Chris Coyier gives us some examples of how effects can be done in CSS.
Design
RedditGetsDrawn, a Reddit sub-area where users will draw your picture
This is a truly fantastic idea for a community. Artists looking to develop their chops draw other Reddit users.
New web site trend – scrolling animations
New trend in web page design uses a single page featuring scrolling animations that keep you on the page, walk your eyes through the page’s elements.
Brilliant app uses WiFi as SOS beacon in disasters
I love the simplicity of this idea.
The team consulted emergency workers from the Haiti and Fukushima disasters and developed a “victim app” and a “seeker app”. “They wanted it simple, unencrypted and smart,” says Al-Akkad.That meant avoiding known problems like low-power, low-range Bluetooth radio links, which often fail to connect – or “pair” – with each other amid the clutter of metallic debris in broken buildings. So they stuck to the much more robust and receivable Wi-Fi radio.
With the victim app a trapped person can write a 27-character message such as “broken leg stuck in bank” or “need help fire on 4th floor” and a seeker app up to 100 metres away can pick it up. The app found two “trapped” people in a large-scale, simulated terrorist attack at a seaside chemical plant in Stavanger, Norway – an exercise organised by the Norway-based research organisation Sintef.
This is the kind of thing that should just ship on every phone.
The value of design
“If you’re starting a company and thinking about where your value comes from, it’s increasingly design,” Ev Williams.
Great article.
The right way to implement iBeacons
This year, we’re going to hear a lot about iBeacon technology. Some of it will be good, some bad. It all comes down to thinking of ways to benefit the consumer.
Seventh grader builds a braille printer with $350 worth of Legos
Banerjee noticed that braille printers can cost more than $2,000 and wondered if he could drop the price, according to his father, Niloy. A Mindstorms kit is $350 and easily modifiable, giving Banerjee most of the parts he needed to build the printer.
Big fan of Lego Mindstorms. We have several in our house. This is one talented kid.
Common mistakes in logo design
I really enjoyed this. I’ve seen logos that I had to stare at in order to figure out what it was—that’s not a good design.
How text selection, copy, and paste made its way onto the iPhone
Designer Bas Ording worked on the team that brought text selection to the iPhone. A good read.
Khoi’s logos
Khoi Vinh, the former Design Director at NYTimes.com, posted two new logos he’s been working on. I always find it interesting to see what people like Khoi come up with.
Google’s $2.2B bird scorching solar project
$2.2 billion solar project appears to be killing birds that fly near it.
In ear, wireless headphones deliver heart rate info, can work in water, much more
Great design, with secure fit, built in biometrics, wireless, noise isolating, can be used in water. Terrific Kickstarter.
Failing at design
Great video from Braden Kowitz. Nobody sets out to fail at design, but it happens.
Lovely design elements in Facebook’s Paper app
If you are a fan of app design, spend a few minutes going through this dissection of the interface niceties of Facebook Paper. Some beautiful design going on here. Yum. [Via iosdevweekly]
Starting a design project
I find it interesting to see the workflow and how people start a new project. Cameron Moll shares his thoughts on starting new design projects.
App icon designs
I am in awe of designers that can produce work like this. I think the Leica one is my favorite.
Clever locking system for Mac Pro
Clever lock for the new Mac Pro. With video.
The making of Apple’s 1.24.14 film
This is a behind the scenes video that tells the story of the making of Apple’s beautiful film, a film celebrating 30 years of Macintosh and 30 years of people doing amazing things with Apple technology.
Image lightbox, responsive and touch‑friendly
I think this is really well done. Most Lightbox overlays are busy and take a while to load, but the demo at the bottom of the page gives you a number of options to keep things small and only show the information you need.
Walter Isaacson amends comments on Google, Apple, and product innovation
Walter Isaacson sat in on a panel discussion on Bloomberg TV. At one point, he addressed an earlier comment he had made about Google being the most innovative company in the world. Video.
Color psychology in design
Equally important in relation to color (chromatics) is “no color” (monochromatics), which is the negative space or nothingness that surrounds an object or subject, something of particular value in publishing, the art industry, and advertising. Recent trends have seen a return to the simple—celebrating crisp and clear designs that demonstrate professionalism and accuracy, thus giving the consumer a sense of reassurance as well as stylistic aesthetic satisfaction.
Color is fascinating. It can make you feel warm, cold, happy or, if there’s too much, confused.
Useful set of typography tutorials
If you’ve ever wanted to get your head around the basics of typography, follow the headline link for a brilliant set of resources. The navigation is a bit tricky. This is not a single tutorial, but more of a table of contents. Click each picture to take you to a lesson related to that area. Just love this!
Padcaster video accessories frame for iPad
Yesterday, I mentioned Sony’s new tablet mount for their QX series of lens-based cameras. Loop reader Pat Fauquet pointed me to another, related product, the Padcaster.
The Padcaster has been around for a while now. It’s a frame for your iPad designed to hold accessories, like video lights, microphones, video lenses, and audio interfaces. Most importantly, it allows your iPad to be mounted on a video tripod, giving you everything you need to use your iPad for video production.
CSS Regions in responsive designs
A well reasoned article from Brian Rinaldi.
extractCSS: Online CSS Extractor
extractCSS is an online tool which can extract ids, classes and inline styles from HTML document and output them as CSS stylesheet. All you have to do is to type or paste your HTML document and let extractCSS to do the rest for you!
Real world review of the new Mac Pro
Reading this review will take you a while. There’s a lot of detail, but that’s only a good thing.
Creating a toy: conception, design, packaging, photography, and promotion
If you’ve ever thought about creating a physical product (as opposed to an app), this video is incredibly valuable. Joe Ledbetter walks you through the entire life-cycle involved in bring his Chaos Bunnies figures to life. So much to learn here.
Sony to launch tablet mount for its lens-style camera
I like the idea of Sony’s “mostly lens” camera system. The QX10 and QX100 are lenses that contain all the smarts and communicate with your smart phone via WiFi. 3.6x optical zoom, 5472 x 3648 image size, and Carl Zeiss f/1.8 lens. But the available mounting bracket is limited to 75mm, big enough for a smart phone but not big enough for a tablet.
This new SPA-TA1 tablet attachment will solve that problem, catering for devices between 85mm and 190mm in width.
Testing the limits wireless speed
Interesting article on the emergence of Massive MIMO, the next stage in wireless communications.
Nomad ChargeKey, a lightning adapter that fits on your keyring
I’d definitely like to take one of these for a spin. There have been a number of times when I was on the road and my iPhone was running low on charge and I didn’t have the right cable on hand.
My only concern is durability. Both ends of the cable are open to the elements and the cable will be riding around in your pocket, picking up all manner of little gunky bits and debris. Still, a terrific idea.