Bringing sports data to life visually is not easy to do…or at least do well. I’ve come across quite a few sports infographics lately and since baseball is just starting again, (and I’m not a fan of the NBA) here’s a few sports infographics to pass the time as the Reds warm up in sunny Arizona, including this amazing iPad app by recent Parsons New School of Design graduate Steve Varga. Check it out here, here, and here.
Pennant Preview from Steve Varga on Vimeo.
Posted in Design, Technology, Uncategorized | 189 Comments »
Recently myself and fellow Quaker Chris Hendrixson were given the opportunity to present at a Cincinnati IxDA event. The Cincinnati IxDA group is just getting its feet on the ground and we are excited to be part of the building efforts. If you’re not familiar, IxDA stands for Interactive Design Association and is global network of professionals interested in all things interactive design related. Chris and I were especially interested because the topic of the event was the iPad as a Productivity and Design Tool, something we’re both pretty geeked out about (like the rest of the world…)
We presented on Skeuomorphic design and how it’s being implemented on the iPad, both good and bad. I have to admit that I wasn’t familiar with the term when Chris first suggested it as a topic so I did the first thing any self respecting web surfer does, went to Wikipedia. Wikipedia defines it as “a derivative object which retains ornamental design cues to a structure that was necessary in the original (object). Skeuomorphs may be deliberately employed to make the new look comfortably old and familiar…” I think the visuals below help explain it better.
The axels on the wagon wheel are essential to it's function. The axels on the hubcap of the tire are skeuomorphic design elements. They have no functional purpose and only act as decoration.
The camera on an iPhone takes multiple skeuomorphic design cues from the traditional SLR camera. The animation of the aperture closing and the "click" sound heard when a picture is taken are both good examples.
Posted in Design, Technology | 89 Comments »
Street View from Google maps has come to the art world. Google Art Project launched early last week and I have to say, I’m pretty stoked about it. Art museums from all over the world (14 at the moment), on display and fully navigable from anywhere with an Internet connection.
Nation Gallery, London
I spent a bit of my morning roaming around the National Gallery in London and the MoMA in NYC and plan to check out the Palace of Versailles next. Yeah, you can always look up images of artwork online, but there’s a different feeling when you see the work in a gallery environment – nothing to be compared with seeing it in person, but for people like me, only dreaming of traveling to across Europe to admire priceless masterpieces, it’s a great opportunity. Not only that, but I think I’d be tackled by security guards before I ever got this close to a Van Gogh.
Seriously, there are 7 billion pixels per image. Close enough to see the cracks in the paint.
Posted in Fun, Technology, Uncategorized | 209 Comments »
We’ve been keeping ourselves busy these days amassing our many thousands of online connections: facebook friends, twitter feeds, linked-in colleagues, news feeds, blogs, celebrities, magazines, favorite brands, et al.
Where does it all end?
How many people, places, things can we possibly keep up with at any given time?
Fortunately humans are equipped with a little something called selective hearing, which is our natural defense against over stimulation and the inevitable insanity that follows. But as of late, our over-connected world has caused a bit of rapid human evolution. It has lead to a highly-developed filtering system that allows us to instantly bypass comments, communications and blurbs from those less interesting to us. Proof is in your uncanny ability to fly through hundreds of facebook posts in seconds, always seeming to find the interesting nuggets and subconsciously breezing by the inane comments from friends you know are simply inane.
But as of yet, technology has had surprisingly little to add to this filtering system. Today it simply acts as a gatherer. Tomorrow it needs to act as hunter.
Think of it this way, much of the information we gather can be extremely valuable in certain contexts, even the mundane stuff.
When you’re planning a trip with a group of friends, everyones commentary is important at that particular instant. When you’re going shopping, all the brand information, sales, promotions, comparisons are extremely valuable.
Marketers more than anyone need to recognize this. As personal networks grow, being selected as part of a consumer’s vast network of connections may be nothing more than facebook wallpaper. But in the right context, those connections are extremely useful and greatly desired.
Technology needs to take control, bucketing all of our varied connections into useful groups and more importantly, bringing relevant connections to the forefront precisely when and where they are most useful for us.
As much as we’d like to think otherwise, these networks can’t grow forever. There is a tipping point. Marketers should take some responsibility here. Maybe even become part of the solution. Either that or there will be a cataclysmic house cleaning in our future.
Posted in Technology, Thinking | 242 Comments »
This week we got our first glimpse at The Daily, the first ever iPad-only news app and venture by News Corp. & Apple, along with the help of many others. The app is free for the first 2 weeks, then will sell for 99¢/week or $40/year. We all have opinions, and the keynote wasn’t without some intriguing questions from folks at Gizmodo, Techcrunch, Engadget, the New York Times, etc. This is not simply a news aggregator. It’s a new publisher with a distinct voice, and a new look and feel for news. (more…)
Posted in Design, News, Technology | 244 Comments »
This piece is a great combo of tech and design created by Chen Alexander using HTML5/Javascript. The minimalistic design is inspired by Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 subway diagram and though beautiful to watch is actually doing a lot behind the scenes. The piece taps into the MTA public API to map the NYC subway system in real time by drawing lines to represent the movements of the trains. Each line is then turned into a string that can be plucked, like a guitar string. The sound from each string is different depending on its length and where it is plucked, much like a real string instrument.
I really admire the restraint Alexander used when visualizing the complex system. I imagine it was tempting to put more labels and behind-the-scenes data in the interface, but the clean white field let’s the animation and audio be the star. It’s almost hypnotizing to watch in anticipation as the little lines scroll across the screen, plucking notes as they intersect. I also appreciate the subtle skeuomorphic design elements that he has utilized to illustrate the path lines as strings. Plus you’ve gotta love the clever duality of the name “Conductor”.
Check it out: http://www.mta.me/
http://blog.chenalexander.com/2011/conductor-mta/
Posted in Design, Technology | 208 Comments »
I stumbled on this video yesterday and had to share. It’s amazing how fast the Internet has changed how we live in such a short amount of time. I think most people know what the Internet is nowadays but you may not know the history of the @ and why it’s used in email addresses. (Notice how the folks who put together the graphics for the Today show used the wrong symbol.)
Posted in Fun, Technology | 185 Comments »
Last week at the National Retail Federation’s convention, Intel and Adidas unveiled a new in-store interactive display that allows shoppers to browse as many as 8,000 shoes on a large touch screen wall. The interactive experience could land in stores in the U.K. as early as next year.
Check out Fast Company’s article with video for more info.
Posted in Technology | 125 Comments »
So yesterday I posted an blog entry about the growth in mobile consumer engagement. Specifically the positive results from recent studies around mobile browsing and shopping.
In writing that one of course, the 4G topic came up. It would’ve been hard for it not to….. With 4G ads smacking you in the face everywhere from the major carriers, it’s hard to not be both curious and skeptical. At least if you are me.
So, I did a little investigating and came upon an article on Advertising Age about this very topic. In reading it, I couldn’t help but think about the razor blade ‘wars’ a few years back when it seemed like Gillette and Schick just kept trying to one up each other by adding another blade. I think that this skit from MadTV way back in the early mid 90′s actually did a good job taking a jab at the subject. Say hello to the Mach 20:
Okay, so back to the topic of this post…. So, Verizon and AT&T have been fighting it out for the last few years, with rumbles over coverage areas, dropped calls, network reliability, who’s 3G is faster that whose…. It really did get to the point of annoyance a little while back. Now, it looks like it’s going to start all over again with the 4G topic.
Apparently AT&T just jumped onto the 4G wagon at the CES 2011 show (for our thoughts on that, check out Adam Daniel’s post here), but they are a bit late to the game because Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile have been at it for what seems like awhile now. The funny thing about 4G though is, there is apparently NO standard for what it means, or is. Yep, you read that right, no standard. So it’s just a term at this point.
The assumption of course is that it means fourth generation mobile internet; implying faster speeds for downloading. The ridiculous thing is that apparently some of the providers claiming 4G are really just using “faster 3G.” So is it really 4G then? Hmm…… Confused? I am.
Now, there are of course a variety of technologies that make up the mobile internet genetic code and I can’t even begin to pretend I know anything about that. But to the average consumer, what does or will that technology actually mean? They just want to know they are getting something better and faster. So that’s what the marketing tells us. But what’s legit and what isn’t is really ambiguous at this point. At least from my perspective.
All this said, the landscape of the 4G, what it is and what it means (and more importantly again, what it will bring to consumers in terms of value in the long run), is most certainly up for debate and speculation at this point. As with all things technology and mobile related, many already are and will be waiting to see how things develop and what comes of the newest mobile provider battle.
I of course, as I’m sure many of you reading this, will be among those waiting and watching.
Posted in Technology | 148 Comments »
So, mobile internet usage only continues to grow, we’ve all heard that pretty much everyday for the past few years. I, for one, feel like I read it all day, every day, in every industry related publication around me. In light of the recent news yesterday that Verizon will start carrying the iPhone next month, breaking AT&T’s exclusive contract, I figured a post on this topic was very fitting.
With carriers offering more and more internet capable devices, at lower start-up costs to consumers and with even better data rates, internet on your phone is more available today than ever before. Also contributing to this is the blow for blow boxing competition between the major carriers, be it through their marketing or their continual race to have the most, the best, the fastest of the newest technology (hello 4G!)). I always have believed that competition breeds good things and in the mobile world, this is no different.
So it’s not surprising that according to a study done the last part of Q4 2010, between November 29 and December 15, a survey of users visiting online retailers over the holiday period (conducted by ForeSee Results) showed that a third of online shoppers also browse on Mobile.
The study (which you can download for free here by providing some info) polled almost 10,000 users who visited one of the top 40 U.S. e-commerce sites during the two week period.
In the study they compare results to the same period in 2009, which found at that time that 24 of online shoppers browse on mobile. They also examined purchase results on mobile devices resulting from browsing. Though only 11 percent of the respondents polled apparently made purchases from their phones after browsing, the bright spot is that data shows that is up 56 percent year over year. (In 2009, only 2 percent of respondents purchased from mobile devices). Of course, none of these numbers are HUGE, but it’s important to consider the value of engaging with these audiences early (and often). What can brands learn from these users? How can they use this period of growth and relative uncertainty to lay the foundation for what the mobile landscape means and is in their business vertical.
Of course, lots of predictions abound in the mobile world from all ends of the spectrum, as to what 2011 and the years to come have in store. No doubt with all the carriers stepping up their 4G game, Android phones continuing to grow in market share, the iPhone hitting Verizon and the continued explosive growth on the app side of things (especially with branded apps), consumers will have more opportunities and better technology to support their desired mobile experiences. What will that mean? More money invested in mobile. More money spent by consumers on their mobile devices. More marketing dollars hitting mobile. Etc., Etc.
On the flip-side, all this offers brands some very unique opportunities to continue engaging new and existing audiences. Still very much uncharted territory in my opinion, the mobile landscape will continue to evolve this year, yielding benefit for everyone, consumers and brands alike. Best thing I can say is ensure you are aware and considering mobile’s impact now (and in the short and long term future) on your brand. For those that get left behind, it’s going to be very hard to catch up…
Posted in Technology | 138 Comments »