An interesting design study of the San Francisco commuter rail network. They’ve also come up with a very practical map design.
Tag » interesting
Malcolm Gladwell on The Myth of the Prodigy. I heard Gladwell give this talk at Google a few months back. Interestingly, the impression I had gotten was that the kids from Hunter College were doing better than just okay — that they were not famous, but all very happy. Perhaps the smartest kids are those who learn how to be satisfied with a balance.
Good post by 37Signals on finding inspiration.
Great article on ambient signifiers, or how subtle cues can unconsciously improve user experience. The Tokyo subway, for example, has a distinct tone for each stop, which user progressively grow attuned to.
How to make foil, an interesting video.
Chefs around the world are coming up with some beautiful and original food designs. This article on Chinese cuisine has some interesting comments on the role innovation and culture in food appreciation. While we’re on the topic of food, Caroline Noordijk has designed some great looking knives.
A seemingly very intuitive interface for drawing 3D models in 2D.
It turns out that some women may see 100 million colors, way more than the average person. It’s hard to imagine what the world would look like for these individuals! In a related note, I just finished reading Oliver Sacks’ An Anthropologist on Mars, a collection of stories about unusual neurological conditions, and I can highly recommend it.
The History of the Button blog has a bunch of good posts about this common design element, including this one on the fake crosswalk buttons in NYC and this one on a really cool new peripheral (watch the video).
