John Maeda: Designing for simplicity

Since i got a good feedback from my last post i decide to post another awesome speech of John Maeda, this time he will be talking about "Designing for Simplicity". here a little summarize of the video: "The MIT Media Lab's John Maeda lives at the intersection of technology and art, a place that can get very complicated. Here he talks about paring down to basics." Enjoy.

John Maeda: How art, technology and design inform creative leaders

Hello guys, today i will share a video that i think is very interesting and that you will enjoy. John Maeda, President of the Rhode Island School of Design, delivers a funny and charming talk that spans a lifetime of work in art, design and technology, concluding with a picture of creative leadership in the future. I hope you enjoy the video as i did. Check TED for more awesome videos.

WordPress Tutorials

Hello guys here i am again with more awesome things for you to enjoy. This time i will like to share some tutorials from the competition but that will help you go through the design of your blog. also i will let you read a little intro talking about the tutorial so before you go to the site you know what to expect. So as my other posts i will give my top 5 … Enjoy!



WordPress (Photo credit: Adriano Gasparri)

#1 WordPress Essential Training:

In this tutorial they will shows you how to get the most out of the version of WordPress 3.x and create feature-rich blogs and websites. Author Morten Rand-Hendriksen explains how to get a web host, set up a domain, and download, configure, and upload WordPress to your newly hosted site. The course then dives fully into the tools in WordPress, demonstrating how to set up your profile and create content to share with your web audience. HERE i leave you the link so you guys can try it.



#2 Building Child Themes:

Create a child theme based on an existing parent theme in WordPress and change the functionality, presentation, or styling of your website. In this course, author Morten Rand-Hendriksen shows how to use the default WordPress theme, Twenty Twelve, as a basis for a new child theme and add custom menus; new headers, sidebars, and footers; and index pages with widgets and pagination to your site. HERE the link.


                                                   

                                                         Morten Rand-Hendriksen and George
                                                   Moen (Photo credit: Morten Rand-Hendriksen)


#3 WordPress Mobile Solutions:

This course shows how to create a mobile version of an existing WordPress web site by leveraging ready-made solutions.They will demonstrates how to install and configure three different plugins: WP Mobile Detector, which automatically detects the visitor’s mobile device type and displays an auto-formatted theme. Sound interesting don’t you think? go to the link HERE
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#4 Photography Portfolios in WordPress:

There are two free WordPress themes designed to create online photo portfolios and in this course, Morten Rand-Hendriksen compares and contrasts both. The course covers how to find, install, and activate the themes Minimatica and AutoFocus 2.0 LITE, explains the customization options in both themes, and provides tips and tricks for building an online photo portfolio. Click HERE.

#5 Video Blogs in WordPress:

This installment of Start with a Theme shows how to set up a video blog using WordPress and three different free themes that result in three different looks for your site. Series author Morten Rand-Hendriksen explains how to get up and running quickly with Twenty Twelve, Origami, and Sundance, and reviews the benefits and drawbacks of all three themes as they apply to video content in particular. Learn how to add video from services such as YouTube and Vimeo, enhance the visibility of your posts, add a video slider, and more. Go and try it HERE.

I will come back with more good post for you. Enjoy this tutorials and comment about them. Thanks.

5 GRAPHIC DESIGN TRENDS


Hi again my dear friends,in this post i will like to share a few trend in graphic design that i hope you guys enjoy.


                                                
 #1 Going back to the beginning of time:

Giving a reaction against the modern-days existence in which we are supercharged with every kind of information, data and constant updates from all around the world that is surrounding us, this trend for refined, ultra-simplified design blows communication down to its bare bones, stripping out unnecessary fuss and complications to leave graphic artwork in its purest form. It takes confidence and skill to design in this pared-back way – there’s nothing to hide behind – and the few elements need to work extra hard.

                                            
                                                               
#2 Creating your own type:

The DIY type systems’ basically let you to make a compilation of your own letterforms using so-called ‘modular construction kits’, and then test and play around with the resulting alphabet for interesting results. Many such kits come in hybrid forms, combining multiple elements in various ways for true versatility. Christine Gertsch’s Modono project provides a series of horizontal, vertical, diagonal and corner components that can be used to make monospaced characters of different weights and colours.
                        
                                                     
                                                               
#3 Handwritten type:

With the option of a polished digital perfection almost everywhere, the raw, flawed product of the human hand is becoming increasingly appealing, especially in contrast to overly slick digital design that’s too clean and crisp to have a soul of its own. Starting in reaction to the homogenization of type in emails, texts and tweets – where the personality of handwriting is stripped away – hand-written type adds a real sense of authenticity to a piece of design, as well as a whimsical edge.
                                                                                                
#4 Creating type with everyday objects:

Adopting the idea of DIY type systems and taking it a little further, some designers all around the world are using everyday objects as playful, spontaneous typographic designs. Compiled from any number of gathered, scavenged and collected objects, these alphabets are truly unique and individual. One example is Jonas Buntenbruch’s provocatively titled ‘Fuck Experimental Type’ piece, which utilizes ‘found’ objects from his workspace to create the phrase – including pens, coins, scissors and a banana.
                                                                                                 
 #5 Creating your own old school type

I think this trend develops the trend for rough, hand-drawn lettering even further. More than settle for the unnatural smoothness of standard off-the-shelf script fonts, designers are developing their own type using calligraphic techniques, imitating the authenticity of hand-inked lettering. This kind of unique craftsmanship is particularly in vogue, and the visual style of a hand-written personal letter suggests that time, effort and skill have been invested in a piece of graphic design.

I hope you really enjoy this, and that you apply this ideas on your designs

THE FUTURE OF GRAPHIC DESIGN IN 5 ARTICLES


Hello guys here i will share with 5 of the best articles About the future of Graphic Design that i visit this past week and i will like to share with you. They have different topics but with the same propose, talk about the future, here i leave with a summarize of the article and by clicking the name of the article you will be sent to their website. I hope you enjoy this work that i did for you to enjoy.


1- The Future of Graphic Design: “Design is constantly changing to reflect the ever-changing technology around us. It tends to go through cycles of being simple, to being complex, to being simple again – and right now, graphic design is shifting away from a simple, clean Swiss style, to a rather more complex and creative vintage style, embracing handwritten fonts and vintage tones and textures.”


                                     

2- A Look at the Future of Graphic Design: “There are few professions that touch so many areas as Graphic Design. Just look around you right now – it’s likely that something around you has been influenced by a graphic designer – from the page you’re reading this on, to the menu on the table at your local coffee shop. As pervasive as Graphic Design is, it doesn’t mean that it is not being constantly transformed by technology. As the media world (advertising, publishing, entertainment, etc.) moves increasingly from print to electronic based mediums, the world of the Graphic Designer will certainly follow suit.”

                                         

3- Is the Future of Graphic Design in its past?: “If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reign as the premier power couple of Hollywood, then Seymour Chwast and Pula Scher deserve credit as the “Brangelina” of the world of graphic design and illustration for the last half century. In Double Portrait: Paula Scher and Seymour Chwast, Graphic Designer, which runs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through April 14, 2013, the work of “Schwast” (“Chwer”?) appears together for the first time in an unruly retrospective that, like all retrospectives, points back, but also points forward to where the world of illustration and graphic design might go in the technology-laden future.”

                                         

4- The Future os “Short Attention Span Theater”: “We’ve been looking at how technology has totally changed what it means to watch television or a movie. One of the biggest changes has been in demand — people want a baseball game — on their smartphone, wherever they are, right now. They want to pull up a video and stream it — on their laptop or phone, immediately, with no wait. So, where is all this going? If the younger generation is demanding this much from their screens today, what will things look like in a few decades? Jessica Helfand, author of Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media and Visual Culture, tells NPR’s David Greene that it’s a worrying trend.”

                                            

5- A look at the future of graphic design: “Graphic design and the need to communicate visually is a learned skill that is only becoming more necessary every day. Simply defined, graphic design is the application of visual communication, through various media, to send a business/marketing message to a targeted audience. Being able to rise above the advertising clutter and grab the audience’s attention is a skill that is in constant demand.”

                                       I will say bye until the next post with this interesting video.

Top 5 Graphic Design Websites



Hello guys here i will like to share with you my top 5 of the websites that i visit the most when i’m trying to find some inspiration or any help with my work so i hope you guys enjoy this little work that i make for you.

The number one will be “Awwwards”

I find this website very interesting because they show the amazing work that you can do when your about to created a website, this website have a lot of examples that will inspired you. Showing you from complex web designs to the more simple and clean designs created just to please almost every taste of the clients and the public. This website was created to show the amazing work that the artist all around the world can do when creating websites. the say that they want “to create a meeting point where web professionals from across the world can come to find inspiration: a space for debate, for sharing knowledge and experience and giving and receiving constructive and respectful criticism.” So yeah after you get inspired and created something good you can share it in their website. You can visit the site HERE.

The number two will be “Behance”

This is an amazing site that will give you the opportunity to share your art, but at the same time i will show you the work of artist from all around the wold. I like this website because it’s not just about the web design, here you can find any kind of art like Architecture, Branding, Fashion, Graphic Design, Illustration and more. i really like this site and i can spend a lot of time just looking at the most resent post, and getting inspired by all the amazing work that they show here. You can check it out and sign up HERE.

And here i will left you a video that talks a little bit more about the site:



Number three is “Abduzeedo”

In this site you will find several tutorials that will help you with Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Pixelmator and more. they will show you step by step ho to create a very cool designs mixing those programs. I really like this site because of the easy way that they give you the tutorial. In contrast with the others websites that i share before in this one you cannot upload your own work, but they share with you a lot of information that will be helpful for you. Take a look of the site HERE.

Just a little taste of the site:






In the number four i will say that is “Smashing Magazine”

This website will help you with different kind of things like Coding, it will give you tutorial in CSS, HTML, JavaScript so you can polish your skill with them. it will also give you tutorials in dsign fro example Web Design, Typography and many mores and of course they have their section where the teach how to work and improve your graphics with tutorial based on Photoshop, Illustrator and others. i like to look at different websites that gives you tutorials because you can always learn something different even wen they are several sites that talk about the same programs. Go to the site and explore HERE.

Take a look at how this website works:





The number five i will give it to “Skillfeed”

Here you can find a bigger diversity of tutorial and this is because this site works with more programs. They will give you tutorial for Photoshop, After Effects, Blender, InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver and more. The only thing, and that’s why i give the number five to them, is that you have to pay a fee to be able to work with every tutorial. You can give it a try during a week for free and after that, trust me you will think it twice to pay and keep enjoying that awesome service. just go to the site and enjoy, click HERE.

I hope you guys enjoy this list with my favorite Top 5 websites and i hope that they help you as much as they did to me, thank you, see you next time.

Steam Box Console!


Steam Box is real. Valve is intent on making a series of x86-based living room PCs and prototypes are present at CES 2013. With a PC structure and running the Microsoft competition Linux, this concept of Piston from manufacturer Xi3 is an super small metallic cube that brings to you an impressive design of PC inputs and outputs and is said to draw just 40 watts from the mains, half that of an Xbox 360. It’s believed that Valve itself has invested in Xi3 and that the kit is present, along with other designs, in its CES booth.

The standard Piston Console comes with a 128GB SSD, but you can get a 255GB SSD for $340 more, or a 512GB SSD for another $750. The Piston also includes 8GB of RAM and a 3.2-GHz quad-core processor. Well, what we are looking at here is laptop technology sans screen and keyboard, refactored into an upgradable, modular and very, very small piece of kit. Inside the svelte cube exterior we find a rather innovative approach to PC design in that the motherboard is divided into three distinct sections arranged into a U-shape. At the bottom we find the processor control circuit board which houses the APU and RAM, flanked by two IO boards. The beauty of the design is that all three of these boards can be swapped out for other options, or upgraded. The downside is that three different main-boards are likely to cost significantly more to manufacture than a single product.

Here i will show you a video that explain every detail of the "Steam Box"


Here specific details of the box:

-A quad-core 64-bit, x86-based 32nm processor running at up to 3.2GHz (with 4MB of Level2 Cache)
-An integrated graphics processor (GPU) containing up to 384 programmable graphics cores (or shaders)
-4GB-8GB of DDR3 RAM
-64GB-1TB of internal solid-state SSD storage (with up to 12Gbps throughput speeds)
-Three display ports providing maximum resolution of 4096x2160 (including one DisplayPort v1.2 and * 2 Mini-DisplayPorts v1.2)
-Four eSATAp 3.0 ports
-Four USB 3.0 ports
-Four USB 2.0 ports
-1Gb Ethernet port
-Three audio ports (1 input and 2 outputs: 1 copper and 1 optical) 

Xi3 makes sexy cube PCs small enough to grasp easily with one hand. The clever part is that they're modular, the innards separated into three special card components that can be swapped easily. One component handles processor and memory; another display and power; and another I/O or special connectivity options.This nifty design means Xi3 computers can be easily kept up to date, although you'll be restricted to components made for Xi3 machines.




With the power of the Steam brand behind it though, it's safe to say that Valve will have many suitors looking to provide hardware, and the whole point of embracing Linux in the first place is to create the open platform that Gabe Newell and his colleagues believe is in jeopardy with the release of Windows 8. It's going to be very interesting to see how all this develops.


I will say bye until my next post with this video that 
show us this box performing next to an Xbox360