March 15, 2007 at 6:07 pm
· Filed under Living · Tagged: design, film, Helvetica, SXSW
One of the highlights of my SXSW adventure was catching the world premier of Helvetica. Director Gary Hustwit was onhand with design anti-hero David Carson taking questions afterward, and both proved to be stand up, approachable guys aftward.
From the opening title build, we begin what appears to be a 2 hour helvetica love first, exploring the history- and ubiquity- of everybody’s favorite san serif. Massimo Vignelli’s contributions were particularly compelling, as the vintage modern design of the 60’s is refreshingly timeless today.
The film takes a 180 midway through, David Carson proving to be an effective emotional foil to the stark utilitarianism of the old swiss guard. And while it’s cool to see design superstars like Paula Scher lay down some knowledge, Erik Spiekermann was probably the most insightful- and amusing- commentator in the film.
The one thing that becomes abundantly clear is there are really just two camps most contemporary designers fall into: pro-Helvetica, or anti-Helvetica.
(this message was convienetly reinforced with the “I love Helvetica” and “I hate Helvetica” the ushers were handing out upon entrance to the theater- clever buggers.
Once you accept the fact you’re watching a feature about a typeface, the rest of the elements are rock solid. The visuals are shot in clean HD on location throughout the world, and the soundtrack was nice and fitting.
I think Helvetica is pervasive enough that even non-design nerds would enjoy it, but if you’re in the design nerd camp… Go see it, order the poster, and get the dvd when it comes out. And write Veer and tell them to make more design features. Considering that Target and Apple and driven design into the minds of millions, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to start exploring the discipline in film. Two great tastes, that taste great together, you’d think it’d be a no-brainer.
March 15, 2007 at 2:30 am
· Filed under Living · Tagged: nerds, SXSW, tips
I came out of my first SXSW with alot of observations and thoughts, and I’ll be posting them throughout the coming days. But right off the bat, there was alot of behavior I witnessed that damn near made me want to delete my blog and transfer to the direct mail, or even fast food industry.
Nerd fests are cool until they start to resemble LARPing cons, with flickr-enabled wifi digital cameras replacing duct tape and foam swords.
Without further ado, here’s a few pointers that will helpfully keep the tools in the shed where they belong. I would love to have snarky vice-like don’t photos to go with each entry, but i didn’t bring a digital camera every single place I went.
1) Big bags of garbage are for bag ladies.
Yes, I too was in awe when I saw the bevy of big sacks of crap awaiting me at check in- including the awesome interactive one designed by hometown hero Chuck Anderson, but the glee soon faded to meh when I realized they were 90% full of crappy magazines, ads for companies you really don’t care about, and media temple stickers. So right off the bat, you can lighten the load by about 30lbs simply by dumping the majority of it in the big dumpsters convienently located by bag pickup.
Once you do that, go take them to your hotel. The bars are crowded enough without 900 sq feet of canvas tote bags clogging the arteries. It’s handy, considerate, and makes you not look like a trade show scavenger.
Continue reading »
March 8, 2007 at 12:55 pm
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: Apple, Leopard, multi-touch, rumor mongering
Not to keep grabbing stuff off Ars, but given the high amount of interest in the multitouch piece I wrote earlier, Ars is reporting Apple is seeking to hire a multi touch display engineer.
…a listing for “Senior Panel Process Engineer” was posted to a “widely-known job site.” The description for said job listing reads that the candidate will “lead the engineering activities to develop the new process and design for the multi-touch panel used in Apple products.”
The remainder of the job listing reportedly asks for someone who can design the multitouch panel from concept to launch, as well as develop the technology in such a way that would benefit both performance and functionality.
How this pans out is anyone’s guess, but I still stand by what I wrote last week.
March 6, 2007 at 1:37 pm
· Filed under Producing · Tagged: AdSense, income, revenue, user generated content
Perhaps you’ve noticed the google ads plastered around the site. Don’t start leaving nasty comments about layout issues just yet, it’s still a big experiment, and there will be some tweaks as I try to figure out the best balance. Put it aside for now though, there’s bigger stuff to tackle at the moment.
As for why it’s worth cluttering up the page with an ads from a network of questionable value, it’s simple: I am sick of other people getting huge cash payouts on the backs of “user created content”. (I am also sick of that phrase, especially when it manifests itself like this but that’s for another day). If my time, effort, eyeballs or thoughts are going to be padding anyone’s bottom line, shouldn’t it be mine? Hell, I work hard all day so other people can reap bigger benefits for my work, why should I let that permeate things I do for fun, or to relax?! Continue reading »
February 28, 2007 at 12:06 pm
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: Apple, Multi-Touch
Over the weekend, V and I randomly stopped in Best Buy to browse around. We stumbled across the new HP Touch Smart PC, and man is that thing ever something. Aside form being a pretty snappy all in one with some nice media center features, the key element is a large, glossy touch screen. And it’s awesome. Simple task like launching appsoff the desktop feels neat- almost fun.The version of IE it’s loaded with has a special, wider scroll bar that’s easier to “grab”. We both really liked playing with the machine, and when we walked away the thought on our mind was “How is Apple going to respond to this”? Continue reading »
February 20, 2007 at 2:18 am
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: Apple, Mac OS, Switch
I know it’s a touchy subject in many circles, but I try to approach the great “debate” from a non fanboy perspective- I have a 10+ year history with Macs (and a Power Computing clone), and spent at least 5 years using both platforms side by side, though I’ve been using a PC exclusively at home for a while. But after looking at what Vista has to offer compared to Leopard (hell, even Tiger), the time has come to draw a line in the sand.
Ironically, the transition to Intel is probably the catalyst for getting me to go back. The cost issue is much less a factor now than in 2000, and as much as I love getting a truckload of parts from NewEgg, I find myself craving something that just works. There comes a point where replacing fans to get a couple extra FPS in a game is just not fun anymore.
Read on to see my major factors for making this decision: Continue reading »
November 28, 2006 at 1:10 pm
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: console wars, video games
I spent the morning reading some pretty unflattering blogs about the PS3. We’ve known about the shortcomings with Sony’s half-assed network “plan”, but the inability to use third part universal remotes with blu-ray video playback was news to me. (I wont even touch the inability to network it with a PC for now). A friend on a board asks “How did Sony spend this much time and money and still come up short”?
In a nutshell, I think the answer might boil down to “Japan sucks at the internet”. Continue reading »
November 19, 2006 at 5:02 am
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: Launch, Party, video games, Wii
We decided to have a Wii launch party at 1:30am. People were cool with the late start time, and we’ve got a big space and a couple decent widescreen displays. The only issue was securing the Wii’s at 12:01 am Sunday. This meant driving around with cellphones on Friday night, before ending up at Meijer some 40 miles away. They had 17 units, and we just made it in time to get 4. They gave us wristbands and told us we couldn’t leave the store (except to go out front and smoke. After last years 360 fiasco, this was heaven We got our machines at midnight and hustled back just as our guests were startin to arrive. Pics after the break. Continue reading »
November 16, 2006 at 1:49 am
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: decor, HDTV, wiring
I was chatting with a friend today, and he commented that everyone he knows has their flatscreen resting on a console.
He thinks people are too scared to watch $3000 fall off the wall. My theory is that there is no point in wall mounting unless you pay for a pro to wire the stuff inside the wall to your gear. Who wants cables running down their walls? I think art directors are just cutting cords off for photoshoots.
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How is your flat panel HDTV mounted?
November 15, 2006 at 5:08 pm
· Filed under Consuming · Tagged: video games, Wii
Nintendo is an interesting beast. After shouting “it’s about games, not convergance” over and over, they ship the Wii with a news reader, weather center and and handful of other non gaming stuff. Yet according to this joystiq report, the MP3 functionality is pretty crippled. Sure it’s lame there is no real player, and the only way to hear tunes is to insert a song into a photo slideshow. But the real tragedy is that in game soundtrack replacement is going to be handled on a game by game basis. Continue reading »
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