Alec Soth on Limitation and Creativity

“If limitation spawns creativity, is the limitless resource of the Internet a good thing? Does it do more harm than good to read all these blogs?”

— Alec Soth

(via glass)

Made me smile!

Check out how WGN-TV Chicago Weekend Anchors spend their time in their broadcast’s first commercial break

(via glass)

Your blog as a Book?

Have anyone of you tried to make Books out of your blog? I’ve just seen over on blurb that they offer such a service:

If you use LiveJournal, WordPress, TypePad or Blogger, simply select your book size (support for 5×8 B/W Text book coming in next release), select “blog to book,” choose your blogging platform and slurp away! Wondering how hundreds of pages of blog fodder might be translated into a book? Check out Mike Workman’s “Wisdom, Wisecracks & Weener Dogs” (pictured above) to see how great a blog can look in print.

Anyone tried this? If so, what’s the verdict?

swissmiss on dwell blog

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Laure Joliet of Dwell Blog asked me 8 questions. What an honor to be featured on their site. Thank you Laure!

NYTimes Announcing the Article Search API

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NYTimes.com just released the article search API with data from over 2.8 million articles from 1981-today. WOW! Go build something!

The Smart Growth Manifesto

Here are the four pillars of smart growth manifesto:

1. Outcomes, not income
2. Connections, not transactions
3. People, not product
4. Creativity, not productivity

(via JensHoffmann)

Design by Committee

A camel is a horse designed by a committee”

– Sir Alec Issigonis

Introducing Ubiquity for Firefox, and experiment in connecting the Web with language.


Ubiquity for Firefox from Aza Raskin on Vimeo.

(thank you razvan)

Letraset Penguin

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Marc Fischer and I share two things: Love for Penguins and Letraset. Now combine the two and you get an instant YAY from me.

(thank you Jon)

Rattan Pouf

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Hello there, lovely Rattan Pouf. How are you today?

This is Agostina

“This is Agostina” is a video to promote the font Agostina which was designed by Michael Cina.


This is Agostina from YouWorkForThem on Vimeo.

(via todayandtomorrow)

House Industries Alexander Girard Memory Game

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Alexander Girard originally created the images used in this memory game for his environmental enrichment panels that he designed to spice up Herman Miller’s Action Office plan. Each game comes with 72 pieces and a limited-edition wooden box. Made in the USA out of replenishable basswood and printed with child-safe non-toxic inks. Wonderful. Make sure to also check out the building blocks. Our little Ella is coo-coo about them! And then the dolls, they make me smile!

(thank you andy)

Tooby*Doo

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Tooby*Doo is a new childrenswear lifestyle design label founded in New York. How cool are those rainboots?

The difference between a Designer and Developer…

The difference between a Designer and Developer, when it comes to design skills, is the difference between shooting a bullet and throwing it.

Scott Hanselman

UPDATE: Calm down everyone, I didn’t mean to be snoddy. This quote also works the other way around, at least what I am concerned regarding my development skills. And of course, there are developers out there that are fantastic designers. I was taking this quote much lighter than most of you. I just thought it was a funny analogy.

Online Lost-and-Found for Transit

New York City Transit is trying to make it easier for subway and bus riders to retrieve lost items, by creating a Web page where they can fill out an online claim form describing their missing property.

I LEGO N.Y.

During the cold and dark Berlin winter days, Christoph Niemann spends a lot of time with his boys in their room. And as he looks at the toys scattered on the floor, his mind inevitably wanders back to New York. I LEGO N.Y.

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07manhattan

(thank you james)

Richard Serra sculptures seen on Google Maps!

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Richard Serra sculptures seen on Google Maps!

(via twittering MoMA)

Forbes calls designers snooty

Forbes magazine recently published this article: The Creativity of Crowds, which opens with the following subtitle:

“CrowdSpring aims to slash the cost of graphic design work — and democratize a snooty business.”

This article is ludicrious. I have no words.

(via davidairey)

Googles Search turns more personal

Google is now changing is algorithms on how rankings work on Google. For the first 6 months in 2009 you will start to notice alot of changes with your rankings (Google dancing) as they are currently experimenting new algorithms to cut down on spam and the way results are displayed for users.

Googles Search turns more personal, changing the way SEO works 2009

(via iA)

Kids Kraft Weekly – a regular dose of crafty goodness for young kids

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I subscribe to countless e-mail newsletters. There’s only a handfull though that I will *always* look at the minute I see them appear in my inbox. One of them is Kids Kraft Weekly, a site run by Amber Carvan based in the Blue Mountains of Australia. Each issue of the Kids Craft Weekly newsletter contains a selection of craft ideas – organised by theme – that are cheap, educational, child-friendly and fun. Amber is craft godess extraordinnaire. Her ideas are simple, yet stunning. If you have little ones and are into crafty projects, check out Kids Craft Weekly, subscribe to Amber’s newsletter, and donate a small amount (donate button at the bottom of her newsletter). This woman pours so much love into this wonderful project, she deserves a token of appreciation.

Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design

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Forget All The Rules You Ever Learned About Graphic Design by Bob Gill.

British Design Classics

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I got a wonderful surprise in the mail today: A lovely set of Royal Mail stamp collection featuring British Design classics. Thank you Claire!

Thelonius Monk’s advice to saxophonist Steve Lacy (1960)

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A Genius is the one most like himself.
– Thelonius Monk

Thelonius Monk’s advice to saxophonist Steve Lacy (1960)

Hold on to a good web developer!

Upcomingmove

This coming weekend will be a big moment for swissmiss! My wonderful developer and friend John Ford and I are hard at work ‘packing boxes’ to finally move the site to my own server and reveal the much needed design overhaul. Some of the new functionality inlcudes: a much needed search, better filtering options and even a choice in how you’ll access the posts.

On a personal and ‘appreciation note’: I have never before worked with a developer that is as organized, zen and pleasant to deal with as John. He would actually challenge my designs and say: “Com’on, make it a little harder for me. We can do more than that!” Here’s my advice to anyone who works with developers: If you find a developer gem like John, treat them nice, send them gifts, don’t ever let them get away!

Only five more days until the big move! Hooray! John, you are the best!