Michael James Moran Woodworked Furniture.

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.

“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.

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)

A couple years back a phenomenon began when members of a designers forum posted images from their current projects for critique, as is want to happen.  Out of bored creativity, other designers took the original spirit of the work and turned it into a completely different work.  Although the two pieces shared themes or elements or styles, they were a testament to the random directions different artists can take their work.  

This creative one-upsmanship was so fun that artists began to be called out in competitions to see who could come up with the most comical, beautiful, or overall creative pieces.  The two artists would take turns creating an image, video, or other artwork and pass it along to their competitor, who would the modify the artwork and pass it back.  Each piece passed among the competitors was called a “volley” and the challenges were called “matches.”  Eventually, a tennis style format emerged as the most natural expression of the nature of competitive artwork.  This is the birth of Photoshop Tennis (or at least it should be).  

The rules are simple: There are no rules.  Wait, no.  There are a lot of rules.

• Each match is between two artists respected in a common field
• After receiving a volley, you have no more than two hours to return fire
• Winners are decided by a panel of your peers
• All work must be done in the agreed upon medium
• Don’t use anyone else’s work

I’ve witnessed the “official” Layer Tennis (so called because of copyright issues with Adobe Photoshop) championships sponsored by Coudal Partners last year, and it is amazing.  Take a look at one of my favorite matches from the Season One Archive for an example of the raw creativity on display.  There’s something about a time deadline and competition that puts super-creative ideas on paper that would never had a chance otherwise.  Good stuff.

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