Newspapers A La Carte

Benjamin W.

December 23, 2010

There is a dream that I can’t help but dream.

Everything, everywhere, anytime, a la carte.

And though it seems slow going I get a taste of it when I realize that episode I missed is on Hulu or I remember an old song from my high school years. Of course it’s on iTunes.

This got me thinking about newspapers. The problem I have with them is that I only want to read 10% of each one. It’s not like MacWorld which is full of stuff I’m into. Macworld can survive as a print mag because the people who subscribe to it probably read most, if not all of each issue. But a newspaper has to appeal to everyone. Its job is to give me the most important information, on any topic, anywhere in the world. And it has to appeal to me, my mom, my mean neighbor and everyone else, all at the same time. That’s tough.

Let’s say you download the Wall Street Journal app on your iPad. You can share links and see what your colleagues are reading/sharing. You can post the links to your blog or email them to your dad. The only difference is, everything is free with excerpts but it cost’s 10¢ for each full article.

I know, I know. Pay Wall!!! Ahhhhh! Run!!! Murdoch is a dinosaur!

But I don’t look at it like that. This way you really get what you pay for and you don’t pay for anything you don’t want. You can still get a sense of what’s happening in the financial/tech/battle world but the things you’re really interested in, you pay for.

In an “all free or nothing free” newspaper world, I’d prefer nothing. But in a mostly free news world, I’d be handing over a lot more cash than I am now. Or at least a few dimes.

Design inspiration in new places.

Benjamin W.

September 29, 2010

As a graphic/web designer, every once in a while you may find a need to explore the web for lovely looking things and find some inspiration. I don’t think there’s a better place to look than BIKEEXIF.

I look upon these motorcycles with envy.

‘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)

David Gewirtz on Apple ruining lives.

Benjamin W.

June 22, 2010

I just read David’s post via Daring Fireball.

This is an article about how many lives and businesses have been ruined by Apple. And I’m not going to debate that. It’s not like the App Store is the most successful developer market place in the history of any platform or anything. But that’s not the point.

The point is that for every developer that is crying about Flash, there are several new companies excited as hell about iOS or HTML5 or whatever other awesome thing Apple is pushing. I’m a good example. I wouldn’t even be learning programming if it weren’t for my exposure to Apple’s products.

If monetary reward is the only way we’re going to judge anything, than just kick me in the balls now and call it a day.

Apple really is a big start-up. They do some risky stuff and they turn on a dime. When you’re as big as Apple, those decisions effect more people. They take the heat and they keep selling a ton of products. There must be something to this. They must be doing something right.

Good and evil is a gradient scale. And Apple is defintitely on my good side.

Violation Report.

Benjamin W.

May 7, 2010

So designworklife posted about Violation Report. It’s a site where you can post pictures of people being discourteous in public. A way to humiliate them. Shame by fame, if you will.

I didn’t find the site very funny. It’s a great idea that should have remained a funny forum thread on some site I never visit. Okay, that was harsh.

But seriously, it’s like flirting with a girl you don’t care about so the one you do care about will care about you. Could we get any further removed from actually getting what we want?

Aside from Violation Report being rude, it’s indirect. It’s a way for us to feel better about our shit day by being completely un-courteous , behind someone’s backs for the entire world to see.

Here’s an idea. The next time someone’s doing an “Alpha-male Stretch”, politely ask them to move! If this person doesn’t immediately say “Sure” and scoot over, you have my blessing to post pictures of him and his kids on whatever public shaming site you want. But if you just sit there stewing in your own self-pity and hating this person for sitting comfortably, you’ve got some serious seat entitlement issues.

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.

Dont be stupid but don’t be a coward!

Benjamin W.

April 5, 2010

I’ve been listening to a couple new podcasts my Dan Benjamin. The Conversation and The Pipeline are really good. I also just read REWORK by 37signals. An awesome read.

There’s some really good advice in both. And though I agree, I couldn’t help but feel that there’s another side to it.

When 37signals says, “Don’t quite your day job” This isn’t an encouragement to be lazy, or afraid or anything else. They’re encouraging smartness. Most of the stuff you think you need to do to accomplish something isn’t actually necessary. The time or money you think you “have to” set aside to get something going is probably an overestimate. You’re making it harder on yourself than is necessary to get started.

Listening to The Conversation, I almost feel discouraged from going out on my own. There are comments from Garrett Dimon that make it sound like it’s a hassle to have a successful app that’s actually making money. And I know that Dan would definitely want to encourage people to do their thing. Whatever their thing is. And sometimes that takes courage.

I think you need smarts and courage and sometimes they go against each other. It takes courage to ignore every excuse and impulse you have to do anything but what really matters to you. And once you’ve overcome that bullshit, it takes a lot of learning and getting kicked in the teeth to make it work so you can keep doing what matters to you.

People have to do what matters to them. So, if what matters to me is hard to do, I only want to hear your advice on how to make it easier or how to deal with it. Don’t tell me how I should reconsider because it’s tough. Anything worth doing is tough. Get smart and get brave.

Designing for engagement: Please make me think!

Benjamin W.

January 4, 2010

Hope your New Year is starting off with a bang.

I just bought Universal Principles of Design: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions and Teach through Design. I started reading it today and I can already tell I’m in for a few “Get out a town!” moments. But the second principle in the book, Accessibility, got me thinking about a different approach to design.

I’ve been studying web and graphic design for some time now. As soon as I began I came across the terms accessibility, usability and simplicity used everywhere. And these are ideas I definitely agree with. But there’s another side to it that I’d like to see talked about more.

Accessibility and Usability are means to an outcome. A way to help accomplish something. But they’re aren’t the thing you’re trying to accomplish.

In the example of an elevator, accessibility helps those who can’t see by adding braille to the numbers. Or those who can’t walk by putting the buttons low enough so that people in wheelchairs can reach. In this example the benefits of accessibility are clear.

In the world of web sites and software, the benefits of making something simple, understandable and easy to use are equally accepted by anyone taking this stuff seriously. But it’s not as cut and dry as in the case of the elevator. I’m not talking about making your site screen reader friendly or increasing the text size so it’s more readable. I’m talking about users, audience, customers and how to help them achieve an outcome that we want them to achieve. This goes beyond just getting out of the way and letting someone do what they want and into teaching them, inspiring them and pushing them to do what they really want.

As a creative person, the most difficult thing is not learning Photoshop or Final Cut Pro. It’s not picking up a camera and figuring out what that button does. It’s not my lack of a great “point and shoot” that is preventing me from becoming a photographer. And it’s not my lack of recording equipment or the complexity of Protools that keeps me from making that record I’ve been wanting to make. It is the lack of inspiration and motivation necessary to get my ass out of bed and believe in something strongly enough to learn, experiment, read, practice, try, persist, care and be passionate.

Most people are not lacking great tools to write. Writing something worth reading was never hard because of the pencil. We don’t need a new, simpler, more intuitive text application. We need a personal and relevant reason to write in the first place.

I think that products, software, sites, tools and everything can be better designed to inspire us to put effort into things because the outcome is worth the effort. I have no problem with making something easy to use as long as you don’t sacrifice the outcome in the process. People need challenges and obstacles. Overcoming them is the reason the goal is valuable at all. I like learning curves but I want get passed them without a reason.

So the next time you’re designing an interface, a piece of software or a poster, see if you can give them really good reasons along the way to use it and use it well.

Holiday Bus Drive: A great cause, site and animation.

Benjamin W.

December 23, 2009

Holiday Bus Drive is a great example of how a simple idea can impact many kids lives.

Not to mention the site and animated film look amazing and really help tell the story.

(via designworklife)