Some cool wallpaper

I don't often post about good design nearly enough anymore. However, today, I was cruising through Smashing Magazine and was taken by this post on using desktop images to serve up calendars. It got me to thinking about how some members of an advertising group are preparing to have people skin calendar software to portray their message. Wouldn't a desktop wallpaper be just as useful?



I tend to think if someone is interested enough in your calendar, and you want to use it on a desktop application, why wouldn't you just make it a wallpaper instead of something that needs to integrate with the software.

Thoughts?

On Digital Magazine Design

I was cruising LinkedIn this morning when one of their Question and Answer topics caught my eye. There was a woman in India looking for advice on how to promote a digital newsletter.

Having just a little experience doing digital publications for several Chevy vehicles, I offered up my recommendations for setting up a method to virally promote the publication.

Then I got a look at it.

Her magazine, Architectural Evangelist needs a pretty big overhaul in my opinion.

It seems clear that the publication was designed solely in flash. Doesn't appear that they're using any of the big magazine, magalog programs.

I'm fine with having to click through to read the type closely... but the font is barely readable even in the sub head sections.

Good design for newsletters and magazines online must be taken into account... otherwise, there's no point in producing them.

Love the tabs on the AE newsletter and I like the interactive graphs, but this needs a serious overhaul from a useability standpoint. If you were the quality assurance engineer on this project, what would you flag first?

Thought

I've been a little haunted this morning, both by past memories and by my impending future. It's sort of weird to reflect and plan all at the same time. I'm getting married in a little over a month.

This morning, I had a dream. I was recalling the first time I met my future wife for the second time... the real time I suppose. Our first meeting was probably not positive. We never were really formally introduced... and now... on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m. with her dog on my couch and her soundly asleep in my bed, it's sort of surreal to think about all that now.

On the new Modernista! site

A few days ago, someone referred me to the new Modernista! Web site. For those of you who aren't familiar, Modernista! is an agency with offices in Michigan and elsewhere. The new site is bold, very bold actually.

It totally embraces Web 2.0 by utilizing Wikipedia as the background. They've created layers to have their Wikipedia entry and all of the links to portfolio work go to other Web 2.0 applications like Flickr and YouTube. They've also embraced 2.0 link labeling and allowed for even their flaws to become a part of their site.

It's nice to see an agency putting their money where there mouth is.

On Creativity

I was doing a little reading the other day and came across this little gem. It was a decent pick me up for my crazy week.

"You have the power to create. Your power is so strong that whatever you believe comes true. You create yourself, whatever you believe you are. You are the way you are because that is what you believe about yourself. Your whole reality, everything you believe, is your creation. You have the same power as any other human in the world. The main difference between you and someone else is how you apply your power, what you create with your power. You may be similar to others in many ways, but no one in the world lives her or his life the way you do."

- Don Miguel Ruiz
Excerpt from The Mastery of Love

So, what are you creating today?