Interface Addiction

The shirt I designed for the Red Is White Design-Off contest vs....

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:37:41 -0600

The shirt I designed for the Red Is White Design-Off contest vs. Kyle Steed is now for sale at RedIsWhite.com. Make sure to pick up a shirt (or twelve) because proceeds go to charity!

Another sneak peek, this one is of the UpThemes members area.

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:49:46 -0600

Another sneak peek, this one is of the UpThemes members area.

Sneak peek at the new UpThemes.com

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:48:05 -0600

Sneak peek at the new UpThemes.com

User submitted link: Olive Crush

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 11:33:49 -0600

User submitted link: Olive Crush

Utility vs. Beauty

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:22:04 -0600

52weeksofux:

A good designer always works to keep the form, function and the aesthetic quality of a design in balance throughout the life of a project. Just because something looks good doesn’t mean its useful. And just because something is useful does not make it beautiful.

More often than we want to admit, we use glitz and glam—or worse, the current popular design trend—to hide the areas where we simply dont have an elegant solution appropriate to the problem at hand. It is too easy to get caught in the trap of focusing on “making it pretty” without giving consideration to the actual purpose of the design.

At the same time, a designer should understand that even the most utilitarian product can benefit from subtle, refined aesthetic treatments and turn what is a dull and boring, yet necessary, task into something enjoyable and engaging.

The most elegant solution will yield a design that is gracefully tempered with restraint and precision—both useful and beautiful.

Featured Job Posting: Experienced Wordpress/PHP Developer

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:22:24 -0600

Featured Job Posting: Experienced Wordpress/PHP Developer

spencerfry: How The iPad Came To Exist

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 10:20:41 -0600

spencerfry:

How The iPad Came To Exist

Tapbots.com redesigned. Mark Jardine is an incredible UI...

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:36:00 -0600

Tapbots.com redesigned. Mark Jardine is an incredible UI designer. Period.

Over the past few months I’ve been working very closely...

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:24:41 -0600

Over the past few months I’ve been working very closely with John Saddington (human3rror) on the 8BIT Network, which included branding work, website design and a heck of a lot of WordPress development. Early this morning, John rolled out the new ChurchCrunch design and we’d love for you to check it out and let us know what you think. Do you like it?

The future of magazines.

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 13:52:45 -0600

The future of magazines.

Win a Copy of Things for Mac

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 11:27:06 -0600

Win a Copy of Things for Mac:

This morning, we launched the AllDevJobs.com Blog and are giving away 5 free copies of Things for Mac, a superbly awesome app that we use every day at Lift.

Apple's iPad: For what Audience?

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 18:15:15 -0600

52weeksofux:

After years of speculation, Apple finally released a tablet computer yesterday called the iPad. There was fanfare! There was rejoicing!

There was also much criticism: everything from it doesn’t have a camera or USB port to it doesn’t support Flash or HDMI out to it doesn’t let you multi-task. In 24 hours we have dozens of reasons why the iPad will fail in the marketplace.

But what if the iPad simply isn’t for the people who are critiquing it? What if the experience the Apple designers have in mind isn’t the one the tech writers and bloggers have been dreaming about for a half-decade? What if you, early-adopter geek fanperson, aren’t actually the target audience?

Humans suffer from a subjective viewpoint. We see the universe with us at the center of it. It’s almost impossible to gauge anything outside of our own desires…when we size up a new gadget such as the iPad we consider first and foremost: “What good is it TO ME?”.

User experience designers, however, cannot long suffer this fate. We must design (and hopefully critique other designs) from a more objective viewpoint.

As our initial subjective viewpoint fades, we might consider the iPad anew. Judging from the videos and early reviews, it makes many common activities very easy such as email, watching videos, and sharing photos. So let’s ask: “Who out there, what market, is this attractive to?”

The iPad is attractive to people for whom a laptop is overkill. Many spouses, parents, siblings, and children in our lives do not use computers in the same way we do. They are likely the primary audience for this device…the people who don’t need single pixel precision but can get by on single finger precision. They may use the iPad in the kitchen, the living room, the bedroom, even the bathroom. But they probably won’t use it in the office…

As designers and critics we must get out of our own head. Subjectivity is a crude lens through which great, audience-appropriate design cannot see.

Featured Job: Senior Drupal Developer at Digital Pulp, Inc.

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:49:00 -0600

Featured Job: Senior Drupal Developer at Digital Pulp, Inc.

One of our most exciting projects at Lift the past few months...

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:43:08 -0600

One of our most exciting projects at Lift the past few months was developing the branding and website for the 8BIT Network, which aims to provide resources to the Christian church through a community-based network blogs, websites, and applications.

We also designed the branding for the rest of the sites in the network along with developing the uber-slick multi-blog network WordPress theme that will eventually power each site.

For now, 8bit.io is the first site we have launched, which will be soon followed by the new ChurchCrunch.com.

What’s your favorite application interface that you’ve used recently?

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:30:26 -0600

What’s your favorite application interface that you’ve used recently?

iPhone Application UI Design Patterns

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:16:00 -0600

iPhone Application UI Design Patterns

I love the simplicity of this portfolio (which just so happens...

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:14:33 -0600

I love the simplicity of this portfolio (which just so happens to use Tumblr as a backend). So simple.

The Importance of Good Branding

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:38:37 -0600

Designing an interface can be extremely difficult when you’ve got a subpar logo or lackluster brand to start with. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve received a logo designed in Word or MS Paint and then been expected to “build upon” that with some incredible, unique interface that completely melts people’s faces off with amazingness.

Getting off on the wrong foot with a terrible logo or even just a poorly planned identity can cause a great deal of harm to an interface design project. It is extremely difficult to build a website or application on a cracked or unlevel foundation. Without purposeful, intentional brand development, that is exactly what you are asked to do. If you asked a homebuilder to build a house on top of the foundation you poured with your best friend’s cousin who has used a cement mixer before, odds are they wouldn’t touch your project with a ten-foot pole. Why should an interface designer be any different? Why should they be expected to work with a brand that can’t stand on its own, let alone hold up other components of a business?

How important is a company’s brand to you? Will you take on projects that require you to incorporate an ugly logo? How often do you hold your tongue in recommending a new logo or brand, even though you know it will be detrimental to the success of the company?

Sketch, sketch, sketch

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:06:13 -0600

52weeksofux:

I’ve heard it so many times: “I can’t sketch a stick-figure to save my life.”

Some people are afraid of showing their drawing to others. They think they’ll be ridiculed if their sketch looks like it was drawn by a five-year old.

In truth, it doesn’t matter if you are good at sketching. The less formal the sketch, the better. In fact, avoid the urge to use a pencil as it leaves too much room for you to ponder, erase, re-draw, second-guess…

But a permanent marker, now you’re talking. A nice big, fat Sharpie is the perfect tool because it requires you to really think through your idea before you put the pen to the paper. “What if it doesn’t work or the layout’s all wrong? ” Great! Grab a new piece of paper and start from where you left off, having learned something valuable in a matter of minutes.

The sketch is not the end goal. The end goal of the drawing process is what you learn while sketching. So don’t worry if you can’t sketch. In fact, if you’re too good you might just fool yourself into thinking your sketch is a deliverable. It’s not. The real value of sketching is that it allows you to explore and refine ideas in a quick, iterative and visual manner with little overhead or learning curve. Rapid ideation around flow and interaction, layout and hierarchy, can be quickly established, rearranged or discarded wholesale—all without ever touching a computer.

One added benefit to sketching your ideas is the ability to share, collaborate and improve upon an idea. Show a stakeholder the sketch and then encourage them to mark it up. You can even give them the red pen and let them revel in the power!

In the end, you will gain a deeper understanding of the problem you are trying to solve, and a head-start on implementing a great design!

"‘Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s..."

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 10:25:03 -0600

“‘Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like,” says Steve Jobs, Apple’s C.E.O. ”People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.””

- New York Times

Published: November 30, 2003

(via spencerfry)