WordPress 3.4 Beta!

Today WordPress released its version 3.4 beta and I have to say I’m impressed. The additions and improvements are small but I can tell that they can become very useful for people who sell and make themes as they can be a good selling point for “Customization”. The one feature that stands out the most to me is the Theme Customizer with Previewer. This feature provides a user friendly interface for users to update the look of their theme…LIVE! Booyah! Are you off the floor yet? Just kidding. Besides updating the look, users are able to update some of the general settings (Reading Settings, Site name, ect…) of the site as well as setting the location of the navigation. This is the beta and I really hope that the Theme Customizer with Previewer eventually leads to live editing, which would be phenomenal.  The release is expected in May and I can’t wait :D

 

 

posted by April 05, 2012 - 5:13 pm No Comments

The Strategy of Channeling Your Inner Child

“Creativity shouldn’t be seen as something otherworldly. It shouldn’t be thought of as a process reserved for artists and inventors and other ‘creative types,’” according to Jonah Lehrer in his new book Imagine.

Lehrer studies the neuroscience behind creativity and thinking, and believes that this (which is usually thought of as a character trait than a skill) can be taught. If that’s the case, I wish I knew about this before I started my design classes! Yeesh!

Based off a study, Lehrer believes that we must channel our inner child to fully exhaust our creativity. He also touches base on different topics, like stifled creativity in groups (read more about this from our whitepapers: “Effective Brainstorming”), regional advantage, and the benefits of cultural mixing. Lehrer also discusses drug use and mental illnesses and how they affect or inspire creativity.

On a personal level, working at idfive and in this industry constantly requires a level head and imagination. At times, it can be challenging (I can’t imagine (HA!) how difficult it can be for our head designer). So, if the idea that channeling my inner child can help inspire great work, well, then let’s try it! I think that sounds like a good strategy!

To read the original article that inspired mine and learn more in depth about Lehrer’s book, please check out How to Be Creative: The Science of Genius.

posted by - 2:00 pm No Comments

Data Visualization Inspiration

I’ve been assigned a design project to visually represent a concept of idfive’s. Straining for inspiration, my boss shared with me what this company, FFunction, designed. A beautiful representation, organized like a Venn diagram, of what they do by grouping different terms and colors to differentiate them.

Ahh, admire:

 

posted by March 29, 2012 - 11:00 am No Comments

Bad Men.

Newsweek magazine did a front-page story on the return of Mad Men this week, and in an inspired bit of creativity, turned the clock backwards to the early 1960s. The cover layout references the magazine’s typeface and design of that era, and they continued the idea inside the magazine as well, using period fonts, page layouts, and design elements.

I enjoyed paging through the magazine to see advertisers getting in on the act.

Johnnie Walker Red took their old-style ad layout and updated it seamlessly with modern photography. Well done. A+

Dunkin Donuts had some fun with their history. A+

John Hancock went with a layout that resembles old-old school ads from LIFE magazine, circa 1949. B+

Mercedes straddled the line between modern and retro, using a two-color ad with period design elements to showcase their car. B+

Spam gave it a shot, but failed a basic history test. You’re about 10 years too late here, guys. C-

Tide fails a basic history test as well. The swinging 60′s came a little bit later, guys. C

GEICO, never one to miss an opportunity to get their gecko in front of us, uses some understated Danish Modern to work the concept. Bonus points for spelling out what GEICO actually means, like they did on the Olden Days. A+

Ultima Vodka… didn’t even try. For a cover subject with so many obvious references to liquor, this is just sad. F-

Old Forester: They tried, they really did. They reached for the effortless cool of Johnnie Walker, but there’s some hideous Photoshop work in there. C-

AT+T fails miserably. They didn’t even try. This either smells like “last-minute ad buy”, or “inflexible brand manager”. F-

Gucci: Fail. F-

posted by March 23, 2012 - 5:20 pm 1 Comment

The Dirty Secret Behind User Data Collection & Tracking

Privacy’s always been a big concern on the Internet. Ever since the invention of “cookies” back in 1994 there’s been an ongoing (and sometimes contentious) debate over who gets to collect personal data about users, how that data is collected, and how it’s used.

On one side are the marketers, retailers, advertisers, and publishers trying to gather as much data as possible in order to target advertising more efficiently, sell more products, and deliver content tailored to users’ needs and wants. On the other side are privacy advocates, “hacktivist” groups like the now-infamous Anonymous, and consumer organizations who contend that collecting data about online behavior is an invasion of users’ right to privacy. But while the privacy advocates have won a few skirmishes in the war over the decades, the trend vectors have always pointed towards collecting more and more information.

Recently the debate flared up again over Google’s moves to capture and aggregate data from across their many properties (including Google+ and their ubiquitous search engine) in order to form incredibly detailed profiles of users and their online behavior…

To read more of Sean’s The Dirty Secret Behind User Data Collection & Tracking please visit March’s idfive Whitepapers.

And while you’re at it, if you would like to receive more insightful articles written by the lovely team of idfive, please sign up to be a part of our mailing list.

posted by - 3:27 pm No Comments