Just a quick question and challenge for you guys – Are you pushing yourself to learn? I have felt kinda blah these last few month in terms of my motivation and creativity as a designer and developer. I think this was because I wasn’t pushing myself to learn new things. So I just recently decided to learn how to build sites in ExpresisonEngine and give myself a geek-ee challenge. It’s been frustrating and fun at the same time but I can say for the first time in a while I’m actually EXCITED about learning something and im actually doing something! (instead of putting things off).

So I’d like to challenge you guys to push yourself and learn new things! Leave a comment and let me know what you are challenging yourself with!

Yesterday afternoon I tuned in with the thousands of fanbois and girls to listen to God, (I mean Steve Jobs) introduce Apples newest creation: The iPad.

After my initial non-amusement with the name and product features I couldn’t stop thinking that this product was not made for me – a power user. The iPad is geared towards media consumers – which is who we design for – which is why designers should pay attention.

Not For Me…

I have a MacBook Pro, Netbook, and an iPhone already – so why would I want to carry around another device. I purchased a laptop to get rid of my desktop, and an iPhone to replace my smart phone and ipod touch. I’m not a kindle user so this device really does nothing for me… For the mac user that is already ultra connected the iPad has no real use but I still think that this is an important device to pay attention to.

Drawing and Sketching

Photo via Gizmodo
Ok – so I lied. Maybe designers will have some uses for this device. I’m curious about the iPads sketching capabilities. I’ve noticed that the iPhone and iPod touch screens are much more responsive and quick to touch than any other touch screen device ive ever used *cough droid cough*. This makes me think that the iPad would be good for sketching and drawing.

I’m also curious if the iPad could handle Photoshop or Illustrator – or if Apple would even allow Adobe apps on their hallowed device.  Could the processor handle that? I can see designers sketching out quick ideas for layouts, logos, product designs etc. I would also think that some sort of stylus would be helpful for these types of apps. What do you think? Would you use the iPad to sketch?

Digital Magazines

Most importantly I think the iPad will cause designers to continue focusing on designing for mobile and digital content. If the iPad is adopted by enough people it could cause a considerable boost for the newspaper/magazine/print industry and create a new demand for digital magazines.  This will bring in new challanges of designing visually interesting layouts that also include interactivity that lie beyond typical web design. This format might also bring new and more targeted advertising opportunities that are specific to this delivery channel.

Apps for the iPad – Whats to come

I have no doubt that in the hands of all those able and crazy creative developers out there the apps for the iPad will make the device even more useful and powerful. Just think how often you use 3rd party apps on your iPhone or iPod touch. My iPhone would  basically be worthless to me if it weren’t for all those cool apps. I’m excited to see what is to come in this area.

And Now…The Letdown: Features The iPad Is Lacking

No camera?

No flash?

No Multitasking?

No multi carier data plans?

Really Apple?!?!?!?!?

This is where the device REALLY dissapointed me. Steve Jobs mentioned in the keynote that netbooks were basically crappy laptops – implying that the iPad was much better, but hey Mr. Jobs,   my netbook runs photoshop and illustrator pretty decently, runs flash and has a camera. Hrmmmm. Yeah yeah I know this product isn’t for me, but they could have improved on the features that already existed in the iPhone.

At the very least the iPad should have had a camera! Every mac product besides the Mac Mini and iPod Touch have cameras! The iPhone is the most popular camera on Flickr. People love snapping picures and video chatting.  I think this is where Apple REALLY missed the mark. Oh and lets not forget about multitasking… not sure why they didn’t include that either. Sigh…

Jailbreaking the iPad

To contradict everything I just said I think the iPad will be pretty sweet once the jailbreak community gets their hands on it. Perhaps they will adapt iPhone apps like Backgrounder to enable multitasking and apps that let you run flash so we don’t miss out on all those awesome non-youtube videos on the interwebs. I think Apple needs to embrace the jailbreak community and the ideas and improvements it brings forward instead of ignoring them.

What do you think of the iPad?

Will you buy one? Or will this product flop? Will it create new opportunities for designers? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Hope everyone had a lovely thanksgiving! I finally had a chance to disconnect for a few days and relax. When I came back to internet land I noticed that I had 16 Google Wave invites in my inbox to give away.

I’d like to give away the invites to people I’ll actually talk to so if you think that you fit that bill leave a comment and i’ll pick you!

Last week I wrote a review of the GoGoStand and since then I’ve been using my stand everyday (and I love it!!!!). I’m excited to announce that I now have 8 GoGoStands to giveaway to readers of The Design O’Blog!

HERE’S HOW TO ENTER

To enter you must live in the USA. Leave a funny and creative comment below stating why you would like a GoGostand. I will select 8 winners on Friday November 14th at 10pm EST and notify users shortly after that. If you don’t win fear not! You can head on over to the GoGoStand website and snag one for yourself for just $5!

First, let me start off by saying that I love technology, and I think that the Android platform is pretty cool. I’m glad to see competition in the realm of reallyfreakingcoolcellphones, but the marketing of Verizon’s Droid struck a nerve with me.

First, before you read my silly little rant, check out the website and watch the commercial.

DROIDS FLASH BASED WEBSITE

http://droiddoes.com

DROID iDON’T COMMERCIAL

DROID ADVERTISEMENT ON THE VERIZON WIRELESS WEBSITE

NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING

My first impression of the iDon’t campaign is that its negative.

The text of the iDon’t commercial:

• iDon’t have a real keyboard
• iDon’t run simultaneous apps
• iDon’t take 5 megapixel pictures
• iDon’t customize
• iDon’t run widgets
• iDon’t allow open development
• iDon’t take pictures in the dark
• iDon’t have interchangeable batteries

This commercial reminds me of all the silly and petty political smear campaigns that made me really dislike election season. I know they are trying to point out that this phone does way more than the iPhone, but its just an immature way to point it out.

While some of the “iDon’ts” are true there are other ways to customize your iPhone.  If you jailbreak your iPhone you can do 3/4ths of these things anyways…  I’m currently running my NPR app while using tweetdeck (via backgrounder) and I have completely customized the way my phone looks.

*I should also note that I’m not the biggest fan of the I’m a mac, I’m a PC Apple commercials. I much prefer the simple commercials showing the apple products (iphone, ipod etc) and a hand.

UGLY AMATEUR GRAPHICS

My next beef with the Droid campaign is the graphic elements. Does anyone else think think all the red, black and texture look amateur? My initial reaction is – hey that looks like someone followed a Photoshop tutorial and branded the entire campaign with a cheezy semi-futuristic rock/metal texture. It just looks horrible! I’m just kind of amazed and confused, and wondering how much they paid an advertising agency to design this stuff!

The website is all flash (my thoughts on all flash sites) and has an annoying sound track of effect sounds to further enforce that grungy industrial look and feel.  After navigating through a few pages I left because I found the text (light gray on dark gray texture) very hard to read not to mention that the circular navigation is horrible!

If the Droid is going after the iPhone market – you would think that they would try to learn something from Apple’s neat and clean design aesthetic. The droid phone itself is pretty neat and clean – so im not sure where they are getting the ‘grungy cool’ from. Perhaps they are going in the opposite design direction just to be different?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Is this campaign going to be a success for Verizon?  Are you going to buy a Droid phone? Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

As most of  you know i’m crazy about my iPhone.  I use it for work, business, blogging, communication, fun and many other things. I often have my phone sitting next to me while I work and prop it up against items on my desk so I can read my incoming alerts and messages.

I have been looking for an stand or cradle for a whle but wasnt impressed with anything I’ve seen so far. Most stands out there come at a premium price and I was just looking for something simple. Then I stumbled upon the GoGoStand.

I discovered the GoGoStand while browsing youtube.  I was quite amazed at the simplicity of the product (and jealous that I didnt think of it first!) The GoGoStand is an iPhone and iPod Touch stand that folds out from a credit card sized piece of plastic. The size and portability is what instantly sold me.

At $4.99 I couldn’t say no! Simple, useful, portable! I managed to snag one the day they went on sale (and sold out!)

I should also note that the Dean the designer of the GoGoStand is a friendly and responsive guy! I had to shoot him an email to correct my shipping address and he got back to me the same day. Great customer service!

OK SHUT UP NIKI! WHERE CAN I GET A GOGOSTAND?

Since I’m so pleased with the GoGoStand I asked Dean if he had some freebies for my readers. Currently the GoGoSands are all sold out – BUT stay tuned for a giveaway in the near future!

For more information about the GoGoStand check out the website http://gogostand.com/

WHAT ARE YOU THOUGHTS OR EXPERIENCES WITH iPHONE ACCESSORIES LIKE THIS?

Do you own one? Would you buy one? Let me know what you think!

APPLE AND THE ERA OF THE HOCKEY PUCK MOUSE

I became a Mac user in back in August 2003. Being new to the Mac I went with what I new – my crappy corded microsoft mouse leftover from my desktop PC. There was nothing else…. right? My previous experience with a ‘mac mouse’ was the infamous hockey puck. I remember attempting to use a lovely bluebery iMac with this strange circular thing attached to it and was immediately frustrated. What was all this one button crap?  This expierence would prepare me for another 6 year protest of Apple mice.

THE GHOST OF MOUSES (MICE?) PAST

As a designer I find it impossible to design solely using the trackpad so I always have a mouse on hand.  I’ve have owned several Logitech and Microsoft mice with various sized usb receivers and even a few bluetooth models here and there.  I’m the sort of person that likes to be able to use keyboard shortcuts and program mouse buttons for as much functionality as much as possible. Each mouse had its merits and its 15 minutes of fame.

I was using my Logitech VX Nano for a while and have been mostly happy with this mouse. I had it set up just the way I like it: Tilt scroll wheel left/right for volume control, scroll wheel click for for spotlight search,  extra up/down buttons for web navigation. Pretty sweet set up! One problem:  my scroll wheel started making noises (which I find extremly annoying) and has been loosing sensitivity… or I’m just going crazy.

GIVING THE  MIGHTY MOUSE A TRY

Apple Bluetoth Mighty Mouse

After my frustrations with my trustly logitech mouse I gave up and went back to a wired Apple Mighty Mouse. I had been using this mouse a while and grew quite accustomed to the 360 scroll wheel. (not to mention the control+scroll wheel zoom for super-pixel design examination). But then… I grew frustrated with being tied down by a cord. So I decided to give the bluetooth mighty mouse a try. All was happy and full of glee for the first few months until I encountered the ‘dead scroll ball’ problem. While the idea of 360 degree scrolling is so helpful in programs like Illustrator and Photostop the unreliable scrollball made this a nightmare. I would be happily scrolling along and then BAM… its dead.  I tried the rubbing on a piece of paper trick and it didn’t work so like the impatient person that I am – I gave up and went back to my trusty but noisy Logitech mouse until I saw the light today.

HELLO MAGIC MOUSE!

So I saw all the hullabaloo about Apples new ‘Magic Mouse’ earlier today. (Sidenote: Who was high when they named this thing???) I have to say that I was hooked right away because of one thing – NO SCROLLBALL!!!!! It’s like Apple read my mind and removed the one thing I hated about the Mighty Mouse! I’m also looking forward to being able to use the swipe functionality to navigate in Safari and through photos.

Oh… and then there’s the lovely design and all the cool multi-touch technology thats packed inside…

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Did Apple create a breakthrough product that will change the industry? Or is this just a piece of overpriced plastic? Did you hop on the fanboi bandwagon and purchase a Magic Mouse? Leave a comment and let me know what you think! I value all your feedback (negative or positive)!

In this quick tip I show you how to quickly scroll back to the top of any application on the iPhone.

During Dan Cederholm’s talk at An Event Apart he brought up the topic of progressive enhancement. I’m pretty excited about all the things that CSS3 will allow us to do but I also have some reservations. Do we go crazy and start embracing all these new-fangled CSS things or do we look at our content and design and see if they add meaning and clarity to our message?

<Bling />

The excitement around border radius and text shadow are definitely understandable. It makes me think of the HTML days of yesteryear when I was just learning. I thought that <Blink> and <Marquee> were THE COOLEST THINGS IN THE WORLD!!! But let’s stop a second and think – The way I was using these tags were not thought out and they didn’t add to the message I was trying to convey. They were just BLING.

We need to back up our design decisions instead of always jumping on the “cool things” bandwagon.

I’m Guilty…

I worked on a website a few months ago in which I implemented rounded corners.  I have to admit that I really had no reasoning for using border radius on this navigation. Now that I take a look at it again it does not really fit with the design either. I think of sports or athletic training as something that’s straight forward and rounded corners are more of a softer touch. So

Some Progressive Enhancements To Consider…

…if they suit your design

Border Radius

View the CSS

RBGA Transparency

View the CSS

Text Shadow

Apple Style nav tutorial that uses text shadow

Conclusion

Just because you can does not mean you should…unless you have a reason for it.

What do you think?

Do you live by CSS3 and think its the greatest thing since sliced bread? Leave a comment! Are you an ie6 lover and don’t use anything not supported by the outdated browser? I want to hear from you! Chime in and let your voice be heard.

BTW- you can download the slides from Dan’s AEA09 talk here (PDF)