Typically Apple’s reputation for innovative design is associated with industrial designer Jonathan Ive. Oft overlooked however is the design of the Mac’s operating system. Cordell Ratzlaff led the team at Apple that developed the design and interaction model for OS X. He’s interviewed in the book Designing Interactions about this and his other exploits at Apple. You can view an excerpt of a video that’s included on a DVD here.
The National Weather Services mission statement states that it exists to provide its services to aid in the “protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy.” Not a small responsibility.
Why is it then that they haven’t updated their communication standards to include upper and lower case in their text advisories. While severe weather is severe weather, WIND ADVISORIES scream at you as much as a TORNADO WATCH. In both cases I’m still likely to PANIC WHEN I READ ALL CAPS and HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME READING IT which FURTHER ADDS TO MY PANIC. In these new days of the Interweb we’re consuming more and more of our timely information on our computers and our mobile devices - all caps doesn’t read quite as well as it did on our old teletypes which we abandoned about 30 years ago.
When people panic they make bad decisions, and bad decisions lead to acts that work against what this agency strives to protect.
Beyond an appreciation of art, as creative and interactive professionals, what can we learn from comic books?
The answer is simple: storytelling.
Whether you are creating an immersive flash experience, a product finder, or a how-to guide you are weaving a narrative for the user.
Pitches, client presentation, creative briefs — all stories to be told.
In its most basic form comic books are story boards. Through masterful storyboards we can construct compelling, entertaining presentations and engaging user experiences.
Even if you’re not into comic books, I highly recommend reading Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics. It really reveals the power of the medium and proves it through by telling its story through the medium. Apple Macintosh co-creator Andy Hertzfeld has called it “one of the most insightful books about designing graphic user interfaces ever written”.
Looking to dip your foot in? Here’s a list of a few graphic novels and series that I’m following or have recently completed. No men in tights.
Y: The Last Man
What if everyone (and everything) on the Earth with a Y chromosone spontaneously died — all but one guy and his monkey. Author Brian K. Vaughan explores what a world run by women could look like. The complete series is available in 10 trade paperbacks, and has been the most talked about comic book over the past 6 years since The Sandman. The movie starts filming soon.
100 Bullets
A crime noir series, that has a bit of a Quentin Tarantino feel to it with intricately woven layers within layers. The story centers around an independent group called The Trust that keeps the balance of power between a number of crime families. This series has been going on for ten years and is set to wrap up very soon with the 100th issue. Almost all issue are collected in trade paperbacks.
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
I picked this one up upon hearing countless praises from industry critics and comic creators alike. Set in Toronto, the story follows jobless 24-year old Scott Pilgrim’s love life and adventures in his band “Sex Bob-Omb”. Somehow creator Bryan Lee O’Mailey fuses a the simple everyday life of slacker with an all-out manga-style battle of the gods. I’ve only picked up the first one, but will definitely be picking up the four others that are currently out.
The Walking Dead
How many more zombie tales can be told? I’ve never been a big fan of the genre, and the premise of this one wasn’t even anything new. But yet again the praises couldn’t be ignored. I read the first trade paperback and wasn’t convinced, but was urged by a fanboy to “stick with it, it gets better”. I’m glad I did.
I was recently invited to a event on the future of digital experiences. The invitation touted that presentations would be given in a fast paced and creative style dubbed Pecha Kucha. I unfortunately did not get the chance to attend, but did do a little Google search on this mysterious technique. The presenter has a little less than seven minutes to go through twenty slides at twenty seconds each. Clearly this isn’t an across-the-boards replacement to all occasions to present, but it certainly has a place and forces the presenter to get to the point and more importantly entertain the audience.
Check out this short article from Wired to learn of its origins, and the fun video demonstration above.
There’s a whole host of sites out there that let people share bookmarked imagery from around the web. These sites are great for creative inspiration, or for just wasting time. Recently launched Elements, doesn’t seem to add anything to the mix. FFFFound! and vi.sualize.us are two of the better ones that also seem to have the most critical mass.
Source: Mashable