When Good Design Plays
With Bad Design

by Jason Caldeira

I’m a ritualistic coffee drinker. I love it. It’s the nectar of gods. Black coffee, mind you…none of this flavored latte soy sugary melted ice cream coffee that’s become so popular with the kids. So I’m constantly looking for better ways to make a really good, simple cup of black coffee. Enter Eva Solo CafeSolo™, the most gorgeous little piece of caffeine weaponry I’ve ever come across. And the kicker: it makes a damn good cup o’ joe.

Lil Wayne As a Web Designer?

by Gregory McClendon

As much as I would like to see Lil Wayne retire and begin a successful career as a circus clown, I think if he became a Web Designer it might sound something like this…

Props to Casey D from Vimeo.com for creating a truly hilarious 2:08 seconds.

The Beauty of Balsamiq

by Gregory McClendon

Pronounced like (balsamic), this handy little application has quickly proven to be a mainstay for all of my design projects. Balsamiq is essentially a “sketch” tool for creating wireframes and screen mockups. It is on the Adobe AIR platform, and is relatively lightweight to install (compared to Fireworks, which I still use for hi-res mockups).

Available for Windows and Mac, Balsamiq is by far the easiest tool I’ve found for making quick screenshots. It can be useful from brainstorming stages to …

On Repeat: Frightened Rabbit “The Midnight Organ Fight”

by Jason Caldeira

Frightened Rabbit is by no means a new band, but they are new to me. I downloaded their latest album The Midnight Organ Fight from eMusic last week, and it’s been on heavy rotation ever since. Reminiscent of August and Everything After-era Counting Crows having whiskey-laced coffee with The National after a weekend bender in Glasgow, TMOF is chocked full of intelligent lyrics, chill-giving chord progressions, grounded production and something familiar like a warm blanket wrapping around you… as you tell the one you love to piss off.

Frightened Rabbit “Keep Yourself Warm” from The Midnight Organ Fight

iPhone: The New Polaroid

by Jason Caldeira

I credit Lisa Wiseman (and CultofMac.com) with watering the seed in my brain that had previously been planted when they labeled the iPhone as “the new Polaroid”. That’s exactly what the iPhone has become for me: a “trial and error” photographic medium, just like the trusty Polaroid camera of my youth.

I have never been one to take posed shots of friends, arms around each other in front of some historical monument or colorful sunset. It’s not my thing. I prefer spontaneity. Back when I had my Polaroid, I don’t remember ever using it to photograph my family in front of a Christmas tree or anything of that nature - I used it to see how far I could push the medium; to see what might end up looking interesting once the mirky emulsion cleared. I’d zoom way in, past the point where I knew it would safely stay in focus. I took photos through the light on my lava lamp (no, I’m not THAT old… this was in the 80’s). I played around… with extremely mixed results.

Fast-forward 25 years and I’m back at it, taking photos with my iPhone in the exact same way. Playing. Experimenting. Trying to turn its weaknesses into strengths. Using the multitude of photo-based apps to see what I can accomplish next. This is not your typical camera phone (in good or bad ways)… the iPhone is my new Polaroid, and it makes me happy in that same way. If only they could recreate the definable “zzzzkkkchingggg” sound.

(More photos after the jump.)

Sometimes Orange Juice is Just Orange Juice

by Jason Caldeira

No matter how much thought goes into a design (pre- or post-creation) designers need to take themselves out of the equation and think of packaging in terms that the average consumer can relate to. No matter how much you want them to, the average consumer simply doesn’t think “wow… squeezing this cap really brings me back to the emotional connection I have to squeezing an actual orange, like a warm hug from my grandmother when I was a child… blah blah blah.” The average consumer thinks “neat-o. The cap looks like an orange.” Then they twist it open and drink. Done. (Or more likely they think “WTF… how do I open this damn thing? I’m missing Superstars of Dance!)