April: Inspirations & Observations

Welcome to the April issue of Inspirations & Observations. This is my monthly reflection on the 5 things this month that inspired me, and 5 things that were cheesy, ineffective or just plain boring.

Inspirations

1. The illustration and collage work of Eric Carle
   
   
   
2. Veerle's Blog: http://veerle.duoh.com/. She has some amazing and beautiful tutorials.
   
   
   
3. Mystwood self-contained accommodations. It's called Mystwood for a reason, look at this magical morning fog...We spent 4 days there with the quiet stillness of Nature. It was one of the most inspiring experiences.
   
   
   
4. Alice movie by Jan Svankmajer. I've blogged it earlier this month in the collection of animation techniques, but it's just really really amazing work.
   
   
   
   
5. The gloss!!! I am talking here about the Web 2.0 craze that makes graphics on screen look shiny. I know it's overused, but it's fun and sometimes it does have place. There are many tutorials and way to do it. Here is the tutorial I used referred to by Good Tutorials site:
   
   
   

Observations

It seems that this month few visual bothers jumped at my sight. My eyes must have been wide-open with awe and inspiration, and it's been more of the soul-searching work. Hence, I'll list personal internal challenges that came this month:

1. Confidence, or lack of it, sometimes cripples my creative flow...although an event recently occurred that made me decide that I will always believe in myself from now on. I got High Distinction on my recent assignment, and I remember having many doubts about it before.
   
2. City noise has been especially prominent this month. Perhaps my time at Mystwood has created a standard to compare with, and I am craving the peace and quiet.
   
3. Feeling that I don't have enough technical skills with CS4 suite, while everyone else is a whiz. I know it's an illusion, and I just need to keep working at it until proficiency is reached.
   
4. Time. How do I get all the assignments done, and still have time to relax and enjoy!?
   
5. And finally, I found one visual disturbance on a Pizza box from my beloved Reggio Pizzeria. Look at that kerning between P and i!
   
   
   

Previous months

• March: Observations & Inspirations
  
• February: Observations & Inspirations
• January: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

March: Inspirations & Observations

Welcome to the March issue of Inspirations & Observations. This is my monthly reflection on the 5 things this month that inspired me, and 5 things that were cheesy, ineffective or just plain boring.

Inspirations

1. Hand-rendering with pen & ink. Oooh, we did an assignment of rendering fur texture with pen & ink, and it was the most calming activity. Can't post the result yet though, the teacher still has it. But here is a sample from a Flickr user hanssolo.
   
   
   
2. Paper craft. I am discovering a whole world of these crafty designy things I can get into. I already love making things by hand, so it's perfect! Here is my current idol, Yulia Brodskaya.
   
   
   
3. And this month I discovered scrapbooking. I've heard the term before, but I didn't know what it was. Check out Shappy Pricess, really great "digital scrapbook" kits.
   
   
   
4. "The Artist's Way" book by Julia Cameron. It's about awaking the artist within, getting in touch with our innate creativity. I feel the changes happening already.
   
   
   
5. "How to Get Ideas" book by Jack Foster. First part of the book describes the mindset we need to have to attract more ideas. Second part is a step-by-step manual for getting winning ideas. It's interesting that "The Artist's Way" and "How to Get Ideas" frequently give the same advice. It's all connected, describing the same reality from different angles.
   
   
   

Observations

1. Using "click here and here and..." as anchor link text. It would be a lot more useful, if the link stated exactly what I'll find after clicking it. For example "learn about the psychological deviations of underwater worms." Ok, now I know exactly what's behind the anchor-text door.
   
   
   
2. Redesign of Hotmail interface leaves me asking "Where is the send button?!!!"
   
   
   
3. Sydney rail tickets, made of paper. First, I can only buy a ticket for today, it expires at the end of the day. Second, it's a paper ticket that cannot be re-used. Third, I have to put it through machine and wait for it to come out. Fourth, I can only buy one ticket at a time, no buddy rides. Need I go on? Really slows down the morning rush-hour commute.
   
   
   
4. Mini Dell ad. Trying to look like the currently popular floral style, but doesn't make it.
   
   
   
5. All respect to SitePoint, but no discrimination here. This ad was part of the newsletter I received, and I think it's feels like it was actually made by a developer. Literal metaphors for "slow" and "fast"...where is the zesty idea?
   
   

Previous months

• February: Observations & Inspirations
• January: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

February: Observations & Inspirations

Let's just get right into it, 5 things that I found inspiring this month, and 5 things that could be improved.

Inspiring Bits

1. Cubeecraft, perfect place to learn hand skills, to play and to create something for your workspace. Here is my Cubeecraft creation, Italian Spiderman.
   
   
   
2. http://www.unarmedjavascript.com/ website that teaches JavaScript. What I love about it is that it starts the lessons from the bottom of the page, and you have to work your way up.
   
   
   
3. http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ tool to organize everything. My use of it ranges from keeping track of a todo list, to managing agile projects for my clients.
   
   
   
4. Helvetica Movie
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Watching sunrises... here is my photo from Lady Elliott Island, at about six in the morning
   
   
   

Annoying Bits

1. Airport security. It exists solely to create a perception of safety (or presence of a threat), and it greatly slows down travelers.
2. Cinebuzz asks you if you want to buy discounted $8 tickets, at the same time giving you the option of full-priced $16 tickets. Clicking the hint link yields a not-so-helpful help box.
   
   
   
3. Websites that don't let me pay on the site, i.e. only have pay-by-phone. Nowadays, existence of Paypal makes this inexcusable.
4. Slow or no e-mail responses to inquiries. Usually, if I don't get a response within 24 hours, I take my money elsewhere.
5. Facebook Visual Shelf app has got the social element right, but not navigation. I always find myself puzzled when looking for a page in the app. In addition, there is an ever-present "books" bubble that hovers over My Collection, regardless of what page you are on.
   
   

Previous months
January: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

January: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

photo by dgermony

This is the first edition of my "monthly reflections" commitment, made as part of my 2009 New Year's resolutions.

I'll start with the "bad and the ugly", and finish off with what inspired me this month to leave a nice aftertaste. After all, why focus on the negative? Just learn from it and move on.

Not so cool

1. Sites that are slow to load. Yes yes, everyone hates slow connections. I get it. But what I am referring to are sites that make me sit through a huge flash (or otherwise) download without offering anything to chew on.
   
2. Unnecessary repetitive tasks. For example, copying & pasting my contacts into the Hallmark address book. Most e-mail and social applications provide APIs to import the contacts data.
3. When a new version of a site or product completely changes the location of navigation items. The upgrade of Microsoft Office to 2007 version always makes me feel stupid... looking for the basic buttons.
   
4. Being lost on a site. I like to always know which section of a website I am in, and if there is anything that requires my attention.
5. Colgate packaging. I hear it costs more to make the shiny package than the content inside. What?!! What am I paying for?
   

Now that the yackie stuff is out of the way, let's move on to...

Inspiring Stuff

1. Re-design of MyFonts.com website. I love this site, but I've always wondered when they would catch up with the times. The new version is great because it let's me interact with the fonts via sliders and dynamically updating controls, while still feeling familiar and friendly. One feature I really like is the loading of more search results as you scroll, so you don't have to use the pagination. Go ahead, give it a try by searching for script fonts.
   
   
   
   
   
2. It must be my recent trip to Switzerland, but I am fascinated with the clean and minimalistic Swiss and Scandinavian design. Here is a screenshot of Georg Jensen's website. Beautiful!
   
   
   
   
3. Designing for the flow is not a new concept, but it has recently been re-enforced for me after reading an article on AListApart (which I read daily) talking about exactly that. So I started to pay attention to which product designs put me "in the flow", and Wii Fit game is one of them. It makes me feel engaged, capable and gives me a sense of constant improvement. Facebook is another. I know we all love and rave about Facebook, but here I am referring specifically to its flow aspect of interaction and design.
   
   
   
   
4. Agile for design. Again, my faithful friend AListApart has provided food for inspiration and learning. Wikipedia has a thorough write up on agile methodology, but ALA has demonstrated the way it can be applied to design as well. Thank you ALA :)
5. Last, but not least, I am hugely moved by Hunter Valley wineries. Right now at the top of my wish list is a 3 day get-away in a cozy cottage, and grape picking!
   
   

Congratulations, my brave reader, you have gotten to the end of this month's sharing session :) I welcome you to participate in the conversation. After all, this is the era of social web.

New Years resolutions

Reflecting on everyday experiences is a big part of being a designer, or so my teachers tell me. As for my opinion, it's an absolutely crucial part of being a designer! It's also what makes it fun.

After studying for just one semester I am already noticing big changes in the way I perceive the world around me. When going to the movies, playing video games and traveling, I am no longer a passive observer, but an active participator. The font faces speak to me about their purpose (or lack of it), and a beautiful kaleidoscope of colors and textures inspires unborn designs to come into shape.

I think observation and self reflection is so important, that I am even making a New Years resolution to blog every month about 5 things that inspired me and I think worked well, and 5 things that I see as needing improvement.

So here are my resolutions:

1. Blog monthly about "the good, the bad and the ugly" of the world around
2. Draw!!! It's so important for a designer to have solid hand-rendering skills. Plus, as I said in my first ever post, it develops the right side of the brain
3. Wear colorful clothes; put that color theory knowledge into practice
   
4. Eat a serving of spirulina at least every other day
5. Master Textpattern

Happy Holidays!

courtesy of yandex.com