DesignNotes by Michael Surtees

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The one big theme that I missed on my note above for this week’s Link Drop was politics. It’s been a couple weeks since I really mentioned that much, and perhaps not surprisingly it’s tied closely to tech. Other tech. things that people interact with on a daily basis include Google, Twitter and Facebook. Surprisingly no iPhone stuff… People are also still trying to make sense of things so it’s natural that info design pops up from time to time. The only surprise mention is from Nooka where Matthew came back from Japan with some new toys. I’ve seen his collection previously which is quite impressive so I found his rational for what he brought back to be interesting.

Till next week!
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Google design: The kids are alright
If you’ve read the much overhyped Visual Designer that left Google, you might want to read this open letter from another person that left Google a while ago. Really puts things in a better perspective imho.

And Now, The Periodic Table of Game Controllers
I liked the idea behind this periodic table much more than the typeface one that was floating around a while back on the interwebs.

Slow Design.
Interesting idea, I’m kind of for even faster design but maybe she has a point.

Future May Be Brighter, but It’s Apocalypse Now
It was quite the read for a Monday morning. It should be noted that he has a book coming out about the response to this article.

Twitter. Twittering. Twittered.
Interesting how people are sort of coming around via experience as opposed to just reading about what they should like, or dislike.

Where Wall Street Trades in Political Currency
I really like the key part of the diagram. I’m working on something similar that’s all digital, but it’s going to take a couple iterations before it get’s to being this cool.

tokyo toy report
A man and his rational for the toys he bought on his recent trip to Tokyo.

Why Small Companies Will Win in This Economy
I’m not so sure this is a new trend, but some of the same factors that are making this possible could create new opportunities to do better design work. If things don’t have to scale as much, it could allows for a less mechanical result. Maybe?

Contrail Biking Community Tool
I really liked this idea behind leaving one’s mark on the street in an organic way. And after it rains it disappears.

Isotype
I like anything that has to do with Isotype, even better when their big…

How Chris Hughes Helped Launch Facebook and the Barack Obama Campaign
Something to file away into memory.

White House Using Google Moderator For Town Hall Meeting. And AppEngine. And YouTube.
It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve mentioned tech and politics. Fascinating that the gov. is starting to take the lead and the rest of the country is playing catch-up.

Obama’s ‘open for questions’ experiment uses Digg-like layout
This is a continuation of what I started noticing with my amazon link last week.

Former WSJ.com Editor: What Papers Can—And Can’t—Charge For
Good info from someone on the inside of the pay structure that get’s referenced a lot these days.

2009 Call For Entries | Digital Graffiti at Alys Beach
If you’re into digital graffiti, this might be the thing for you.

What Matters: Mapping innovation clusters
I’m not entirely sure what I’m looking at or interacting with, but I like it. Need to experiment with it more.

Logo laws, black versus colour, tarnished brands, and a juicy fruit salad
It was a tough week for Logos, David rounds up a couple posts including one of mine to examine what’s up these days.

What’s your definition of “street art”? (We’ve struggled with this for years)
Great question from a good source, I’m still thinking about my answer… Interesting that facebook is pretty good venue for that kind of thing.

The elements of networked urbanism
I’m not sure if I even know what networked urbanism is, but here’s a listing of 14 elements of such a thing.

Yes! It does exist!
I’m not a fan of going up to someone and asking for their autograph—actually I never have. But I do want to go up to Steve Martin now.

Instructional design
I learned new term about design this week.

a lively debate with mark cuban
Went to the Boxee NYC meetup this week, expected a bit more info on the ui/ux release front. This post in terms of debating Mark was up for a bit of discussion during the night.

Blog/Jongerius x Maharam x Nike
Pretty cool idea, I don’t think their meant for me to wear—my guess is that they’ll be more popular with the cool girls, but as a design they look nice.

Sea Dust, pt 2
These type of images are really cool and make you see things in a different light. Throw a bit of biology into the mix and you have a pretty good post.