I will engage only in design activities that improve life, both environmental and human. I will recognize that design that does not improve life is a form of apathy and that
“doing no harm” is not enough. I will engage only in design processes that are respectful, generative, catalytic, and productive.
Excerpt from The Designer’s Handshake – Emily Pilloton
via http://jeanphony.tumblr.com/post/19733867893/i-will-engage-only-in-design-activities-that
Of all the things advertisers do online, one of the most annoying to me has to be the ad that expands, pushing down the entire page. The problem here is not when it’s user-initiated, it’s when it happens automatically, after I’ve already started reading the article.
Take a look at this, and see where the eyeball is. Notice what happens when the ad expands, then contracts?
I’m forced to stop reading while the page moves, then stops, then moves back up again. The worst part is that at this point in my reading, the ad is off the top of the screen and I don’t even see it! How much can we possibly disrespect our users and still expect them not to use ad-blockers? How are these sites allowing such an invasive technique?
Seeing the new sizes from IAB this week makes me question the effort advertisers are putting into developing a new model. I feel like we’re heading down the road of the music industry, fighting to stay relevant as the world around us changes. If we in this industry don’t start evolving, we’ll go extinct.
I’ve been reading a lot of people that are complaining about the naming of the iPad, and it’s confusing me.
Some people seem to be thinking that taking away the number is an odd choice, just calling it an iPad instead of “iPad 3″ or “iPad HD” or “iPad 2S”, but it seems to me that the number was the actual confusing part, and started stepping Apple into the Dell realm. Right now I’m typing this on my Macbook Pro. At home, I also have a Macbook Pro. They are several years apart in age, completely different in specs and build, but they are both Macbook Pros. The same is true of every other product, until we got to the iPhone and iPad. Now suddenly they want to incrementally name?
I’m glad they’ve gone back to the old ways, where an iPad is an iPad, it’s simpler and lets them live in the now.
I love this thought:
Above all, designer founders should be experts at finding the right problems to solve.
I think it sums up the strength of design, subtraction. How can an idea be simplified to the point it’s easily used, without feeling basic.
I’m biased, of course, but I think designers are great.
Silicon Valleys New Secret Weapon: Designers Who Found Startups | Co.Design.
I don’t suppose I NEED this, especially considering I live in an apartment, but I certainly WANT it.
This is the notebook of Michael Farley, Associate Creative Director at AKQA NY. This is where I write things I think about design and mobile. This is all my blog, and anything I say here is more than likely my own opinion, I don't know anyone who agrees with me.
I rarely write, I'm too busy with the three things I've created. The first was hello, burrow!, followed by a little girl named Maddie, and my latest, freshly. I love reading email, so get at me.
