The Secret of Apple Design

An informative article exploring Apple's unique and impressive product design. About five pages long; some of the most insightful information comes in the last few paragraphs.

http://www.technologyreview.com/Biztech/18621/page1/

Positive User Experience

A friend of mine recently purchased an item from a Mac store. As she was walking around a sales person asked if she needed help. The sales rep was able to complete the order right there, without the need to go to a cash register or wait on any lines. The rep was able to scan the item, swipe a credit card, bag it and send the receipt to her email address, which automatically displayed once the credit card was scanned, all on the spot. Nice.

The Greatest Long Tracking Shots in Cinema

In a director ’s cinematic bag of tricks the long tracking shot is the boldest way of making a statement. Here's a list of some great ones.

http://dailyfilmdose.blogspot.com/2007/05/long-take.html

unclever

something my old writer and i used to talk about was the notion of unclever. it's a hard place to get to - where the idea and the writing seem effortless, focused and on brand. there's nothing worse than writing that tries too hard (see my post a while ago about 'the noble call of hot stones') - whether it's trying to be clever, trying to be funny, trying to gild the lily. sometimes, a simple sentence delivered in the right voice is all you need.

anyway, here's larry's blog, where he ruminates amiably:
http://meansomething.typepad.com/unclever/

Local Design Event

More based on product/industrial design, but could be cool (they're monthly so if you can't make this one, ther'll be another).
I originally signed up to go, but had to cancel. To RSVP check out this site:

http://productdesign.meetup.com/44/?gj=sj6

Flâneur

Wheatpaste stop-motion animation, no digital manipulation.

Different navigation

Kind of cool interface navigation ...

http://www.axesaone.fr/new_index.php

guerilla marketing

An already old promo

Created by Brazillian agency Ginga Interactive
http://www.agenciaginga.com.br/

Promotion for the release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Tartarugas Ninja)


A full-building projection

they can sing but we're cuter ;)

hey so this is sort of random but i saw this video a couple weeks ago before we moved upstairs and got super excited for our open office. i think we can have just as much fun as them (though we may need to add a few ping pong tables)
enjoy.

http://www.vimeo.com/clip:173714

Coke Rewards Site

Embarrassingly enough, I've been entering my coke caps faithfully for about a year, and always was amazed at how slow, user-unfriendly and just all-out craptacular the experience was...I mean this is Coke! So I was happy to find they redesigned the experience...until I used it. It's even slower and less user-friendly. I'm now convinced this isn't really a Coke promotion but a bizarre social experiment to see how much the average human will go through to get a free trucker hat or subscription to Popular Mechanics.

mycokerewards.com

kate moss gets a font

this is old news, but i still think it is interesting... kate moss has recently had her own font designed for her topshop clothing line (which is getting good reviews). this identity system will be used for all her product sponsorships. seems like she has people carefully sheparding her brand unlike so many other celebs who end up plastering their faces across everything with no real consistency.


http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crblog/kate-moss-the-brand/

Not the first time, but definitely not the last.

This is not news but it is a barrier to great work that wont be going away too soon in the creative industry. Check out what this man has to say.

http://www.bitchwhocodes.com/archives/2007/05/are_developers.html

Boo-Hoo for You!

Funny vid about how smartphone technology in Japan is better than here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xQVnny0LSg&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Egizmodo%2Ecom%2F

nerdy tool: vertus imagemask

apparently makes clipping paths a doddle.
vertus imagemask

This opens up some new possibilities...

so now adobe's media player comes with some new offline functionality/capability. check it out.

http://blogs.adobe.com/deeje/2007/05/beettv_explores_adobe_media_pl.html

Lifelong friendship society

some pals over in williamsbeurgh

http://www.lifelongfriendshipsociety.com

designing for sound

quick read. well worth.

http://www.filmsound.org/articles/designing_for_sound.htm

the czechs

the guys in the czech republic that have been working on motodanica - this is their reel. there's some nice work in there. let's rethink the way we think about product experience.

http://www.imagesfx.cz/reel/imagesFX_2006reel_720x405.mov

once motodanica is live, maybe we'll get jan and the crew to come in to show their work, talk about more stuff.

awesome rexona banner

bannerblog never ceases to amaze

http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/04/exona_v8.php

reality gaming

Starts off as a website, but with links to wikipedia, myspace and other media you realise that this is actually a very clever game set in an alternate gaming reality.

The pace where gaming crosses into marketing, then out again.



http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/start.aspx