In the design world exists the ever lasting User Experience Flowchart which I’ve created for a multitude of projects giving great visuals to holes and steps within the entire methodology of a task. Well, not as long, but just as informational comes the simple “Dog: Can I Eat” Flowchart. Good stuff.via SwissMiss (source Subtraction with more text about the chart)
“There’s this new trend of organizing books by color. I love this photo by chotda linked via the Rainbow of Books Flickr group. This growing trend is cool but if I were gonna do this, I’d probably have to create a little digital database so I’d be able to find the right book I was looking for. Also, I’d probably be totally OCD if a book was out of place due to a subtle color tone. Jessica at How about Orange points to a San Francisco bookstore Superhero that rearranged all 20,000 books by color. [ via ] Link.”
via Craftzine
Pretty sweet! I’ll have to reorder all my magazines on my bookshelf since they just sit there anyways. This reminds me that sometime when things are done one way by others or systems are designed to be done one way, there’s always a better solution for your needs.
Take for example those contact card binders with lettered tabs on the side, hinting you to keep your contacts in order by letters. We’ll, I started off that way but figured out a better method. I keep my cards in chronological order. The longer I’ve known you, the further you are in the front of the book. If I met you recently, your on the back half where I continue adding cards. Sometimes you remember people more by when you met them rather than by name, and by putting the cards in this order, you have a timeline of event such as college, a conference, a party, or at meeting. Perhaps this doesn’t work for some of you, but it makes for a great timeline book of contacts which works great for me.
Okieee… I’m finally starting to like this now… the sleek iPhone without the phone (service fees). Meet the awesome “iPod touch“. I’m seduced!
Also, their flurry of other iPod updates, including the nano (phatty)iPod which was leaked many weeks ago.
Core 77‘s posted a great “Ultimate Design Student Guide” with tips and tricks all design graduates can relate to in the fields of the Classroom, Dorm Room, Represent, Crash Course, and the nifty Cheat Sheet. If your a newbie in design school you’ll be glad you learned these tricks the easy way.
Other tips:
– If you need to use the machine shop when it’s closed, go to sleep and wake up early rather than staying up all night trying to do something manually.
– Bring a pillow to studio and get a desk with wide wooden planks (Their more comfy on the shoulders)
– If you need to document a ton of sketches use your digital camera instead of a scanner… it’s much faster!
– Don’t wear sandals in the shop nor shorts in most cases.
– Use a pen, carry a sketchbook around 24/7, and for some buy that sweeet portable metal Olfa blade.
– Desk goodies: band-aids, bottle of chewable Vitamin C’s, roll of toilet paper, Mp3 player, too many markers, too many rolls of various tapes, cutting board, string, box of Exactos, toolbox, cork board, small under the desk fridge, craft sticks for mixing, and a trashcan.
– Tape a “You owe me” list on your desk… people give and take all the time.
– Desk Lamp! Most studios have those crappy eye annoying fluorescent tubes that flicker..especially when you have been up 48+ hours.
– Get a Flickr account, document all!
– Start your own blog! 😉
Tons of great acoustic music, awesome food at Veggie Planet, labor day weekend= Club Passims “Cutting Edge of the Campfire Weekend” with over 100 musicians rocking it out all day into the wee hours of the night in Harvard Square! I’ll be floating in and out this four day event ($25=4 day pass) checking out past favorites and awaiting new ones. If your in the area, swing by for some great tunes or dig around their schedule to figure out who you might like. I’ve already spotted one I’d really like to check out; Lindsey Mac.
Cut&Paste was born in NYC 2005 assembling a group of digital graphic artist to do battle in an energy packed bar with over 850 gazers watching their swift Wacom skillz on projected walls Iron Chef style. This years Cut&Paste will hold battles in 11 locations worldwide. I’ve never been to one, but the hype and energy surrounding this growing event is the buzz around town. The Boston battle on September 8th initiates their world tour which I plan to attend, but if your not in the area, hit up one of their other locations:
Boston: Sept 8.
New York City: Sept 15
Portland: Sept 21
San Francisco: Sept 29
Chicago: Oct 6
Los Angeles: Oct 13
London: Oct 20
Berlin: Oct 27
Tokyo: Nov 3rd
Hong Kong: Nov 10
Sydney: Nov 17
video via coolhunting
I’ve been really bad at posting this week and I apologize. I’ve been busy and found little to post. I almost posted about the very cool color guiding “MyCuppaTea” but then got distracted by the fact that Guster was playing live near me in September. After hurdling for tickets which I never bought since their concerts start before work ends, I scrambled online looking for the sold out but ever so cool red “Use Helvertica” shirt which lead me to Helvetica: the film. Somehow this took me to a Flickr collection of business cards which reminded me of my DIY Paint Chip card holders which someone did today though not with paint chips.
Now in my bookmarks were some really random links.. a kind of gross but amusing Frog cleaning his stomach, Martin Klimas and his smashing still photography, Hundreds posing naked on Swiss Glaciers thanks to Spencer Tunick, a kick butt Magnum wine ratchet , two huge people fighting, and the ever so fun visible but invisible public toilet which reminded me of the hilarious and very wrong Japanese toilet pranks.
I’d also like to make a shout out to my friend Andy on his company Interwoven Threads (Look good, Do better) He offered up a few shirts to my readers, so if interested, send me a cool link, I’ll pick a few, and he’ll send you a kick-butt shirt and even let you suggest a charity in your area to donate one to.(You buy a shirt, they donate the same one to the needed)
That’s it for now. Enjoy!
Above: The chaotic aftermath at the annuel Puma sale… yup, that’s a kid staking over her shop-aholic parents box of goodies while they grabbed more!(people bought box loads)
– KipKay.com: Simple DIY everyday hacks.(all videos)
– Vibram Five Finger shoes: These have been out for sometime, and I want still.
– BomBayTV: Fun custom video cards.
– We Feel Fine Project.
– Kitten Surprise: How to break up a kitten fight.
– How to draw a women sketch!(put it on x16)
I first spotted the CableYoYo at CES2005 and never really thought I’d need an extra piece of plastic to manage my small extra corded products such as my mouse, laptop, earphones, keyboard, etc, but I received one as a gift last year and latched it onto my favorite Mouse (red Logitech MX510).
Having to hop around with my laptop a bunch, the CableYoYo has saved me loads of time, frustration, and space. It seems rather un-needed at first, but shortening my mouse cable has freed me of tangling wires in the bag, a cluster of noodling wires next to my laptop, and a few saved seconds every time I pack. Why not just get a bluetooth mouse? Well, I find them a bit slow and jumpy nor do I care to change batteries every few months or bother with an extra USB dongle I can lose… and as far as a charger… I’m not packing another clunky charger with more wires since I already have many for all my other electronics. (I really wished power adapters could be universal like USB for everything)
The Nintendo Wii rocks… now I want a Tii-shirt! In Brown , Pink, or a kids Teal.
Do you have 500+ e-mails sitting in your inbox? If so, shame on you! Get your digital communications gear in tune and get that email mess count down to ZERO every single day! Trust me, it’s worth it! How you might ask; two options: 1) take an hour listen to Merlin Mann (43 Folders) lecture about “Inbox Zero” while at Google (his slides here), or 2) give Mark Hurst book “Bit Literacy” a read. (Marks run CreativeGood in nyc and also runs the incredible inspirational GEL Conference yearly which I’ve attended many times)
I’ve been using a hybrid of these systems for many years now, and I’m not sure where I’d be without it. Many ask me how I manage so many different email accounts, clients, web accounts, etc… and the simple answer is… I keep my inbox down to zero! In the most simple cliff-notes version on how to achieve this system:
– Answer emails asap.
– Do not let emails be your address book/calendar/to do lists.
– Trash the ones you don’t need to read.
– Answer and move emails to folders (this is a step Merlin says not to do, but archive it all).
– Make it a habit to get to zero daily.
You know how right before you leave for a vacation or something, you sit down and hammer out tons of overdue emails, activities, projects, etc…. we’ll basically be that productive every day… with an inbox of zero, your less stressed, can find things much faster, and you feel much cleaner!!!
via Lifehacker (via 43 folders)
A few weeks back, I was in need of an external hard drive, and like most geeks I cruised the internet for reviews, asked opinions from friends, and ventured off to store shelves to see what was hot. After pacing around for more than needed, I finally bought the FreeAgent by Seagate because it seemed clean, was understandable, and it just felt better.
I’ve been incredibly happy with the product and ran into this great post describing someones great experience in the packaging design, which I’ll admit made me buy over the other options because the packaging was so human and sweet. I’d say “simple”, but I don’t like using that word because everyone thinks it means reduction when it actually just means intuition.
Look through the pictures at the post here. (note: the re-wording of the packaging rocks… no mumbo jumbo tech terms… just things us humans ask.)(Also reminds me how Jetblue said “buh bye Red-Eye, Hello to shut-eye“)
