37signals Illustrations
Benjamin W.
November 11, 2010
This is another great post from 37signals.
Jamie describes the product illustration process for Basecamp. You should go read it. It’s not long and it gives some great insights.
It’s not an easy task to give a sense of an app from a small drawing of some icons. What I love about this post is that it shows iteration. It shows that the first idea really wasn’t the best idea. Still the first idea had to be executed so that we could see what was or wasn’t working. And get feedback. If he just thought and thought and thought until it hit him like a bolt of lightning, he wouldn’t have come up with that final illustration which is by far my favorite. It says what it needs to say in a clean way.
This is something I need to work on. There are too many ideas in my head that stay there because they’re not good enough yet. They only way for them or me to get good enough is to do those ideas as best I can. Put them out there. And do it again and again.
The Glif: First Kickstarter Project Contribution.
Benjamin W.
October 4, 2010
I just backed my first Kickstarter project. And I’m really excited about it. Iv’e been following Kickstarter for a while. I love what they’re doing and am so glad to finally back something.
If this is something you’re really excited about, I hope you’ll back them $20.
(via Daring Fireball)
Lemonade: Detroit
Benjamin W.
September 16, 2010
Lemonade: Detroit Trailer from Erik Proulx on Vimeo.
‘The Wilderness Downtown’ by Chris Milk
Benjamin W.
September 1, 2010
When you get a sec, go and watch this. We need more videos like this.
http://thewildernessdowntown.com/
(via DF)
A Book Apart: HTML 5 for Web Designers
Benjamin W.
May 4, 2010
I just pre-ordered mine. And I would have bought it eventually but with the list of web heroes attached to this book, I couldn’t wait. And Jason’s design powers didn’t make the purchase any harder.
Read about Jason Santa Maria’s design process.
And go get a copy!
Seth Godin: Linchpin Series.
Benjamin W.
April 22, 2010
If you are creative at all in any way, if you’re wondering how in the hell you’re going make a living doing something you love, download and listen to this talk right now.
April Linchpin Session – Seth Godin.
It is something I needed to hear. It’s for anyone who wants what they love and what they do for money to be the same thing. And anyone who wants to change things.
For more on Seth Godin, just google him.
Baratunde Thurston
Benjamin W.
April 19, 2010
“There’s something superhuman about really being yourself.” -Baratunde Thurston
This is a quote from his interview in “Life in Perpetual Beta”. Something else you should check out.
iPad. I want one but until then…
Benjamin W.
April 7, 2010
John Gruber wrote his review of the iPad. It’s really good. It’s extensive but in the right way. Hater or lover, you’ll get a sense of the possibilities and limitations of this beautiful piece of delish.
I’m a little tired of the “closed system” argument although Cory Doctorow’s post is very thought provoking. This device is bringing joy to a lot of people and a ton of inspiration. You may not be able to create apps right on the device or open it up or geek out customizing the core functionality but I have a MacPro and I’ve never written an app and wish I never had to open it up and have opened the Terminal once. I’ve never been more inspired than right now to write code, create, design and help others to do so with my mac, the iPad and the web. It may not give you tools that directly allow tinkering but it gives you a reason to care about tinkering. It doesn’t make tinkering easy, it just makes it worthwhile. At least for me.
So, stop your whining and do something. I know that education about our culture and what it should be is doing something. But education will only change things when those you teach actually build something real. So build something. Use the limitations of the iPad to inspire creativity or use your hatred of closed systems to build something open and better or encourage others to do so. Apple is a company putting out products that they (Steve) love and that others love too. It’s as simple as that.
I don’t wish the iPad was more open. I hope that Steve Jobs and those at Apple, stick to their guns and keep making things the best way they know how. But I want thousands more people to do the same. I’m not in the cult of Mac. I’m in the cult of Make Shit You’re Proud Of. And Apple does that better than anyone. More please.
The Law of Anti-Attraction by Sonia Simone
Benjamin W.
April 6, 2010
Just a quick link to a post that really makes sense to me. The big secret in business or anything for that matter, there are big secrets.
Film Festival Laurels – EPS
Benjamin W.
February 5, 2010
I went on a search for the award laurels you see on DVD covers that have made the rounds in the independent film festival circuit. I didn’t find anything good accept a POS cdr file. Not a fan of the Corel as a result. Impossible to convert on my Mac without jumping through a bunch of holes.
Anyhoo, I found the laurels in a DVD cover I was doing and decided to post them here. Enjoy.
Things worth your time:
Letter Case
Graphic Design & Web Design
Letter Case was my one-man design shop based in Los Angeles, CA.
I ran it for 2 years until I joined Typekit in January 2011.
In my spare time I've been learning to program by building my first web application.
A simple tool called Talkative to help people publish their talks on the web.
If you have any comments, thoughts or questions,
feel free to contact me at: benthomaswelch [at] gmail.com.
Thanks for checking out my blog. Cheers!
Simplicity is harder than it looks.