August 2009
2 posts
2 tags
Women prefer websites designed by women →
What we can learn from the iPhone →
You can’t build playfulness into your designs without experiencing playfulness yourself. Play games and pay attention to what makes them fun. For example, the only rule in the card game Fluxx is that the rules constantly change. Completing a level in Peggle gives you the “Ode to Joy,” rainbows, unicorns, and fireworks! Use these elements as inspiration for working playfulness into your designs.
July 2009
3 posts
Standing out in the crowd - Women in open source →
“As men, you are able to glide through life ignoring these things. If you are white, and straight, and speak English, and are university educated, there are a bunch of other things you’ve been able to ignore so far, too. I’m asking you to try not to ignore them. Keep your eyes and ears open and be aware of how things feel to people who don’t share your privilege.”
3 tags
Dumbing things down is not the way
According to Jeffrey Zeldman it is a good thing that CSS 1 (and 2.1) wasn’t very advanced, because otherwise it would have been too overhelming for newbies. I disagree. Imagine in other professions possibilities being limited in order to make them easier to learn. Wouldn’t that be both insulting to newcomers and damaging to advanced users? Besides, HTML and CSS are still very easy to...
Great essay about procrastination and... →
June 2009
3 posts
1 tag
Brinkman bepleit heffing op internet →
Ik stel voor dat we ook tol gaan heffen op fietspaden om de kwakkelende autoindustrie te helpen :-/
With Allies like These, who Needs Enemies? →
Great article over at Brand New about a bank’s (GMAC) recent rebranding. A brand is about so much more than just a nice looking logo. Or, as one of the commenters puts it: Branding should be about communicating the company’s values. This rebrand kinda just smacks of putting on a brand new coat of paint on a rotten old house.
According to Statcounter GS, about 12% in The... →
That’s less than I thought. Which is good.
April 2009
1 post
3 tags
Web developers, don't be lazy!
Among web developers there’s a heated debate going on about Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), the very old, yet very much alive browser by Microsoft. Many designers and developers want to put banners on every site telling IE6 users they should upgrade. People are even talking about not ‘supporting’ IE6 any more. The problem is that many IE6 users have no choice. In many cases they are...
March 2009
3 posts
The first one’s the hardest →
Several designers have told me how important it is to have a specific use and point size in mind. The idea is that if you try and design a font that’s good for everything, it might not be REALLY good at anything. But if the font works really well for one specific use, then it can probably work well for lots of others. I’ve heard the example of J.K. Rowling writing her books for her daughter. If...
1 tag
Ada Lovelace Day: Leah Buechley and Lady Ada
Today is Ada Loveday Day, and even though I don’t write for this blog very often, I felt I should take part. Working in technology still is something many girls don’t want to do because they feel it’s not for them. We need more role models! Women like Leah Buechley and Lady Ada. Leah Buechley is the inventor of the Lilypad Arduino, a small, goodlooking version of the Arduino...
Eat, Pray, ... don't read?
After watching Elizabeth Gilbert’s TED talk (previous post) I decided to read her book Eat, Pray, Love. And it left me somewhat disappointed. Sure it was an entertaining read, but she also comes across as incredibly self-absorbed, self-obsessed and self-indulgent. I don’t think I’d recommend the book.
February 2009
4 posts
Watch this brilliant TED talk on genius and... →
I'm so happy I don't have a Facebook account →
1 tag
KPN Backup Online :-(
I’m subscribed to Backup Online from KPN. This is - you guessed it - an online backup service. I’m not very happy with it and I’ve decided I’d rather make backups with an external harddisk, so I decided to cancel my subscription. How about this: you can easily and quickly buy this product online, but cancelling can only be done by sending a letter to KPN. An actual letter....
But the food is still rubbish. →
January 2009
2 posts
Ada Lovelace Day is an international day of... →
“I firmly believe there are differences between graphic designers and interaction...”
– Says Dan Hill, who art-directed the Monocle website. And I wonder if he’s right. If he is, I should either stop designing for print or for the web. Thing is, I love doing both. Does this mean I’ll never be a great designer? Or should I just stop thinking so much?
December 2008
3 posts
Maxing out your Triangle →
Chris Pullman: What I've Learned →
Does the broken windows theory hold online? →
November 2008
1 post
Saving your soul
At the moment I’m halfway through reading How To Be A Graphic Designer Without Losing Your Soul by Adrian Shaughnessy, and already I’m quite sure this is one of the best design books ever.
October 2008
1 post
Why designers fail →
“I think design fails because everyone is racing towards some place but no one understands why they are racing and what the track looks like.”
The top 2 issues (which are kind of similar): people in non-design roles making design decisions and managers making design decisions without design training. Not very surprising, if you ask me. Not at all.
September 2008
2 posts
Moritz Waldemeyer: The LED Crafter →
Scan Toaster Prints Text, Photos From the Internet... →
August 2008
1 post
Pattern tap →
July 2008
8 posts
Breda: A Dutch Town Gone Graphic Design Crazy →
I knew about the design museum that recently openend in Breda, but apparently there was also a nice graphic design festival. Kind of funny I should first learn about this from a Japanese website…
Stephen Hay has written an excellent manifesto for meaningful design. Actually it’s more like a manual. He begins by saying there’s a lot of design sameness on the web and then proceeds to show how to avoid this: start by developing a great concept, rather than just firing up Photoshop and styling away. His 5-step ‘design funnel’ method sounds good and I’m certainly...
History of graphic design →
Maryellen McFadden, a.k.a. Alki1 on Flickr, has posted lots and lots of graphic design works from different times and places. A great source.
Time-lapse video (screencast) of somebody... →
From now on, whenever I’m asked what my job is like, I’ll have to show them this video. (via Kottke)
NxE’s Fifty Most Influential Female Bloggers →
Websites are digital, so why make them look like...
I’m a big fan of the work of Jason Santa Maria, but today I’d like to mention a comment on one of his articles by Neil Scott.
Jason wrote about (not) using the ‘slanty photo treatment’ in his work, because his clients don’t seem to like it. Neil replied by saying: I’ve often thought about retiring all analogue effects from my designs as a protest in favour of web...
Jonathan Yuen →
I just rediscovered this site today. Amazing.
2 tags
Tomorrow: #remamsterdam
I’m very much looking forward to the R.E.M. concert in Amsterdam tomorrow. They’ve created a great, very web 2.0 tour site.
June 2008
1 post
The Arrival
I just bought what might well be the most beautiful graphic novel ever: The Arrival by Shaun Tan. A wordless story about emigration, very moving and beautifully drawn. Highly recommended.
May 2008
3 posts
Underwater - beautiful song by Audiotransparent →
And I want you to know / That our bed stays empty / And I / Sleep in the bath
Muto - an ambiguous animation painted on public... →
This is amazing.
Effeminacy stops you from doing things. (...) Guy... →
I often disagree with Joe Clark, but I think his writing is brilliant.
April 2008
3 posts
2 tags
Calculating Hours - the Client Factors →
Pricing for services is one of the vital realms where design professionals do not often possess significant skill. And this is a shame because price estimation skill is often directly tied to a designer’s ability to keep clients happy and derive a sense of satisfaction from the work; important stuff.
Kings of Code →
In may there’s a ‘gathering’ for web developers in Amsterdam called Kings of Code. And guess what? All speakers are male, too. In the Netherlands there are (surprise!) very few female web developers and I’m afraid this isn’t going to change anytime soon. Stupid name like this certainly won’t help.
Street Art At Its Best #3: Plastic Bag Animals →
March 2008
2 posts
Great Arduino tutorial (lesson 4) →
Serial may sound like a tasty breakfast food, but its actually quite different. The word serial means “one after the other.” For example, a serial killer doesn’t stop with one murder, but stabs many people one after the other. Serial data transfer is when we transfer data one bit at a time, one right after the other.
The Original Human TETRIS Performance by Guillaume... →
February 2008
4 posts
Decimate Those “Someday” Projects with... →
You’ve got at least one Big Project on your someday list, or at least in the back of your mind: that novel/painting/web start-up/symphony you’ve always wanted to tackle “when the time is right.” One day, you tell yourself, when there’s a nice long lull, you’ll get to it, but until then it’s nose-to-the-grindstone on more immediate concerns…
Heel veel designlinks →
Producten bestellen in de USA →
Immaculate Heart College Art Department Rules. →
January 2008
9 posts
@media London 2008 →
Register today for a 10% extra discount.
din-ink →
Trend Map 2008 →
