Currently browsing Design
I Heart Paper Toys
Who doesn’t like some paper toy fun? Ever since I discovered Mat Hawkins blog, I’ve folded together quite a collection.
The super talented Matt even helped us to create these Disney paper toys that we used as free downloadables earlier this year.
So naturally, I was excited to discover some new fantastic folded creations from paper engineer Marshall Alexander.
Below is just a sample. He’s got a very creative collection available as downloadable .pdf’s for that empty shelf in your office.
9tailors
The folks at 9tailors are bringing perfect fit and style to the masses at 9tailors.com, where you can design your own shirt, tailored just for you.
They make the expereince pretty easy (even if you’re not a designer). You just design the garment (collar, cuff and pocked options), select your fabric, enter your measurements, and then review & check out.
There’s even a YouTube measurement tutorial video to help you get that perfect fit.
As Real As It Gets
I ran across this awesome realistic take of PhotoShop on Flickr. Ironically enough, it wasn’t created in PhotoShop. It was made to be an Ad by Art Snob. Check out the rest of the Flickr set to see how it was done.
Concepting Ships
I love blogs. No matter how niche a subject seems to be, I can always find some great inspiration. Looking for some concept spaceships? Of course you are. Why wouldn’t you be?
No problem, look no further.
Conceptual HTML 5
As various groups debate and brainstorm what will soon be HTML 5, designers and programmers sit and hope for more standards and cleaner code.
What might HTML bring? Here are a few enhancments to note from the HTML 5 draft spec:
- An understandable tagging strategy. Instead of bundling all multimedia into object or embed tags, video goes in video tags. Audio goes in audio tags…
- Localized SQL databases that websites can read and write to, speeding up interactive searching, cacheing and indexing functions.
- Rich animations without plug-ins. The canvas element gives the browser the ability to draw vector graphics. This means configurable, automatic graphs and illustrations right in the browser without Flash or Silverlight. Some support for canvas is already in all the latest browsers.. except for IE (of course).
- Real apps in the browser. APIs for in-browser editing, drag and drop, back button “waypoints,” and other graphical user interface abilities.
- Content presentation tags will be phased out, and CSS will rule (as it should).
In theory, HTML 5 promises a lot of new ideas for web standards. But for now, it’s just an experimental specification.
Have You Tried Cool Iris?
There are all sorts of plugins for Firefox, but I haven’t found any as handy for designers as Cool Iris (formely PicLens).
This sweet little plugin allows you to browse images or video from any Cool Iris enabled website in one continuous fullscreen 3D wall (see image above of latte art flickr search). The experience is so much better than viewing images page by page.
You can zoom in to view images or watch video, and click through to websites for more information. It works on Amazon, Flickr, Google, Yahoo, etc…
A must have.
Are Tabs A Dying Metaphor?
I begin to wonder about the longevity of a navigation metaphor like tabs (see my last post).
It’s origins are understandable enough–a once brilliant way to help the world understand how to use those newfangled web pages (or computers in general) by using a metaphor everyone understood, file folders. In the late 80’s/early 90’s most people could relate to using files and folders to store and find information. But is that still true today?
With more and more generations online that have never used a physical file folder, I wonder if we’re hanging on to that metaphor a bit too long?
Papercraft Pinhole Cameras
In celebration of World Pinhole Camera Day (when was that?), Corbis has posted some papercraft ReadyMech Cameras for your downloading pleasure.
These paper-toy-meets-pinhole-camera creations are much cooler than the cardboard versions I made in school. If you make one and shoot something, share your photos and I’ll post them here.
Adobe Tutorials
There is so much great content online for creative professionals these days. There’s no excuse for not staying current and sharpening your skills. I’m writing this post while watching a tutorial I found on tv.adobe.com.
Adobe’s new tutorial section offers tips and tricks that, of course, highlight their software. But despite the occasional hard sell, you’ll find some great tutorials, and tips that will keep you in the know.
Desktoptopia Is Free
My favorite desktop changing software/service announced a new price point today… FREE!
Desktoptopia used to charge to for its software, which downloads high-quality desktops from their ever-growing database, but now it’s all gratis.
They even launched a PC version for all of you still stuck on that side of the world.
