Ben Terrett, of Noisy Decent Graphics, published an insightful post showing the power designers wield in shaping our perceptions of the world. This isn’t England. Is it?
About two years ago I was looking at a map of the world and noticed that Britain seemed disproportionately large.
My companion remarked that this was because in days of yore whoever was drawing the map always made their country look bigger and more important. This nugget of information sticks in the brain.
James Chartrand, of Men with Pens, provokes interesting discussion for those in self-employment, when asking should you turn off your telephone?
Do you question the integrity of Bill Gates because you can’t talk to him? No. Do you view Charles Denson as a suspicious character because he won’t call you? No, of course not. These executives and their distance from interaction are normal.
And yet, we expect everyone else – the regular, average joe people or the common businessman – to be at our beck and call and to respond to every form of communication that we choose to be the right one.
Image copyright: ijsendoom
DT, of Design Sojourn, recommends 30 essential books for industrial designers. Some excellent choices amongst many I’ve not seen before.
I have divided the books into 3 categories… Thinking, Process and Designer Skills.
Ben Yoskovitz, of Instigator Blog, offers some insight into the copycat benefit of startups.
Startups are launching faster than ever and require less capital than they used to — at least in the Web 2.0 world — and that means more opportunity for first movers, but even more opportunity for fast followers. And I think we’ll look at the next 5 years or so in the Web 2.0 world as the “me too” years.
Steven, of Vandelay Design, provides a great overview of what you can accomplish with Effective Use of Blog Sidebars.
While sidebars aren’t the primary focal point of blogs, they still have an important role in usability and appearance. A well-designed sidebar can make it easier for visitors to find what they like, which will keep them at your site longer and improve your overall effectiveness. On the other hand, a poor sidebar can lead to lost and frustrated visitors.
The good people at We Made This have displayed the new Beijing Olympic pictograms.
Min Wang’s team have been working on identity guidelines, pictograms (above), medals, the way-finding systems, the core graphic, the look for the torch relay, and the overall look of the games. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
The pictograms use strokes of seal characters as their inspiration - they’re kind of bonkers aren’t they?
Finally, my little graphic design blog has breached the 5,000 RSS subscriber mark! I think it’s important to celebrate your blog milestones, and this is certainly one of them. Thanks very much to every one of you who continue to read my blog posts. Even if you don’t comment (though please do say hi) I appreciate your visits.
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