“Next time you have a chance to watch someone reading a map, look for the first thing they do. They’ll likely do the exact same thing everyone else does: find themselves on the map. It doesn’t matter what kind of map it is, whether it’s of their neighborhood or an amusement park. They’ll open the map and find something that is personally meaningful, such as their house or their favorite roller coaster. Psychologists call this ‘grounding’ — the natural behavior of initially finding a known reference point in a foreign information space. Once the person has grounded themselves, they can then use the starting point to understand the rest of the space. While grounding helps people adjust to complex situations, it can be detrimental when it happens during the design process. If, while conjuring up an interface, designers ground themselves in the design, they run the serious risk of creating an interface that only they can use.”

“It took a little longer than expected, but I’ve compiled what I believe to be a solid list of U.S. newspapers that offer RSS feeds. It is sorted alphabetically, and I’m still noting state designations on some of them. The list includes newspapers listed in the Yahoo! directory, including college/university publications when available. While it might be incomplete, it’s the best list I’ve been able to put together based on resources (and patience) available.”

“Since human beings first walked planet Earth, memory has been one of the main concerns and interests. If early homo sapiens forgot, it was not only a matter of not remembering, it was often a matter of no longer living: if you could not remember which snakes were poisonous; which fruit was nutritious; where you had hidden your implements and weapons; where swamps, quick-sands and chasms were located; and where your secret supplies of food were, you did not get many more opportunities to try to remember anything!”

“Getting started with virtual color proofing is easier than ever. Once, virtual color proofing required many different hardware and software devices, constant intervention and fine tuning. Today, digital technology has refined the process.”

“After taking a long, hard look at the past year in web design, weíve decided to try our hand at predicting whatís in store for next year. Even if we miss the mark, this will at least provide a starting point for designers to discuss future trends and directions.”

“Over the next four weeks, youíll have the choice opportunity of mastering a few techniques for producing realistic aging and weathering, all with the intent of creating that wicked, sick, insane, whatever-you-wanna-call-it worn look.”

Wow, I can’t believe I forgot xBlog’s 5th birthday. I started publishing this design/visual thinking/etc. link collection on the web on 7 Nov 1999. Here’s to five more years!

“The Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar was founded in 1973 by a group of photojournalists representing newspapers, magazines and wire services. Its reason for being is to promote the highest standards of photojournalism through an annual educational conference and a photography contest judged by working photographers. It is a non-profit organization.”

“The ‘Neuland Question’ to which Jonathan Hoefler refers involves not just Neuland, a ‘display’ typeface hand-carved in 1923 by Rudolf Koch, but also Lithos, another ‘display’ typeface digitally created in 1989 by Carol Twombly. The Question can be put simply: How did these two typefaces come to signify Africans and African-Americans, regardless of how a designer uses them, and regardless of the purpose for which their creators originally intended them?”

“A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who’s really creative in your company.”

“Studies of how people react to online advertisements have identified several design techniques that impact the user experience very negatively.”