Blocked in China?
You can test any website and see in real-time if it’s censored (blocked) in China:
http://www.greatfirewallofchina.org/
Technorati Tags: internet censorship, china, the great firewall of china
Add comment March 15th, 2007
Web 2.0 … The Machine is Us/ing Us
A brilliant video explainging Web 2.0 and the challenges that we will face in the near future — all in under 5 minutes.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE
Technorati Tags: web 2.0
Add comment March 1st, 2007
The 10 stages of innovation
I have read alot of books on product development, design, innovation, management, and business in general. I also have had about 10 years of experience in design – making a wide range of things for other people. So, I have a pretty good idea on how to set up, manage and complete projects.
But nothing has prepared us for one of the biggest challenges that we face on a daily basis — now that we’re on the other side of the table. It’s the up’s and down’s of it all. The motivation. The excitement. The cynical days. The “Oh-my-gawd-what-have-we-gotten-ourselves-into” days. The days where you’re convinced it will be a sucess — and the other days where you’re convinced it will be a complete failure.
Here is a great list, taken from the article: Innovation in a nutshell. It’s the other 10 stages of innovation, that seem to never be discussed:
The 10 stages of innovation
* Scepticism
* Enthusiasm
* Brass band and fireworks
* Results aren’t visible
* Existing business suffering
* Is it worth it?
* Start to see pay offs
* This is taking time
* Maybe not a bad idea
* It works!
Link to article: Innovation in a nutshell
Technorati Tags: innovation, product development, design, motivation
2 comments February 28th, 2007
Web 2.0 Design Style
Good or bad? Here to stay? Below are some sites that I have
collected that dissect the current (web) design trends.
Have some more sites to add to this list?
- The Logos of Web 2.0
http://www.fontshop.com/fontfeed/archives/web-20-logos.cfm - Web 2.0 how-to design guide
http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/web-2.0-design-style-guide.cfm - Web 2.0 Design… in a nutshell
http://mittermayr.wordpress.com/2006/02/03/20-culture/ - Learn to Create your very own web 2.0 logo
http://nicora.net/index.cfm?method=article&blogID=C88F54CC-D998-BFC0-D995-3823E52FA483
Technorati Tags: design, style, web 2.0, design trends
Add comment February 16th, 2007
Inspiration / productivity sources
OK, it’s been a while since I have updated. But in all fairness, I have been dedicating almost 100% of my time and energy this past half year trying to get some new internet concepts launched — so no time for blogging 
Here are some sources of inspiration that have helped me stay focused or help me see the light during the dark nights as an innovator.
For fun quotes and articles that I wind up posting on our intranet now and again:
http://www.workhappy.net/
The Art of Project Management for the car analogy that has helped me figure out what features to cut out and avoid adding right from the start.
http://kuler.adobe.com/ for picking great colour combinations without having to think twice.
The emergent task timer — that magically by filling in bubbles with my number 2 pencil has helped me stay on track with my tasks and organize my day:
http://davidseah.com/archives/2006/04/18/the-printable-ceo-iii-emergent-task-timing/
Now, if only I could find a tool to help motivate me update my blog more often 
Technorati Tags: productivity, inspiration
Add comment February 15th, 2007
Creative Thinking & Everything you wanted to know about designers — but were afraid to ask.
Creativity. It’s quite a buzz word these days, especially the phrase “Creative Thinking”. Not many people are sure exactly what it is — but it’s being hailed as the saviour in business — a new way of thinking that when unleashed will create abundant ideas and wealth.
According to A Whole New Mind — a great book by the way — “If it’s likely that someone in China or India can do your work more cheaply than you can, or if a computer can do your work faster than you can…” You better start thinking creatively.
But all of this fuss about creativity has gotten me thinking — Is one way of thinking really better than another way? Will it really solve anything if we all dress in black and become uber-creative?
And it was this article below on thinkvitamin.com that put things into perspective. It’s an article that tries to explain to the the Web Developer some of the outlandish behaviours that a Web Designer exerts on others during a project:
http://www.thinkvitamin.com/features/design/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-designers
It made me realise that at the end of the day — there really is no better way. The Designer is no more important than the Developer and visa versa. The fact is — is that we need each other to design & develop those great products for our clients.
Perhaps, what we need more than anything, is a common language. Or a common understanding. So that when we do communicate and work together on projects — we can do so in a way that would bring out and maximize the talents of both the left-brained and right-brained thinker.
Then we would really be creating new products that add value.
Technorati Tags: design, creative thinking, new product development, creativity
1 comment September 14th, 2006
Web Design Resources
I found this great little resource a couple of weeks ago — A blog that keeps tracks of web design trends. Also features a special trend watching section where you can upload snapshots from around the web yourself.
Technorati Tags: web design, trends, resources
Add comment September 13th, 2006
Crowdsourcing
Jeff Howe’s crowdsourcing blog (author of Wired’s “The Rise of Crowd Sourcing” article): http://www.crowdsourcing.com/
With links from the article and expanded information on the topic.
Technorati Tags: crouwdsourcing
Add comment September 4th, 2006
The Long Tail Video
Slightly creepy, yet oddly intriguing, this video illustrates the “Day of the Long Tail”.
Technorati Tags: Long Tail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xAA71Ssids
Add comment September 4th, 2006
Per hour? or per project?
One thing I’ve come to learn running a design studio — is that my clients don’t care if it takes me 2 hours or two weeks to create a design. But what they DO care about is that it’s done by the due date , that it is relevant to the brief and that it’s of a certain quality.
It would be easy to say that we should throw the whole idea of billing by the hour out the window and use the “value” of a project as the fee. But what exactly is this so-called “value”? The highest amount a client is willing to pay? Or how much you expect that it will be worth in the future, down the road? How do you determine the “value” of one logo to the next? Would there really be a difference in “value” from client to client? I’m sure that they would think that their logo was as “valuable” or as important as the next guy’s.
I guess the best thing that you can do, is be aware of all of the resources involved in completing the project, make a good estimation of your (time)costs and then tack your profit margin on top of it. Then be sure to comminicate to your client exactly what they should expect during the process: tangeable deliverables, due dates, expectations and clear pricing that makes sense to the client.
There is an excellent article on Signal v.s Noise debating this problem that many designers face:
http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/picasso_paula_scher_and_the_
lifetime_behind_every_second.php
Technorati Tags: pricing, design, management, fees, projects
2 comments August 26th, 2006
A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age
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