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.
Last week Microsoft premiered a vision of the future titled “2019”, and it’s pretty cool.
Not surprisingly surface computing plays a big role — but doesn’t it always in these future stories? It’s typically pretty easy to find flaws in the interaction design of these explorations, but that’s not the point. They provide great inspiration to get the gears fired up and the imagination cooking.
There’s a longer version of the video and some screen shots of the interfaces here — the commenters on this site are a bit skeptical of Microsoft’s ability to deliver on this future.
I am just wondering of they seem to be so good at predicting the future yet always under deliver…
… there seems to be a serious communications breakdown somewhere between innovation and realization…
Let’s cut them a little slack. They delivered Surface - so hey, there’s a shred of proof that good ideas can ... um, surface.
A few weeks ago Fast Company released their annual Fast Company 50, The World’s Most Innovative Companies. I’ve always liked how they included agencies in their list — this year The Barbarian Group, TBWA\Worldwide, and Crispin Porter + Bogusky. IDEO of course is always a staple.
They also include top 10 lists by industry. I was surprised to see Pentagram on the design list. There’s no question that they’re an amazing design firm, but I’ve never thought of them as innovative, nor have I ever heard any other design professional classify them as that as well.
Which brings me to the one thing that about the Fast Company 50 that irks me: they don’t reveal their methodology — if in fact there even is one. But I guess that would only really matter if anyone really cared. Do they? Does the Fast Company 50 carry any clout? Are there any other innovation lists out there that matter?
At any rate, as humans we love our lists ... so enjoy.
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.
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.