Khoi Vinh on designers in numbers: Great Numbers, Not So Great Design.

Great Discovery Channel promo. Love it. (Not for hardened cynics)

37signals post about how Urgency is Poisonous.

Not only is it poisonous but it seems to be everywhere. It's almost like people think something is up if it is not urgent. People can be organised and get things done well without incessant pressure(stress) which just leads to more disorganisation and then off we go to more pressure and so on. I personally find that urgency stems from disorganisation or procrastination in the first place.

"Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."
Quoted from a magazine interview with Steve Jobs, in a 2003 in the New York Times.

Cabel Sasser from Panic Software the guys who make Transmit (great FTP software for the Mac and the excellent Coda web dev software ) talks about how they started and about their process etc.

Milton Glaser is such a fantastic inspiration.

Steven Frank, co-founder of Panic software who make great Mac software including Transmit and Coda blogs about how a product succeeds in the marketplace.

From the post: "My current hypothesis is that there are at least three positions of prominence in each segment—three ways to be number one, if you will: The First One, The Free One, and The Good One." Full blog post here: The First, The Free and The Good...

We would tend to agree with that one.

Great diagram. Simplicity in design. Simplicity, what we can learn about usability.

We are experimenting with Twitter here in the office. It started off with me trying to figure out why it is so popular and has since degenerated into comedy and some scary conversations, especially viewed out of context. My initial thoughts were that Irish people would be too cynical to use this, but we will see.

You see my Twitter posts here just in case you are curious: http://twitter.com/naoise_g

I am using the spiffy app Twitteriffic on the Mac to keep it updated and it also updated the status menu on iChat.

I am starting to see how it could be useful, but it seems mostly a fun diversion so far.


Update:
Video explaining Twitter.

Dave Shea posts about what options are available to designers to produce something by themselves that they can sell. A product! I love this quote from the article: "Hey, I’ve got these visual design skills, what can I do with them that will result in a product I can sell to people?"

Here at Marino we have taken the collaborative approach, working within a team to create products. It can be hard but rewarding work if you are passionate enough about what you are producing. I have tried the on my own approach before but found it frustrating trying to spread my skill-sets across so many technical areas.

Of course the lure of creating a financially successful product with little maintenance overhead is compelling.

Found this useful Google Maps setup while browsing shared feeds in my Google Reader. I am finding Google Reader great. I have used the now free NetNewsWire for Mac for years which is also fantastic RSS client but am finding the integration of the Google apps very useful these days. Also really like the way Google are slowly integrating more social elements into their applications. Far more useful than the viral application clutter on Facebook etc.

Irish WiFi Hotspots using Google Maps. Setup by Eirepreneur and updated by many...


View Larger Map

Great creative project by Stefan Sagmeister "Things I have learned in my life so far". Project is also accepting contributions.

Explore, enjoy, contribute...
thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com

Coworking is essentially someone organising a space for people to work together who could be from different firms, freelancers etc. to work together in a shared space.

I really like this idea. I know when I was freelancing in the past I would have loved to be around other people working in related areas, sharing ideas etc. There would be great networking opportunities along with sharing the cost of rent, communications equipment and so on. And you can start going a bit crazy from lack of social contact if just working from home. :)

The New York Times has a great article on it here...

This is taking off now in Ireland too. More info at www.coworking.ie

Paul Graham on six principles for making new things: "I like to find (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems (c) that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly."

Full article here...

This very much sums up our approach to a couple of products that are currently in development. It works. Of course the next step is making it a success once it's made. So we will probably just repeat process again there. Though the version that makes it to the public won't be the crude version 1.

Of course the advantage of working on your own product is you have more opportunity to iterate. This is rarely done on service based projects, due mainly to time constraints(poor planning) and possibly financial. Which is a shame as it really impacts quality.

Casulo have essentially designed a box with the contents of an apartment inside. Now that is really reducing complexity down to something seemingly simple. Not sure how easy it is to take apart though and put together into the box. Still, fantastic design and space saving.

More coverage at Treehugger...

Blue Flavor have posted a list of laws and how they apply to web design and development.

My favourite of the bunch is Conway's Law "Any piece of software reflects the organizational structure that produced it."

Full post here...

There is a great new yoga studio called Yoga Flow opening up in Terenure in Dublin 6W shortly. You can sign-up to be alerted to the opening and their newsletter on their site.

We have partnered up with Yoga Flow and Yoga Dublin on an interesting new project more of which will be revealed later. Now, I'm off to do some sun salutations.

Personal note: If someone would open up a Yoga Studio on the Dublin North-side I would be eternally grateful. Somewhere along the coast between Clontarf and Howth would be ideal. :D

Something fun. Khoi Vinh has designed an entertaining flowchart describing his dogs thinking on eating matters. I like dogs and flowcharts, so this is all good if you ask me. :)

Think like a dog...

Mimoa is a new site highlighting European Architecture. It uses Google Maps to aid browsing of architecture. You can register and rate buildings. New work is being added all the time.

Mimoa

Yahoo! JavaScript Architect Douglas Crockford gives a great presentation on Quality in Software. He covers software development history, management of software projects and solutions for common problems in software development. Is about 48 minutes. Lots more developer related videos over at Yahoo! Theater...

This made me laugh.

"Don't feel bad about it, you've got the right. In fact, it's your duty because we all know that on fullmoons, graphic designers shapeshift into werewolves."

8 ways to drive a graphic designer mad...

More information here. Watch the video above first.

We have put our new mProperty website live. You can see it at www.mproperty.ie

We will be adding new articles to the learning centre and videos to the features sections in the coming weeks and months.

Amusing site for the new book Managing Humans by Micheal Lopp.

Managing Humans

Winners of the Webware 100 are announced.

Details are here...

And some analysis from Webware here...

In the spirit of our slightly green new government I put this link up today..

Adobe have put the latest issue of their free and excellent PDF Adobe Magazine for download which has an article Shades of Green about how designers are contributing to a lower carbon footprint.

We are very interested and excited about the new generation of hybrid online/offline web based technologies here at Marino Software. With Ireland still lagging behind the in the broadband stakes these technologies can help our customers with slow connections or who are on the road.

With the likes of Adobe's Apollo platform, Joyent's recently open-sourced Slingshot for Rails applications and now with the just announced Google Gears there is an increasing amount of options available to developers. We are looking forward to enhancing our mProperty offering with these technologies. More on that later...:D

Michael Arrington of Techcrunch has an interesting perspective on the current hype and madness in Silicon Valley surrounding web 2.0 etc ...

"Now, a year after the madness started, it’s even worse. Companies have to actively dodge venture capitalists to avoid raising a big round of financing."

"Times are good, money is flowing, and Silicon Valley sucks."

Full article over at Techcrunch...

Dan Cederholm (Designer) and Dan Benjamin (Developer) have sold their excellent web collaboration project Cork'd, which was made out of a passion and interest in wine. Cork’d is a free service for reviewing, sharing and discovering wine. It was made using Ruby on Rails and Dan Cederholm has pointed out a few times his positive experience using Rails as a web designer, comparing it to sculpting, which has been also my own experience working Ruby on Rails here.

Cork'd was made in the spare time of the designer and developer and has a community of over 20,000 users today. I don't have any idea how it scores on revenue but it is impressive all the same. Shows what can be done when a project is your own, has a very clearly defined audience, you have the tools and ability to make it, and you are passionate about it.

Dan Cederholms post on the sale...
Dan Benjamins post on the sale...

Google have a new blog covering their mapping products. Now, if they would only get some decent maps of Ireland into their products. I have never seen an explanation for why Google has terrible maps for Ireland. Does anybody know?
Both Yahoo maps and Microsoft's live maps have proper detailed maps for Ireland so is a mystery to me as to why Googles are so poor.

World Wind from Nasa, an open source project now available in Java looks to be a really interesting project. At the JavaOne conference in San Francisco Sun's CTO of software and Patrick Hogan of Nasa demonstrate their new open source geospatial browser in this video from CNet.

"With the dollar weak, Irish investors find that New York apartments cost less than in Dublin but rent for more." New York Times have an article about Irish investors buying apartments in Manhattan.

Story found via the entertaining Blogorrah...

If you are into David Allens Getting Things Done productivity system then you have a good few options on the Mac for software tools designed specifially for the task.

My favourite is iGTD by Bartek Bargiel. I use this all time and is my favourite by far. It syncs with iCal and also works with iSync, supports tags, links and address book integration.
Next thing I would love to see would be some team based features such as support for syncing with Basecamp and sharing tasks with other users.

Omnifocus from Omnigroup is looking good too, but is still in development as of this post.
They posted a video recently showing how it will work (Quicktime).

Other options I have used are:

Midnight Inbox
Actiontastic
Ghost Action

There is a useful Wikipedia entry here covering GTD software across all platforms.

With the Irish Elections getting closer, web coverage is getting better. RTE have launched their election site which has lots of useful info, including info on what candidates are running where. Some more sites with election info and coverage:

http://www.rockthevote.ie/ Irish Times Election Coverage

The Webby Awards winners have been announced. Great list of sites in there including all the nominees, if you have the time to go through them worth checking out for some gems you might have missed.

I like the idea of having an office with an area just to chill out, read, do some yoga or just laze about and discuss crazy ideas. Anything that helps creativity is good for the mind and business too. So with that in mind I am looking forward to the day when we can pimp out our office with some of these fine pieces of furniture from Bretz. :D

I got to check them out while living in Germany and they are great. Some of them are really huge. Some are scary. But they are certainly fun! The images and the website don't really do them justice. Check them out Bretz Wohntraeume...

Looking to upgrade your bathroom. Veerle highlights a fine selection of bathtubs. Some of the bathrooms highlighting these lovely bathtubs are bigger than my house I think. :/

Something for the creative types out there. Quirky and amusing short film from Coudal Partners, a Chicago based creative agency.

Copy goes here...

Keith sent me a video advertisement yesterday for Saab. We like their cars, especially this bio powered beastie.

Like all good advertisements this video elicits an emotion whether it is moody or just downright hilarious. This advert with its dark visuals and backed up by a beautiful song: Release Me from Swedish band Oh Laura certainly hits the mark for me.

While I have seen many great video adverts for a multitude of products from cars to personal hygiene (Lynx/Axe) to even computer hardware (Apple 1984), I can't recall ever seeing a great commercial for a software product. Of course there is this cringe inducing effort from Microsoft, wait for the rap song, it's worth it :D. Though I suppose there is the Get a Mac commercials (Shameless Mac plug).

Anyway, here is the Saab one we like so much:

Panic software which makes the excellent Transmit FTP client for the Mac has released a new web development application called Coda aimed at the professional web designer. I downloaded it last night and tried it out and it really is a beautiful piece of software. I particularly liked the code completion on Coda. John Gruber has a good write-up on Coda on his Daring Fireball blog.

I currently use a combination of TextMate (great editor, especially since we work with Ruby on Rails), CSSEdit and Transmit. Am happy with this set-up, but Coda is certainly tempting. MacRabbit the makers of CSSEdit have just released an update to 2.5, which adds some great new features and improvements including tabs. Am looking forward to see what the new version of TextMate brings. :)

My favourite things about all the above software mentioned is their elegance and simplicity.

The only thing that is really missing for me at this point is a great Subversion Client. At the moment I use the cross platform Java based SmartSVN but it just does not have the polish that native Mac apps like CSSEdit or Coda have.

So all these lovely updates along with the recently released Adobe Creative Suite updates makes these happy days for a web designer using a Mac. Yeah, we love our Macs here.

Fintan Palmers blog has some coverage of Barcamp Dublin which was on over the weekend. We would loved to have gone but we had other commitments. Will really have to try and make the next one. Great to see some events like this happening in Ireland now.

More about Barcamp Ireland here: http://barcamp.org/BarCampIreland3

Smashing Magazine has a great article, 35 Designers X 5 Questions. The results - over 80 CSS-based tips, design ideas, suggestions, fonts, design-related books and online-magazines.

Perspectives on the Dublin market. Current market problems are a temporary setback and this makes it an opportune time to buy, says Mark FitzGerald in the Irish Times.

Future Shock:Property Crash which was shown on RTE the other night offers an extremely pessimistic view of the Irish Property Market and is presented in a laughable way with doom laden music, and at certain points, film like visuals which seem to have been inspired by Hitchcock or David Lynch. Also features sinister voices.

Prime Time has some discussion on the what's possibly going to happen to the property market here. Professor Morgan Kelly of UCD and Jim Power of Friends First offer differing views. You will need Real Player to watch the videos on RTE. It's a pity RTE don't offer the ability to embed videos in your blog yet. Though it is great they are putting more video content up the web now and the new site is a great improvement.

The impression we get here, is that some people almost seem to be willing a property crash on. Others obviously want to talk it up positively as it is in their interest. Somewhere in the middle there is reality, which seems to indicate a cooling market/soft landing in progress without all the drama.

Some interesting insights from an ex Adobe Illustrator product manager on the building of software and how features are introduced to an already established product.

The features for the second iteration of our product mProperty are driven by a combination of feedback from our sales channels/customers and ideas developed within Marino Software to solve specific problems identified in our target market. A big advantage for us is that our target market for mProperty is very clearly defined, but as we move forward with additional strategies for this product we need to factor in new audiences for the product such as designers/ developers and sales channels that are not within the company. The challenge here of course is keeping the simplicity, usability and vision of your product intact while reaching out and facilitating new audiences.

The big frustration we had when working for web agencies in the past, is that you worked to often crazy deadlines with rushed and poorly defined objectives with design by committee ruining what creativity might have managed to survive the process. Then as the project goes live you jumped to the next project though maybe some great ideas were developed during the development phase which just get lost as it is not in the project scope etc.

With regards web based software as a product, the joy in all this is that we get to constantly refine and improve our product offering. And for our customers they benefit from our focus and long term commitment.

Following on from our previous post on the importance of quality photography for selling property here are a couple of web based photo editors that are free and easy to use. They do all the basics to fix those unruly photos.

Picnik (Nice clean User Interface)

Pixenate (From Irish company Sxoop Technologies based in Cork)

Below is an entertaining and thought provoking presentation from Sir Ken Robinson at last years TED conference. He makes a case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. We were talking about this in the office today and our own experiences with the Irish education system which like most, completely undervalues creativity in all forms. I believe it's safe to say, most people who flourish creatively do so despite the lack of respect, understanding and passion for creative thinking within our education systems.

The New York Times has an interesting tool for comparing the costs of renting or buying equivalent homes. Try it out here...

I love the interface on this. Simple and useful.

The Dublin Docklands Development Authority has unveiled a dramatic design for the new Luas Bridge across the Royal Canal at Docklands North Lotts.

More details here...

There is great article on the New York Times covering the importance of photography in selling a property. There are some excellent before and after examples too.

With the convenience of modern digital cameras and computer software you would think that most property for sale or let online would come with strong photography showing the property off in its best light. From the research we have been doing for our product mProperty, this is very often not the case. Many of the images I have seen have put me off the property rather than raising my interest.

There are many reasons for this, lack of photography or software knowledge, poor software, poor website support for adding imagery. If you are a Property Sales Agent, surely photography is valuable asset in selling the property and it is worth taking the time to improve your photography skills or getting a professional property photographer to take some shots. Getting a professional photographer would make a lot of sense considering the price of many properties, especially here in Ireland.

With mProperty we have made sure it is simple for users to add images: photography, visualisations and floor-plans so they are available in an easy-to-use gallery. As broadband penetration increases in Ireland it is becoming more practical to add more bandwidth intensive content such as video. We will be adding this ability to mProperty in the near future and hope Estate Agents take advantage of this. What better way to get a great feel for a property and its local environment. Maybe you can get to meet the neighbours too!

If you are interested in improving your photography of property here are some links which we hope you find useful:

www.photographyireland.net/
www.dublincameraclub.ie/
http://galleryofphotography.ie/courses.html

Larry Lohrman has a great weblog covering all topics property photography: http://larrylohrman.wordpress.com/