Posts tagged Design

Behind the Polaroid

A (relatively) new book by Christopher Bonanos explores the life and inventions of Polaroid founder Edwin Land.

On the companion site to the book, Bonanos, an editor at New York Magazine, writes:

Instant: The Story of Polaroid is a book about a very unusual company. In the 1960s and 1970s, Polaroid was what Apple is today: the coolest technology company on earth, the one with irresistible products, the one whose stock kept climbing way past the point of logic. In its heyday, Polaroid was an absolute innovation machine—a scientific think tank that periodically kicked out a fantastically profitable, covetable product. In fact, the late Steve Jobs expressly said that he modeled his company to a great extent after Polaroid.

Visit the site for Bonanos’ blog about all things Polaroid past and present. The book is available here. 

An inside peek into the Polygon design process

Via voxmediaproduct:

It’s not every day you get to design a big ass new editorial site from scratch. This is a look into the design process for Polygon, the second of two huge projects tackled by Vox Product in 2012. Be warned: this is a deep look at our process and our work. Grab a beer or three, and join me for a walk through the past.

Like design? Like news? Then read how Vox Media created the gaming culture site Polygon.

Ted Irvine, Vox’s design director, walks through the original creative brief, choosing typefaces, creating the logo, developing the overall brand identity, and designing a responsive site for Web, mobile and tablets. 

Why shouldn’t the same high-level thinking like that used in technology and other industries be used to increase pleasure in the bedroom? Of all the places that you want a quality user experience. I can’t think of a better one, can you?…

…But in one most profound area of our life – sexual health and wellness – we have somehow eluded innovation.

Grant Bechthold, VP of product development at Standard Innovation, in a keynote address at the CES Digital Health Summit. Via The Register: Vibrator guru on pleasure tech.

The Register article outlines how Standard Innovation’s product development cycle is similar to processes in other fields: from 3D conceptual designs to prototypes to field testing to actual academic studies on the product’s usefulness. Because, as Bechthold says, “[A] dropped cellphone call seems small compared to a dropped orgasm.”

Somewhat Related: Washington, DC residents watch more porn than the rest of America.

The Times’ Sports Page is Blank and Filled with Irony In case you haven’t heard, there will be no inductees to the baseball hall of fame this year (the organization wants to distance itself from the steroid era players.) To reflect this, the New York Times’ sports department published a largely empty cover today. But it wasn’t completely empty. From a few feet away, a passerby might notice a single line at the bottom. Sports Art Director Wayne Kamidoi told Poynter what it says: Ultimately, some of the marquee names of The Steroids Era were rendered in agate-size type, a mere footnote in baseball history, at the bottom of the package. FJP: Powerful.

The Times’ Sports Page is Blank and Filled with Irony

In case you haven’t heard, there will be no inductees to the baseball hall of fame this year (the organization wants to distance itself from the steroid era players.) To reflect this, the New York Times’ sports department published a largely empty cover today.

But it wasn’t completely empty. From a few feet away, a passerby might notice a single line at the bottom.

Sports Art Director Wayne Kamidoi told Poynter what it says:

Ultimately, some of the marquee names of The Steroids Era were rendered in agate-size type, a mere footnote in baseball history, at the bottom of the package.

FJP: Powerful.

A Trillion Dollar Coin Wired reports on how a 2010 bull session in the comments section of an economics blog turned into a 2013 legal monetary exercise discussed by economists, pundits and politicians. Via Wired: It’s been a remarkable journey. The path of the trillion-dollar coin, as [an anonymous online commentator named] Beowulf described it to Wired, began with a “silly question” in a “pointless … online bull session” in the comments section of financier Warren Mosler’s blog. Anonymous supporters helped spread the concept to the comments of other economics blogs and ultimately into posts on such sites. The idea soon attracted attention from more prominent liberal economists like James Galbraith and Paul Krugman, and then from writers like Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein. From there it was a short hop into the center mainstream. NBC’s Chuck Todd hammered a White House spokesman about the coin possibility on Wednesday. If the president uses such a coin to bypass intransigent Republicans who refuse to raise the debt ceiling, or even if he merely uses the possibility of such as leverage in negotiations, it will underline how ad-hoc online communities, like the anonymous international band of commenters to which Beowulf belonged, are increasingly able to move their ideas from the fringes into the middle of political debate. It’s one thing for bloggers to help bring down a Mississippi senator or to embarrass a presidential frontrunner, as they have in years past; it’s quite another for commenters to re-engineer the funding of the entire federal budget. Bonus: Also from Wired, Why Stealing a $1 Trillion Coin Isn’t Worth the Price of a Getaway Van. Hint: there’s not much you could do with it. Image: Charmin’s submission — and possible commentary on the disposability of US currency — to Slate’s User design challenge for the Trillion Dollar Coin.

A Trillion Dollar Coin

Wired reports on how a 2010 bull session in the comments section of an economics blog turned into a 2013 legal monetary exercise discussed by economists, pundits and politicians.

Via Wired:

It’s been a remarkable journey. The path of the trillion-dollar coin, as [an anonymous online commentator named] Beowulf described it to Wired, began with a “silly question” in a “pointless … online bull session” in the comments section of financier Warren Mosler’s blog. Anonymous supporters helped spread the concept to the comments of other economics blogs and ultimately into posts on such sites. The idea soon attracted attention from more prominent liberal economists like James Galbraith and Paul Krugman, and then from writers like Matthew Yglesias and Ezra Klein. From there it was a short hop into the center mainstream. NBC’s Chuck Todd hammered a White House spokesman about the coin possibility on Wednesday.

If the president uses such a coin to bypass intransigent Republicans who refuse to raise the debt ceiling, or even if he merely uses the possibility of such as leverage in negotiations, it will underline how ad-hoc online communities, like the anonymous international band of commenters to which Beowulf belonged, are increasingly able to move their ideas from the fringes into the middle of political debate. It’s one thing for bloggers to help bring down a Mississippi senator or to embarrass a presidential frontrunner, as they have in years past; it’s quite another for commenters to re-engineer the funding of the entire federal budget.

Bonus: Also from Wired, Why Stealing a $1 Trillion Coin Isn’t Worth the Price of a Getaway Van. Hint: there’s not much you could do with it.

Image: Charmin’s submission — and possible commentary on the disposability of US currency — to Slate’s User design challenge for the Trillion Dollar Coin.

Korean Central News Agency Relaunches Web Site North Korea’s state news agency redesigned its Web site. It’s kept some of the scrolling text that’s long been a trademark, and added animated gifs. Part of the newly designed home page is dedicated real estate for International Relations. Here are some end-of-year headlines of note: Floral Basket to Kim Jong Un from Family of Zhang Weihua Pyongyang, December 29 (KCNA) — The dear respected Kim Jong Un Saturday received a floral basket from the family of Zhang Weihua, Chinese anti-Japanese revolutionary martyr, on the occasion of the first anniversary of his assumption of supreme commandership of the Korean People’s Army and the New Year 2013. Kim Jong Un Sends Floral Basket to Cuban Embassy Pyongyang, December 31 (KCNA) — The dear respected Kim Jong Un sent a floral basket to the Cuban embassy here on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of the victory of the Cuban revolution. The floral basket was conveyed to Cuban Ambassador to the DPRK German Hermin Ferras Alvarez on Monday. Floral Basket, Congratulatory Letter to Kim Jong Un from Military Attaches Corps Pyongyang, December 31 (KCNA) — The dear respected Kim Jong Un received a floral basket and a congratulatory letter from the military attaches corps here on the occasion of the New Year 2013. Here’s what the Korean Central News Agency site used to look like, courtesy of the Way Back Machine. Image: Screenshot, KCNA Home Page. Select to embiggen.

Korean Central News Agency Relaunches Web Site

North Korea’s state news agency redesigned its Web site. It’s kept some of the scrolling text that’s long been a trademark, and added animated gifs.

Part of the newly designed home page is dedicated real estate for International Relations. Here are some end-of-year headlines of note:

Floral Basket to Kim Jong Un from Family of Zhang Weihua
Pyongyang, December 29 (KCNA) — The dear respected Kim Jong Un Saturday received a floral basket from the family of Zhang Weihua, Chinese anti-Japanese revolutionary martyr, on the occasion of the first anniversary of his assumption of supreme commandership of the Korean People’s Army and the New Year 2013.

Kim Jong Un Sends Floral Basket to Cuban Embassy
Pyongyang, December 31 (KCNA) — The dear respected Kim Jong Un sent a floral basket to the Cuban embassy here on the occasion of the 54th anniversary of the victory of the Cuban revolution. The floral basket was conveyed to Cuban Ambassador to the DPRK German Hermin Ferras Alvarez on Monday.

Floral Basket, Congratulatory Letter to Kim Jong Un from Military Attaches Corps
Pyongyang, December 31 (KCNA) — The dear respected Kim Jong Un received a floral basket and a congratulatory letter from the military attaches corps here on the occasion of the New Year 2013.

Here’s what the Korean Central News Agency site used to look like, courtesy of the Way Back Machine.

Image: Screenshot, KCNA Home Page. Select to embiggen.

RIP Peter Parker In Amazing Spider-Man #700, Peter Parker dies and his role as Spider-Man is taken over by Doctor Octopus / Otto Octavius. Number 700 will be the last in the “Amazing” series. 2013 will kick off with Otto as the web slinger in “The Superior Spider-Man #1.” Image: Variant Edition, Amazing Spider-Man #700.

RIP Peter Parker

In Amazing Spider-Man #700, Peter Parker dies and his role as Spider-Man is taken over by Doctor Octopus / Otto Octavius.

Number 700 will be the last in the “Amazing” series. 2013 will kick off with Otto as the web slinger in “The Superior Spider-Man #1.”

Image: Variant Edition, Amazing Spider-Man #700.

HTML5, Parallax and Storytelling Yes, you should stop what you’re doing and explore how the New York Times put together this story on avalanches and skiing in Washington State. Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek.

HTML5, Parallax and Storytelling

Yes, you should stop what you’re doing and explore how the New York Times put together this story on avalanches and skiing in Washington State.

Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek.

Corbis Contest: Design for a Cause

Corbis, the stock photography/video/font/design company, has a poster contest with the winner getting £1000 (~$1,600) donated to his or her cause of choice.

Via Corbis:

Use your creative talents to raise awareness for a cause you passionately believe in. There are hundreds of non-profit organisations and under-represented issues that need help being heard. So let’s give them a stronger voice.

Design a poster promoting a cause that really matters to you. No restrictions on the topic but a social focus is mandatory. The best work will have both a high level of technical ability and also carry a strong, clear and engaging message.

Deadline is November 25 and the one requirement is that you use one or more images provided by Corbis in your poster.

Contest information is here.

Somewhat related: Corbis just acquired Demotix, a stock photo and video agency built around communities of amateur and freelance journalists.

Someone’s Enjoying This Story Yesterday’s New York Post.

Someone’s Enjoying This Story

Yesterday’s New York Post.

Should Facebook Buy Tumblr?

GigaOm’s Mathew Ingram writes about the logic of Facebook acquiring Tumblr but leaving it as a standalone platform. The argument is that Tumblr poses the same threat to the social network that Instagram did.

Via GigaOm:

It might seem a little early to start talking about potential Facebook acquisitions considering the social network just completed its $736-million purchase of Instagram, and its share price is still 40 percent lower than it was when the company went public. But I think Facebook should start thinking hard (assuming it isn’t already) about trying to acquire Tumblr. Why? For some or all of the same reasons that it felt compelled to buy Instagram — including the fact that the massive growth and engagement Tumblr is seeing is a direct threat to Facebook’s future success. It seems obvious someone is going to take advantage of that, and if it isn’t Facebook then it will be a competitor…

…When you look at Tumblr’s size and growth, it’s easy to assume that you have somehow made a mistake and added too many zeroes: at the beginning of this year the network was at 15 billion pageviews, and a little more than a year ago it was at 10 billion. According to estimates from Quantcast, in the past year the site has almost doubled the number of monthly visitors it gets, from about 80 million to almost 140 million. There are more than 35 billion posts on the almost 80 million blogs that are hosted on the service, and it gets tens of millions of new posts every day from what Karp told me were its 160 million or so members.

FJP: From a business standpoint, Mathew’s argument makes sense… for Facebook. From a cultural standpoint, please, no.

Video: Mathew recently interviewed Tumblr founder David Karp for GigaOm’s 2012 Roadmap Conference in San Francisco. The conversation focuses on design strategy as it relates to digital identity. Run Time: 25:00. A TL;DR version of the conversation is here.

kateoplis: ckck: New York Magazine cover photo by Iwan Baan. Wow. More Iwan Baan. FJP: Well done.

kateoplis:

ckck:

New York Magazine cover photo by Iwan Baan. Wow.

More Iwan Baan.

FJP: Well done.

New York Magazine

Designers, especially those transitioning from print to web, yearn for [a consistent canvas size]. We’re lucky to have it on phones, but the varying sizes of desktop browsers throw us in a loop. Despite that, I was bullish on keeping the width of the desktop text at a comfortable 65-70 characters per line no matter how long your browser becomes. I was steadfast in keeping the content on top—not hugged by filters, settings, search bars and ads. More space in your window doesn’t mean you have to fill it.

Mig Reyes, designer, 37signals, on redesigning the Signal vs Noise blog (but don’t call it a blog). 37signals, The Typography and Layout behind the new Signal vs. Noise redesign.

Let’s repeat: More space in your window doesn’t mean you have to fill it.

Via shaneguiter.

When that designer starts talking about UX process, here's what they mean

Somewhere on the long list of new skills and concepts every good journalist needs is “talking to the geeks” (I say this as a confirmed journo/geek myself). If you’ve ever sat in a meeting and nodded wisely when the talk has turned to design or looked at a design budget and thought “holy hell…it’ll take THAT long”, this might be worth a quick look.

User-focused design (aka User Experience Design, or UX) borrows from ethnography, marketing, psychology, and good ol’ fashioned newspaper editing.

A top-flight UX designer for news will understand your audience’s behaviors, what devices they’re using, what their needs are and then boils that knowledge down into defining exactly what your website or app actually is and does.

When you consider that the design process will influence, if not dictate, everything from how many stories get published in a day, their length, how they’re organized, laid out, enhanced with photography, reach mobile devices and social networks, it becomes pretty obvious that designers are good people to understand.