J.Y. Design - Blog: trends in art, design, interactive & marketing

Are 3-D logos ruining or revolutionizing logo design?

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:40:00 +0000

brandchannel is hosting a 'branddebate' on this topic. As they state in their introduction of the topic: "On the front lines of the branding industry - among the designers - an ongoing battle is being waged over an essential branding component: logos, and in particular, 3-D, or dimensionalized, logos..."

It used to be said that format restrictions were a primary functional limitation that informed the decision making process of logo designers. Thoughts like 'it has to look good in black and white', or 'our budget only supports two color printing' often informed the amount of detail and color that made up a logo design. With the web and better/cheaper printing, these two primary limitations have less bearing on the design process (but don't forget about low quality fax cover pages!). Overall, it is now more of a pure design decision. What level of detail, color, and dimensionality will best serve the brand you are representing with the logo design?

Read some interesting opinions on both sides of this topic at brandchannel.com

The Interactive Advertising Bureau Launches Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 06 May 2008 18:43:00 +0000

The Interactive Advertising Bureau Launches Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines: "The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) today announced the release of �Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines.� Created by the IAB�s Digital Video Committee, a group comprised of 145 leading interactive companies, they are the definitive format guidelines that directly address digital video advertising.

The guidelines focus on the most widely used current in-stream ad products, including linear video ads, non-linear video ads and companion ads. They were created in order to meet the following marketplace needs:

Simplifying digital video ad buying across multiple sites through minimum common ad specifications for video, overlay and companion ads.
Achieving more efficient operations through a common set of creative submission guidelines.
Increasing consumer understanding of ad interactions and environments through best practice recommendations for creative development and player environments."

To view the guidelines, go to: www.iab.net/dv_guidelines

Album Cover Designers: The New Iconographers

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:28:00 +0000

When I was younger, I distinctly recalled noticing the�dilemma�faced, by album cover designers, when�cassette�tapes were introduced. Going from the large format LP to the small awkwardly vertical cassette cover had a big impact on design solutions. The CD reintroduced a canvas more square in shape but still diminutive compared to a real "album cover". Fast forward to today and you can see the latest challenge for album cover designers, the digital version of album art. Digital music players like iPod and Zune, that can now display album art, have reintroduced the importance of design and branding in music. There was a stretch there, where artwork was not so easily attached to the digital music. Apple's Coverflow (purchased from original creator steelskies) reintroduced the metaphor of browsing through a pile of records,�albeit�very tiny records .

How will this change trends in album art design? Will there be bolder, larger, simpler designs? Or is this no different from the challenges faced by traditional LP cover designers who aimed to make a large format record stand out on a shelf in a record store? We shall see, but I expect to notice a greater influence as album art designers start thinking like icon designers. One recent example, Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails just released a free full length recording "The Slip". Like his last free album before it (Ghosts), each song has its own piece of artwork�associated�with it. 10 'covers', and a PDF booklet for one 'album'- now that's something new.

ECO-ICONIC

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:49:00 +0000

The May/June 2008 edition of Trend Briefing is now online, highlighting three new 'green' trends:�ECO-ICONIC, ECO-EMBEDDED and ECO-BOOSTERS. "It's a hands-on take on how the branding and design of eco-goods and services is about to enter a new phase..."

Where does design belong in your organization?

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:25:00 +0000

Here's a nice article from cooper.com: "These days, more and more companies are recognizing that design and innovation are essential to their strategy and bottom line: effective design sells products and services, improves your position in the marketplace, and turns customers into loyal advocates for your brand. If you've gotten your organization to this point, take a moment to enjoy your success! Creating demand for design is no small achievement. Unfortunately, to reap the full benefits of design, you probably still have a lot of work to do on your organization's structure, processes, and culture.

One of the first things you need to do is determine where in your organization design belongs..."

Major points covered are:

In-house vs. outsourced
Internal consultancies
Design teams assigned to products long-term
A blended approach
What's right for your organization

Read the full article at cooper.com

Internet Explorer: A Browser Breaks

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:13:00 +0000

"Enterprises aren't loving Internet Explorer 7, so how can its successor do any better?...

For businesses looking for a standards-compliant Web browser, Internet Explorer won't be the choice in 2008, with IE 6 entrenched and IE 8's release as much as a year away�or more, if closely aligned with Windows 7. For Web developers, the standards headaches will continue as long as IE 6 enterprise adoption remains high...

There is huge competitive opportunity for Mozilla, and even Apple, to exploit Microsoft's browser problems. Both organizations have highly standards-compliant browsers that can be deployed at lower risk."

Cause/Effect, Design As Change Agent

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 18:17:00 +0000

The Pursuit of Design | VIDEO: "Zoom In Online presents the first in a new Pursuit of Design mini-series, "Cause/Effect". This episode features "Design As Change Agent", a one-day event taking place at Parsons The New School. In this video, a wide range of designers, creatives and artists gather with students to discuss how design can be a powerful agent for change on both the local and global levels..."

Click here to watch the video online

"Business-Minded" and other more meaningful alternatives to the word "workaholic"

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:47:00 +0000

There's been much buzz out there about a recent blog post by Jason Calacanis. Specifically on his original comment:�"Fire people who are not workaholics.... come on folks, this is startup life, it's not a game. go work at the post office or stabucks if you want balance in your life. For realz."

Techcrunch seized this post and offered some friendly criticism, suggesting Calacanis Fires People Who Have A Life. 37 signals took the interesting counter-perspective of firing the so-called workaholics.

This caused Calacanis to attempt to clarify his position: "My work *is* my life..."

What this all may boil down to is that the term 'workaholic' is not a compliment. Don't use it as a positive attribute, ever.

The common thread to all the banter really revolves around the desire to work with talented interesting people who have their own quirky way of living their lives while simultaneously being so interested in their work that it tends to be in their thoughts throughout the day. Better terms for this might be:

Entrepreneurial
Business-minded
Problem solvers
Strategic thinkers
Innovators
Results-oriented

Seek these types of people over workaholics, and you will hopefully assemble an effective team. The real challenge for business leaders at that point will be to walk the walk and be sure to avoid old-school workplace paradigms that will drive these free spirits away.

The geotag icon is born

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:53:00 +0000

The Geotag Icon Project is a good example of community collaboration via the Internet.

read more | digg story

Adobe AIR and the experience brand

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:52:00 +0000

User experiences on the Web have become increasingly better. Now, instead of abrupt page refreshes, it's possible for users to input and access data and content without interruption of the experience... RIA design practices and methodologies appear to have hit the main-stream...

read more | digg story

Amazon storage 'cloud' service goes dark

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 18:39:00 +0000

Amazon.com Web Service's hosted storage service went down Friday morning, frustrating many Web site customers and refreshing concerns with the ballyhooed approach of cloud computing.

read more | digg story

Fight Your Way To Breakthroughs (Why Some Fighting is Good)!

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:17:00 +0000

Many creative teams believe that their greatest mistakes are made when nobody argues. When multiple people have a strong opinion, you�re bound to disagree - and clash. Your approach to managing the impassioned �fighting� that ensues is a critical factor in your ability to find the best solution.

read more | digg story

Flow - What Adobe Version Cue should have been?

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:44:00 +0000

GridIron Software Announces "Flow" - A revolutionary approach to content management: "Flow is a revolutionary approach to digital content management that dramatically simplifies the design process for creative professionals working on graphic design, web and video projects. Flow automatically tracks your work from idea to end result and manages your assets and applications for your most complex projects- all without changing the way you work."

Flow was included in the Macworld Best of Show winners list. The information about the forthcoming product on their site shows a lot of promise. Now that Leopard has incorporated Coverflow into the finder, and Adobe Version Cue + Bridge has lacked traction, the timing could be good for a desktop-based asset management tool that moves beyond tracking files and adds some intelligence regarding process, versioning, and (ahem) "flow".

Features that seem like standouts include: Workflow Maps; Workflow Calendar; Visual Versions; Project Packages; Project Reports.

There's a difference between ALL of the files that someone generates for a project, versus the smaller subset of files that they may want to actually share with a workgroup or client. While some Web 2.0 DAM solutions like fluxiom or box are great for the latter, flow might be an intelligent bridge between what you have and what you need to share.

They are accepting Beta program requests. I'll be keeping an eye on this software.

New Apple Products at Macworld 2008

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:08:00 +0000

Well there was certainly a lot of buzz around Apple's new product announcements at Macworld 2008. The stock took a hit and there have been some complaints about whether or not the Macbook Air compromises too much. Anyway, more to come on this stuff.

Apple Introduces the new Mac Pro

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 03:59:00 +0000

"he fastest Mac ever, the new Mac Pro has eight processor cores and a new system architecture that delivers up to twice the performance of its predecessor.* It combines two of Intel�s new 45 nanometer Quad-Core Xeon processors running up to 3.2 GHz, powerful new graphics and up to 4TB of internal storage, offering the ideal system for creative professionals, 3D digital content creators and scientists. The standard 8-core configuration starts at just $2,799."

With announcements like this a week BEFORE MacWorld, everyone is buzzing about what Steve will present...

Finally! - Email Standards Project

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:38:00 +0000

Email Standards Project: "The Email Standards Project works with email client developers and the design community to improve web standards support and accessibility in email."

I'm very happy to see an organized attempt to address the issue of poor and inconsistent industry-wide support for rich email (html email). The Email Standards Project looks like the bandwagon to jump on. The site has a great chart right on the homepage showing popular email clients (desktop and web-based) and their rating in terms of standards support. The project has come up with an "acid test", much like the Web Standards Project, that is used to fairly and consistently test the ability of a given email client.

Check out the site, join the email list or spread the word.

Vitamin: "Creating Sexy Stylesheets"

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:24:00 +0000

Vitamin Features - Creating Sexy Stylesheets : "Being a CSS expert is more than just memorizing selectors. It�s also working to improve the maintainability and efficiency of your stylesheets, planning for the future and mastering your workflow. In this article Jina Bolton gives 10 CSS tips culled from surveys with 12 top designers."

This article summarizes common best practices and also introduces some handy tips and tricks for things you can do to optimize the CSS workflow for multiple contributors. Bottom line is keep it clean and think ahead to what it will be like to have to open up your CSS file 6 months later - 'what was that selector named again?...'

Today Only! Get free shipping on everything in the Apple Store.

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 16:59:00 +0000

Apple is offering FREE SHIPPING on EVERYTHING in the Apple Store - Today Only, so check it out...

J.Y. Design Posts: Apple Mac & iPod Buyer's Guide

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:59:00 +0000

J.Y. Design has long been an 'Mac shop'. Many Apple products are used in day to day work. We also find that we recommend various products to clients, colleagues, family and friends.

This new page will be the place to see the latest hardware, and what the highlights and tradeoffs are when considering a purchase. Check it out...

Adobe Delivers Flash Player 9 with H.264 Video Support

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:28:00 +0000

"HD Quality Web Video and Audio Now Available With Adobe Flash Player Update... Adobe Flash Player 9 now includes H.264 standard video support, the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray� and HD-DVD� high definition video players, and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio capabilities. The latest update also features hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced, full-screen video playback for high-resolution viewing across major operating systems and browsers. The combination of Adobe Flash Player 9 and Adobe Flash Media Server 3 (also announced today) enables the delivery of HD quality video to the broadest online audience. Adobe Flash Player 9 Update 3 is available immediately at http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer"

read more | digg story

8 trends to capitalize on in 2008

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:29:00 +0000

trendwatching.com has released it's report on "8 trends to capitalize on in 2008". Always an interesting source for high-level marketing strategy and thought, the in-depth overview is worth a read (note: the full report download is a premium item). To summarize, they've dubbed the hot 2008 trends as:

Status Spheres
Premiumization
Snack Culture
Online Oxygen
Eco-iconic
Brand Butlers
Miy | Make It Yourself
Crowd Mining

Coworkers.com launches new "Zingers" Instant email feedback feature

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:45:00 +0000

Want to give a coworker some quick feedback, but don't have time to enter a full review, or want to keep it private? We have the perfect solution - send them a Zinger! Just write a short note, or browse through our categories of pre-written messages. Click send, and your colleague will be Zingered instantly by email!

Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device "Kindle"

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:49:00 +0000

Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device - Today Amazon.com released Kindle, what some are of course calling the iPod for eBooks.

Engadget has some good coverage of the release and some initial reactions to the device. Initial reactions to the hardware design seem favorable, and in the 'ugly, but pleasingly functional' category.

Here are some things that seem to stand out immediately...

PROS

Amazon and books are peas in a pod, the user experience seems carefully crafter to lead to smooth downloading and reading workflow
The form factor is interesting, the screen similar in size to a book and the e-ink technology looks like it offers a grayscale rendering, and it's light
The eBooks are less expensive is some cases, than buying and shipping the paper counterpart - there's a definite "Green" notion to this.
The battery is user-replaceable (cough - Apple, get a clue)
No subscriptions or additional fees, beyond the cost of the device, for wireless access, 1yr warranty
Promised less than 1 min. downloads
USB 2.0 connectivity for PC and Mac, but does not require a computer
Email documents and images to the device, read blogs and newspapers

CONS

$400 and a Grayscale display? Now that's more Newton than the iPhone. I understand the tradeoffs here, but we are in the age of sexy color touchscreen mobile devices, so this does come across as a bit v1.0
No back-light, so, how do you read in the dark? Well, one of the few accessories listed at the bottom of the new Kindle product page is a clunky looking $20 reading light with a clip designed more for print books than eBooks. This seems like a careless afterthought, so it's probably safe to assume that Amazon will release or partner for slicker accessories to fill in the feature gaps.
As clipmarks.com points out, unlike an iPod you can't "rip" the books you already own onto the Kindle. So, it seems to me, since Amazon keeps such great tabs on previous purchases, it would be slick if they offered customers free versions of books previously purchased on Amazon as Kindle eBook 'cross-grades'.
The built in 256MB internal is pretty wimpy. If you really intend to fill it up with books and emailed documents, you'll likely make the additional investment in a SD memory card (supports up to 4GB). So mark that down as a hidden cost.
$9.99+ per book may not be a great savings when you factor in the purchase of the Kindle device itself. These eBooks cannot be shared easily, resold in the aftermarket, or donated to a local library. Seth Godin has an interesting perspective on this. In this sense, Kindle books are far more limited - but that same argument has not deterred online music sales and overpricing.
I can't seem to find info on the exact dimensions of the screen itself, I'm curious to know just how much bigger it is than an iPod touch / iPhone
All that embossed texture on the backside is going to collect some nasty dirt and buildup from your grubby hands.
Branding nit: with "Book Burning" as an�indelible�part of history, Kindle certainly seems loaded with irony
And as an aside, the Kindle introduces techno-lust into the reading equation. Next year's Kindle will be cooler, just like iPods, let the buyers remorse begin. Books don't really do that to you.

While others have tried, Amazon is in a unique position to move this technology forward. It will be interesting to see how the product performs, and to observe the ecosystem that will likely grow around it.

Box.net Launches OpenBox Services

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 22:01:00 +0000

Box.net: "With the new OpenBox Services, you can bring the power of web applications directly into your existing Box account. Edit photos and images online with Picnik, work on your Word and Excel files using Zoho, publish documents for the whole world to see through Scribd, send your documents signed with EchoSign, and much more...

Already have an account? Log in and add services to your Box Upload files to one place for use anywhere Box users can now utilize third-party applications with their files stored online, which means you will only need to upload files to the web once. Upload an image to your Box account and be able to edit it online with Picnik, send it to a friend on Facebook, add a link to it on Twitter, and turn it into a custom t-shirt on Zazzle � all from a single file upload."

I'm a fan of box for online storage because of it's widgets, and overall UX. Their ongoing efforts to further tie-in box storage to other popular web services is a good thing.

Google Translate Widget released

noreply@blogger.com (James Young) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:20:00 +0000

"Make your webpage instantly available in other languages Add the Translate gadget to your webpage, and offer instant access to automatic translations of that page. "

This is handy, just add a bit of Javascript to your page and you can have dynamically translated content. See the resulting widget below. The setup page also includes bookmarklets for individual languages.