I love typography, the typography blog
“All too often, articles on typography are rather bland and, although informative, do little to elicit feelings of wow. So, iLT is designed to inspire its readers, to make people more aware of the typography that is around them. We really cannot escape typography; it’s everywhere: on road signs, shampoo bottles, toothpaste, and even on billboard posters, in books and magazines, online…the list is endless, and the possibilities equally so.”
Techniques for designing with type characters
“Examples of great design using little more than typography are virtually numberless. Some of the favorites I’ve spotted recently include designs by John Arnor G. Lom, Coudal Partners, and NB:Studio, linked respectively…”
Why “FAIL” makes Andy Baio sad
“I’m sure that the moment man discovered fire, there was some guy nearby saying, ‘Too smoky. Can burn you. Lame.’ In the modern age, we’ve found a much more efficient way to express disdain, distilled into only four letters: FAIL.”
“Sometimes greatness comes from not having resources”
“To illustrate his point, [Director Doug Liman] recalled a commercial he was shooting for Nike in the late 1990s starring golfer Tiger Woods. Liman noticed Woods bouncing a ball on the edge of a club during breaks from shooting. Liman grabbed a shoulder-held camera and, away from the crew, asked Woods to bounce the balls while being filmed…The shot, which became a classic, was natural, unrehearsed, and driven by imagination rather than millions of studio dollars, Liman said.”
Why product managers reject simplicity
”’Imagine the product comparison grid on the back of the box: our product has to have more check marks against more features than Quicken. Even if they never get used…’ And there you have it. The high-tech product managers believe that in order to sell to consumers, they must first seduce the major reviewers. And to do that, most believe they have to offer ‘more check marks in more boxes’ than their competitors.”
Too many choices — good or bad — can be mentally exhausting
“Each day, we are bombarded with options — at the local coffee shop, at work, in stores or on the TV at home. Do you want a double-shot soy latte, a caramel macchiato or simply a tall house coffee for your morning pick-me-up” Having choices is typically thought of as a good thing. Maybe not, say researchers who found we are more fatigued and less productive when faced with a plethora of choices.”
Customer service via Twitter
“What we wanted to find out is which companies are using Twitter for customer service? And how can you get a company’s attention via Twitter?”
DHTML color picker by COLOURlovers
“Once we’d modularized the color picker code it made sense to offer it to others to use on their own sites and projects. So here is the code to get our Color Picker working on your site for free. (We’ll even host the files.)”
Freedom disables your net access for up to 3 hours at a time
“Freedom is an application that disables wireless and ethernet networking on an Apple computer for up to three hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal.”
A list of tips to make freelancing more manageable
“Do not own a coffeemaker. I know this goes against the wisdom of those budgeting articles (the money you save on lattes could pay for your child’s college education!). But it’s critical for your mental health to leave the house at least once a day and interact with real, live humans—even if you are only talking about Starbucks. So here’s a compromise: Identify the cheapest drink that you enjoy. Then calculate how much it costs — in my case, $1.50 for iced tea — compared to a $100 therapy session in which you talk about how lonely and depressed you are. My guess? That iced tea is a bargain.”