Garamond Powerline
Photo collage as type. Love experiments like this.
The London Underground Map
Short documentary on the design of London’s tube map. Part of the BBC’s Design Classics series.
Frontline: A Class Divided
Classic Frontline video about a 3rd grade teacher’s in-class experiment in discrimination. Particularly poignant given the ugly race and religion based hatred that has been boiling up in our political process as of late. There were moments in the video where all I could do was hold my head in my hands. It was shocking seeing such ugly things emerge in young children over the course of only a few minutes. I’d like to think it was in part because of the prevailing culture of the time, but I fear things aren’t so different now.
ILoveSketch - Paper-like 3D model sketching
Very cool video demonstrating a pen/tablet driven 3D model sketching program that incorporates some of the affordances of analog pen and paper drawing. Drawing, adding guides and changing views look really fluid to use. Love the sketchbook metaphor.
Streetsblog: Parisian Bus Rapid Transit
Nicely done short film profiling Paris’ bus rapid transit system Le Mobilien. They claim the BRT lane is also intended to be used by cyclists, but it seems inevitable that as a cyclist you would have a bus bearing down on you in short order.
Routefinder: World’s Earliest SatNav
Wonderfully odd wristwatch with tiny scrolling maps created in England in the 1920’s. Along with minimal route information (cross streets, landmarks) the scrolls also included mileage information.
Thoughts on Interaction Design
Jon Kolko put his book on Interaction Design online.
Signs of Interaction
“Visual signs, representing of interaction affordances.” Flickr set by Timo.
Data Visualization: Trimet Weekday - 4am till Midnight
Very cool video visualization of Portland’s public transit system activity. Kind of looks like a blob of leeches are loose in the city!
Helvetica bold should lighten up
Tee hee, punny type shirt. I’d be all over this if it weren’t $50.
All Streets - Ben Fry
A conceptually related follow up to Fry’s US zipcode map: “26 million individual road segments. No other features (such as outlines or geographic features) have been added to this image, however they emerge as roads avoid mountains, and sparse areas…”
Stanford’s Human-Computer Interaction Seminar on iTunes U
Wow, awesome. “36 lectures by people such as Bill Moggridge, Bill Buxton, Elizabeth Churchill, Paul Dourish and Donald Norman.”
Dramatic Features in Interaction Design
Talk by Chris Conley at the Interaction 08 conference exploring how elements of drama can be incorporated into interaction design. Case studies include the iPhone’s wiggling icons and Pixar’s story development process.
Wooster Collective: Joshua Allen Harris’ Inflatable Sculptures
Seeing the city in a new and creative way. Subway air vents as a street art opportunity. Something poetic about how the creatures come to life with the rhythm of the subway.
Moonwalk Map
Very cool map detailing Armstrong and Aldrin’s landing on the moon! I like how it combines traces of the lunar geography with their paths and activities. The soccer field underlay communicates well the scale of the area. Nicely visualized.
Bringing Medical Devices Home
As medical devices increasingly become a part of outpatient care, designers will need to consider how best to create devices that will be used in the home and operated by patients themselves.
Videos of Interaction 08 Presentations
Fantastic! Putting People First has a roundup of presentation videos from the Interaction Design Association conference that just finished up.
Design Thinking & Innovation - Tim Brown
Talk by Tim Brown of IDEO given at MIT.
Eames Lounge Chair Debut in 1956 on NBC
Interview with Charles & Ray Eames on the Arlene Francis “Home” show broadcast on the NBC television network in 1956. Neat time-lapse depiction of assembling the chair towards the end!
Dieter Rams - Ten principles of good design
A summary of Dieter Rams ten principles for good design, and an article written by him in 2001. The first: “Good design is innovative.” The last: “Good design must be ‘the least designed’ as possible!”
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Portfolio: Dieter Rams
Wallpaper magazine assembled this gallery of work by designer Dieter Rams. Includes many of the iconic pieces he designed for Braun in the 60’s.
Jun Murakoshi Design
Stacked stools evoke sculpture, stored chairs double as a clever bookcase. Nice, simple design.
New Work: ‘Dairy Today’ - Pentagram
Pentagram’s striking redesign of the trade magazine Dairy Today. They certainly achieved their goal of making the cover memorable and visually impactful. I wonder what the farmers have to say about it!
From observation to design insights
Some thoughts on the purpose of collecting informal observations of “thoughtless acts” encountered in the course of daily life. Some of these reasons resonate with me as I think about why I collect cameraphone photos of design-related things I run across.
Insight & Innovation: Design Research - Jan Chipchase
Video download of a talk by the Indiana Jones of the design research world, Jan Chipchase. He discusses his research topics and methods, why his work is valuable and how it’s used by designers at Nokia.
Hello
John is currently thinking and designing in San Francisco.
Projects
Message Muni
A simple and forgiving text messaging service for San Francisco Muni arrival times.
DSButtons.com
DS Buttons are an invitation to play.
Collaborators
Adam DuVander
of WifiPDX and Simplicity Rules fame.
Josh Heumann
Polaroid alchemist extraordinaire.
Sean Madden
The Pixelnomad.
Name Redacted
Qué mysterioso.
Tom Watson
Stays up late over at 110am.