Great presentation here from Bill Buxton, Principal Researcher at Microsoft Research. This was from Mix 09 a few weeks back. Silverlight is needed to view.
Bill does a great job articulating the value of experience in the context of design. Like myself, he’s also really big on the value and role of sketching during the design process. He’s even written a book about it.
Allegedly, he’s been brought on to Microsoft to elevate the role of design in the company culture. I have yet to ping a few of my old Microsoft clients to hear their take on this.
The presentation is 20 minutes, but well worth it.
I checked out a few minutes of Scott Guthrie’s presentation which immediately follows. There was a demo of Microsoft’s Expression Web SuperPreview - which had some cool features for cross-browser programming.
As an aside, I love how Bill’s site is completely, and I’m sure intentionally, stripped-down.
My brother-in-law, an aspiring chef, recently gave us A Day at eBulli as a gift. The book is photo journal day in the life of this famous restaurant. To be honest it took me a while to pick it up. It quite literally weighs a ton, and the cover wrap that proclaimed “Best chef in the world” and “Best restaurant in the world” had me put off a bit.
What I expected to see what narcissistic food porn, but was surprised to find a story of authenticity, innovation and creativity disguised as a coffee table book.
EBulli is a restaurant nestled in the hills just outside Barcelona. They received about two million reservation requests per year for only eight thousand available places. For such an exclusive list the price is relatively affordable: €250 per guest including drinks.
A little over a year ago My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way made his first foray into comic books with The Umbrella Academy. His writing was pretty good, but the surrealistic world that he creates is very entertaining. The artwork by the relatively unknown Gabriel Bá is reminiscent of Hellboy’s Mike Mignola, yet clearly has a voice of its own. The stunningly designed and painted covers tie everything up in a nice neat graphical package not seen enough in comics.
This book got a bit too much hype, likely due to Gerard’s rock and roll following. But it’s definitely worth a read. The first run can be picked up in graphic novel form. The new series The Umbrella Academy: Dallas hit the stands this past November. I long ago stopped buying single issue comics, so I’ll have to wait for the trade paperback on this one.
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.
In celebration of the much-anticipated film Watchmen, I’m going to dedicate a few posts over the next couple of weeks to the art and storytelling -form of comic books.
Unless you’re a comic book reader you’re probably wondering why there’s so much hype around this film. Simply put, when this comic book was originally published in 1986-1987 it transformed the medium and began the long road to transforming the public’s perception of the medium.
Up until then comic books where largely looked at as cartoons about men in tights. Watchmen deconstructed the superhero paradigm, added mature themes, and leveraged the medium to tell its story in a way that no other could. It garnered praise both in and out of the industry, and is the only graphic novel to be recognized by Time in their list of “the 100 best English-Language novels from 1923 to the present”. Watchmen was the first comic book to elevate the medium to literature.
The term “graphic novel” is also worth a mention. The twelve-issue series was collected and reprinted and marketed as a graphic novel. This brought comic books out of the comic book stores and magazine racks onto the shelves of book stores and libraries. Gaining visibility to new audiences.
If you’re interested a more in-depth look at the significance of Watchmen can be found here. But really the proof is in the pudding, go out and pick up a copy and see for yourself.
My brother-in-law, an aspiring chef, recently gave us 
A little over a year ago My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way made his first foray into comic books with The Umbrella Academy. His writing was pretty good, but the surrealistic world that he creates is very entertaining. The artwork by the relatively unknown Gabriel Bá is reminiscent of Hellboy’s Mike Mignola, yet clearly has a voice of its own. The stunningly designed and painted covers tie everything up in a nice neat graphical package not seen enough in comics.
In celebration of the much-anticipated film Watchmen, I’m going to dedicate a few posts over the next couple of weeks to the art and storytelling -form of comic books.