Chinwag blogs: design & usability

Robert Rauschenberg on process, change, boredom, and more

Fri, 16 May 2008 17:10:10 +0100

This obituary of Robert Rauschenberg contains some great quotes from the artist…

An improvisatory process was what mattered most to him:

How Lois’s Esquire Cover Could Have Looked

Fri, 16 May 2008 16:05:16 +0100

In New York a couple of weeks ago I popped in to MoMa (well I queued up for ages and then fought my way in) where there is a small but nonetheless worthwhile show of George Lois's famous Esquire covers. On a light table sat this transparency - a working mock-up of one of the most famous magazine covers of all time.

More on the Usage Lifecycle: Lifecycle Messaging

Fri, 16 May 2008 12:45:04 +0100

A great example of the Usage Lifecycle in practice. The other day I wrote about the idea that people go through a progression as they use your software, what I call the Usage Lifecycle. I described how Tripit.com was doing a good job at getting people over the hurdle of Sign-up with several really nice features [...]

AfriGadget: Constrained Creativity

Fri, 16 May 2008 04:24:56 +0100

AfriGadget is a website dedicated to showcasing African ingenuity. A team of bloggers and readers contribute pictures, videos and stories from across the continent. Inspiring stuff.

This guy made a crude helicopter with scrap aluminum and parts from a Honda Civic, an old Toyota and from the remains of a crashed Boeing 747.

D&AD And Graphic Design: What Next?

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:03:48 +0100

And now, the awards in the Graphics categories....

Lost: the D in D&AD

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:03:48 +0100

Hat-Trick Design was nominated for its Lest We Forget stamp in Graphic Design, one of only two nominations in graphics categories this year

D&AD Awards: The Gold Rush

Thu, 15 May 2008 23:03:48 +0100

Chemistry can be fun

Thu, 15 May 2008 17:40:35 +0100

[QUICKTIME http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rf_mar... http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/chemis... 400 255 true true] We were never that bothered by chemistry at school - the lab coat being such a tricky look to pull off and all - but maybe if they'd explained it like this we'd have paid more attention...

Haste is a form of violence.

Thu, 15 May 2008 15:35:10 +0100

I’m an extremely fast paced person and I’m learning to calm down and chill out. In a book I picked up recently this sentence is repeated in every chapter: “Haste is a form of violence.”

Those six words have slapped me across the face a few times lately. I notice that I am in such a rush to get things done that I don’t do them as well as I can. I go through hundreds of support email logs gathering times so I can average my reply speed, and in doing so I see hasty responses that could have been better had I spent just a little more time.

Hot & Cold in London

Thu, 15 May 2008 15:35:09 +0100

Hot and Cold issue three (boxed)