February 2012
3 posts
“The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our...”
– Steve Furtick
8 tags
Infection
Today, as I was walking home from work I got infected.
He was walking behind me, this stranger of a man, whistling an exceptionally cheery tune. His pace was faster than mine and soon he caught up with me. I felt a strong urge to give face to this cheerfulness. As he passed me our eyes met for a split second. He abruptly broke his tune, as if he hadn’t been aware of his whistling. We both...
How to Approach a Responsive Design →
Super interesting read about how Upstatement designed the new Boston Globe responsive website. I’m pleasantly surprised that they used InDesign for the static comps since I’ve often thought that Photoshop needed type stylesheets similar to ID. The ID template notion is also a great niche I hadn’t thought about.
January 2012
2 posts
The Daily Reality Planner →
Interesting concept by Garrick van Buren. I might try this out. I often get frustrated that tasks on my to-do list don’t have a proposed time assigned to them so it makes it hard to plan out your day according to your temporal reality. It might also be helpful to balance my I-can-do-it-all-today mindset I sometimes get when I am feeling overly optimistic.
“But I’ve also found this: the best times, the most fun, the most rewarding...”
– Plans
December 2011
8 posts
5 tags
An Ideal Day
The Ideal Day is a fun little mental exercise I’ve been doing for the past three years. What you do in this exercise is write down what your ideal day could look like. Think about routine, not something you do once in a while that excites you. Although shark diving could be your passion it is rarely what you aspire to do every day of the year. What kind of a routine would leave you fulfilled...
“So if someone has given you a beautiful new device, they’ve given you a gift...”
– » Kindle & iPad are marketing devices :mnmlist
9 tags
3 tags
Three web services I am excited about
Freckle
Freckle is a time tracking application for freelansers, consultants and small teams by Amy Hoy and Thomas Fuchs. The cheery interface design and the fantastic visual tools make this time tracking app well worth the monthly subscription. The reports interface is especially helpful. Read the manifesto.
Readmill
Recently launched book site Readmill is just beautiful, both in design and...
“So the next time you share, whether it’s a link, a gift or a hug, share with...”
– Meaning – Surat Says
“The process of writing exposes your own ignorance and half-baked assumptions.”
– collision detection: The art of public thinking
November 2011
18 posts
4 tags
iMeme →
The Mac software we’ve all been secretly wishing for! LOLz!!
6 tags
The Nanny
I’ve been having concerns about my time spent on certain social media sites lately. I feel that sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader are taking up too much of my time and not contributing much real value, relative to the time spent.
I found a fantastic Chrome plugin called Nanny that helps you limit the time you spend on Facebook and other websites by either letting you block the...
Photoshop Actions & Workflows →
Some of these Photoshop actions by bjango are rather helpful. I’ve already used Enlarge Canvas two times today.
6 tags
6 tags
Eating my vegetables
Today marks the one year anniversary of the day I decided to stop eating animals.
If I think about it, I’ve never really been that fond of meat. Sure, I like the taste of bacon but the general meat texture and the fat has never been my thing. I’ve eaten meat most of my life more out of habit than love. The meat just had to be a part of my dish somehow and be the main course. That is...
Avatars for web/psd mock-ups by Sarah Parmenter →
Sarah Parmenter finally made what all of us have been thinking. A pack of avatars for web and PSD mock-ups. Lovely!
“The thing about effort is that effort is its own reward if you allow it to be.”
– Seth’s Blog: Worth it?
“So I would advise that you orient your UI around the job to be done - around the...”
– Ryan Singer’s answer to What are the key differences between “Normals” (normal mainstream users) and tech early adopters? - Quora
8 tags
On Rails
Today I decided to go on a mission: I’m going to slowly learn enough programming to build a simple user based web application from scratch, on my own. The framework of choice is Ruby on Rails. I’ve heard many good things about it and its active community will surely be a supportive boon to my learning experience.
Why am I on this mission? Well, for starters, I believe knowing just a...
4 tags
“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices...”
– Dalai Lama when asked what surprised him most about humanity.
13 tags
Talks from HIVE 2011 →
Been spending this evening watching talks from the recent HIVE 2011: Design meets Tech conference. Some very interesting and good talks. Especially this one.
8 tags
12 tags
Change
A recent downsizing at a company I worked for full-time presented an opportunity to me.
The option was to either go find another job, doing things I don’t particularly like or go do what I’ve always wanted to do:
Be my own boss!
So. I’ve started my own official graphic and digital product design studio in the heart of Reykjavík. The studio will operate under my own name...
Why I take sketch breaks instead of internet... →
Great tip from Glen Elkins on how to use your work breaks in a more creative way.
The Bearded →
Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow!
October 2011
3 posts
5 tags
5 tags
Pixel Hinting Vectors in Photoshop →
Nice guide for cleaning and crisping up vectors when pasted into Photoshop.
September 2011
2 posts
22 tags
Follow Friday
There’s this phenomenon on Twitter called #followfriday were people post a list consisting of a few interesting people to follow on Fridays. I like this idea. I often find people through these recommendations that post valuable and interesting ideas to twitter and I end up being an avid follower. The 140 character rule of twitter often limits explanations with these lists. I’d like to...
8 tags
August 2011
7 posts
10 tags
8 tags
13 tags
My bag of Photoshop tricks
Edit: Sorry for the image quality in this post. I made the images for my old blog that had a narrower column.
I work in Photoshop every day. I design for the web and I’ve been doing it for a very long time. Photoshop is my home application. It’s big and bloated, inconsistent and is currently going through a rough spot with the webdesign community but, still, I love it.
Over the...
14 tags
Do what you love, and do it often.
This is the second sentence in the much blogged and linked Holstee manifesto. I came across it the other day and this particular idea got stuck in my head. I reflected upon those words in relation to my life and realized I’ve never made a complete mental or written list of what I love to do. Of course it makes sense! The more you do what you love, the more happy and content you’ll...
5 tags
6 tags
Rebooting
Yesterday was the last day of the first real summer vacation of my life. I’ve taken some short vacations before but never a real, paid break from work. This is the first time I’ve been working on a 9-5 job (I’ve always favored freelancing) so long that it rewards a paid summer holiday.
Before the vacation I decided I was going to really enjoy it as a break from the daily...
June 2011
5 posts
6 tags
The Department of Advertising and Graphic Design →
The Museum of Modern Art’s in-house design studio just launched their portfolio. Brilliant work.
I’ve had migraines almost every day for as long as... →
Jay Parkinson on routine, comfort and physical pain.
“Every feature has some maintenance cost, and having fewer features lets us focus...”
– The Way I Work: David Karp of Tumblr, Page 2
May 2011
4 posts
“The Daily Rind”, a Better Way to Plan the Day →
Adam King suggests an interesting way to plan your day. I tried it and it became a bewildering mess on my page. However it made me rethink my daily review and helped me get on top of my day my own way. Thanks Adam.
