QR Codes on Badges at SXSW : Although QR codes (also called matrix or 2D codes) have never really taken off here in the U.S., this will be fun to try out at SXSW: Along with your badge photo, you will have a square bar code to scan. When you meet someone at an event, let them scan your badge with their smart phone, and they will automatically be following you on my.SXSW, where they can message you or access your contact information. … Read the rest here
Gizmodo: Detailed review of Windows Phone 7 : Microsoft has literally nothing to lose by completely overhauling Windows Mobile OS—its global market share is paltry, and the UI is nearly unusable for anyone other than the die-hard Windows user. Hence, the unveiling of Windows Phone 7 is impressive news, regardless of whether or not it gains significant market share. It’s proof that Microsoft realizes it’s lagging far behind in OS innovation and is taking dramatic measures to correct its course. … Read the rest here
Teehan+Lax: iPad GUI PSD : Building on their popular iPhone GUI PSD , this vector-based PSD is fully editable and scalable. It even includes “missing Flash plugin” icon. Impressive stuff, especially considering Teehan+Lax posted this just a few days after the iPad announcement. And if OmniGraffle is your thing, iA has published an iPad stencil for Omnigraffle . … Read the rest here
The last thing I needed was more choice in apps for keeping a ‘Design Scrapbook’, but that’s what’s happened with Zootool . At first glance, it looked like just another FFFF ound , Ember or Img Spark , but it turns out it’s much more than that. The developer, Bastian, told me to think of it as more of a visual Delicious. Once I got into that mindset it made more sense. Zootool ‘lassos’ not only images, but documents (like PDF s), videos, and pages (not complete pages yet) and stores them in your ‘zoo’… Read the rest here
I’ve had a penchant for filmmaking ever since I was a little kid. I’ve never had the right equipment, though. I’m trying to finally change that, while still trying to stay within budget. The photo above shows the setup I’ve been piecing together over the last few weeks. I haven’t shot anything with it yet, but I’ll give it a good run in a couple weeks when I film the Colosseo letterpress poster being printed… Read the rest here
I’ve had a penchant for filmmaking ever since I was a little kid. I’ve never had the right equipment, though. I’m trying to finally change that, while still trying to stay within budget. The photo above shows the setup I’ve been piecing together over the last few weeks. I haven’t shot anything with it yet, but I’ll give it a good run in a couple weeks when I film the Colosseo letterpress poster being printed. … Read the rest here
Zeldman: Flash, iPad, Standards : Jeffrey Zeldman: Lack of Flash in the iPad (and before that, in the iPhone) is a win for accessible, standards-based design. Not because Flash is bad, but because the increasing popularity of devices that don’t support Flash is going to force recalcitrant web developers to build the semantic HTML layer first. … Read the rest here
How often have you read a snide, bumptious or haughty comment where you feel the only reaction could be a raised handbag, accompanied by the high-pitched mocking call of “oooOOOooooh!”? If you’re not familiar with the work of Vic and Bob , the chances are that it’s never . Well, hopefully that will soon change, as Hicksdesign has launched a site to fulfill that need you never knew you had to “oooOOooooh!”: Now whenever you see such a comment, you point them in the right direction: oo00.eu (2 oh’s, 2 zeros and a european union). Obviously, feel free to use it on me if say some deserving! 
If you’re still confused, this video might help explain the origins of the raised handbag as a retort, (before going on to become a surreal contest): Playing catch-up This little side-project was the perfect opportunity to play with new CSS3 toys and HTML5 tags that I haven’t had time to experiment with yet: CSS Animations : In any webkit browser (Safari, Omniweb, Chrome), the handbag will actually be raised, waved at you, and then lowered. There is a separate animation for the shadow underneath the bag… Read the rest here
“Someone asked me the other day what percentage of my day was spent doing what. Yesterday it was approximately one third general admin type stuff, one third client liaison type stuff and one third designing type stuff. If we ignore the fact that there isn’t really such a thing as a typical day – that is a pretty much a typical day.” Ben Terrett ( Interesting Mini CEO Half Thoughts ) When I started working freelance, I worked out my rates and estimated earnings based on a ‘typical’ eight hour day. What I didn’t really comprehend at the time was the fallacy of an eight hour day of solid work. … Read the rest here
“Someone asked me the other day what percentage of my day was spent doing what. Yesterday it was approximately one third general admin type stuff, one third client liaison type stuff and one third designing type stuff. If we ignore the fact that there isn’t really such a thing as a typical day – that is a pretty much a typical day.” Ben Terrett ( Interesting Mini CEO Half Thoughts ) When I started working freelance, I worked out my rates and estimated earnings based on a ‘typical’ eight hour day. What I didn’t really comprehend at the time was the fallacy of an eight hour day of solid work. There are so many factors that eat into that supposed ‘billable time’. Admin … Read the rest here
For no particular reason, I present to you a list of things that were true on August 27, 2001 : The iPod, XBox, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, Ubuntu, and Blu-Ray did not exist. IBM was still in the PC business, Handspring was still around, and Blackberries were data-only devices with no telephone capabilities. The Euro had not yet entered circulation, currencies like the Franc, Mark and Lira were still legal tender. George Harrison, The Queen Mother, Gregory Peck, Barry White, Johnny Cash, Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles, Julia Child, Pope John Paul II, Johnny Carson, Steve Irwin, Gerald Ford and Michael Jackson were still alive. SARS, Avian Flu, H1N1 were not in the common vernacular. Enron and WorldCom were still in business. … Read the rest here
For no particular reason, I present to you a list of things that were true on August 27, 2001 : The iPod, XBox, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, Ubuntu, and Blu-Ray did not exist. IBM was still in the PC business, Handspring was still around, and Blackberries were data-only devices with no telephone capabilities. The Euro had not yet entered circulation, currencies like the Franc, Mark and Lira were still legal tender. George Harrison, The Queen Mother, Gregory Peck, Barry White, Johnny Cash, Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles, Julia Child, Pope John Paul II, Johnny Carson, Steve Irwin, Gerald Ford and Michael Jackson were still alive. SARS, Avian Flu, H1N1 were not in the common vernacular… Read the rest here
A few months ago, the folks at Mobify were kind enough to create a mobile version of my site using their service. Mobify is a web-based service that allows you to create a custom mobile version of your site. Since my redesign, I got an opportunity to play with the service first-hand and felt that it might be good to share my experience. What does Mobify offer? Why would anybody use a service like Mobify? … Read the rest here
I’ve used iPhoto, Littlesnapper, a combination of Leap and Dropbox, but of late, I’ve reverted to using Evernote as my collection point for design scraps. The Desktop > Web > iPhone ecosystem is lovely. I have my design collection everywhere I go (also possible with the dropbox method I used to use, but there’s no way of tagging on the iPhone). The desktop client collects images and websites (as PDF s), and the iPhone client collects snapshots of sketches, camera photos and images saved from mobile Safari. Then the two ‘collectors’ get synced together to become one big collection: Some more reasons why Evernote has struck a chord with me are: I’m not restricted to single images, I can add PDF s, group images together (as a note), and add text notes. … Read the rest here
A really quick screencast today. I twittered about how frustrating it was to have to take 5 clicks to subscribe to a feed into Google Reader within Firefox. I finally decided to take a few moments to fix the issue and get it down to one click (well, technically two, but who’s counting). Of course, this is by no means the only way to do it. Plenty of people on Twitter recommended plugins and bookmarks that could simplify the process. If you got ‘em, link ‘em up in the comments. … Read the rest here
I’ve spent a couple days worth now trying to figure out the best and most complete approach to font embedding using @font-face . It really is a dark art that must be mastered. It is by no means a straightforward process. Font Formats Generally speaking, these days, a font on our system is going to be one of two formats: TrueType (with a .ttf file extension) or OpenType (with a .otf file extension). While it would be nice to be able to just throw a font like this on the web and link it up, we’re hit with two major limitations… Read the rest here
In case you hadn’t noticed the lovely titles on this page, they’re League Gothic . Well, they should be if you happen to be using the latest version of Firefox, Safari, or Internet Explorer. However, it took much trial and error to figure out exactly how to get there. There are a number of pieces to the puzzle but in the end, I got something to work. The assumption here is that you are on a Mac (as I am) but I believe these tools work the same on PC… Read the rest here
I fear actually saying this out loud. I certainly don’t want to jinx the progress I’ve made but, at the same time, I’m excited by the change. I’m trying to lose weight. I used to be slim. In my early twenties, I worked on my feet all day… Read the rest here
I fear actually saying this out loud. I certainly don’t want to jinx the progress I’ve made but, at the same time, I’m excited by the change. I’m trying to lose weight. I used to be slim. In my early twenties, I worked on my feet all day. I also didn’t have a car… Read the rest here
The theme for dConstruct this year is “designing for tomorrow”. This got us thinking about what cultural objects or experiences may not be around in the future. The kind of things that future digital archeologists may uncover and showcase in museums or write hypothesis about their place in naughties culture. We had our own ideas, ranging from obvious things like Twitter, Facebook and the iPhone, to slightly more obscure things like the mass of wires and adapters than plague our digital lives, or the fact that you have to carry a piece of card on a train to prove your right to travel. However we wanted to hear from you, so we started the dConstruct Time Capsule Project … Read the rest here
