design

Weekly digest from my Twitter stream. Lots of great links.

• Ask reporter David Brooks a question http://bit.ly/jinrf Brilliant, because they are driving traffic with Facebook ads.
• RT @chrisbrogan & @1938media Im going to load up a flip with footage and give it to a follower to make a vid. Me: I’m in. Sounds fun. in reply to chrisbrogan
• Estimate the daily traffic of any website http://bit.ly/bS1vh HT @A3PixitesMunier Useful and addictive.
• A big hello to our newest client, The Johnston County Nursery Marketing Association (as in trees). Time to make the donuts @georgegumpert

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Malls, mixed-use developments, shopping centers - call them what you will, they dot the landscape of America.

Many of the larger developments have websites. For the most part, they’re pretty awful. So, when we were asked to produce a new website for North Hills, a mixed-use development in Raleigh, NC, our goal was to help bring the category into a Web 2.0 world.

Two months after the launch, we have every reason to feel we’ve achieved. Stats are great, everything works, and best of all, a continuing content stream is beginning to bloom. It’s interesting stuff, too - stories, bios, pictures and video.

So here’s a checklist of things we think a contemporary mall or mixed-use website needs. Read the rest of this entry »

Some fresh and exciting ideas in newspaper design:

Full story here:

http://tinyurl.com/cu3rt7

I’m really digging Smashing Magazine http://bit.ly/15OVJ

All kinds of trends, inspiration, tools and tricks for web designers.

RT @guykawasaki: 50 interesting takes on User-Friendly Navigation Menus http://adjix.com/f6uj

See some cool examples of the avant garde in navigation design for websites.

North Hills new website is live. We’ll tell you the big secret: it’s got actual content. Read the rest of this entry »

After installing so many Tarski themes for clients, we’ve decided to give the good stuff to ourselves as well. Read the rest of this entry »

We just finished a series of MySpace album covers for A Fifth of Blues -

Photos by George Gumpert & Hal Goodtree. Design by Goodtree & Co.

We’ve just adapted a couple themes for WordPress. It’s so easy, even a dinosaur can do it. Read the rest of this entry »

Mall of America spent a lot of money on their website. But it’s DOA. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s beauty and the beast - web sites that are over designed and under conceptualized. Read the rest of this entry »

Our colleague George Gumpert found a marvelous guide to Web 2.0 design and concept. It’s simple, informative and well-illustrated. Just like good Web 2.0 design should be. Read the rest of this entry »

“We need to make your site more Web 2.0,” I say. I’m always met with a blank look. That why I’ve posted some example links on del.icio.us. Read the rest of this entry »

We found a cool blog about blogging. It’s full of useful, practical info and is good to look at, too! Read the rest of this entry »

Browse the Best of 07 in Web 2.0 site design and get inspired for a new year! Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve been asked to judge the 2008 Ad:Tech Awards recognizing excellence in interactive design, technology and marketing.

Awards are scheduled to be presented in April 2008 in San Francisco.

Designing a logo is an inherently subjective process. Here are a few guidelines to make it a more rational task.

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Color is such a subjective issue. If you’ve ever struggled to come up with a color palette for your company or identity, we’ve got a website for you.

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Semantics - such a funny word.

se man tics - noun 1.a. the study of meaning.
- Dictionary.com

When is a particular design choice simple and functional and when does it crossover into being self-absorbed minimalism? We’re talking about web page tabs.

We’ve noticed two schools of thought regarding the coloration of web page tabs:

1. Tabs that show a change to indicate a live page
2. Tabs that don’t show a change to indicate a live page

WMBDB (we may be dinosuars but), we like to know what page we are on. We don’t like to hunt around for basic info - is it in the address bar? in the title bar?

SO: Tabs which change to show a live page are simple and functional. Tabs which leave a viewer searching for the information are just minimal.

Yesterday’s New York Times Magazine featured an article about the avant garde French designers M/M.

They’ve worked for Calvin Klein, the Musee D’Art Moderne and Bjork. And it’s well-beyond just graphic design, typography and inventing fonts - they’ve done magazine covers (Paris Vogue), stage sets and music videos.

One wonders how and when M/M’s ideas will work their way into the mainstream. Is there some way we can use their thinking in web design? Email campaigns? Inspiring stuff.

To get a better feel for their work, go to the Times article and watch the multimedia presentation.