“I don’t think of my life as a career. I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That’s not a career – it’s a life!”
— Steve Jobs
(via quotevadis)
Life / Career
Ampersand Web Typography Conference
If I lived on the other side of the pond I’d be attending The Ampersand Web Typography Conference in Brighton on June 17th, 2011.
What Makes a Web App Successful?
Here’s a video of a talk Fred Wilson gave at Future Of Web Apps in Miami in late February of 2010 with the title: 10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps. If you don’t want to watch the 30-minute talk, you can also read the transcript over on The Faster Times.
The 10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps from Carsonified on Vimeo.
Naked Password
Here’s a fun way to encourage users to set more secure passwords: The whole idea of naked password. is to encourage users to enter stronger passwords. The beautiful model Sally tastefully removes items of clothing as the password grows stronger. Made me laugh.
(And yes, I hear some women scream now saying ‘why is it not a man undressing’!)
(via Daniele Cortega)
Famous Objects from Classic Movies
Ji Lee just launched a new project called “Famous Objects from Classic Movies” and is a fun online game for movie lovers to guess which classic movie a particular object is from. There are over 70 movies to guess from and the site is open for people’s suggestions.
DesignChat Video
Last week I had the honor to be a guest on Ryan McGovern’s DesignChat. He just informed me that the video is now live. You can watch it below, on their site, over on iTunes.
(By the way, sorry that my volume is so much lower than Ryan’s. I had no idea.)
(I took the embedd down as I couldn’t figure out how to turn off autoplay and the Vimeo Upload is still converting)
Happiness Truck
Yes to the surfboard, no thank you to the sugary soda. Definitely like the idea of a ‘happiness truck!’
(via paul octavius)
Mesmerizing
Check out this mesmerizing motion graphics piece by Hamburg based designer Silke Sieler:
(Thank you Peter)
Buddha Dish
I can’t believe it’s not Buddha! Keep your butter fresh and in a total state of zen thanks to this playful porcelain dish in the guise of a joyful Siddhartha. Made me smile.
S6 Minutes: Paul Octavious “Indigo”
A beautiful experimental short by Paul Octavious:
S6 Minutes: Indigo from Paul Octavious on Vimeo.
(via society6)
Paul Graham on Simplicity
When you’re forced to be simple, you’re forced to face the real problem. When you can’t deliver ornament, you have to deliver substance. – Paul Graham
(Taken from the essay Taste for Makers)
Question: What makes good design?
Paula Antonelli answers the question: What makes good design?
Antonelli: You know what makes good design is one of the biggest questions and one of the hardest questions to answer. Sometimes people ask us, “How do you decide to put an object in the collection of MOMA?” because you know it’s a small collection. It’s not huge. It’s about 4,000 objects. You can talk about anything you want – form, function, all of these different equations that have been usually . . . you know that have been given the world as possible definitions. But the truth is this. It’s a very complex recipe. The world has become more complex, and you can’t anymore have an equation with just two variables. There’s like, you know, it’s a differential equation with many variables. What I can tell you as one of the litmus tests is think if this object were not on earth. Would it be a pity? Would you miss it? I tell you that’s really interesting because it really helps. Sometimes objects are not immediately functional. They’re not to be sat upon, or to be used to eat, or to be used to turn on the volume. Sometimes objects just deliver emotions or are just part of your life. That’s also enough. You know the moment an object seems necessary, then you can move on to judge if it’s beautiful, if it works well, if it wastes energy. Those are all considerations. But the idea of necessity or good addition to the world really usually works.
Jason Fried on Design
Dave Gray talks with Jason Fried of 37 Signals about his design process:
Floating Desk
Unplggd posted this beauty of a minimalist desk. Ideal for a small (NYC) apartment.
Letterpress Rug
Check out this Letterpress Rug designed by Liora Manné. Cool? Yes!
Pixel Pillow
May I introduce you to the Pixel Pillow? It makes me want to ‘zoom out’ and see what is behind the pixelated image…
Come and Draw Table
This kids drawing table makes total sense AND looks fantastic. It’s called Come and Draw and was created by Goethenburg based designer Tiang Tiang. I love it so much I’d like a custom version with red as the accent color to use it as a conference-brainstorm-session-table in our new studiomates wing.
I found it over on Bloesem Kids.
UPDATE: Now available for purchase here.
(Thanks Lisa)
Otto Waalkes
Now here’s a post for my german speaking readers: Anyone remember Otto Waalkes? The below skitt about “Der Menschliche Koeper” (The Human Body) was always one of my favorites. “Kleinhirn an Grosshirn: Fertig machen zum Aergern!”
(Click on the image below to watch the video over on YouTube. Unfortunately embedding was disabled.)
Press Pause Play
“Press Pause Play” which will premiere at SXSW in Austin, March 11. I am extremely curious to watch this movie and make up my mind about the subject:
(via chris glass / via a photo editor)
The Internet Wishlist
The Internet Wishlist is a fun new project by Amrit Richmond. It’s a collection of ideas for apps and websites people are wishing for. Think of it like a suggestion box for the future of technology. In a world of me-too startups, Amrit hopes this project inspires entrepreneurs, developers and designers to innovate and build the products and features that people want.
This one here, made me laugh: “I wish there was a Shazam app for people’s faces.” – @ianmattbishop
Magic Bookcase
I fully agree with Paul Octavious: Though this is not my bookshelf I want to believe this is what happens in my apt every day when I’m not looking…
Live on DesignChat at 2pm EST
I’ll be live on DesignChat at 2pm EST today. (in about 30 minutes) DesignChat is a weekly video and text-based conversation between creative types. They usually start at 8pm CST on Wednesdays and last about an hour on their site. But because I have little ones that have to be put to bed at that time, Ryan was so kind to agree and have the interview during working hours!
If you want to participate: Just go to their site. Before/after and during off hours – you can follow the conversation on twitterfall.com.
So, feel free to tune in at 2pm EST and ask questions. And let’s pray to the internet-connection-gods and hope that our connection will stay up for the duration of the interview.