December 2009
A Windows guru spends two weeks with a Mac →
and loves it.
“Overall, though, Mac OS X beats Windows. There, I’ve said it. And lightning hasn’t struck me yet.”
His only misstep in the experiment was picking the MacBook Air. He would have had a better experience with a MacBook Pro or iMac.
Readability - An Arc90 Lab Experiment →
Brilliant! Why this sort of thing is not a feature (with even more type setting adjustment) built in to all browsers is insane.
10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling - The... →
No Plastic Sleeves →
Web site all about photo and design portfolios. Book out Feb. 2010.
CBS, Disney Examine Apple's TV-Subscription... →
Apple could be a potential new competitor to cable and satellite TV.
I love it!
Down with cable TV.
“Many who practice design soon discover that they yearn to be involved much...”
– What is AIGA thinking about the future of design? - Ric Grefé writes
(Well, I’ve always thought like this. I have no desire to make pretty things unless they are part of a more complex solution. Was the entire profession not aware of this for the past 20 years? Did designers just want to make...
FB Obsession →
“In October, Facebook reached 54.7 percent of people in the United States ages 12 to 17, up from 28.3 percent in October last year, according to the Nielsen Company, the market research firm.”
Blog post about paid and unpaid internships... →
Jamie’s List blog with info and links from the Department of Labor and the Wall Street Journal on what an internship is. Very useful.
Avatar uses Papyrus →
After Comic Sans, most hated typeface. $300 million budget not enough to find a better font?
What Killed I.D. Magazine? →
“We had the exact same template as that of our sister publication Deer & Deer Hunting,” says Lasky. According to Singer, “We always treated the site like a repository for magazine content, which is exactly what you’re not supposed to do.”
This thinking by publishers, not becoming more than print, is going to kill a bunch more magazines!
“Go to graduate school, you spend… Five to ten years satisfying a bunch of people...”
– Elizabeth Coleman on the problem of the tenure process
Design and the Liberal Arts Education →
“This mix — oversimplification of civic engagement, idealization of the expert, fragmentation of knowledge, emphasis on technical mastery, neutrality as a condition of academic integrity — is deadly. When it comes to pursuing the vital connections between the public good and education, between intellectual integrity and human freedom, between thought and action, the very idea of the educated...
Danish Students Say Design Drives Sustainable... →
“As negotiators gather in Copenhagen to mull the future of the planet, a Danish design school is mounting the argument that, as it relates to reducing the environmental impact of consumption, function follows form.”
A film by Charles and Ray Eames on the Polaroid... →
Martin Majoor remembers 5 Dutch Type Designers →
“Sitting in my studio in Arnhem, I remember opening the small but thick envelope, posted in Berlin. I took out some copies of the little type specimen 5 Dutch Type Designers, the first ever FontFont type specimen. It was beautifully designed by Just van Rossum, measuring 9,9 by 21 cm and printed on low white book paper in dark red and black.”
Never has so small a type specimen book been so...
Why design should be rated alongside science’ →
“Design education is as important to the future of the economy as the sciences, technology, mathematics and engineering, and should be given equal support”
Now, about the nearly complete lack of support for design education in the U.S.A. compared to science and engineering or, even the arts …
Smarter Cities →
A collaborative intelligence project for building a planet of smarter cities.
A Fish Oil Story →
OK, just where do my omega-3 pills come from as well as all the other omega-3 in foods I buy?
I.D. Magazine gone →
What a shame…
Inside the Design Thinking Process →
Recounting a session at the Aspen Design Summit.
Would You Switch Digital Cameras If It Could Save... →
Gold, tin and other metals are mined in the Congo under horrible conditions and with much environmental degradation to land and water. These minerals eventually end up in electronics and other devices and products used in the developed world. But the profits from this mining is what is funds the war in the Congo. Like “blood diamonds”, it is now time for manufacturers of electronic products,...
Wow. Don’t drink any bottled water. Ever. Really. →
Cancer From the Kitchen? →
“I asked these doctors what they do in their own homes to reduce risks. They said that they avoid microwaving food in plastic or putting plastics in the dishwasher, because heat may cause chemicals to leach out. And the symposium handed out a reminder card listing “safer plastics” as those marked (usually at the bottom of a container) 1, 2, 4 or 5. It suggests that the “plastics to avoid” are...
Fast Co. on Philadelphia’s New Logo →
I won’t call it “awful” but, are those clown colors?
Offshore Wind “Supergrid” in North Sea →
Eight steps to Internet unpopularity →
Christopher Breen: “…there are a handful of ways to become an Internet pariah in a very short period of time. In the hope that you might not fall into some of these traps, allow me to enumerate those ways.”
United Nations Climate Change Conference →
Live webcast of proceedings through Dec. 18
WatchDesigner Anton Beeke makes a cameo appearance in this CBS video about Dick Bruna and Miffy’s Global Domination
Clients From Hell →
Ten logo design tips from the field →
via Logo Design Love
App Store Is a Game Changer for Apple and... →
Big article - nytimes.