Belatedly I finished John Maeda‘s book, The Laws of Simplicity, which outlines ten laws for balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology and design. In effect he is building on the “Less is More” principle, popularized by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (originally spoken by Robert Browning in 1855.) I’ve been a long admirer…
Category: design
When a Display Becomes Architectural
The video wall inside the IAC building, Frank Gehry’s New York City landmark is huge. At this scale is ceases to be a “display” screen and comes into the realm of the architectural, where it starts to define the character of the space. This is very high on the list of places to visit next…
Messy Desktop Interface
You don’t see too many new interface designs for organizing “stuff” on your PC. Bumptop (see TED video) one is interesting and amusing because it accommodates “messiness” better than any other interface out there. I love designer Bruce Mau’s An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth that articulates the way that creative people work. #25 in a…
Intuitive: definition
In his thoughtful article, Intuition, pleasure, and gestures, Jonathan Korman of Cooper crafts the most elegant definition of the word “intuitive” I have ever come across: Intuitive: Easy to explain, powerful in its implications, impossible to forget.
Buying a Microwave and the Conspiracy of Design
[A]lthough poor design is never excusable, when people are in a relaxed situation, the pleasant, pleasurable aspects of the design will make them more tolerant of difficulties and problems in the interface.
It’s so easy… a child can use it
In this case a baby and an iPhone – I am sure this video has made its rounds, but in case you haven’t seen a baby "getting" the iPhone’s intuitive interface. This is especially relevant for me now that the company I work for is in the business of developing mobile phone interfaces.
Open-Sourcing Design Ideas
If you haven’t already, subscribe to the podcast of TED‘s inspirational presentations on iTunes. I’ve long lamented the fact that their podcasts were video podcasts that you can’t use on a 2nd gen iPod nano. I’ve been lusting for a new video playing iPod nano. But I just discovered the other day that they have…
Designer > Templates > Sketchbook > YouTube
It seems that all paths lead to YouTube these days. I came across these totally by accident, so I am sure others have blogged about this already. Paula Scher of Pentagram created a bunch of stationary design templates as part of HP’s new What do you have to say campaign. Petty sweet. The Pentagram site…
Architecture Meets Typography
I never thought I’d see a literal representation of architectural typography. [via thought bucket]