech
No kidding. In March of 2008 it was reported that Google spent over two billion dollars in R&D last year. The amazing thing is many of the products and systems they have developed can be had without cost. They range from something simple like Google Alerts, an e-mail service that notifies you when new examples of a particular search term or string shows up. To something as deep and wide as Google Analytics a complex tool for recording and analyzing web traffic. If you have not looked over the list lately, give it a look. I'm certain you will find something of great value. All for the cost of looking.
Wikipedia's list of Google Products...
A couple of favorites: Google Alerts...
Google Analytics...
And for a preview of things to come, Google Labs...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Page Design...
Sep 5
Graphics Tech
If you would take a few minutes to watch an interview of Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Gutenberg, I recommend taking a look at this rare interview with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I realize there are tens of thousands of other women and me who have made huge contributions to the development of personal computing, but I doubt that anyone would argue these two are not among the core contributors. Want to prepare for the future? Understand the past.
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interviewed by Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Aug 11
Graphics Tech
This is a wonderfully simple solution for creating a online portfolio using Flickr and PictoBrowser. You use Flickr to upload and organize your images and PictoBrowser to customize and automate the display of the images on your site.
If you don't already have a Flickr account, the first step is to sign up and upload your images. Then you configure PictoBrowser to match the size and shape of your page and copy and paste the code. That's all there is to it. If you already have a Flickr account, you'll be up and running in a matter of half an hour.
Thanks to Diego Bauducco, Carlos Gomez, and Maya Gorton for PictoBrowser--a truly elegant system and set of tools.
An example I created from a set of snapshots for a client...
Create a Flickr account...
Then you configure PictoBrowser and copy and paste the code...
New in the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Advertising...
Jul 23
Graphics Tech
iA, Information Architects Japan, has published the latest version of its Web Trends Map—an fascinating index of what the authors view as the world's most successful and influential websites. The twist is the presentation—it is laid out in the form of a mass transit map (I could re-state in another way that but it wouldn't make any more sense the second time). Instead, have a look.
The printed poster...
A clickable version...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
Jul 14
Graphics Tech
It is fascinating to peek behind the scenes at the software giants. What I remember most vividly about a distant trip to Microsoft in Redmond, Washington was how interesting it was to see the Microsoft campus, meet some of the insiders, and hear about what was up and coming. It gave me a new appreciation for the creativity and complexity of software development.
So I was intrigued to find this article about a visit to the Photoshop engineering department by one of the folks at PhotoshopNews.com. If you've got some geek in you, this is certain to bring it to the surface.
Visiting the Photoshop Engineers...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Graphic Artists Guild Handbook: Pricing & Ethical Guidelines...
Jun 25
Graphics Tech
Even feature-rich software packages, such as standard-bearers InDesign, QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, and so on, can be made better. Though manufacturers are always adding bells and whistles there are often third-party companies that fill industry-specific needs, provide features for automating cumbersome tasks, or invent enhancements to specific workflows. The PowerXChange is one of several companies that specializes in promoting and selling plug-ins.
Here, for example, is The PowerXChange's Adobe Acrobat plug-in page...
Adobe has a Partner Portal that lists some of many available add-ons...
In the Ideabook Design Store: FontHead Typefaces...
Apr 28
Graphics Tech
If you design web sites and have not come across the Blueprint CSS Framework, I recommend you take a look to see if any of its parts and pieces could be of use to you. The framework includes a layout grid, basic typographic styles, and underlying code contributed by a coalition of high-powered CSS experts.
I know there are folks who think that if you don't create everything from scratch that you are somehow “cheating”—I'm not one of them. To me, a well designed grid or template is like any other tool—a smart way to amplify productivity.
The Google Blueprint CSS framework...
An introduction by Jeff Croft, one of the original contributors...
A demonstration of the web framework (all of which can be edited)...
A demonstration of the typographic styles...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Creative Business CD-ROM...
Apr 4
Graphics Tech
Well, kind of. Now you can introduce your friends and family to the magic of Photoshop. The link leads to a test drive of Adobe Photoshop Express, a scaled back, happier version of the tool so many of us have grown to know and love. You simply double-click an image to access basic Photoshop tools for editing Basics, Tuning, and Effects.
But the real value of this offering is the opportunity it affords us to recount the heights and valleys of our own experience with the “real” Photoshop (don't forget to warn your audience that using the real version requires decades of study and membership in stuff like professional guilds and unions—no sense stirring up a bunch of unnecessary competition).
Think of the hours you'll spend explaining layers, recalling the day you applied your first drop shadow, and communicating the anguish of creating 86 layers you didn't bother to label.
To friends and family—run.
Go here and select “My Photos”...
More details from the blog of Photoshop's Senior Product Manager, John Nack...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Before & After: Graphics For Business...
Mar 12
Graphics Tech
New York Magazine challenged five designers to come up with a cover for their “Best of New York” issue. One of the answers came in the form of a wall of words crafted by Gretel, the home of Greg Hahn—a smart concept with just the right contrast to the nameplate.
The question? Is the cover real or computer generated? I must admit I could not be certain. So I asked. (To see the answer, click comments.)
The New York Magazine cover by Gretel...
Other entrants...
The Gretel site...
In the Ideabook Design Store: The Copywriter's Handbook...
Jan 23
Graphics Tech
I have been using Basecamp for a few months now and I recommend it without reservation. In short, it is a collaboration tool that allows you to easily create a separate, password protected project center for each of your clients. You simply add a new section for the client and Basecamp automatically invites them (via e-mail) to enter the project center. The space resides on Basecamp's server, but it is branded with your organization's name and logo.
Your Basecamp subscription includes space for multiple projects and provides the tools for managing jobs, interacting with clients, editing copy, sharing files, and so on. It is a truly elegant solution. Thanks to my friend, web developer and designer Jesse Gardner of plasticmind.com for pointing me to it.
Having read the comments, let me add this: This experience also punctuated one of the fundamentals of marketing—less is often more. Basecamp is a product of 37signals, a true web innovator. Their philosophy states: “We believe most software is too complex. Too many features, too many buttons, too much confusion. We build easy to use web-based products with elegant interfaces and thoughtful features. We’re focused on executing on the basics beautifully.” They deliver just that. I never would have tried Basecamp had it not been for the simplicity and elegance of the interface. It looked usable to me and, more importantly, to my clients.
(Update: I recently signed up for the Basecamp affiliate program, so, if you sign up using this link, I make a commission. Thanks in advance if you do.)
Take the Basecamp tour...
Dec 7
Graphics Tech
My word processor is heavy—bloated with all types of complexities that I never use. In fact, I seem to spend more time finding and disabling features than I do enabling them. Enter Buzzword. Adobe just bought this elegant little gem so it may be going somewhere. Not only can you perform all the basic word processing tasks, you can also invite others to collaborate.
Buzzword...
Nov 26
Graphics Tech
There is good news for all of us who have tried (in vain) to explain that you can't create a billboard using a half-inch logo from a web page. VectorMagic.com, a research project by James Diebel and Jacob Nordapart at the Stanford University Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, allows you to import a low-quality pixel (bit-mapped) image and create a vector image from it. (Thanks to my friend Sheila Hanchard for sharing this.)
VectorMagic.com is a sophisticated, easy-to-use tracing tool. Some samples...
The VectorMagic.com cover...
Not 100 percent clear about the distinction between bit-mapped and vector? Here is an article I wrote to explain it...
Nov 9
Graphics Tech
My friend Charles Boisvert points us to a wonderful example of how innovative presentation enhances the communication of statistical data (and everything else). Meet researcher Hans Rosling. He uses his Tendalyzer software to tell a story about the developing world. (It is said that Rosling met the founders of Google an TED and sold them the software.)
Rosling's presentation at TED...
Here is the actual graph...
Nov 6
Graphics Tech
For 15 years now Jay Nelson has edited this gem of a publication featuring an eclectic mix of insights, tips, news, and how-to on the business, craft, and technology of graphic design. To do it, he mines a mountain of information and refines it—the result being enough relevant, interesting, "Hey, I didn't know that," stuff that even the industry elite are willing to ante up.
Here's a free sample...
Aug 31
Graphics Tech
My friend Harold Thompson led me to news of the “Red One”—a nine pound digital cine camera with the quality of 35mm film and the convenience of pure digital. Suffice it to say, Steven Soderbergh, Director and Cinematographer of Ocean’s Eleven says, “This is the camera I’ve been waiting for my whole career.”
So how do you sell such a groundbreaking product? Whiz-bang flash animation? Nope. Crystal clear words and pictures that focus on three things: the architecture and design of the product, the images it creates, and what people in the know are saying about it. This is an excellent example of how, when faced with a complex task, a simple approach is often the most dramatic.
The Red One home page...
A gallery of images...
Ted Schilowitz of RED Digital Cinema Camera Company discussing the interface with Final Cut Studio...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Moleskine Notebooks...
Jul 9
Graphics Tech
Web Developer is a FREE web browser add-on (Firefox, Flock, Mozilla, Seamonkey) that allows you to view just about every element of a web page in any way you choose.
For example, selecting “Images” then “View Image Information” produces a list of all of the images that make up the page along with the name, location, width, height, and size of each. Choosing “Miscellaneous” then “Edit HTML” adds a box to the page that allows you to edit the code on the page to see effect changes make to the layout.
Web Developer is a great tool for both serious designers AND those who want to learn about what makes a web page tick. Just promise me, if you download and use this tool, that you will make a donation its developer, Chris Pederick—such a wonderful tool deserves the support of its users.
Chris Pederick's Web Developer ...
NEW in the Ideabook Design Store: Tintbook CMYK Process Color Selector...
Jul 5
Graphics Tech
Take a moment to add us to your Technorati favorites. We appreciate your support.
Add Chuck's Pageplane Blog to your Technorati Favorites...
Jul 2
Graphics Tech
In case you have not seen it, Seadragon and Photosynth are two mindboggling bits of technology that will very likely (and yet again) change the way we deal with images and information. Take a moment to watch this presentation by Blaise Aguera of Microsoft Live Labs at the 2007 TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference.
The presentation...
Other activity at Microsoft Live Labs...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Design-It-Yourself: Graphic Workshop...
May 25
Graphics Tech
Here is an inexpensive, elegant solution for organizing and displaying photo galleries and slide shows on your Web.
SlideShowPro...
In the Ideabook Design Store: Brenner Pricing Tables...
Mar 26
Graphics Tech
Wondering what new technologies and innovations the folks who brought us tools such as PhotoShop and InDesign are working on? Adobe Labs offers pre-release access to downloads, samples, documentation, release notes, tutorials and more of upcoming products.
Adobe Labs...
Dec 8
Graphics Tech
RichFX offers ways to visualize products on the Web: you can turn the pages of a virtual catalog and/or rotate, zoom in on, change the colors of, and even design individual products.
The RichFX product lineup...
Aug 14
Graphics Tech
I was working with a client recently that wanted to exchange files that were larger than our E-mail accounts can handle. He suggested yousendit.com—a free service for sending large files (up to 1 Gig)—new to me. Great service. Only thing I can't figure is how they profit from it.
http://www.yousendit.com/
Jul 5
Graphics Tech
Need a graph? You can generate it for free and save it in a variety of file formats using this simple tool provided by the National Center for Education Statistics.
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/Graphing/
