“A few days ago, New Yorker writer Malcolm Gladwell noted that he’s almost finished with his third book. I’ve learned that the subject of this book is the future of the workplace with subtopics of education and genius.”
Napkin Sketches 101
“‘Napkin Sketches 101′ written by Don Moyer in last months’ 360 e-zine, registered as our most popular article to date (as noted by number of pdf downloads). Moyer writes, ‘the leading edge of every wave of innovation is flecked with little drawings scrawled on cocktail napkins, envelope backs, scratch paper and whiteboards. Napkin sketches can help you see what you think about a topic and make it easier to communicate your ideas to others.’
His piece is interesting, well written and extremely practical. So much in fact, this 90-second article will re-cap some of Don’s napkin sketch tips.”
Ain't Nothin' Wrong With a Little Free Time
“Since my days are set to the sleeping patterns of a toddler and the biorhythms of a dog, I have to squeeze my ‘work,’ i.e. writing, interviews, blogging, etc, into naptime and the few hours after the boy goes to bed and before I collapse. I’m pretty good about getting the important, bill-paying stuff done, but unfortunately that means what suffers is Me Time, things like reading books or watching a ballgame on TV without a computer in my lap. When I just spent most of my day stressing out about what I wasn’t getting done because I was at the playground or reading Richard Scarry books 49 consecutive times, I can’t very well justify not doing my stuff when I’m back home and books are put away.”
How To Use Proportions When Drawing People
“Before you can draw a human figure with clothing, muscles, shading, etc., it is necessary to understand the basic proportions of the human figure. Proportions on a figure are simply how long the major anatomical parts of the body are, in relation to each other.
Let’s examine the proportions of a healthy male human figure. Proportions change based on body type, age, sex and activity level. Our example healthy male figure will be seven heads tall. As a foundation, let’s start with these lengths that are all the same. Each of them are two heads long…”
Third Annual World Usability Day: Sat 10 Nov 2007
“Events at the St. Louis Science Center will focus on usability in healthcare. The advances of technology may have ushered in a new era of convenience, but sometimes along with it comes a new era of frustration. From alarm clocks to zippers, things are becoming more sophisticated but also harder to use for the average person.
To address the balance between ‘new and improved’ and ‘easy to operate,’ a relatively new group of professionals aims to show the St. Louis community how life can become a bit easier on Nov. 10 at the Saint Louis Science Center. Making life a little easier is the goal of the local celebration of the third annual World Usability Day, an initiative that is focused on the benefits of usability engineering and user-centered design. Created by the Usability Professionals’ Association, World Usability Day includes special events across the globe — including here in St. Louis.
With healthcare products as this year’s theme, the celebration and demonstrations at the Science Center will focus on how the average person can better deal with the myriad of complications that come with, navigating health insurance claims, nutrition, prescriptions and supplements, and other products and processes associated with healthcare.”
It all happens Saturday, November 10 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the St. Louis Science Center, 5050 Oakland Ave. St. Louis, MO 63110.
So this is what 8 years looks like…
Perfunctory public notice: On this day in 1999 xBlog started broadcasting to the world. This is the 6,000th item added to this visual thinking linkblog.
By winter 1999 the idea had been stirring for at least year, inspired by Camworld, Kottke, Rebecca’s Pocket, peterme and a handful of others. I built some prototypes but never put them online. But once I started working full-time at XPLANE I knew had I found the perfect home for these design/web/communication/etc links.
With the help of Jeff Lash, xBlog became a great linkblog. For eight years it’s been filled with almost daily links to what used to be scarce online visual resources. Those online resources aren’t so scarce now — in fact they’re everywhere. So xBlog’s function as a filter is still useful, but we’re going to take it up a few notches in 2008. Lots of notches.
xBlog’s linkblog component will still be here but I’m looking to start sharing much, much more. Good. XPLANE. Stuff. And trust me — we’ve got lots of good stuff to share.
A Review of ‘A Communications Primer’
“The Eames’ best-known film is the 1977 Powers of Ten, the zooming visual explanation of scale which has no doubt been shown in more than 10^4 classrooms and 10^2 science museums. In their much earlier film A Communications Primer they describe the application of Claude Shannon’s model of communication to familiar media experiences, along with some that aren’t very familiar nowadays, such as telegraphy. There are very nice iconic images deployed, as well as shots of media technologies in use.
In about twenty minutes the film covers not only Shannon’s basic model for communication but also details how digital information is represented and, via the analogy of the halftone photograph, how it can be built up to represent data that is arbitrarily detailed.”
Conceptual Diagram Symbol Libraries from the Integration and Application Network
“The IAN symbol libraries contain over 1500 custom made vector symbols (in 32 categories) designed specifically for enhancing science communication skills. The libraries are designed primarily for use with Adobe Illustrator (requires version 10 or better), however we also offer eps and svg versions for non-Illustrator users. The symbols allow diagrammatic representations of complex processes to be developed easily with minimal graphical skills.”
Ametrica!: An Interview With Amy Wang
“Amy Wang’s graduate thesis project, Ametrica!, was recently honored as a winner in the Adobe Design Achievement Awards. Amy is a recent graduate from the School of Visual Arts MFA Designer as Author program. She discusses her process of discover and her intention to spread the message that the U.S. should adopt the metric system.” (Thanks On Paper Wings!)
No, Enterprise Software Doesn't *Have* To Suck
“Every so often, we get some great feedback from our community that’s thought-provoking and challenges our assumptions in a good way. And then sometimes, we get blog posts from otherwise-clueful folks who’ve, well, missed the mark. Fortunately, people with a lot of talent are usually pretty good at taking criticism, and that’s certainly true of Khoi Vinh, design director for NYTimes.com and author of the popular Subtraction blog, and Jason Fried, a principal of 37Signals and one of the key voices of their Signal vs. Noise blog.
The conversation got started in earnest last week — Khoi posted ‘If It Looks Like a Cow, Swims Like a Dolphin and Quacks Like a Duck, It Must Be Enterprise Software’ on his Movable Type-powered blog. The title’s a playful jab at an odd little Lotus Notes ad campaign, but overall the essay does a great job of showing what’s traditionally been wrong with enterprise software.”
