It’s Friday! And that means it is time for a caption contest! Come up with a funny caption for this photo and post it in the comments.

It really saddens me when I read some of the spam that passes though my inbox on its way to Deleteville. It makes me think that society is really more f'ck'd up than it should be. I do try to put it all into perspective, though. I remind myself that what I see is all crap and that it represents the thinking of an inconsequential percentage of the world's population (or so I hope). But still, when you see enough of it -- in concentrated doses -- it's sort of pathetic. In this post I will share two spams I see a lot and I will try to set the record straight, at least as I see it.

We are thrilled to see the launch of Supermarket, a retail web site which allows buyers to purchase directly from designers. SVA MFA Design Alumni Randy J. Hunt is on the team at Supercorp which developed the site. (GO RANDY!)...

What level can you get to? Try this game called Stunt Pilot. I got to level 9 and died.

Today I travelled from home to work, from work to band practice, from band practice to an educational celebration: OpenStreetMap Brighton 1.0.

Ever since the mapping workshop after dConstruct 2006, Mikel and others have been out and about improving the mapping data for Brighton from the ground up. While a map can never be truly finished—it is, after all, a representation of a changing, evolving place—the data is now remarkably complete.

There’s a natural tendency for us to think in our own domains of experience so I usually only see the potential for OpenStreetMap data in web applications and mashups. But the launch event showed some wonderful use-cases in the real world: local councils, public transport… these are organisations that would otherwise have to pay very large sums (of taxpayer’s money) to the Ordnance Survey just to display a map.

OpenStreetMap is one of those applications of technology, like Wikipedia or BarCamp, that fills me with hope. On paper, the concepts sound crazy. In reality, they don’t just compete with commercial services, they surpass them.

I really need to get myself a GPS device.

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Tagged with openstreetmap brighton mapping location

So in other news, I made the newspaper last week! I was actually interviewed for my involvement with Arizona Coffee. Here is a link to the article.

I’ll admit that often times when I start a new design for a logo, web site, or interface, I will look for inspiration. Sometimes I’ll look to the competitors, pour over design books or browse websites.

Often I will see a body of work that I want to “borrow” from because I like the style or it’s already solved some of the design challenges I am facing. Truthfully, there are some design solutions out there that just work with simple adaptation.

But, what happens when you are challenged to come up with something totally new? Something that has not been done before because it’s a new product, or because the technology hadn’t existed or the interaction is original? What if you want to stay uninfluenced by past design decisions or familiar things that will force the user to recall “something else that looked like that”?

What do you do or where do you go that doesn’t remind you of anything?

How can you escape being influenced by something that has already been done? What if you don’t want your logo to look like every other Web 2.0 logo, or your interaction design to be just like the iPhone?

My immediate reaction is to look at other industries. Building architecture or landscape design can sometimes give insights to balance and structure. Fashion also provides a huge escape for me. Clothing designers find amazing solutions to everyday needs for a huge variety of consumers.

Other times, physically removing myself from my normal surroundings helps rid the influences of past experiences and projects. I love getting out to open sea whenever I can – there is nothing out there to remind me of anything. Other cities and cultures can provide a much needed cloak to things that you’re used to. I love places that can be just familiar enough so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Places like Tokyo and London, or even Las Vegas provide a different take on the reality that normally guides me.

But you don’t have to travel the world, or go shopping to escape. Sometimes, just getting up from your desk, moving your chair into the sunlight, or even outside, can provide a different view of your workspace. Find a nice, warm coffee shop, or a park bench.

Shaking things up from time to time can give you just enough different perspective so that your designs continue to be unique, continue to challenge convention and continue to provide you with the creative freedom that you need.

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I had been using VMWare and MultipleIE before, but this is a much better setup. I haven't tested it thoroughly, but I'm impressed so far.

http://www.kronenberg.org/ies4osx/

Not so much a slow blog week as a no blog week. Ace Jet's been oh so quiet because I've been oh so busy. Interesting projects/researches have consumed the Ace Jet brain. Expect to be re-entering the blogosphere any day now.

Congratulations to Tim Brown from Hudsen Vally, New York for his great haiku on “Why Do You Design?”.

Here is his composition:

What else can I do
Your problems are my life’s joy
But in a good way

Tim, your iTunes gift card is on its way!

Thanks to everyone who participated. We were really inspired by your reasons for designing!

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