Category: Links

Links to other sites

Redesigning the macOS experience

macOS UX redesign
People have been sharing images and ideas for redesigning the macOS for years. The latest one I came across was one of the best ideas I’ve seen in a long time. Instead of focusing on the way the Mac’s GUI looked, it focused on how it worked (the UX).

Take a look at Redesigning the MacOS desktop experience — UX case study by Kévin Eugène. I love some of his ideas, and they don’t appear to be too far off from the direction Apple is going.

Why you buy things you don’t need, like a new iPhone EVERY YEAR!

iPhone
I’ve seen How the Diderot Effect Explains Why You Buy Things You Don’t Need shared all over the web. It’s a neat little bit of history. Times have changed, but the need to “have nice things” has grown beyond just wanting nice things for yourself. Now it’s all about showing other people what nice things you have – even when you know you don’t really need a particular nice new thing… like a new iPhone every year.

The reality is that while a smartphone is almost a necessity for most people these days, a five-year-old iPhone would probably suit your needs (provided the battery still holds up). But we want the latest games and gadgets, necessitating the purchase of a new phone. And boy are we proud to show-off the new phone to everyone we know.

For me, it was software. There was a time when I wanted the latest and greatest piece of software… even when I had a suitable app that did the same thing already, it just wasn’t “new.”

At some point, everyone comes to the realization that they DON’T actually need nice new things, and can make-due with what they have. Once I realized that, and stopped caring about showing off the latest dingus I purchased to everyone, I had a lot more money in my pocket and found more satisfaction in other aspects of life.

2018 logo design trends

2018 logo trends
The Logo Lounge has put out their yearly Logo Trends report. Give it a quick read. Or if you prefer, submit you email and they’ll email you a PDF of the report that you can save for reference—as Logo Lounge doesn’t keep these reports online forever.

MS Office 2019: Are you kidding me with this, Microsoft?

Microsoft

Hat-tip to Mike Mozart for the image.


If I hadn’t read so much about Microsoft’s future plans for Windows OS and MS Office, I would think they’re pulling the most elaborate joke in tech history. This is the most ridiculous and confusing mess of a plan they’ve come up with yet.

The part that’s not obvious, but important to Mac users to know, is that Microsoft apparently isn’t going to mess with the Mac version of MS Office 2019 at all. It’ll be available in all the same ways it has always been.

For the record, I love using Apple’s Pages, Numbers and Keynote apps, but I find MS Office 2016 a pretty nice and usable office suite.

Myths of logo design

Logo design mythsFollowing up with a previous post on showing your client logo design options, I have a new article to share with you.

20 Myths of Logo Design Busted covers quite a few pain-points for designers and clients.

I must say though, I believe #2 is almost always false. You and your client are not Sony, Google, Microsoft or Facebook. Your client needs a logo mark, if for no other reason than having a favicon for your website.

And #17 is complete bullshit. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using clipart in a logo. Obviously you should customize the snot out of the clip art, using only the necessary pieces of it, etc. But to make an “absolutely never” statement like that is just foolish. The only absolute rule in design is that there are no absolutes.

Facebook adding “Unsend” feature to Messenger

“We have discussed this feature several times. And people using our secret message feature in the encrypted version of Messenger have the ability to set a timer — and have their messages automatically deleted. We will now be making a broader delete message feature available. This may take some time. And until this feature is ready, we will no longer be deleting any executives’ messages. We should have done this sooner — and we’re sorry that we did not,” a Facebook spokeswoman said in an e-mailed statement.

Via: TechWorm

So they got caught deleting messages from Zuck, give the “we’re sorry but it’s no big deal” statement, and say that everyone will be able to do this “sometime in the future.”

I’m not a big fan of the unsend idea, mostly because smartphones are so quick to post a notification that people see (at least) the subject almost immediately. Once a message is seen, there’s little point in the unsend anyway.

Free stock photo site: Pexel

res-pexel-stock-pics.jpg
Similar to my favorite free photo site, Unsplash; Pexel offers royalty-free photos submitted by semi and pro photographers.

Be warned though, Pexel – free stock photos seems to have been invaded by hipster models, posing in completely unrealistic scenarios, resulting in an absolute ton of images that actual designers could never find a reason to use.

But they all look fantastic!

Check out Pexel – free stock photos. If you like it, they offer a desktop app, Photoshop and MS Office add-in as well.

iMac Pro first impressions

iMac Pro
Let me be clear, I haven’t even seen an iMac Pro in person. If you want a fantastic first-impressions review of the iMac Pro from someone who has, look no further than Rene Ritchie’s iMac Pro first impressions: Beauty of a beast review at iMore. It’s excellent.

As for me, I think there’s a whole lot to love about Apple’s latest pro-level Mac. It’s the most powerful Mac Apple has ever made, and that includes the Mac Pro. It’s so powerful that I can’t recommend any designer buy one. In fact, I can’t recommend anyone buy it that doesn’t do very high-end video, animation or 3D rendering work on a daily basis.

There is simply no use-case scenario for a print or web designer for this beautiful beast of a Mac that justifies its price. I’m not saying it’s overpriced, not at all. The iMac Pro is actually priced cheaper than any DIY PC you can find. It’s just so much more computer than is necessary to do any manner of print or web design work. Buy a decked-out regular iMac and use the extra money for nice peripherals and upgrades, and pocket the rest of the money—or get yourself a MacBook Pro for taking work on the road.