Category: General

iOS web browsers: Why bother?

By now you’ve heard the news that Mozilla is finally in testing phase with Firefox for iOS. And you may have noticed that AdBlock (the popular desktop browser extensions) is releasing their own AdBlock Browser as well. Google has Chrome for iOS, and I believe iCab still has a heartbeat.

I have to wonder though, why bother? Until you can change the default browser on iOS; something Apple isn’t likely to allow any time soon, you WILL be using Safari at least once per day whether you want to or not. Simply because nobody is going to want to copy/paste URLs from email or text message just so they can be viewed in a browser other than mobile Safari. And let’s face it, Safari on iOS is a pretty damn good browser experience for 99% of users.

So I’m back to wondering what the ‘end-game’ is for companies that make web browsers for iOS. Why bother?

[Leaked image] Samsung to announce new logo before next week

Not wanting to be outdone by Google and Verizon refreshing their long-standing logo designs, an anonymous reader (who works as the chief design officer of Samsung marketing) sent in this leaked image of Samsung’s new logo.

I dunno… there’s something about it that I can’t quite put my finger on…

Samsung logo parody

*I suppose this could be fake 😉

The better Apple Watch

GoldenDreams Apple Watch

The Swiss know watches. And Golden Dreams knows how to make the Apple Watch Edition better looking than Apple does. Open the full size image above in a new window to get a closer look at the beauty! And did I mention it costs less, too?

You can order the 42mm Apple Watch (pictured above) in 24ct yellow gold, beautifully hand-engraved in Geneva, with a lucious black alligator (ostrich, shark, and a few other choice skins are also available) band for the cool price of around $9,900 U.S. That’s around a $6,000 savings off a comparable model bought directly for Apple—except you can’t get hand engraved designs or 24ct gold directly from Apple.

If all you want is a nice alligator skin band, you can save a few bucks and only pay around $700 U.S. Blue ostrich skin is even less.

Golden Dreams iPhone

Don’t even get me started on what Golden Dreams can do with an iPhone… They don’t list a price for the “Masterpiece” collections, so I can only assume it’s out of my spare-change-range.

And since you surely would want to carry one of these iPhone’s in a case, you can grab a Python skin case for a mere $800-ish.

Apple Car on September 9th?

Apple Car

Betteridge’s Law of Headlines most likely applies on an article titled “Will we see the Apple Electric Vehicle on September 9?” IF Apple is building a car, I would guess it’s years away from release. And no matter how secretive Apple is, there’s just no way to keep all the people involved in building a car quiet. There are just too many outside vendors to deal with. We would have hear lots of more specific rumors and details by now.

No. I’m sorry. That is just one analyst trying to come down off his cinnamon high.

Red, green, blue: the colors of app icons

App Icon Colors

Stuart Hall offers an interesting look at the colors of app icons on iOS and the Mac in this article. Blue, by far, is the most popular color; but if you want to stand out from the crowd, purple is probably the coolest color to go with! I’m actually surprised at how few apps use the pink/purple hues.

Does a logo design NEED to work in black & white?

Great article! The days of a logo design NEEDING to work in black & white are long-gone. That being said, a great logo design WILL work in black & white—perhaps with a little modification. So if your logo doesn’t work in black and white, perhaps you should re-think it.

While the linked article goes against my advice on creating a logo you can live with and still get paid, I still stand behind what I wrote back in 2008.

About logo design

"A logo is a flag, a signature, an escutcheon, a street sign. A logo does not sell (directly), it identifies. A logo is rarely a description of a business. A logo derives meaning from the quality of the thing it symbolizes, not the other way around. A logo is less important that the product it signifies; what it represents is more important than what it looks like."

— Paul Rand

10 Photoshop alternatives

Affinity Photo is one of the few image editors outside of Photoshop that supports the CMYK color space, so it’s the only one of these apps that I would call a true Photoshop alternative for designers. The $49 price tag ain’t too shabby, either. Of course, if you’re a web designer or photo hobbiest, you have a ton of options—including the excellent Pixelmator.