I just recently finished reading Design is a Job, the latest from A Book Apart, written by Mike Montiero. I've been a big fan of the A Book Aparts. Mainly because they're brief, get right to the point, and are written by some of the best in the industry. This most recent addition might just be my new favorite of the bunch.
Just press play, and enjoy this recent master piece by Tom Waits. This isn't just song writing, this is art direction. I love the sense of urgency and desperation in this song's sound. A crowded feeling of competition. An only option. Leaving everything behind; taking a chance. The sound paints the words. Awesome, stuff.
Seeing .net Magazine's recent post on The Top 25 Books for Web Designers and Developers the other day, got me thinking about the goal I made in January to read one book per month this year and wondering if I'm still on pace. The last few months have been tricky for me to keep up with workloads and schedules, but I feel with a second wind this final month and a half, I'm hopeful I can get that 12th. As it currently stands, here's what I've read this past year:
I recently came across this Ted Talk from a few years back by Simon Sinek on how great leaders have inspired action. I found it to be an interesting look as to why certain people tend to out-achieve, and out-innovate others.
Such a great quote by Steve Jobs that I think really speaks to his work ethic and attention to detail. Appropriate given his latest decision to step down at Apple. It's his commitment to this simple line of thinking that made Apple what it is today.
When you’re a carpenter making a beautiful chest of drawers, you’re not going to use a piece of plywood on the back, even though it faces the wall and nobody will ever see it. You’ll know it’s there, so you’re going to use a beautiful piece of wood on the back. For you to sleep well at night, the aesthetic, the quality, has to be carried all the way through.
In January, I made a goal to read one book per month. I'm a bit behind on posting my book for the Month of April, but I swear I finished before the month was up.
The book I selected was How to Think Like A Great Graphic Designer.
...but I've recently taken up relearning piano. I took lessons when I was in elementary school for three years, but gave it up when my friends informed me just how uncool piano was. That was roughly 20 years ago, and being the huge Elliott Smith, and Thom Yorke fan that I am, I have since realized just how badass that instrument can be.
I just pre-ordered the book Adaptive Web Design: Crafting Rich Experiences with Progressive Enhancement by Aaron Gustafson, due to publish later this month.
The web is an ever-changing medium whose scope, application, audience and platform continue to grow on a daily basis. If you’ve worked on the web for any amount of time, you’ve likely heard or even used the term “progressive enhancement.” Since the term’s inception, it has been considered a best practice for approaching web design. But what is it really? And how do we reconcile its meaning with the rapid evolution of the languages and browsers we rely on to do our jobs?
It's been a good past couple years for books geared toward web design, and this seems to be yet another solid read to add to that collection.
Continuing my goal to read one book per month, my book for March was Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation
The premise of the book is that in environments where good ideas are often generated, there are patterns that recur over and over again. The book takes a very scientific look at 7 specific patterns that contribute in creative innovation: The Adjacent Possible, Liquid Networks, The Slow Hunch, Serendipity, Error, Exaptation, and Platforms.
Erik Spiekermann - Putting Back the Face into Typeface from Gestalten on Vimeo.
Listen to the design genius talk about new visual languages, design processes, the analogies of music and typography, and why we need better client culture in our latest Gestalten.tv video and you will easily realize why. Before heading to new visionary pastures, the bike enthusiast will make a short stop to receive the German Design Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 in February.
What I particularly enjoy from this video, is when Erik talks through his design process and how he expands and arrives to the adjacent possible of an already existing idea.
If I find something that I really like, that I think would work for a client but it's already used by somebody else, or it's too old, or I can't afford to buy it, or it would be a rip off; then I look at it for a long time, I look through books, and I draw it, and I sketch over it, and then I put it away and then the next day I sit down and I draw it from memory, and then it's different.