Loving this site because I wasn’t sure if I was the only person that did stuff like this when I was bored/frustrated at the status quo of information design. Best part is the resulting visual conversation that emerged from the widely acknowledged need for the boarding pass overhaul, which is surprisingly carrier agnostic. I love how the process is revealed from rough sketches to finished design to someone adding the most personal of touches (necessary with a crowded market of identical offerings) below. Via Core77.
I don’t remember which Twitter feed led me to this site but it’s definitely worth spending some time on based on variety alone. When it comes to infographics there are plenty of sites dedicated to them, such as graphjam and flowingdata, but few recognize and acknowledge the legacy of geographic maps, newspapers, and textbooks from which they originate. Little more than visual shorthand for displaying data sets these have become increasingly important as of late due to the scale of data points in the cases of finance and the environment. We all heart it when people get witty (or use super clean graphics) in order to enforce their point though.
Information Architects posted a great article on designing for the ipad you can find here. It makes mention of the dangers of mixing UI controls and other visual metaphors as well as the best philosophy for viewing the ipad, and how it changes the typical Human/Computer interaction paradigm. It does seem to be Apple’s reinterpretation of computing, but it’s too early to tell how this may effect individual applications as opposed to the obvious reprecussions to the consumption and (eventual) production of multimedia content.
Analog Human/Digital Machine is another in a long line of love notes between Core77 and Portigal Consulting. It’s little more than a conversation about how the fundamental differences between complex data-based systems and perceptions based in evolutionary needs maintain the importance of interaction paradigms. You would think that no one else is having these thoughts based on the pretentious nature of the article, but if you don’t know the history it makes for a nice read.
Oh, and Pasta and Vinegar posted a really nice subset of images from the analog-style paris metro map I wish I had known about when I was living there in ‘99. Images are difficult to read in terms of implementation, but the accompanying content has a nice spin on things.
Harvard Business Review’s UX-centric blogging has been on the rise as of late. Unfortunately they aren’t really covering new topics in the UI/Experience space as much as they are addressing issues the larger business community is unaware of outside of an errant RSS feed or two. The Social Media Bubble and Why Design Thinking Wont Save You are still worth reading, but bear in mind the intended audience–if you read my blog, it’s most likely not you. Either way, their approach of guest bloggers will most likely serve them well over time in this space, they know enough to call in experts.
I want one, but want to build one myself even more. These hand made beaties are crafted from 5/8” beech wood casing, and old-school red LED clock smoked acrylic faces . Love the faux speaker pattern. From a components and wiring standpoint these really don’t seem all that difficult to be honest. If you prefer to pay for that DIY look all seem to be around the $100 range, you can get them here.
Cannondale decided that it was time to cash in on the whole fixie movement (in appearance only) with it’s OnBike. The frame welds are typically clean, as one would expect from the company but the upcharge is in the details–some impressive hardware upgrades. Most prominent is the “System Integrated Chain Case Technology”, a single-sided, fully enclosed chain case that is a structural part of the bike frame. Designed to be a maintenance free, clean and efficient drive system it has 9 internal gears. It also rolls around with disc brakes and internal cable routing. Love the way the sidearm is cantilevered, enabling this to leapfrog the Bowery ‘84. Via UnCrate.
Oh, if only you could apply ellipses and draw items like they were vector art…then you would have ‘Rhino Lite,‘ which isn’t such a bad idea with all the underpowered tablets that will be on the market this time next year. Via Zockey’s Twitter Feed.
Beware anything comprised of 60,000 fiber optic cables….and movies with terribly long load times. Worth the wait by the way, since most people (like myself) have seen pictures, which are impressive but don’t quite do the structure justice.
Sagan Piechota Architecture pushes ‘Form over Function’ almost as far as residential housing can go with the Division Knoll Residence in Big Sur, California. Use of simple materials (glass, stone, wood, copper) in unusually dramatic proportions help to put the focus on the environment more than the house itself. Can’t wait to see how that copper ages and stains those nice blue-tinted windows….
“It’s not really about the architecture itself, but more about the architecture as a vessel for looking at the view,” is a bit of an understatement, but what about the lack of privacy? Turns out there is ample structure below grade since the building is cut into the hill it sits on. At least I hope that’s the case, regardless this does have more personality than today’s post-post modern boxy boxes that I heart so much. Via Dezeen.
About time someone mapped this out in order to explain it to the masses. Unfortunately the details are lost with a digital representation of the chart in question. Purchase one of the 200 print run limited edition here for $45. Via InformationIsBeautiful.
I love how someone mashed these two up. As such I wish I could cite it properly, having come from a random Tumblr site. What makes it wickedly effective is how well the logos scale to each package–it’s seamless enough to make most people do a double take. Anti-Pop Art, anyone?
