Grand Larseny

Simple, brilliant website. While there are nice touches everywhere, I love the “FACT”s best.

Michael James Moran Woodworked Furniture.

Being an astute reader, I’m sure you are wondering what exactly a 1967 Dodge Viper is. The Viper was not produced until the 1990′s, but a very clever designer named Rafael Reston has imagined what might have been. This is his vision of an alternate past:

I absolutely love this project from a design standpoint.  He has taken the spirit of the Dodge Viper, as it has existed in modern times, and put it in the design language of the 60′s. It is still unmistakably a Viper, but from another time. 

What Rafael has done is take a purely modern instance of an object that has existed for the last century, and put it in the design asthetic of a few decades ago. As another example, I wonder what Starbuck’s branding would have been if they had been around during the 50′s?

Taking a slightly different direction than Rafael, let’s think about the internet. It has not been around for a very long time so there is no set design precedent from the 50′s or 60′s for web technology. Still, I wonder if we were to try and design websites from the 60′s, what they would look like?

Click through if you’d like to see more images from Rafael’s gallery.  They’re pretty cool.

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Chris Noessel has written an article entitled One Free Interaction which neatly chronicles a new pattern for designers. As users become bored, the mental noise in their head can sometimes translate into a interactive noise.  As Chris describes it:

“One free interaction” is a prospective design pattern that gives software and hardware a more humane feel. It exists outside of task flows and the concept of users as task-doers. Instead it sits in the “in between” spaces, suiting users as fidgeters, communicators, and people who play with things.

I am so glad someone has taken the time to document my nervous ticks and give them a name.  It makes me feel slightly normal.  I regularly do both the page snapback and de-re-selecting interactions.  It’s fun.

One small challenge I have is from a purely linguistic standpoint.  I believe the term “neutral interaction” to better fit the idea of a completely consequence-free interaction.  Apart from a developer’s standpoint I can see the idea of a “free interaction” being more provocative, however it struck me at first of being “free” to implement, which is not the case.  

These interactions, “free” or “neutral,” are so satisfying, I want to start building them into all my future projects.  They absolutely create a bond between user and software, as Chris notes.  The more an action is repeated, the more the software becomes an extension of the user. While I can’t recall any program I’ve made that has reached that level of connection to the user, it is a good goal.

All owners of the Xbox 360 received an extra Christmas present when they updated their console a month ago.  I know I am a big fan of the new look and feel.  I just ran across a post by the design firm Gridplane that came up with a competing concept for the New Xbox Experience.  Behold what might have been:

Update: I have added an image gallery with all the concepts available at Gridplane’s site. You can view the original article here.

While I love the color palette they have chosen, I think they took a few steps back on functionality.  The white gradient is very subtle and pleasing, and the shade of green reflects the history of the Xbox color palette while moving forward.  Functionally, however, I think the way they present the different groups of information does not give the user enough information about where they are.  What comes next?  What group were the just viewing? 

It is a great attempt, and I appreciate Gridplane sharing it with us.

(via Gizmodo)