Reading Copy

Modern movies done in a traditional Russian folk art style. Fantastic.

Popularity: 10% [?]

The Kirkus Review released a spotlight on 30 graphic titles (graphic novels, comics, manga etc). Some nice titles in there.

It’s about halfway down the page as a PDF download.

Popularity: 9% [?]

After spending 4 days in Las Vegas at the HOW Design Conference and seeing over 3500 designers, 15 speakers, endless paper samples, countless slot machines and too many PowerPoint slides, it’s difficult to distill it all down into a concise statement of the experience.

Since design tends to fall on the expressive, intuitive and asethetic side the work world, there was lots of talk about ‘being creative’ and idea generation and where design meets the rest of the world. All in all, such events do re-invigorate the weary designer… filled with new ideas, approaches, and concepts.

Like most people, we all strive to do the best we can, and given the circumstances we succeed to various levels… myself included. I always want the best end result, so maybe this is why of all the tidbits of enlightement and knowledge that the speakers gave out… one rose above the rest. The speaker spoke of working with a German car company, working to help brainstorm new ideas for the company. Things were not going well… progress at a standstill. All the ‘tricks’ were tried to get things moving, to no avail. Breakthroughs were not coming. One of the consultants went and talked to the car executives, just to get them talking… he looked out the window at the snow and the parking lot, and asked about their drive in to the office. One car executive said that his drive in was lovely — the snow was perfect, big dry, flakes, he was thinking of how to spend the Christmas bonus on presents for his family, looking forward to visiting relatives. The consultant asked what it would have been like if it were one degree warmer… The executive said, it would have been miserable, there would have sleet falling, cold and wet… he would would be thinking about how cheap the company was to give such a megear Christmas bonus, and dreading the visiting in-laws. The consultant looked at him and said… “It’s only one degree.”

The speaker then asked the collected designers — “What’s your one degree? What is that small seemingly inconsequential thing that you can change by one degree in your work and lives, and will have an impact?”

Popularity: 17% [?]

I have just finished reading Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest, Never Let Me Go. I had heard of the book but hadn’t given it much thought until I noticed the Abebooks Book Club was going to be reading it… I ordered it right away and I am glad I did. It is a wonderful story of friendship and acceptance and the way things could become… I don’t want to spoil anything because the book is quite secretive and it’s much more fun to discover the secrets on your own. Read it!

Popularity: 8% [?]

For quite some time I’ve been waiting for the release of the Edward Tufte book - Beautiful Evidence. And a recent note on his bulletin board showed the book in production and ultimately for sale.

Over the last several years Tufte has been slowly revealing more about the book, offering up chapters and sections for evaluation and suggestion to fans/practitioners on the forum — typified by the fantastic sparklines thread. (definitely a precursor to the web 2.0 darlings wikis and other collabrative technologies).

Tufte’s books are always fantastically produced — he show great care and attention to all aspects of the printing, bindery, colour proofing — and it shows. Each of his book is as gorgeous as it is informative. Defintively on the wishlist.

More Tufte books:

• The Visual Display of Quantitative Information
• Visual Explanations
• Envisioning Information



Popularity: 8% [?]

Just noticed that the jokesters/pranksters/troublemakers of Improv Everywhere used The Strand bookstore — a well know Manhattan store, and Abebooks bookseller — as the target of one their missions earlier this year - Cellphone Symphony.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Something you don’t get to see everyday — a 1922 edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Like death and taxes, it seems the cubicle is an inevitability of life. For anyone who has spent any time working in an office environment, they have come up against this dreaded cube.

It has been mocked in movies, books and Dilbert comics, and there are even action figures based on the cubicle world.

The inventor of the cubicle is somewhat contrite about his creation, but rightfully so? The initial vision was good, but the implementation in the real world falls short.

The traditional, oft-ridiculed cubefarms don’t really exist in this office, there is a much more open floor with a few partitions scattered about. It makes for a more dynamic and bustling atmosphere (and yes noisy at times, but that’s what headphones are for). We’re moving offices soon, so the topic of partions and cubes and desks has started to come up on a regular basis. Whatever the final fixtures and furniture decisions are, I hope it’s a green choice.

Popularity: 24% [?]