jmcmichael

Man Ray
(via retrogasm)

GUI vs CLI: Operation vs Expression →

“GUIs are modeled on physical metaphors and ultimately are grounded in the same motivations. They are intended to make you operate something, to get the job done. They want to narrow your set of choices at each juncture, towards the “right” choice.

The “right” choices are baked into the design, through a deliberate thought process. How will this be used? What are its users trying to accomplish? Which actions are more common than others? Which actions have the potential for confusion? Which actions are likely to be mistakes and should be discouraged? All these decisions are made by the designers and encoded in the user interface.

CLIs, on the other hand, are modeled on more abstract, non-physical models. GUIs continuously offer cues to the user about what to do. They strive for an externalization of knowledge. CLIs are for users with internalized knowledge. This fundamental cognitive difference is important. Internalization is critical for power use.”

Roman Opałka was a French-born Polish painter who painted numbers. In 1965 he began painting a process of counting – from one to infinity. Starting in the top left-hand corner of the canvas and finishing in the bottom right-hand corner, the tiny numbers were painted in horizontal rows. As of July 2004, he had reached 5.5 million. 

(via triangulation) 

(Source: myfilmchronicle)

Identifying conflicts in a UI design →

“When I’m working on a UI design I look for things that are wrong. I have to do that because there’s no checklist of things that are ‘right’ that make a perfect product. You can’t check a requirements list and say “Yep, everything’s there!” and conclude that you made a good design. You have to look at the design itself and hunt around for problems: things that cause friction, things that aren’t clear, things that take too long, things that break expectations.

These conflicts are the heart of design. If we could just pile features one on top of the other, we wouldn’t have to do design. Design is what you do when piling elements onto each other doesn’t work. It’s the process of identifying and resolving conflicts.

There are three main areas of conflict that I look for when I’m working on a design.”

- Ryan Singer, designer at 37signals

Europe’s Grass-Lined Tram Tracks There’s something quite magical about watching trams in Barcelona, Strasbourg or Frankfurt glide silently along beds of grass as they do their city circuit. Where possible, this attractive combination of efficient public transport and inspired landscaping should be standard as part of the urban fabric. - Monocle Magazine

(via agpopovska: handa)

The width of the column must be proportioned to the size of the type. Overlong columns are wearying to the eye and also have an adverse psychological effect. Overshort columns can also be disturbing because they interrupt the flow of reading and put the reader off by obliging the eye to change lines too rapidly.

— Josef Muller-Brockmann, Grid Systems

In an uncharted world of boundless data, information designers are our new navigators.

The fact that serious software companies are now tree mapping the pop charts is a sign that data visualization is no longer just a useful tool for researchers and corporations. It’s also an entertainment and marketing vehicle.

— 

roomthily: When the Data Struts Its Stuff

  (via feltron)

(Source: infoneer-pulse)

Poster by Eli Lissitsky, 1927
(from paul.malon’s flickr stream via dieselpunks)

The Coenfographic
Designer Tom Muller charts out the recurring actors and their roles in the Coen Brother’s movies.