If you have a sick penchant for ugly design, a sad day for you is coming soon. Phone books, the go-to resource for superbly ugly advertising design, are on their way out. Oh, sure, we occasionally sift through those nostalgic yellow pages, when we move to a new place and
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A couple decades ago or so USA Today did something monumental in the world of news: they made information much more visual. In an effort to boost readership (and sales) they did something that, at the time, seemed entirely radical: increase the size of the images to make the news
Read moreIf you’ve seen my other articles on résumé design, you know that I am a strong proponent of making résumés look, well, sexy. But, a good friend of mine recently asked me (and I’m paraphrasing): but, what about academic curriculum vitas? Especially if you’re in a field like literature? My initial
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My Rating: 4/5 About the Book The authors, founders of design firm Column Five, describe infographics as a relatively new and important form of visual communication in three areas: 1) science, academics, and business intelligence; 2) commercial; and 3) editorial or news-related. The authors address how to adapt infographics for
Read moreMy Rating: 5/5 About the Book Using decades of research to support, authors Lidwell, Holden, and Butler address 125 of the most well-established principles in design theory. This book covers principles such as the Red Effect, the Rule of Thirds, Color, Highlighting, Figure-Ground Relationship, Mnemonic Device, the Aesthetic-Usability Effect, and
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My Rating: 3.5/5 About the Book As advertised, the book is a handbook for designers interested in exploring the field of wayfinding design. The book covers a wide variety of introductory topics in the field, including how to plan wayfinding communication in public spaces (like parks, stadiums, airports, and so forth),
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At first glance, it looks like an ordinary teapot. The Michael Graves Design Bells and Whistles Stainless Steel Teapot (which retails at JCPenney for $40) is just that: a functional teapot made for heating water. But when the JCPenney marketing team used its image as a billboard in Southern California,
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Branding a business is one of the most important things you can do to get up and running. If you have a new business, or if you are looking for ways to increase your marketability (and revenue), follow these quick tricks to keep your company visible and, more importantly, remembered.
Read moreIf you haven’t heard of selective attention (known in cognitive science as “inattentional blindness”), you’ll be fascinated, maybe even disturbed, by this cool research study. Spoiler alert! Before you read any further, it’s more fun (and more instructive) to do the experiment on yourself. If you want a taste of
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If you were in a focus group for a new fast food restaurant and you were asked about how much variety and choice you would prefer, what do you think you would answer? If you are like the majority of Americans, you would likely say that you would prefer a
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