Design Writers
“Design writers are a dying breed because they operate in the two most unprofitable industries: Design and Writing.”
[via Darkly Euphoric]
Archived entries for design
Shirky on Innovation & Workspaces
The second half of the video (about 14 minutes in) focuses specifically on the connections between creativity and workspaces.
BBC Moebius Documentary
Damn. BBC removed the video last night.
The Aesthetics of URLs
The Wall Street Journal stands firm against the tendency toward simple, readable URLs. Here’s an example, the URL to an article on the apparent Japanese obsession for appropriating, transforming, and then perfecting products from other locations (bomber jackets, sweatshirts, espresso):
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204542404577157290201608630.html
It’s not just an article issue, though. Here’s how WSJ handles sections, in this case US Business News:
http://online.wsj.com/public/page/news-business-us.html?mod=WSJ_topnav_business_main
For comparison, here’s the URL to a post from my weblog, a picture of a creek near Fort Jackson, NY titled, unsurprisingly, “creek, fort jackson“:
http://www.johndan.com/workspace/2011/10/creek-fort-jackson/
And here’s a link to articles tagged “design“:
I guess it’s arguable whether URLs need to make sense to users. I think there’s not a good argument for not making them cleaner and simpler given that the process of creating them can be automated. Maybe that’s just me.
Ice Cube Celebrates the Eames
Best thing I’ve seen on the web all week.
Icons: Less is More
Kyle Tezak’s personal Four Icon Challenge pushed him to distill stories into four elements (and three colors). Masterful.
[Via Letterology]
Goldberg Variations
In the late 1980s or early 1990s, after reading either Hofstedder’s Godel, Escher, Bach or Richard Powers’ Gold Bug Variations (I forget which), I bought a copy of Glen Gould’s Goldberg Variations. The album’s still remarkable.
Instructables for Activists
Destructables follows the model of how-to site Instructables, but purposed for political activism and creative anarchy.
(Via Laughing Squid.)