Arranged Delirium

I’ve been struck by how often I’m articulating in class that design is about organizing content and communication as well as aesthetics. Recently, I came across an article regarding a grad student redesign of the iTunes terms of service documentation, and I thought it would make a good example. One reason people don’t read the TOS is because, well, that’s obvious isn’t it? But while we might want to fault people for not reading, don’t we have an obligation to make the content accessible? Then we can legitimately gripe about people not reading…

Abstract is showing at 64 Arts juried exhibition at the Buchanan Center for the Arts in Chicago. If you are in the area, well actually, there are so many museums there it would be hard to find time for all of them. But…

Abstract is a part of the Desert Textures series, and you can find info/examples of all of my artwork at my photography web site.

My friends in Phoenix can swing by Method Art in Scottsdale and see Flare which is showing in their juries photography exhibition from August 30th - October 29th.

This image is a part of the Desert Textures series, and you can find info/examples of all of my artwork at my photography web site.

My writing on Facebook and Google+ sparked some commentary regarding online privacy. Usually when the topic comes up, people tend to have either strong opinions or no opinion at all. My hope is that more people will come to think about it because it is an issue of some complexity that is getting decided for us, and I’m not sure that’s what we want. In fact, we all need to care a bit about the Internet if we want to see it continue to be a tool for democratization and not something controlled by specific interests.

There’s a particularly good article in the Chronicle that lays out the argument for why we should all care about privacy - even if you have nothing to hide. It deserves a thoughtful read.

Then, if you want to think more about the separate issue I mentioned of who controls the internet you may find this article from I, Cringely to be a good jumping off point for a number of ideas…

The incremental upgrade fo the Adobe products has seen a lot of debate - and at times, I think the question of whether one needs to invest is a good one. I’d say that its a very good investment for anyone using CS4 or earlier versions, but questionable for folks who already have CS5. One notable exceptions though includes InDesign 5.5 which sports some new features that make life a bit easier for folks creating electronic publications. There’s a handy MacWorld article that lists the primary features. This version of the software makes creating publications for the iPad or in the EPUB format easier. That’s of significant interest to me, given my own mobile application development - this software takes some of the hassle out of that process - especially if you already have your content in InDesign format.