Design and digital culture NEWS // July 2003
Philippe
Starck an inventive designer, reinterprets the objects on Icon
South Beach
Uh-uh! Adbusters is
at it again and again: anti-ad... you might want to read an interesting thread about
it.
When was the last time you voiced your dissent or disagreement?
Some issues DO need to be raised. As (communication) designers... sometimes
our position is not one that is really conforting to our conscience.
Here
is a photos gallery of
my trip to Sydney to attend X Media Lab as an international mentor. Images
sometimes capture the moment... forever confined to the past, but to
me, they will remain present for a long time to come.
Unfortunately, didn't bring my camera everywhere (I know I should have
and some moments remain in my memory only. Some *faces* are missing:
Eyal (man, you rock!), Louise (tx for your incredible hospitality), Amanda
(for the techno smooth ride).
I feel very privileged to have spent quality time with incredibly talented
and inspiring people: most of them made me think and challenged and opened
my eyes to so many avenues that I was not aware of.
Minimalist
but well-organized redesign for imaginary
moments.
An
outstanding site to display art exhibitions, explorations, publications
and open source: Levitated.
Worth exploring from top to bottom, awesome!
Eric
Feng is a master illustrator and animator. Indulge in his FERIC portfolio
and be amazed!
Don't
say I didn't warn you - this is a HUGE size pixel based graphic... check
the cover section... gosh there are some with HUGE amount of patience:
LOVEPIXEL___
Introducing
a new wave of (EU) interactive centered events, media production and
consulting: TNC network 
I had the pleasure to meet Tina and Bruno in Sydney recently and what
they have pulled to life is absolutely riveting.
Have you heard of the GameHotel?
Review this international event and conference on Games & Digital
Pop Culture that premiered last January! Stay tuned for the next one!
Though
this may look strange on the snapshot, it is a really interesting experiment
on facial expressions: inter
- FACE
Hans
Krebs has got fresh output for Hotel
71 (trendy and minimalist)
and his LIQUID excursions at travesty.ws.
Do
you need to prepare (yucky) PWT presentations? Then you MUST read this
*how to*
which helped me in many ways.
STAR_tv uses
a beautiful picture to express setting the pace of media in Asia.
Never,
never, NEVER ever take content from a site and use it or advertise it
as your own!
Integrity is all! X-istech India company has snitched the resources
from our toolbox (which represents
8 years of *my* work to build it) and they, state their *hard* work at
acquiring the links (sic).
“The X-is Tech Resource Center represents our cumulative efforts
to mine information from the Internet. Each of the links published in
this section leads you to the most authoritative web design and programming
resources on the Web.”
On top of that, they submitted their site and... won an award!!! And
as you will see, we're talking about a *serious* company here!
How were they caught? The *bot* that roams netdiver reported some 404
from *external* sites... in the *book* section, scroll to Director 8.5
and click on Christopher Robbins and see where it leads to??? This is
how I caught them!
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: The
snitched content is no longer available on X-istech site.
Be
ready to wait... worth it, since it's The
Gooberstory that will play!
An
interview with Jeff Faulkner by Craig Saila
Interesting
advices and some pointers to design processes from self-taught deepPlay founder:
“Do good work fast. It’s the only way to survive. Good is
not so hard to achieve, fast and good is very hard.”
RCCS:
Introducing Cyberculture - an extensive academic resource.
Want
to know how to design different interface layouts using css? Check Little
Boxes.
Building
Accessible Websites’ serialization by Joe Clark
“Why make Websites accessible? Well, why not? Common
myths exploded, and active reasons to engage in Web accessibility provided.”
Future
ahead: experiment with a rVoice
Interactive demo!
When
flash is over_done, oi, what a mess!
Pureimagefotografie is
not at the service of the artists, in this instance the photographers.
Noise,
an online community with lots of content, projects and galleries.
To
the point portfolio: M E Z E D G E.
A
complete experience art, mix music with design and you get? KozzMozz.
A
new acronym on the block: DUX stands
for Designer for User eXperiences which turned out to be a conference
that was held in early June.
Will a new one take place in 2005!?!?
Increasingly we need to learn about the basics of UI design
in order to deliver according to the present evolution of the web.
A
new article is available: The
Projector is used in all walks of human endeavors. Anyone exploring
possibilities is interweaved with others in very different fields of
interest (and expertise).
Within this discourse, I will refer to it within the context of creative
design. Literally feed your eyes!
Illustrated by talented Edvin Lee
Well
a topic à la mode: the user is King chez HINKU
Fresh
+ coolling + outstanding projects for DonadoniArt
A
fascinating subject, children are the focus of kinderArten
DUX—Five
Lessons Learned by Erin Malone. Interesting take on community.
Site
with wonderful pictures: Cloats
Stuart
Robertson's thoughts on blogging,
who is Web site manager at the University of Guelph and keeper of a blog
called Design Meme:
“It's like reality TV. Right now it's in vogue to
want to see reality, real people out there. And so blogs are somewhat
like that.”
Tutorials
on fonts with clever examples, because Design
Matters.
Just
found a treasure! Powagirrrl Rachel James' 28mm.org showcases
traditional, digital, and lo-tech photography by amateur, hobbyist, and
professional photographers.
Shown one year anniversary cover!
Here
is a piece of nostalgia. My first e_zine called Network Economy, on the
first (!!!) business community event. Dates back to '98.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: Re-reading
seems like the topic of the *not_getting_it* syndrome is still very today!
Clean
site and striking 3d logo useage for Xtravaganzza
Font
management online? STC::
fontBROWSER. Have you visited the Designer's
toolbox lately?
On
the move: Fluxen line arts animations.
Well
the name says it all: 1ofakind.com.br is
in the same vein as (offline now) z x 2 6 which is at least 3.5 years
ago (and still awesome in minutia details).
You will be blewn away by the realism. Unfortunately, the portfolio
content has not yet reached the same maturity as the interface.
Apple
hits the fast track by Neil McIntosh
”Apple chief executive Steve Jobs pulled the wraps
off what he called the world's fastest personal computer this week and
promised that a new generation of faster Macintosh machines was now on
the way.”
Mozilla
1.4 is out. Theyve added lots of features and fixed lots of bugs
since Mozilla 1.3.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: Finally!
The beta had serious problem, especially if running Netscape 7 which
released the v7.01
version.
Among the additions are NTLM authentication support on Windows and improvements
to pop-up blocking, junk-mail filtering, and image blocking.
More information is available in the release notes.
Land
of the caribou, long winters, poutine and lots more (read: made in Canada): ALLMAPLE now
in a brand new flavor! Taste!
Fast
loading book for Attila Hartwig
- Fotograf designed by 52 NORD.
Well
executed miniminalist site for _LAURENTZ_DESIGN_
Flower
power? IAshido portfolio speaks
amply for itself.
Some
have been asking about including more design *business* oriented articles,
resources and corporate sites. I found this relatively new site and
since I really like their approach, hope it roots in and grows in content.
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: Did
grow indeed to become :
: Speak UP>
Here are some articles you might find interesting:
Is
it really that bad out there? by Damien Newman
“Without all the noise and rowdy competition there used to be,
it is easier now to develop a stronger relationship with a client. Invariably,
the client is unlikely to be in a position to afford compensating you
what you would like for your services, and instead more likely to be
a little better at collaborating and shouldering some of the process
with you.
...So the people that are working, and continuing to find new work seem
to be the people that are firstly great at what they do, and secondly
equally great at having new ideas and building them with their clients.”
Why
is the Business of Design so Hard? by Steve Liska
“Those business people are our clients, which is
partly why it is so hard to be in an arts-based, creativity with the
clock running, non-objective, sometimes superficial, sometimes self-serving
service industry. We don’t learn the tools of running a design
office in school.”
New
portals added: Copyright Magazine <ES> + .::
NST <AR>
SHIFT
| 2003 CALENDAR Competition's best work is now online: congrats
to Chris (you can read a close*up
interview here)!
They've received over 150 in a month!
A
study in lifestyle storyboarding -> Automatico. You might want to
check these issues: 10 + 11 + 12. My fav is 12!
PUBLIK's
postproduction dwells in the high-end post industry; minimal minimalism!
Are
you using this software? Send in
your review pro or con... welcomed.
Hey
'cause a week ain't a week without some food for thought!
Women's
voices from Elizabeth Lane Lawley's thoughts on info tech, academia,
librarianship, parenting, and various tangential topics.
“Along those lines, I fully expect that 90% of the comments I
get to this post will come from white men, most of whom will want to
tell me just how hard they had it, how their dominant status never bought
them anything, how women and men face the same challenges, the same problems,
yada yada yada.
I’m not accusing those men of lies or hypocrisy. I believe that
many of them are genuinely committed to gender equality, and that they
believe that they’re “gender blind” in their interactions
with others. But like me taking my safe, suburban school for granted,
they’re taking their male-dominated work environments for granted.”
which points to:
White
Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack by Peggy McIntosh
I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not
in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group.
and then, read some Men's voices about it.
Will
Microsoft's browser engine backfire? by Munir Kotadia
“James Governor, principal analyst at research firm RedMonk, said
that if banks' customers turn to other browsers instead of upgrading
to the latest version of Windows, then developers and banks and other
large e-commerce operations may be forced to start more standards.”
_ _ _ _ _ _
ndle1: Here
we go M$ dumps IE as a stand alone and puts the pressure on updating
to the next OS to get the new version?!?!
Wonderful
kidz (parents) site the Boohbah Zone lively
pure eye candy!
Where
design and atmosphere merge together: M|T interactive.
Relaunched
powagirrrl site: Be My Baby excellent
illustration skills.
Solving
Mobile Challenges with Psychology-driven IA by Oded Napchi
“As the field of information architecture matures,
we are beginning to understand the new challenges it raises for wireless
media.”
I
am a great amateur of mini toys such as 3 eyes (Toy Story) who graces
the mantel in front of my workstation and recently added a camera man.
View these action figures - the details and how they capture present
day culture is quite something. At Kidrobot.
End
of free IE not end of Web Standards by WASP.
ArtBitz
Stock Illustration -> read the license agreement for limitations
on useage.
Industrial
design and aluminium structures: deltaMatrix
A
Conversation With John Witchel by Brian Alvey
Creator of BrowserCam, Witchel discusses the technical magic behind
the BrowserCam service, the professional challenges that led him to creating
it and the limitations of a screen capturing service.
Minimalist,
clean chrome and interesting palette for B7™ new
site!
A
photographer's talent is having an eye for composition catching light
effects in ordinary settings: Untitled & Unsung
Ms
Erin Malone's is an information architect/web app designer and you can
read her musings on DesignWritings.
An
excellent mastering of skills on Konstruct,
Sven Tobias Kills' portfolio. Explore all links.
Storyboarding
with hand that draws the interface? Groovemice does.
Now
this is interaction! Try it: BIG CODE
Though
I have reservations towards sites asking to register prior to visiting
- the concept of Georg Gruber interactive exploration is worth it.
There are some profound, smart and hard thinking designers out there...
especially that Georg is a 19 year old student. Check out *
inflex.
One
of the early studios displayed on netdiver, officially called Helios
Design Laboratories or for short h
e l i o z i l l a has completely revamped their site and as usual
displays cutting-edge and provocative work.
Now
you've got to see this site - although there are numerous outstanding
flash designers - the exquisitely designed interface and interaction
is quite a step forward. Imagination rules on purepulse.co.kr.
Retro
fonts anybody? Check The Font Diner.
What
is an urban advertising firm? They know: lounge agency!
For
people who make websites:
Unlocking hidden
navigation: access keys by Stuart Robertson
Guess
who's back online? The fab We're
Here forum
which self-describes as a leading professional design and development
community, will focus on integrating cutting-edge Flash technologies
to enhance community.
Want inside view of one of the founders, Jessica Speigel?
Read her Spotlight interview.
Reveling
in Work: Steps to bring you closer to the work you love by Melanie
Bowden.
“We all know of people who have passion for their work. Unfortunately,
there are many others who are suffering from passion deficit, a term
coined by Richard Chang, author of The Passion Plan. The symptoms of
passion deficit include sadness, anger, confusion, and frustration.”
A
must bookmark site: CA:
40 Years of Design and Advertising archive.
The
convergence factor by Carole Guevin
Guess
what I had for me* birthday? Gotta brand new beta version 2.0 for Pixeltable!
JF (partner +) produced a fabulous table_less, Xhtml and Css driven as
well w3c validating site that integrates our new design!
Now boyz and girlz it's time to proooove that table_less can have pizzaz.
Enjoy!
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