Stuff I Like: Watchismo

[ http://www.watchismo.com ]

I could spend way too much time here just looking at all the neat watches they've got for sale.

Pricewise, you're still paying for "designer"-tier work, and it's probably a safe bet that (unless otherwise specified) these are not the chronographs you take on diving trips.

I'm also digging these: [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ]... (I mentioned Yanko Design & watches earlier.)

Not that I have a reason to wear a watch these days. More on that later.

On Webhosting and Domain Names

Please be prepared for a ridiculous wall-of-text.

Over the last 8 hours or so I've muddled through setting up a completely free blog (perhaps a website later?).

Check it out over at [ http://mxdev.x10.mx ].

I even have a fresh .co.cc domain going up as soon as the nameserver changes propogate.

More on all of this after the break. Click the |Comments?| button to proceed.

Infographics: Radiation

Picture-heavy, so I'll include a pagebreak. Just click the [ COMMENTS? ] button, and you'll get to see the pretty pictures.

Contents: Information Is Beautiful & XKCD renders of radiation dosage and symptoms.

Pretty representations of not-so-pretty physics.

Low-content: Watches!

[ http://store.yankodesign.com/fashion/watches ]

Yanko Design is pretty much awesome. I'll probably drop another link here or there- but I find these designs to be fascinating~

I kinda want [ this ] watch, even though I don't really wear timepieces.

Low-content: More gizmodo links.

[ twitter in classrooms? ]
This sounds like it's encouraging the same mentality that has kids texting across the dinner table while they're out on a date, to me.

[ "Performance" bed sheets. ]
The entire bed is like the cold side of a pillow? SIGN ME UP RIGHT NOW.

[ Font designed with screens in mind. ]
Given the expanding market of portable virtual-book machines, I figure this was the next logical step. I predict we will see (at some point) font-bashing based on the screens they're designed for.

Progress!

Gizmodo on font types:

[ Article! ]

If fonts were dogs, Comic Sans would be the one that nobody can quite identify.

I feel like Comic Sans gets a lot of flack for being a slightly unsightly font- but I haven't seen anyone get seriously ruffled over papyrus, so I'm not sure what to think.

Experimenting with inline link-inserts, too.

Stuff I like: Serendipity

A new kind of social network. Surveillance has always had a negative connotation- much like panopticon is a chilling thought to those who know what it implies.

What if we could turn that concept inside-out? What if we became jaded enough about the whole "privacy" shtick and became more interested in networking, meeting other people, and interacting?

A lot of what-if, I suppose- but the thought is what counts.

[ http://www.creativesession.us/2011/04/01/serendipity-social-network-dream/ ]

The concept throws any semblance of privacy out the window and replaces it with the idea that all information is free to access, and your viewport into the information network is a sleek, disc-shaped almost-phone.

Functionality is somewhere between Blackberry and Facebook. Aesthetic is somewhere between Pocketwatch and XMB. Possibility is somewhere between now and eerily soon.

Blogs I like: Matthew James Taylor @ matthewjamestaylor.com

[ http://matthewjamestaylor.com/blog ]

Inside, you'll find a library of articles that cover things that range from search-engine-optimization to elegant design solutions.

Particularly of interest (for me, at least) is [ http://matthewjamestaylor.com/blog/perfect-stacked-columns.htm ], which I'm using for a bit of design work that I'm about to do.

I've been struggling with the finer points of HTML5 and CSS for a week or so, and discovered this resource while looking for others that performed this sort of task.

Speaking of HTML5, I'm wondering if it's at all backwards-compatible.

Something tells me that folks using some extraordinarily-outdated browser will end up having a terrible web experience if it isn't.

Ads are content.

[ http://weblog.muledesign.com/2010/05/ads_are_content.php ]

Ads that you place aside your content are also content- they affect the experience the audience has while viewing your site. This is important, because if your ads are overly intrusive or poorly designed, it can reflect negatively on your content.

Everything published should be elegant and beautifully done- unless it's specifically grungy or intentionally aiming to produce a certain reaction.

Unrelated, but still kinda cool:

[ http://www.dontclick.it/ ]

Techshare: Kuler / Adobe

Adobe's the company responsible for the ubiquitous Creative Suite software bundles- I've had the good fortune to work with the packages at school but don't have access to quite the funds required to purchase such things given the budget that I have the good fortune of wielding.

Fortunately for design-minded folks like myself that also enjoy free stuff, Adobe's given the gift of kuler to everyone. It's one giant crowd-sourced swatch-generator, and it gives rise to plenty of ideas for designing neat things.

I like the template I'm using here, but I'm considering designing my own when I upgrade.

I have to learn CSS and PHP and JavaScript sometime; why not now?

It's amazing what folks can do with five solid colors. (Search zen on the kuler, for instance...)

Any graphic design resources you'd like to share?

Good design, part 3? Fonts in a wall-of-text.

Courtesy of some comments in previous posts, I figured that it wouldn't be right for me to throw words at you without a few pictures to support them. Most text on this page displays (by default) as a serif-heavy typeface. To describe it in a more common fashion, it looks pointy. Sans-serif fonts are the ones that look smoother and cleaner. A great example of sans-serif in design is Apple's branding, viewable here. There's even a documentary about Helvetica, which talks a lot about some of the ideas in design.

I would assume that there are studies that delve into the difference of message impact based on font, but that's not entirely my realm of interest or expertise- I think that things should be clean, consistent, and easily-readable if (and only if) you're trying to get nothing but information across.

There's plenty to be said for sans-serif. It's clean, easily readable, and probably displays better on screens. I'm personally not that fond of typefaces that are otherwise quite boring.

Serif fonts, on the other hand, are my favorite. I find the little accents make it much easier to read and more refined- in the sense that I find a fine wine more refined than a minimalist would find a glass of distilled water.

Here, have an example: Two sentences in two different typefaces.

It is important to choose typefaces with care and attention to detail.


It is important to choose typefaces with care and attention to detail.


The former is slightly larger than the latter.


For what it's worth, most print sources tend to be created with serif fonts, and most online or electronic print tends to be written up with sans-serif typefaces.


I could elaborate for ages on this subject, but I will instead pose a question and save more for later: Do you find serifs agreeable in print? What impact do you think that presentation has upon the audience?

( My previous posts on design are here and here. )

Good design, continued:

I posted a few days ago about the importance of good design. Here, have some more:



To the end of eliminating design that interferes with understanding, I would thusly suggest the following:

No fewer than three short words should fit within a column, unless they are wrapped around a graphic.

Negative space- columns, rows, and the like- should never detract from the message or cause issues with readibility.

Anything even remotely related to typography should be handled with extreme care. The difference between fonts may seem minimal but carries the weight of affecting legibility across screens and between eyes. A font that uses serifs affects the perception of the individual characters. Large flourishes and unusually complex script places less emphasis on the message and more on the delivery.

Choose colors carefully. Colors and chromatography are in and of themselves a complex matter that I don't know enough to speak authoritatively about. Suffice it to say that certain colors look beautiful when accompanied by certain other colors. Finding all of these links - or a way to calculate them - is a science, if not an art. Color can be used to make distinctions, separate space, draw emphasis, and convey messages of their own.

That's all for now. Here's a question for y'all:

What makes something pleasing to the eye?

Ranting, raving: Good design.

THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT

THAT IS WHY I HAVE USED CAPITAL LETTERS

IT HURTS MY EYES AND ANNOYS ME TO NO END WHEN I SEE GOOD CONTENT RUINED BY POOR DESIGN.

/cruisecontrol

Shouting aside, I think this is important to clarify:  Great content can be ruined by poor design.

Excellent design takes work. Excellent design takes risks. Excellent design does not EVER get in the way of content delivery.

Good design is simply elegant.

Bad design is many things, among them:

- Complex
- Distracting
- Unnerving
- Misleading
- Redundant

Those are merely the most obvious of things that can cause issue with design.

I do not mean to suggest that being complex or distracting or misleading is always bad- artwork and similar pursuits that have the visceral reaction of the audience in mind should do their best to take advantage of such possibilities.

What I do mean to suggest is that there are clear and important boundaries that anyone with the reader in mind should be conscious of. Notable among these are the following:

- Clarity of lines
- Ease of viewing
- Stimulus of thought

Design should never be uniform; to suggest that everyone remain constrained by the same unrealistic standards is wrong and unethical. Tastes vary, too- but I think it is fair to say that websites that are difficult to navigate and content that is difficult to process discourage the audience from participating and reduce the efficacy of communication.

More to come later this week, I think.

What makes for good design? Your thoughts, please.