Campsite is a New York based design blog and studio run by visual designer Max Ritt.
I was perusing Site Inspire yesterday, and saw what at first glance looked like another mildly interesting full bleed photo site. I was really pleased to find under further inspection Swellca.st features a super original user interface and a really nice data visualization for staying up to date on the surf conditions. It is the creation of Australian web shop Finely Sliced. The name is also really great, and probably the best use of a (dot)country extension I have seen to date.
I just played Type Connection, the world’s first typographic dating game. This type dating game was created by Aura Seltzer for her senior thesis project at MICA, and helps players learn to pair and apply typefaces.
Posting funny videos is not usually our style here at campsite, but this promotional video for the newly launched Dollar Shave Club is the funniest thing I have seen in quite a while. This is a must watch, I am still laying on the floor trying not to pee my pants with laughter. I am also intrigued with their business model. Their approach to web based subscription for a simple and unique physical product delivered to your door is not a new concept, but the way they have executed it definitely separates them from the pack. Good luck DSC!
(via Dr. Rob »)
Google has launched an awesome new project entitled Re-Brief. Their aim is to re-envision a few of the most iconic 20th century ad campaigns for the web. In their day it was speculated that many of these campaigns would stand the test of time. With the advancements of technology mainly in the capabilities of information and media delivery you would think web advertising would have evolved much more quickly but it remains virtually the same bland thing it was birthed as more than 15 years ago. By refocusing these iconic ads for the web they hope to change the way we interact, view, and feel about ads on the web. A lofty task? Yes. But without value surely not. As an apologetic but avid consumer I understand that advertising will continue to be a part of my daily life. If that is the case I can only hope that the people creating these ads can make it a less of an assault and more of an enjoyable, human interaction.
(via Quipsologies »)
It’s rare to see a historic artist or art work translated onto the web with such care and attention to detail. Recently St. Louis Art Museum hired Almanac to create Discover Monet, a web presence for Claude Monet’s Water Lilies. Through the site both teachers and students can learn infinitely more about Monet’s life, work, and the connection of both to the rest of the world.
(via Design Work Life »)
Kern & Burn is a web and print publication on the subject of design entrepreneurship. Cameron Koczon’s article, An Important Time for Design, for A List Apart closes by saying “This year, thanks to a spike in demand, designers have a chance to actively nudge the world in any direction they like. It’s a huge opportunity with a tiny window. Let’s not let it pass by.” Cameron’s article talks about this open canvas we as designers currently have in front of us, which is exactly where K&B comes in. There goal is to give us as designers resources and inspiration on how to fill said canvas.
Ben Pieratt of svpply is quoted in that very same article saying “The internet, at this time in history, is the greatest client assignment of all time. It’s offering you a blank check and asking you to come up with something fascinating and useful that it can embrace en masse, to the benefit of everyone.” I am not sure exactly where or when this change in consciousness surrounding the value of design occurred, but I know, 1 it had to do with the internet and 2 it is the greatest opportunity for designers ever.
I have been a huge fan of Skillshare and their goals ever since launch, for more reasons that their stellar branding(by Ed Nacional). Garrett Johnston, aka One Year Studio, was able to capture the visceral feelings of curiosity and discovery in this promotional video for Skillshare titled The Future Belongs to the Curious.
(via PUBLIC SCHOOL »)
For those of you who didn’t make it to Brooklyn Beta this video will make you even more jealous of all the amazing stuff you missed, and for all you awesome people who were there you can now relive the experience over and over until next year. If you don’t already know about it, Brooklyn Beta is the worlds greatest web event right here in our fair city. In what many would argue is the greatest borough. Brooklyn. Cameron Koczon(aka @fictivecameron) and Chris Shiflett from Studiomates in Dumbo put together this conference as an argument for why web conferences didn’t need to be so far away and plagued by boring panel discussions. Also a major shout out to Captain & the Fox for their amazing work on this video.
The badass new social eReader app has arrived. Readmill is a way to read socially, and not in some kitschy annoying way. Highlight passages from a book you are reading and post them to your other social media streams or write a follow up review of something and share it with your friends within Readmill. They also employ a bookmarklet, which is one of my favorite UX elements that allows your Readmill to sync with your Amazon Kindle account. Also I would be doing them an injustice if I neglected to mention their beautiful interface design for their site and web app, and the Readmill iPad App. I am also in awe at the perfection of this quote “why make a book digital and not make it shareable”.
(via swissmiss »)
Modern Pictograms is my favorite new “font”. These perfectly designed pictograms are a great touch for web and interface designers to make use of in projects. You can pop over to Font Squirrel to download them where they are licensed under the SIL Open Font License.
(via Quipsologies »)
The UI Toolkit is definitely one of those things I have been waiting for. Both simple and comprehensive it is far more than a texture pack, but also leaves plenty of space to be creative with the elements. The toolkit is the debut product from the wonderful folks over at UI Parade, so make sure to purchase a copy to help support their awesome site(it’s only $8 dollars).
Onepager seems like a great solution for smaller non-techy businesses who need to get online.
I have been an avid user of Gimme Bar since it went into beta for the Brooklyn Beta attendees in 2010, and have been astounded at the quality and frequency of relevant updates and improvements since then. The newest feature Gimme Backups (which I feel bad diminishing it by calling it a feature) is a perfectly cut gem. The idea behind it is to allow users to shift their personal content stream away from another service in order to maintain control and even to protect against any potential data loss. Cameron Koczon, friend and one of the masterminds behind Gimme Bar wrote a great article for A List Apart entitled Orbital Content. Going forward Cameron’s assertion is that instead of going places to access content users will have a pool of content constantly gravitating around them on their different devices and social networks.
I love the amazing simplicity in this Visualizing the First Predlude From Bach’s Cello Suites by Alexander Chen. The even more overwhelming part is the project he created it for. Baroque.me is in some manner of speaking a web app. programmed entirely using an HTML5 Canvas, with Javascript an SoundManager. The visualization of music acts as a minimalist 2D composer.
(via The Fox Is Black »)
Lookwork, because Ben Pieratt is a genius and starting one revolutionary web app (svpply) isn’t enough. Lookwork is part feed reader, and part searchable stream of inspiration. Similarly to svpply you can filter your stream to find something more specific and even follow other folks to keep tabs on what they are looking at.
Part of why Ben Pieratt’s work in web applications sets a gold standard is due to the fact that he understands a complicated or rich UI should never take away from a user’s ability to complete the their goals. I think everyone designing for the web can and should take some notes from Ben on interface design, and also the problems his apps solve.
Think you or your business need a mobile website? If you answered yes, or even maybe Google has just launched a new site you need to check out. Gomo, which is short for Go Mobile is a resource to help people understand the benefits and steps necessary to create a mobile site. Even though the content and advice feels targeted to small consumer websites looking to design a simple companion for lower bandwidth. Gomo’s info is astute and relevant to an extremely wide range of projects and people. Once you have run through all their content and feel you are ready to take the plunge they wil even help you connect with a mobile web developer.
Looking into the future is often a daunting task and in this case an arduous one. Trying to assume what the fate of mobile and computing technology will for device function, user experience, and interface design is in my opinion impossible. The affect new technological capabilities coupled with our growing dependance on an augmented lifestyle is unforeseeable. Here Microsoft’s Office Labs begun to explore this realm through the lens of “productivity”, which I find to be a slightly loaded word in the arena of a technology built almost entirely for entertainment. This exploration itself has been getting some bad press around the web (mainly in user experience circles) for, what in my opinion can be boiled down to one thing. They didn’t take enough risks. This point is most certainly valid. The argument has been made that to define the future one must step outside the conventions and expectations of what should come next in order to create something new and better suited to it’s time and place. I disagree with this on the premise that as people we benefit from incremental change allowing us to both learn and adapt alongside a the changes and shifts in technology, whether it being the release of a new iOS or the debut of the first ever hover scooter.
Every year for the birthday of his site Authentic Jobs, Cameron Moll launches a campaign to raise money(and awareness) for charity: water. This year the ante has been upped. From last years $17,000 to 600,000 Ethiopian Birr (approximately $35,000). The money raised if successful will go to directly fund a drilling rig that will be able to offer clean drinking water to a large portion of Northern Ethiopia. On a brief aside, how bad ass is the micro site Cameron put together for this campaign?
Want to do your part?
Responsive web design is becoming increasingly integral to all things built for the web these days. It is not enough to have a website and an app. it also needs to be possible for your users to log on from any mobile internet device. Whether it be Blackberry, Android, iPhone or a type of tablet having a sitebuilt with flexibility in mind is key.
Since responsive web design is still young there are few great resources for creating a simple functional folding grid system. Joni Korpi a Finish web designer has created the 960 Grid System of responsive site design perfectly named as Golden Grid System. The key features of GGS are the fluid grid, with folding columns, elastic gutters, and a zoomable baseline grid. In addition it comes with Golden Gridlet a script, which allows you to see the grid overlay so you can easily check your math.
I want to apologize for how out of season this is, but I just came across it and thought it was a great example of unique app. design. Surprisingly enough I have come to find out that the Martha Stewart camp has put out a range a interesting apps. We don’t celebrate easter in my family, but that won’t stop me from downloading this little gem. Check out more of the screens over at the iTunes Store.
(via Design Dust »)
