Marty March 18th, 2008
I saw this on the A Passion For Nature blog and thought I’d play along:
Rules
- Pick up the nearest book.*
- Open to page 123.
- Find the fifth sentence.
- Post the next three sentences.
“At the core of all screen (and print, of course) visual design is layout: where and how the features, controls, and content are placed. Layout provides the structure that these elements reside within. Layout provides hierarchy, letting users know what is important and what is less so - a control that is visible at all times is perceived as more important than one that is buried in a drop-down menu.”
Questions:
- Do you know what book my quote comes from?
- Do you want to play ?
Daily Links
* note: I actually had to pick up 3 books: the first didn’t have 5 sentences on page 123, and the second had an image on that page.
Marty September 19th, 2007
When I recently read that they were turning Jon Krakauer’s “Into the Wild” into a movie, I was pretty excited. It had been one of my favorite books ever since I had read it many years ago while living in Boulder, CO. The tragic story tells the tale of Chris McCandless’ journey and death in the wilds of Alaska in the late 90’s. Continue Reading »
Marty September 16th, 2005
Months after leaving MBNA, I finally have started to work out again. I used to be able to work out daily for free there, and when that privilege ended (something about taking a severance cutting off my use of the gym … got me), I pretty much stopped working out. The first two months kept me busy around the house, but when I started working - and working long hours - the whole eating well and keeping fit thing started to fly out the window. I gained weight, I stopped sleeping well (although I’ll find out more about the sleeping thing next week) and I started to just not feel as well.
So, I joined a gym near where I work. Today was my first workout, although it was an abbreviated one considering my lack of cardio training all summer. I also discovered that while the Bally’s King of Prussia is a beautiful facility, they don’t supply towels. They might have mentioned that when I signed up. I used my clean t-shirt to dry off instead. Other than that, I like it … if first day impressions count for much. It’s got everything under the sun in terms of equipment, a pool, a track, aerobic and spinning classes, 2 racquetball courts - pretty nice. I think I’ll actually be motivated to haul my butt out of bed before work because it saves me time in my commute. And if I sleep better, so much the better.
In other news, we’re still waiting to hear about the damage down south due to Hurricane-Tropical Storm-Hurricane-ad infinitum Ophelia. My parent’s beachhouse is in N. Topsail Beach, which took a nearly direct hit. I’ve heard some scattered stuff but nothing concrete. Hopefully the house weathered it okay.
I forgot to mention this, but I actually got to read 3 books over vacation. I reviewed them, and would highly recommend picking up
A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks. It’s a great book about the author’s assignment to write about the scientists studying these sharks off of the Farallon Islands, and how she gets much more involved. You can read my reviews below:
The Devil’s Teeth by Susan Casey
Deception Point by Dan Brown
Unusually Stupid Americans by Kathryn and Ross Petras
Marty January 13th, 2005
I was reading one of my favorite web comics the other day - PVP Online - when the author mentioned that he was getting ripped pretty hard by one of the ‘biggies’ of the syndicated newspaper cartoonists (whom I also happen to like). It turns out that Wiley doesn’t like the fact that Scott Kurtz, author of PVP, is trying to change the status quo. Well, things are starting to get a little uglier and although Kurtz is obviously unhappy about what’s happening, others are starting to pick up the banner to support him.
What’s he trying to do? Well, he’s trying to prove that one doesn’t have to be a syndicated cartoonist to be successful, vis-a-vis a web cartoon CAN be successful and a worthwhile thing to have. The web can create a word of mouth a lot quicker than most papers, but the biggest part of it is that web cartoons don’t have to listen to editors (well, their own, maybe, but not some lackey at a syndicate). So, add it up - exposure + creative reign = success.
So, Kurtz went out there and offered his comic for FREE to any newspaper that wants it, provided that they fulfill two conditions - no editing the strips and they include the link to his online version. He figures that the newspapers gain a popular comic at no cost, and he gets increased exposure. Win-win, right?
Well, Wiley seems to think that this snot-nosed kid just doesn’t get it, and that his little ploy will hurt everybody. What does he really have to fear? Non Sequitor is one of the top comics out there - does he really think that PVP will cut into his income or audience. In the end, he ends up coming off very petty - but don’t take my word for it. Read a couple of articles that really tackle the issue.
Links o’ the Day »
Marty September 7th, 2004
Greg Storey has answered the question that I myself have had for a long while - what are the books that designers use to help them and hone their craft? Greg’s list of his bookshelf has a lot of the more common tomes (Zeldman’s Designing with Web Standards, Van Duyne’s Design of Sites) as well as some more uncommon but very sensible ones (Advertising Campaign Planning by Jim Avery made me think a bit). I know that others are out there with their own lists (I seem to remember Dave Shea putting out a list at one point), but it’s always interesting to see other designers that I admire (read: study, mimic, learn from) giving me some insights into where they get their smarts.
My own list (so far):
I’ve learned a lot, but there is so much more to learn - Greg’s list shows me that much. Oh well, onto the Amazon wish list they go… Feel free to add to my list of books I need to pick up to really get a hang of this CSS, PHP, XML design thing…
