Posts
The Optimizer
Every designer is wired differently. Some people are idea people, some people are artists. I'm an optimizer.
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Indistinguishable from magic
I love video games. I'm terrible at most of them. But I'm a sucker for a game with a good story. Read / 14 Comments
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Airport express
Recently I learned two things about interaction design and user experience from waiting in lines at the airport. Read / 14 Comments
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Shouts and echoes
There have been some situations lately that have got me thinking a lot about the Internet as a megaphone for personal communication. Read / 7 Comments
Ephemera
Listen
Volume One /
She & Him
As if Zooey Deschanel could get any more charming, she also happens to sing like a particular brand of female vocalists that nobody pays to record anymore — sort of Carole King by way of Julie London. Add M. Ward and a couple of vintage romantic covers and this is an album I like more every time I put it on.
Read
The Road /
I’ve never been affected by a book the way I was by this one. The themes are about the biggest we can get our heads around, and the closest in. The prose is as stark and unsparing as the world it inhabits. I tried reading it in pieces, but I couldn’t sleep between, so I had to finish it in one go. I cried like a baby for the last ten pages and for a long time afterward. It’s the best fiction I’ve ever read, but it’s bigger than fiction. It really is something else.
Watch
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford /
Andrew Dominik
I couldn’t wait to see this movie, and I wasn’t disappointed. Such a perfect balance between all the elements that make a great movie: amazing cinematography, impeccable pacing, fascinating performances, pitch-perfect writing.
Links
- iPhone GUI PSD This set of iPhone UI elements for mockups is pretty amazingly well-done. Should come in handy if I ever end up designing anything for the iPhone.
- The Framework Age Jeremy's notes from what looks like a great AEA presentation by Liz Danzico: "On the web, we’re making the same transition from classical to jazz. We’re improvising. We’ve moved from a hard-coded system of building pages to an open system of creating participatory environments."
- Schweppes slow motion balloons ad I always feel like a sucker when I like an ad this much, but this one is very pretty.
- Understanding Web Design Thanks to Jeremy for live-blogging the best of AEA. Looks like a nice presentation from Zeldman, including this choice quote: "It’s hard being a web designer. The unmotivated need not apply."
- Cyberstar The Chicago Tribune ran a glowing profile of my good friend (and EveryBlock cofounder) Adrian in their Sunday magazine. I can't wait to see the accompanying photos!
- Batman trailer acted out by kids This couldn't be any more awesome.
- "The Curious Job of Kevin Cornell" Wow, I can't wait to get my hands on Kevin's graphic novel adaptation of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." Looks beautiful.
- Putting Our Hot Heads Together Very nice ALA piece on the ingredients of productive online community discussion.
- Narratives and Interactivity Still Misunderstood "The choose-your-own-adventure-esque choices that I make in game mean nothing if I do not already buy into the world as a living, breathing, place, where my choices matter not just to me but the game world itself." Yes, yes yes!
- California Supreme Court rejects noncompete clauses This seems like it will be a big deal for a lot of Bay Area companies.