Dude, so OMG (JK, LOL) et al.

Presidential hopefuls notwithstanding, Kaplan may have topped the chart for the lamest myspace friend ever*.

All LOL's aside, this is pretty much an ad for Kaplan's new line of ipod based test prep materials -- which led me to wonder if there's a point where some of us academic design types will have to start making interfaces for ipod course guides. Or how about campus maps? The 2009 catalog?

Maybe I'm just jealous because Kaplan has 960 more friends than I do, but designing for ipods sounds like kind of a drag.

*While Kaplan is by far the worst, on the other end of the spectrum Gabe Kaplan could be the best friend you'll ever have.

Got coprolite?

via an e-mail to Webnet from Claudia Morgan, Web & Multimedia Coordinator, HRB Communications, UCOP

Sometime back I asked for questions to ask prospective web designer candidates. I received a number of good suggestions (thanks!) and have been asked by other members of this listserv—who were also hiring—for a list of these suggested questions.

Well, I want to add to the list an article I found (with the introduction):

The Web Professional Test
I’m of the mind that those of us who are Web professionals should be tested as part of qualifying for our jobs. Just as writers and others are.

The days are over (in truth, they never really started) when it worked to equip the inexperienced with WYSIWYG editors and turn them loose on the Web.

Web professionals need to perpetually cultivate a broad and in-depth skill set. If you are not motivated to do this, you quickly become a technological coprolite.

And while the specifics depend to some extent on the size and composition of the Web team, the more you can offer, the better.

So in addition to the usual interview questions, here is how I would test: More >

Let's discuss amongst ourselves. Do you agree with Rose Pruyne?

S'mores and kerning

I thought I was kind of a nerd, but at least I'm not showing up to this (full disclosure: I did, however go here.)

Alternately, check out FONTSELF. This is a pretty alpha project that seems to be aimed at providing the ability to create fonts that preserve the gestures of a given handwriting and the original look of the drawing appliance (ball-point pen, pencil, ink, paper, etc.)

Looks like they're promising an online tool for uploading drawings, adjusting metrics and kerning, and possibly an adobe plug-in for using the faces off of the interweb. As of now, you can look at it online and wish that it existed -- like the iPhone!

The Human Camera

via DRAWN!

Stephen Wiltshire, artist


Truly spellbinding! Thanks, Connie!

Love The Tufte

via New York Magazine via popurls

I like to think of Edward Tufte as simply The Tufte. I don’t do this to demean him (‘The Tufte’ being aurally akin to ‘The Hoff’); it’s more of an expression of “He’s the man.” Again, in a positive sense, not in a socio-oppressive sense. Okay, that’s too much explanation.

Anyway, if you’d like to read more about The Tufte, his charts, his fans, why he thinks PowerPoint is evil, etc., head on over to Beautiful Evidence at New York Magazine.

UPDATE: And, as Kathryn pointed out, Tufte is coming to town.

Safari, Windows, Apple, Microsoft, font rendering

via popurls

Now that Apple has made their Safari Web browser available for Windows (Why? Macworld proposes at least two reasons), you can see on-screen font rendering Apple-style vs. Microsoft-style side-by-side.

To see the comparison, you’ll have to be using Windows XP or Vista and have downloaded the respective Safari 3.0 beta. Then, just launch Safari and Internet Explorer, go to the same Web page and compare. Side-by-side.

Or, you can just read this article at Joel on Software.

WWDC Keynote yesterday, DA meeting today!

If you were underwhelmed by Steve Jobs’ keynote at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) yesterday, then perhaps today’s Design Alliance meeting from 12–1:30 p.m. will add some excitement back to your life.

(Really, the “new” features in Leopard didn’t wow you? EA Games on Mac OS X? No? What about Safari on Windows? Not really? Wow. Tough crowd. Okay, see you at the meeting.)

(In case it’s not clear, Steve Jobs is not coming to the DA meeting. Just wanted to make sure my potentially misleading headline wasn’t actually misleading.)

Design Alliance meeting tomorrow

Okay, folks,

I’ve decided to make up for last week’s short notice in announcing tomorrow’s Design Alliance meeting—

June 12, 2007
12–1:30 p.m.
Residential and Student Services Programs
2610 Channing Way (just up from Bowditch)
4th Floor Berkeley Room

—by making constant reminders of said upcoming meeting.

In case you didn’t get Friday’s reminder/update, here’s some of what the meeting will include:

• A presentation from the 2006 CASE Design Institute, “Visual Branding: Centralized and Decentralized Models”
• A revisit of a question from last year’s Design Alliance general meeting, “How can the Design Alliance serve you?”
• A discussion on Design Alliance forays into electronic communication

Okay, just eight or ten more reminders to go before tomorrow’s meeting. ;-)

"think with the senses, feel with the mind"

The Venice Biennale just opened!!

Romanian artist, Dan Perjovschi, who makes drawings with markers on Museum walls, is included in the Biennale and can be seen here drawing at the MOMA in NYC.

If you scroll across the bottom of the Part II video of him, there's a nice video of Barry McGee working as well.

Not sure of the relevance of this all but Calixto is not in today so I'm going art wild!

500 years of white girl portraits

This kinda blew my mind...

Adobe Reader Prints to FedEx Kinko’s

via Macworld

As a former member of the Amalgamated Coworkers Kinko’s Federation United* (ACKFU) my nose hairs stand on end whenever there’s a whiff of FedEx Kinko’s in the air. Today my olfactory danger sense is piqued by the scent of “Adobe, FedEx Kinko’s pair up to ease doc printing.”

So how have these two (three?) companies eased up document printing?

With a button—[Send to FedEx Kinkos].

It actually sounds like it might work.

*ACKFU is not a real federated union. Acronym is not based on any organization, living or dead.

Next Design Alliance meeting: June 12th

Greetings, all,

Sorry for the short notice, but the date has been finalized for the next
Design Alliance meeting!

Set your calendars for:

June 12, 2007
12–1:30 p.m.

And your maps for:

Residential and Student Services Programs
2610 Channing Way (just up from Bowditch)
4th Floor Berkeley Room

Yes, folks, that’s next Tuesday. An agenda for the meeting is coming soon.

Logo Drama Unfolding

The thrill of victory. The agony of defeat. What will it be? And more to the point, What the heck is that thing?

At least it's a design drama that's hitting the mainstream press (BBC News) and the underground (and dangerously risque) design blogs (like London's b3ta) alike. In fact, someone is already compiling the press response.

Most impressive, in terms of the power of design, is that medical experts are theorizing that the logo may induce epileptic fits.

Google Maps sees all…

…in even greater detail.

This one’s probably old news by now, but in case you haven’t been checking the Interwebs lately, the latest cool/privacy-shatteringly-frightening tool to come from Google is Street View.

Street View is part of Google Maps, and before you can say “Oh yeah, I saw the satellite photo thing, like, a year ago” let me point out that Street View was just launched this week. And, before you can ask “Okay, smart guy, if Street View isn’t the satellite photo thing, then what is it?” let me provide you with two links:

• Goofy Google Tour of Street View
• Street View of Where I’m Blogging from

Reactions in the office have ranged from mildly amused to completely horrified to consumed with chafing and rage (though that may have nothing to do with Street View).