Solid Cactus Design Blog» Design Blog by Solid Cactus

Pretty images about not so pretty situation

Andrew — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:05:34 +0000

By now you probably know that I’m a big fan of clear visualizations of complex issues. Power of design to make things simple and easy to understand was probably one of the reasons why I’m in this field. So I couldn’t walk by this website without sharing it with everyone.

CrisisOfCredit.com

The crisis of credit visualized. Created by interaction and media designer Jonathan Jarvis.

Design doesn’t matter does it? Well at least not to all.

Chris Pawloski — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:01:52 +0000

While checking my daily news and blog sites this morning I came across an interesting and almost comical video previewing the new Spirit Treo Pro cellphone. Well nothing here is really interesting except for witnessing how flawed and backwards the usability is on this thing. The best part of this rather bland video starts at around the 3:20 mark. There is a demonstration of the new IE6 browser for Windows Mobile. Unstable connections, pop up warnings, too many menu options, slow rendering, awkward scrolling, ..etc. Yep it looks like a Windows product to me.

TreoCentral Sprint Treo Pro Unboxing and Hands-on video

I don’t want to get into a PC verses Mac argument here (seriously I really don’t) but I am often baffled by how the Windows community finds this type of trash acceptable. This is Microsoft’s (the industry leaders, the biggest company in the world with the most developers) answer to the iphone OS or the Safari browser?

What is the value of design? The reason the iphone just like the ipod dominates the market is not for what is in the box but for what is not. The reason everything else fails most of the time is because their idea of competing is to add more and more while placing next to no value on design. More features does not equal more value. The true value is usability. Of course Apple could and will add more usable features in future releases of the iphone OS. There is plenty of room for improvements but even as it is now the user experience is enjoyable, unique, and focused. Whether you like or agree with their products or not you can not deny they take the user experience into account almost as top priority. I do not know about you but using IE6 on Windows Mobile does not look much fun. Did anyone from Microsoft even use this thing before it was released into the wild?

I suppose the point of the rant is the value of design is often (or should be) invisible and assuming it has no value if not obvious can really make or break a project. Just having a “feature” is not good enough without design taking a major role in the offering. What is going to separate anyone for the competition is not just about having “things” like the others do but making sure the “things” you do have are done well.

** Note to Microsoft - You might want to start by allowing the name of the application to fit onto the screen if it is so important to have it there in the first place.

“Internet Explore” - man is that lazy.

Online favicon generator

Andrew — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:31:58 +0000

Here is a nice and quick way to convert and image to favicon. You can even draw your favicon from scratch. http://favicon-generator.org/

The 20 Biggest Photoshop Disasters of 2008

Marc Manfre — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:37:15 +0000

Even the “pros” make mistakes… see the top 20 of 2008 here.

Of course, you can always check Photoshop Disasters daily to see who else is in the design world is screwing up.

List courtesy of abduzeedo :

Out of all the disasters that happened this year, these are the ones we can laugh about, everybody makes mistakes but this photoshop disasters are made by people who make a lot of dollars and are not really suppose to make these kinds of mistakes, and that’s why it’s so fun to see them. Check them out yourself and double check you next image for any disasters.

Mood Boards in Design

Kyle Ruane — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 14:29:55 +0000

Mood boards can be a helpful design tool in helping control client expectations and mapping out the direction of a project. There is a great article at webdesignerdepot.com about mood boards and their benefits:

Why Mood Boards Matter

Design is all about Theory

Chris Pawloski — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:16:50 +0000

Too often when people refer to or attempt to demonstrate graphic design abilities they speak of the aesthetics of design. In our industry there is a misconception that the more you know photoshop, the more you can manipulate “graphics” the better the graphic designer you are. Of course graphic design is really about problem solving more than anything else but when it does come to aesthetics basic design theory and practice can go a long way. No matter what type of designer one is, understanding and complying to theory really can make or break a design.

Here are a few links I found that I would like to share on the subject:

Using Photographic Composition in Template Designs

Principles of Perception

Applying agile principles to communication design

A great resource of information links concerning applying the grid system to web design

A breakdown of Apple.com’s designer extraordinaireWilson Miner’s new re-design While your at it check out his site which isSimply beautiful

Microscopicons

Marc Manfre — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:03:05 +0000

Looking to save some space in your designs? These 2 pixel by 2 pixel icons are just what you need!

Microscopicons are said to be the “smallest symmetrically sized call-to-actions.”

Check them out. Download the pack.

Courtesy of Intersmash.

Ecommerce is all about user experience

Andrew — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:41:54 +0000

Check this Holiday Toy List from Amazon.

3d effects, video, all the information you may need to make a decision and ability to buy with one click. What else you can ask for?

What a great example of using newer technologies to make shopping experience exciting.

Professor Cline’s Dinosaur Kingdom

Marc Manfre — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:40:24 +0000

Solid Cactus field trip? Anybody?

Click here to read the full article by Lauren Davis over at the io9 website.

The attraction, called “Professor Cline’s Dinosaur Kingdom,” imagines a lost chapter from Civil War history. It supposes that in 1863, a group of paleontologists inadvertently stumbled upon a valley of live dinosaurs. The discovery comes to the attention of the Union Army, who, recognizing the destructive power of the giant lizards, decide to capture them and unleash them on the Confederate Army.

Photos by dpcshots and Mr. Kimberly.

The Web’s Best Photoshop Tutorials

Marc Manfre — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:19:13 +0000

Courtesy of Smashing Magazine (which, by the way, is an extremely informative and helpful site) here are some of the best Photoshop tuts offered online:

Hand-Picked Photoshop Tutorials

Adobe Photoshop Tutorials - Best Of

Sure to help out everyone from professionals to hobbyists…