- Sunday, April 14, 2013
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Andrew M. Snyder Photography
My buddy Andrew Snyder takes some stunning wildlife photography. He’s quite prolific on flickr, but until recently had no professional online presence. Recognizing an opportunity, I offered to help Andrew replace his outdated and spam-filled blog with a brand new site designed specifically to showcase his work. From idea to launch, services provided include custom Wordpress design and development, logo design, UX design, responsive design, and content migration.
- Sunday, January 6, 2013
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Free Idea: Social Screens for Local Businesses
Several months back, I was pretty passionate about displaying the social media interactions of local businesses in-store. Check out the pitch here. And props to my buddy @jaredkrouss for helping shape the concept.
- Thursday, January 3, 2013
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Updated Omnigraffle Stencil for Bootstrap v2.2 →
In February of 2012, Elliott meticulously built and released an Omnigraffle stencil for Twitter Bootstrap 2. Like Bootstrap itself, Elliott’s stencil was exhaustive and popular. His announcement ranks among the most visited posts all-time on Viget’s Inspire blog.
Internally, while Viget rarely uses the Bootstrap framework for front-end development, the Omnigraffle stencil is a favorite tool among our UX team. For rapid wireframing, an extensive and current library of UI elements can be indispensable.
- Thursday, September 20, 2012
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I built a table
Shown above is a side table I recently built of reclaimed wood and steel. The table top is constructed of wood siding sourced from the Community Forklift, a wonderful place for secondhand and inexpensive building materials. The base is built of flat bar steel using oxy-acetylene welding and metal tools available at the Art League in Alexandria, Virginia.
- Monday, September 3, 2012
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Rethinking On-Site Notifications →
You’ve seen these before, right? Notifications, or, more correctly on-site notifications. Typically red and badge-like, they are designed to alert you to content on a website that has changed or that may require your attention. Well-intentioned and, as you can see, adopted by industry heavyweights. That’s nice. But is this design pattern actually good user experience?
- Tuesday, July 17, 2012
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The Risks & Rewards of Building Next Generation Websites →
Here at Viget, we try very hard to stay current on everything web. In many cases, this can mean simply executing or updating our view of industry best practices in UX, Design, and Development. In other, more exciting instances, it can mean testing not only the limits of technology, but of ourselves as creative professionals.
In recent weeks, the super cool blacknegative.com has made its rounds in the office. (If you haven’t seen it, grab your headphones and jump there now. You’re in for a treat.) In a very general sense, blacknegative.com is some inspiring stuff, an emotive experience that illustrates what’s possible and what the future of the web can look like. In my mind, it belongs to an emerging class of websites—like space.angrybirds.com, nikebetterworld.com and our own teamviget.com—that rethink many of the traditional web patterns, introducing uncommon interactions, motion, and design.
While I personally love these executions, it’s important for me as a UX designer to honestly evaluate the implications and appropriateness of these super interactive websites as they become more common.
- Monday, March 19, 2012
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My life couldn’t fill a penny post card - Andy Warhol
The quote “my life couldn’t fill a penny post card” was written by a 21-year-old Andy Warhol in response to a magazine request for biographical information. The year was 1949 and Andy Warhol’s rise to cultural fame was only just beginning. The full note is show below. The original may be found here and a transcript can be read here.
The quote, as I have presented it, is intended for large format printing. I have sought to perserve the handwriting characteristics while offering a clean presentation beyond simple enlargement. At near full resolution, the image appears like the capture below.
- Saturday, March 17, 2012
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Don’t do it for anyone else - Keith Haring
Artist and social activist Keith Haring is best known for his 1980s pop-art that began with chalk drawings in the subways of New York City. By the end of the decade he was internationally renown for his work.
The quote above was written circa-1987 in a note to a fan and aspiring artist. The full letter can be found here.
The quote, as I have presented it, is intended for large format printing. I have sought to perserve the handwriting characteristics while offering a clean presentation beyond simple enlargement. At near full resolution, the image appears like the capture below.
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Flight is possible to man - Wilbur Wright
“Flight is a possible to man” is a quote from Wilbur Wright written on May 13, 1900. Wilbur along with his brother Orville are credited with building the first airplane.
The handwritten text is sourced from a letter Wilbur Wright wrote to renowned engineer Octave Chanute outlining their future plans for flight and seeking guidance. The original five page letter can be found here and a full transcript can be found here.
The quote, as I have presented it, is intended for large format printing. I have sought to perserve the handwriting characteristics while offering a clean presentation beyond simple enlargement. At near full resolution, the image appears like the capture below.
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The Handwritten Word
The handwritten word is dying. Some argue, the pervasiveness of technology will inevitably kill the need to write anything by hand. Time will tell. However, it is clear, as a culture we write less than we once did.
I think that’s a shame.
Unlike print, handwritten text transcends the words it uses. It’s personal and unique and it changes. It’s human. Graphologists will tell you a sample of handwriting can reveal a ton about the writer’s circumstance and personality.
Visually, it can also be simply fascinating to inspect.
That said, I see value in exploring the handwritten word as art.
Initially, I have focused on gathering handwritten, inspirational quotes from well-known or historical figures. Much of my search has occurred on Letters of Note, a fantastic blog of letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos.
My current approach is to enlarge and graphically simplify a selection of handwritten quotes into large-format prints. More can be seen here and Behance.net.
I’m also experimenting with selling some of the work on Society6.
