"New" design aesthetics?

Nothing for months (not that nothing interesting was happening; rather, I mean that I've just been lazy/busy and not writing anything on this blog), then POW, something interesting pops up. Gizmodo posted an article yesterday about a SXSW panel on "The New Aesthetic," a (kinda) new trend in digital design. That article linked out to a Wired article by Bruce Sterling and to several other sites, including Glitch - Designing Imperfection and a sort of manifesto on a site called Book Two, that comment on this New Aesthetic.

In part, The New Aesthetic (P.S. can't we come up with a better name than that?) is about representing the digital glitches inherent in - what to call them? - "failed" digital design. Errors sometimes created in digital design become art unto itself. Pixelation can (should) be celebrated. Googlemaps goofery is a comment on the nature of the visual form. OK, yeah, I'm oversimplifying it, but I think there are some interesting aspects of postmodernity going on in these concepts. Go read the artciles. What do you think?

The Internets ain't all satellites, you know.

Actually, it turns out that the bulk of direct, international communication takes place via fiber-optic cable strung across the ocean. Seriously. Seem like an epic underatking: running thousands and thousands of miles of light-carrying wires across the inky depths of the oceans? Well, it is epic.

Up until very, very recently, it's also been super-secret. The locations of those cable, I mean, has been secret. Now, however, there's an AMAZING, interactive, data-heavy map of the cables created by (sponsored by?) a company called Telegeography.

Now, I don't know much about the company, but I know a good map when I see one. Go check out the mapo and learn a little more about what's involved when you email your friend in France a picture of a cat wearing socks.

(hat-tip to Gizmodo).

Awesome visualization of U.S. newspaper presence

Per some of our recent ENG 2353 discussions, I ran across this simple-but-great visualization illustrating the presence and coverage of newspapers in America's history. The data comes from a study by the Library of Congress, and has options for several different drill-downs. Check it out:

The Growth of US Newspapers, 1690-2011 from Geoff McGhee on Vimeo.

(via Chart Porn)

Get some Photoshop (and GIMP) brilliance

A while back, a blog called lifehacker posted a really nice, pretty comprehensive Photoshop tutorial some of you might want to take a look at. It's got lots of good tips for designers at a variety of levels, and the vast majority of it transaltes perfectly to GIMP. You might go check it out, but keep in mind that there are bazillions of Photoshop how-tos out there on the interwebs.

While I'm on the subject of Photoshop tutorials, I don't know how I missed the Photoshop rap when it first came out, but it is - no exaggeration at all - the greatest thing ever created in the history on mankind. Yeah, I said it. Well, it's at least tied with a couple other human accomplishments.

Interesting applications of type

Per our discussion today in class, here's a link to some typeface portraits.

On the same blog, there's a post with some videos of designers creating the portraits. It's not exactly a how-to, but you can see the designer set type to paths and then play with font size, weight, etc. to create the portraits.

I also thought this blog had some interesting experiments in typeface. Many of them are hard to read, but when that design decision is made carefully and in a way that doesn't ultimately obscure the message, it can still work, can't it?

Quick links to some texting and emailing statistics

From Wednesday's class:

Here is Gizmodo's post on who texts the most (via Mashable).

Here is The Oatmeal's snarky doodle about what your email may or may not say about you.

Seeing is believing. Believing is seeing.

A friend recently sent me a link to this video of an artist who works in what's called "tilt-shift" photography, which is often used to create images of fake miniature models. Per our discussion about "truth" in images, about visual rhetoric and communication, I thought it's an interesting thing to think about. Check out the slide show below. If it doesn't load, click on the "Metal Heart" link to go to Vimeo's site.



Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.