Erik Gibb
design

When Lialina writes about what she calls the “Starry Night Background,” a popular web design conceit of the mid-90s, it’s hard not to feel a tinge of nostalgia. I haven’t seen a web page use a tiled jpeg of outer space as its background image in years, and, seeing one again helped me remember how excited I was about the internet when I first started to use it, how limitless it seemed. Still, as captivating as it may be, Lialina reminds us that it is basically impossible to put type on such dense constellations, and points out that these backgrounds aren’t, in fact, really appropriate for anything. “Scientific texts, personal home pages, cinema programs, pathfinder image galleries, it’s always wrong.” As the web became more ’serious’ and ‘designed’, starry backgrounds began to disappear.

But why? Graphic designers relish the constraints and pre-existing rules that govern most off-line mediums. Typically, too, they share a deep engagement with vernacular typography, from painted signs to punk flyers. So why did we so willingly annihilate the clumsy, yet oddly charming (and pervasive) graphic language that came built-in to the early web? If anyone is equipped to solve the problem of how to effectively use a starry night background, it’s graphic designers. (Read More)

Continue reading “Design Observer: writings about design & culture” »

You spent a good deal of time working on the revamped UI for NNW 3.0. What was the toughest UI choice you had to make? The easiest?

They’re all tough decisions. The hardest thing may be nuking the stuff I think is cool but that nobody else likes. On the other hand, that may be the easiest thing, because the only person disappointed is me. (Read More)

Some user testing would help inform this, but he’s definitely in the right mindset

Continue reading “5 questions with Brent Simmons, creator of NetNewsWire” »

Their creations, on display in the museum garden until Sept. 23, have a sort of forehead-thumping “Why didn’t someone think of that before?” quality.

For example, one of the simplest and yet most elegant designs tackles a job that millions of women and girls spend many hours doing each year — fetching water. Balancing heavy jerry cans on the head may lead to elegant posture, but it is backbreaking work and sometimes causes crippling injuries. The Q-Drum, a circular jerry can, holds 20 gallons, and it rolls smoothly enough for a child to tow it on a rope.

Continue reading “Design That Solves Problems for the World’s Poor - New York Times” »

Glowcap is an ordinary pillcap with built-in connectivity & computation that encourages behavioral feedback loops with family, remote loved ones, & care-givers.

an orange glow encourages users to take their medicine, up to 4 times per day. a glowcap can also send an email or call a mobile phone as an urgent reminder to take the medicine, & can generate an automatic progress report for the patient & her doctor each month.

via engadget and infosthetics

Continue reading “Ambient pill cap sends cues to take your meds” »

Originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk

It is used by more than 100,000 commuters a day, visited by as many as a million tourists a month, and crossed by 40 million drivers a year. Its bold beauty is staggering, its mystique legendary. (Read more)

Continue reading “Golden Gate Bridge: Happy 70th Birthday” »

YouTube Tests New User Interface with Thumbnail Previews, “Time Stamps” and More……

YouTube has just begun to test a user interface with new with thumbnail previews of related clips.

It also creates a destinct url for spot in a video. So, you don’t need to watch a whole video to see the clip of dog singing to get the good part, you can just create a location within the video. This functionality was part of Google Video, which is shifting considerable resources to YouTube. More enhancements to come.

via BeetTV and Google

Continue reading “YouTube Tests New User Interface with Thumbnail Previews, “Time Stamps” and More……” »