Although scores of good books on color theory have been written — many even for non-designers — most working professionals just do not have the time to delve deeply into a study of the complexities of using color. The good news is that there are online resources that can help you create harmonious color themes without requiring advance knowledge in color theory. There are a few really good online resources such as ColorSchemer and Colourlovers, but my personal favorite is Kuler. Kuler is a web-based color tool from Adobe that has thousands of community-generated color themes from which…
Selected by duarte
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Presentation Zen
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Using Kuler to create color themes
1 Nov 2009 | 5:21 am -
Presentación Zen: Por fin! La versión en español ya está disponible
28 Oct 2009 | 10:04 pmI'm happy to announce that the Presentation Zen book is finally available in Spanish. The book follows the same design and layout as the original English version. Spanish was the most requested translation so we're delighted that it is finally on sale. I'm not sure exactly where you can get the book in your area, but here is info on the Pearson Educación website. Above: A photo of the front and back covers.The Presentation Zen DVD on Amazon and elsewhere also includes Spanish (and Japanese and English) subtitles. Thanks to everyone at Pearson for their hard work and to everyone across the… -
The art of control without controlling, doing without doing
26 Oct 2009 | 3:01 amAs a leader — in business, education, or design — how much control do you need? How much can you give up? Is control even the right word? Is it possible to lead without leading? Here is a great TED talk that will get you thinking that has applications for leaders of all types. Former conductor Itay Talgam today runs workshops to help people develop a musician's sense of collaboration, and a conductor's sense of leadership. In this excellent talk at TED Oxford, Itay touches on the art of creating perfect harmony without saying a word by showing the unique styles of six great 20th-century… -
Tokonoma and the art of the focal point
20 Oct 2009 | 7:14 amEvery good design needs a focal point. This goes for the design of interior living spaces as well. In many Western homes, the mantel place in the living room is often a focal point from which other interior design elements are added in a more or less symmetrical fashion. In traditional Japanese homes or modern homes containing a washitsu (Japanese-style room) it is the Tokonoma (床の間) that serves as the subtle focal point for the interior. The tokonoma (lit: floor/bed + space) is a raised alcove in which Japanese art such as a hanging scroll (Kakemono) or a flower arrangement is… -
Sumi-e, color, and the art of less
5 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pmA fundamental design and life lesson from the Zen arts is to never use more when less will do. This goes for the use of color as well. The problem with most slide presentations is not that visuals contain too few colors, it's that they contain too many. A common practice is to use several different vivid hues (colors) in presentation slides when even a single hue in various shades or tints would have been more effective. The ancient art of Japanese brush painting called Sumi-e (墨絵) provides a powerful lesson concerning the use of color, communication, and restraints. Sumi-e was brought to…
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The Extreme Presentation(tm) Method
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Pre-emptive Strikes: how to field tough questions
19 Nov 2009 | 3:33 pmTom Antion is a renowned public speaking expert; I asked him if he could share a few thoughts on fielding tough questions from your audience, and I'm grateful for this guest post he has written in response: Here are some rules to follow when you are expecting tough questions tocome up during your presentation. 1. Show that you understand their point of view. Restate yourunderstanding of how they feel before you offer your answer. 2. Use appropriate Self effacing humor. One time I took a large archerytarget and hid it on stage before the audience arrived. Near the beginning of my speechI… -
Audience Analysis - Speak to Different Personality Types
16 Nov 2009 | 3:58 amThe first step in the Extreme Presentation method for designing a presentation is to identify the communication preferences of the different personality types that are likely to be in your audience. I like to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator for this. For example, your audience will contain Introverts, Extraverts, or (most often) both. Introverts need some kind of pre-reading--they need to be thinking about your material in advance. Extraverts need lots of Question and Answer (Q&A) time, so if you have a one-hour presentation to a bunch of extraverts,… -
Message to Amy F. from NJ
16 Nov 2009 | 3:02 amAmy - we've received your emails and attempted to reply, but your email server keeps bouncing our replies. Could you email us with a different email address or a phone number where we can reach you?Thanks,Andrew -
Diagramvalasztasi javaslatok (Chart chooser in Hungarian)
9 Nov 2009 | 1:38 pmHere is the Hungarian version of the original Chart Chooser, translation courtesy of Zoltan Till. Download a pdf. -
Aide à la sélection de graphiques - Chart Chooser in French
7 Sep 2009 | 9:31 amBernard Lebelle of Impact Visuel has translated the Chart Chooser into French. Download the pdf here. Merci bien, Bernard!
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slide:ology
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Visualizing the Sun Food Agenda with Michael Pollan
12 Nov 2009 | 10:09 amDuarte had the distinct pleasure of working with bestselling author Michael Pollan to turn his ideas about sustainability and food systems into a visual presentation for the PopTech conference last month. Plan to eat your lunch in front of the computer today so you can enjoy his presentation: It’s rare that we’ll work with such a gifted natural storyteller. You can see Michael speak sans visuals here and here. So, to take advantage of Michael’s comfortable, engaging speaking style, we built into the presentation some key moments, opportunities for Michael to really connect… -
Book Review: The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs
6 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pmSource: Business Week I l-o-v-e-d this book. It’s officially in my Top 5 favorite presentation books. You should definitely crack open this book every time you have a high-stakes presentation to give. Carmine Gallo has studiously observed Steve Job’s presentations and has cracked the code! The book is much deeper than just Job’s delivery style, Gallo has codified it into practical lessons and insights around content construction and corporate theater. He covers insights from Steve’s entire journey at Apple. Gallo also sprinkled in non-Apple examples that help you see how you too can… -
Duarte is more than great pumpkins… we’ve got great costumes, too!
6 Nov 2009 | 11:43 amPumpkin carving is fun, but what’s Halloween without costumes?! In addition to the Annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest we share with the public, we also hold a costume contest that you don’t get to see. Below is a slideshare presentation of (almost) all of our employee costumes… comment and tell us which is your fave! Duarte Halloween Costumes 2009 View more presentations from duartian. -
Book Review: Six Pixels of Separation
5 Nov 2009 | 9:23 amMitch Joel is president of Twist Image, a agency with offices in Toronto and Montreal. I met him at TED two years ago. It’s nice to read a book by another CEO who is running an agency and taking on the role of author—I can empathize with the challenges. Mitch did a fantastic job encapsulating the entire online ecosystem. I wish this book had been published a year ago when I dove into social media, it would have been like having a mentor. No wonder Six Pixels of Separationis on Seth Godin’s reading list and received fantastic reviews and on the “popular book” list at 800-CEO-read. In… -
Stanford Keynote Open to the Public
2 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pmIf you’re in the South Bay around lunchtime tomorrow, grab a bite to eat and head over to Stanford! Tomorrow at noon Nancy will deliver a keynote at Stanford’s Bishop Auditorium, the South Building of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Hope you can make it!
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TEDTalks (video)
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TEDTalks : Tom Wujec demos the 13th-century astrolabe - Tom Wujec (2009)
20 Nov 2009 | 6:29 amRather than demo another new technology, Tom Wujec reaches back to one of our earliest but most ingenious devices -- the astrolabe. With thousands of uses, from telling time to mapping the night sky, this old tech reminds us that the ancient can be as brilliant as the brand-new. -
TEDTalks : Devdutt Pattanaik: East vs. West -- the myths that mystify - Devdutt Pattanaik (2009)
19 Nov 2009 | 7:32 amDevdutt Pattanaik takes an eye-opening look at the myths of India and of the West -- and shows how these two fundamentally different sets of beliefs about God, death and heaven help us consistently misunderstand one another. -
TEDTalks : Fields Wicker-Miurin: Learning from leadership's "missing manual" - Fields Wicker-Miurin (2009)
18 Nov 2009 | 7:17 amLeadership doesn't have a user's manual, but Fields Wicker-Miurin says stories of remarkable, local leaders are the next best thing. At a TED salon in London, she shares three. -
TEDTalks : Mathieu Lehanneur demos science-inspired design - Mathieu Lehanneur (2009)
17 Nov 2009 | 7:34 amNaming science as his chief inspiration, Mathieu Lehanneur shows a selection of his ingenious designs -- an interactive noise-neutralizing ball, an antibiotic course in one layered pill, asthma treatment that reminds kids to take it, a living air filter, a living-room fish farm and more. -
TEDTalks : Pranav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology - Pranav Mistry (2009)
15 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmAt TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.
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information aesthetics
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Google Image Swirl: Visually Clustering Similar Images Together
19 Nov 2009 | 3:37 amGoogle Image Swirl [googlelabs.com] is an experimental feature in Google Labs which is based on new computer vision research to cluster similar images into representative groups in a visual, exploratory interface. For example, for an "apple" query, images of the fruit appears next to many products or logos of Macintosh. Users can then click on any thumbnail and a cluster of images will "swirl" into view. Other examples include keywords like car or Eiffel tower. Via The Official Google Blog and Thnkx Andrew! See also Google Wonder Wheel, Google Similar Images, Google Fusion, Google Timeline… -
Marshall IDX: Comparing the Popularity of Words in the Media
19 Nov 2009 | 3:12 amThe web portal Marshall IDX [marshallindex.com] tracks the historical popularity of words used by several thousand media sources, from months to just down to seconds ago. It aims to go beyond counting search queries to bring more transparency and understanding of the impact of news, advertisement, trends, and terms to its users. The so-called "Marshall Index" is expressed by a number: 1 point represents 1 million individuals that got in touch with a particular term in a 24 hours time window. For example, if one searches for the word 'Olympics', the service will calculate an index based on how… -
Request for Help: Acquisition Security Related Policies & Issuances Chart
17 Nov 2009 | 5:00 pmThe graph Acquisition Security Related Policies & Issuances Chart (acq.osd.mil, PDF version) by the Office of the Director, Defence Research and Engineering is meant to increase the awareness of existing policies, in order to improve compliance, and to get policymakers to reflect about writing "one more policy" now that they are able to observe the huge existing "heap" they actually contribute to. The chart's designers are interested in your constructive feedback to make it better (and maybe help your country at the same time?). The chart organizes acquisition security policies and guidance… -
Tokyo versus Cairo: Comparing Obama's Foreign Policy Speeches
17 Nov 2009 | 12:51 amTokio | Cairo [blprnt.com] is a novel visual text comparison tool, which enables the discovery the similarities and differences between Obama's famous open address to the Muslim world, given in July at the University of Cairo, and his recent speech delivered at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Several keywords were shared, such as 'America', 'world', 'common', 'human', 'responsibility'. At the far extremes, the speech in Cairo was about 'Islam', about 'Palestinians', about 'peace', 'faith', and 'communities'. The Tokyo address was about 'China', 'North Korea', 'security', 'agreement' and 'growth'. -
Visualizar'09: Second Day of Seminars
16 Nov 2009 | 7:12 pmFriday, November 14, was the 2nd day of seminar at Visualizar'09. See our previous post about its Kick-Off. Xavier Alonso presented data404, a collection of sources of public information. In the following talk, Jan-Christoph Zoels discussed on how data visualization can influence public behavior towards more sustainable attitudes. Jan presented several visualizations developed by Experientia within the context of the c_life project, which was the winner of the low2no design competition. He explained the importance of visualization in the process and in the final interface design of the…
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FlowingData
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Buzzwords in Academic Papers (Comic)
20 Nov 2009 | 12:45 amThis comic was really amusing, although it might be because I'm a big nerd entertained by all things from PHD Comics... It's my blog, and I can laugh if I want to. Have a nice weekend, everyone. [Thanks, Stephen] -
Thank You, FlowingData Sponsors
20 Nov 2009 | 12:20 amThank you to the FlowingData sponsors for keeping the servers alive. Without them, this blog would not be possible, and I wouldn't be able to do what I do. Check out what they have to offer. They make your data useful: Xcelsius Present — Transform spreadsheets into professional, interactive presentations. NetCharts — Build business dashboards that turn data into actionable information with dynamic charts and graphs. InstantAtlas — Enables information analysts to create interactive maps to improve data visualization and enhance communication. Tableau Software — Data exploration and… -
Choose Your Own Adventure – Watch the Stories Unfold (UPDATED)
18 Nov 2009 | 11:10 pmInteraction designer Christian Swinehart takes a careful look at the popular Choose Your Own Adventure books from the 1980s. We saw something like this before, but Swinehart takes it a step further. For those unfamiliar, these CYOA books let you make the protagonists' main decisions, and your choices would have an impact on the outcome of the adventure. Some endings were bad and some were good. With this in mind, Swineheart begins by color-coding pages. Either it's a decision page or one of five possible types of endings: great (you win), favorable, mediocre, disappointing, and catastrophic. -
The Future: Embedding Data in the Everyday
17 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmImagine a world where data becomes the everyday, simply embedded in what you normally do. It's really not far off if you think about it. We use charts, graphs, and viz to make important decisions with investments, businesses, and to stay informed on the news, so why not use it in our own lives? This infographic video, The Ambient Life, is a vision of that future by Freeband Communication and IIPIC. Watch for the dramatic twist in the middle. Just when you thought it was safe to go for a jog... We've seen this type of projected future before (see here, here, and here). Still though, I never… -
Visualize This: Class Size and Quality of Education. Your Turn
16 Nov 2009 | 11:48 pmPhoto by Night Owl City Last week I posted some parallel coordinate plots that related SAT scores and class size. Now it's your turn to take a crack. You can find the data that I used (and more) from the National Center of Education Statistics. There's a link to download the data as an Excel file. You can find pupil/teacher ratios here. The two best entries each win a copy of David McCandless' The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia as well as eternal glory on FlowingData. Yes. Eternal. Different Views and Other Factors There were a lot of great…
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Guy Kawasaki
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The 19 bloggers Inc. thinks you should read
6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pmInc. named 19 bloggers that you should read. We’ve aggregated them all in one place: Inc19.alltop. -
How to Get Found
4 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pmThe reality is that people and technology is getting better and better a blocking out unwanted interruptions—aka, “marketing.” Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, and he explains in my post on the American Express Open Forum “how to get found.” It’s all about creating great stuff and letting Google et al do what they do: find great stuff. -
How I tweet
2 Nov 2009 | 8:47 amBy popular demand (and some complaints), I’ve done a FAQ with myself about how I tweet. Hope this helps you use Twitter for your business too. I explain how I use ghostwriters and why I repeat my tweets among other “unusual” practices. -
Current Twitter Demo Script
28 Oct 2009 | 2:26 amThis is the set of links that I used to demo Twitter by going down through this list to show why Twitter is such a valuable marketing tool. Introduction Home page Profile page Monitor Search Guy Kawasaki or Alltop Starbucks VIA introduction Search for “Prius” or “Civic” Sell Dell Outlet Kogi BBQ Support Comcast Cares Engage JetBlue Virgin America Fandango Prospect Camaro Camaro near Palo Alto Advanced searches Surfing or skateboarding (shows how to eliminate extraneous results such as “surfing the web” How I Tweet - Find Alltop MyAlltop helped me find this. -
How to Avoid Twitter Cluelessness
26 Oct 2009 | 4:24 pmOver at the American Express Open Forum blog, I explain how to not look clueless on Twitter. The first five ways are: Don’t tell other people how to tweet. Don’t tell the world that you unfollowed someone. Don’t ask people why they unfollowed you. Don’t constantly tweet mundane updates and babble. Don’t use a small picture for an avatar. To read all ten and why they impugn your intelligence, click here.
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Seth Godin
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Benefit of the doubt
21 Nov 2009 | 2:11 amIt's almost impossible to communicate something clearly and succinctly to everyone, all the time.So misunderstandings occur.We misunderstand a comment or a gesture or a policy or a contract.And then what happens?Well, if we're engaged with someone we like or trust, we give them the benefit of the doubt. We either assume that what they actually meant was the thing we expected from someone like them, or we ask about it.If we're engaged with a stranger or someone we don't trust, we assume the worst.The challenge, then, is to earn the benefit of the doubt. How many of your customers, prospects,… -
The amateur scientist (that's us)
20 Nov 2009 | 2:41 amMany people buy a car (probably their single biggest discretionary purchase) based on slamming a door, kicking a tire and judging the handshake of a salesperson.We choose a surgeon based on the carpeting in his office and a politician by his hair cut.During the first week of swine flu vaccines in New York, most parents (more than half!) chose to keep their kids out of the program.Interviewed parents said things like, "I'm not sure it's safe," and "I wanted to see if it affected other kids..."No mention of longitudinal studies or long-term side effects. No science at all, really, just rumors… -
Embracing lifetime value
19 Nov 2009 | 2:46 amIf you walk into a company-owned cell phone store to sign up for a contract, what are you worth?Given the huge gross margins at AT&T and Verizon and the standard two-year contract, I think it's easy to figure on more than $2000 in lifetime value.If you ran a business where a customer represented an additional $2,000 in profit, how would you staff? How long would you make someone wait? If staff costs $25 an hour, how long would that extra person take to pay off?Few businesses understand (really understand) just how much a customer is worth. Add to this the additional profit you get from a… -
Some books for November
18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmRandom thoughts from all over for those of us hungry for new ways to think. This month's list is here. The previous list was blogged in September. -
The reason they want you to fit in...
18 Nov 2009 | 2:03 amis that once you do, then they can ignore you.
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Digital Roam
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"Drawing is how I think" - Milton Glaser
20 Nov 2009 | 6:38 amWhether you think you can draw or not, it's worth watching this short clip of award-wining designer Milton Glaser talking about the importance of drawing as a life skill. (While drawing, of course.) MILTON GLASER DRAWS & LECTURES from C. Coy on Vimeo.Select quotes from Milton:Drawing is how I think.Accuracy is the least important part of drawing.Art schools have abandoned drawing in order to make time for all the software they have to teach. We get what we need for our professional life but don't have an instrument for understanding the reality of life. -
Napkins in Seattle
8 Nov 2009 | 11:45 amI'm up in Seattle today to give the opening keynote at the 2009 Society for Information Management SIMPosium. While preparing, I came across a wonderful back-of-the-napkin story. It turns out that Seattle's most famous landmark, the Space Needle, owes it's origin to a simple sketch drawn by a one-time gas station attendant, seaman, and hat salesman named Edward Carlson. By 1955, Edward, a Tacoma native and classic "self-made man", had become a successful hotel manager in Seattle. To boost civic pride, he undertook a feasibility study to determine whether Seattle could… -
The Health Care Rollercoaster Unplugged
5 Nov 2009 | 6:18 amTime for a ride on the health care roller coaster again. Only this time forget about the Senate Finance Committee; we're talking the Big Dipper on the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Next Thursday, Nov. 12, the Health Improvement Partnership of Santa Cruz County has invited me to share my health care napkins at their gala event. Join me and Healthy Kids of Santa Cruz County for a rolling ride through the ups and downs of H.R.3200, The Baucus Bill, Nancy Pelosi's new price tag... and of course, solving problems with pictures.Thursday, Nov. 12, 6:00 - 8:00pm. The Dream Inn at 175 West Cliff… -
Health care napkins take top honors
29 Sep 2009 | 4:14 pmI'm excited that the health care napkins I created with Tony Jones have just been announced as the "World's Best Presentation 2009" by Slideshare.net and Business Week. It tells us a lot about the power of simple pictures that over 100,000 people have viewed the slides. After all, this is a PowerPoint presentation about health care; what in the world could possibly be more boring? Yet by making it visual, simple and clear, people don't mind taking the time to look it over.Healthcare Napkins AllView more documents from Dan Roam.This is the real lesson for all of us who need to present… -
Scaling the Grand Hyatt SF
4 Sep 2009 | 5:15 pmOn Sept. 23 I'll be talking and drawing at the SF Chapter of the American Marketing Association. I hope to touch on: Solving any problem with a picture. How anyone can draw. The best 2 business pictures ever made. (Einstein drew one of them.) Reception starts at 6:00pm at the Grand Hyatt, drawing on napkins starts at 7:00. Thanks Mark Evans for setting this up. Hope to see you at the Hyatt, right off Union Square.Register here.
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Word of Mouth Marketing
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How Coca-Cola empowers fans all over the world — live with Adam Brown
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmWe’re bringing together an all-star group of word of mouth marketers for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on December 16 in Chicago. We’ll feature 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’re going to learn practical, hands-on techniques to get people talking about you the next day. Our lineup of speakers includes word of mouth supergenius and Coca-Cola Group Director, Digital Communications, Adam Brown. Here Adam shares a few tips based on the case study he’ll be presenting:… -
Microtesting: Sell it before you build it
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amBefore you build a product, test it by offering it for sale on your website. If no one responds, you’ve just saved tons of time and money. If the responses include suggestions, you’ve just improved the product before you even started. If people give you money — bingo! This sort of testing is faster, cheaper, and more informative than any generic study or focus group. From Inc. Magazine: Consider the method used by TPGTEX Label Solutions, a Houston-based software company that specializes in bar codes and labels for manufacturers and chemical companies. Like many companies,… -
How Starbucks used fan feedback to help launch VIA — live with Matthew Guiste
19 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmWe’re bringing together an all-star group of word of mouth marketers for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on December 16 in Chicago. We’ll feature 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’re going to learn practical, hands-on techniques to get people talking about you the next day. Our lineup of speakers includes word of mouth supergenius and Starbucks Social Media Manager, Matthew Guiste. Here Matthew shares a few tips on using fan feedback based on the Starbucks case study… -
Newsletter #757: The “Inspire People” Issue
19 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That Email Newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] It’s more rewarding to work at a company that does its part to make the world better. You can do it without pushing an overly-political agenda or getting ultra-hippie; here are three ideas to get you started inspiring people: 1> To help local communities 2> To be eco-friendly 3> To do awesome things 4> Check it out: Oddly Specific 1> To help their communities Give your… -
Will It Blend? Our 4-part series on creating content people love to share
18 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmAs a preview for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference here in Chicago on December 16, we’re dedicating a full week to our halftime celebrities from Blendtec’s Will It Blend? video series on our Word of Mouth Marketing Blog. We’ve long been big fans of Will It Blend’s simple, cheap, and brilliant formula for creating content people love to share, and we’re thrilled to have Blendtec’s VP of Marketing and Sales, George Wright, join us for our big event next month. Installments to check out in our…
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Indexed
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Tiny(ish) dancers.
20 Nov 2009 | 8:32 am -
Inflammatory!
19 Nov 2009 | 7:52 am -
And so on.
18 Nov 2009 | 8:28 am -
Frankenstein & his monster.
17 Nov 2009 | 7:50 am -
Everyone is just an email away.
16 Nov 2009 | 7:07 am
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VizThink Blog
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[Podcast] Visual Miscellaneum: An Interview with David McCandless
20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 amEarlier this week I got on the phone with David McCandless, author of The Visual Miscellaneum, his new book of visualizations of ‘the world’s most consequential trivia”. During the conversation we discussed how the idea for the book came about, his creative process and whole other host of topics. Perhaps the most interesting thing that I learned in the conversation is that a couple of years ago David wouldn’t have considered himself a designer – which, once you’ve seen some of his work, might convince even the biggest doubter in their own drawing… -
VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November 19th
19 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmA collection of visual thinking links found on the web in the past few days by our editors & vizthink community contributers. Have a link suggestion? Tweet it or add it to delicious and be sure to tag it with vizthink. These are the links for November 19th: Google Image Swirl – A new Google tool for browsing images – do a search and play around with it… Choose Your Own Adventure – visualized & animated – Some great visual animations showing the flows of Choose Your Own Adventure books Related posts:VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November… -
VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November 18th
18 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmA collection of visual thinking links found on the web in the past few days by our editors & vizthink community contributers. Have a link suggestion? Tweet it or add it to delicious and be sure to tag it with vizthink. These are the links for November 18th: Visualizing empires decline – An interesting little visualization that shows the growth and decline of a variety of empires from 1800 to 2003 NOTCOT.ORG – An interesting site to turn to when you're looking for inspiration & new ideas Amazon.com: The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World’s Most… -
[Reminder] Visual Thinking for Writers is Next Week
17 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amJust a friendly reminder that our next VizThinkU webinar, Visual Thinking for Writers is next Tuesday, November 24th @ 11am EST. If you’re looking for a way to get your brain unstuck and the words flowing onto paper (or screen) then this is the workshop for you – a self-described “writer who draws” Austin uses visual tools to help his creative process on a daily basis. I hope you’ll join us for this session – you can register here – and be sure to check the bottom of this post to learn how you can get your discount code to save $10. - Ryan — Visual Thinking for Writers… -
VizLinks | Visual Thinking Bookmarks for November 17th
17 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amA collection of visual thinking links found on the web in the past few days by our editors & vizthink community contributers. Have a link suggestion? Tweet it or add it to delicious and be sure to tag it with vizthink. These are the links for November 17th: http://apps.asterisq.com/mentionmap/#user-vizthink – An interesting tool that visually shows your twitter “mentions” – this link shows VizThink’s but you can enter your own to see the results Logos. The Battle for Blue. – A great info graphic showing the diversity (or lack thereof) of colours used in…
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Adaptive Path
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Signposts for the Week Ending November 20, 2009
20 Nov 2009 | 6:12 pmWe missed last week, so we’re going double-or-nothing this time. Twice the goodness! Matt Jones’ chrono-mind-blast blows our circadians: We Have All The Time in the World Information visualizations the old skool way, featuring the genius work of Mark Lombardi. Hey look! A new Flickr-searching desktop app that can place photos and captions directly into Keynote. Here’s a new blog that’s a gallery of great RIA design. Next time you need to create a sitemap, see if you can make it look like a theme park map. And now, a unified approach to visual and interaction design. -
The Wonderful World of Make Believe
20 Nov 2009 | 2:32 pmHave you ever set out to “reimagine an experience,” only to find yourself feeling trapped? Have you had one of those days when all your ideas felt too much like existing ones? Perhaps your design decisions were rational and grounded, but just didn’t feel inspired. Or maybe you felt stuck because you were constrained by assumptions without realizing it. As a Left-Brained Person, I’ve certainly found myself there before. Fortunately, my brilliant colleagues, Kate Rutter and my former colleague Rachel Hinman, are always full of ways to help me, and others, snap out of it. -
The Emerging Design Orthodoxy
18 Nov 2009 | 8:52 pmI finally got around to watching IDEO CEO Tim Brown’s TED Talk “urging designers to think big”. It’s a noble talk, but as I was watching it, I realized something bugged me. Many of the elements Tim proposes–moving from design to design thinking; balancing “desirability, viability, and feasibility”; to be “human-centered”; the approach of observing people, generating concepts, and prototyping experiences; to begin with divergent thinking before adopting convergent thinking–have become the accepted orthodoxy within circles that engage… -
Food for thought from the “secret ingredients” for designing food & beverages
13 Nov 2009 | 8:28 amSteve Gundrum | UX Week 2009 | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo. It’s becoming that season. You know, the season where food seems to take center stage. As the weather gets colder, comfort food, hot drinks and celebratory feasts appear on the horizon. When I think of food, I think of things like: yummy, fragrant, spicy, hearty. Or, fruits & veggies, meat & potatoes, Mom’s amazing spaghetti. Then I heard Steve Gundrum, CEO of Mattson speak at UX Week 2009 on “The Secret Ingredient” for Designing New Foods and Beverages. He told the insider tale about how the… -
Selective Innovation with Matt Webb
11 Nov 2009 | 11:15 amMatt Webb | UX Week 2009 | Adaptive Path from Adaptive Path on Vimeo. This past UX Week brought some great speakers, including Matt Webb from BERG. We’re happy to share is fantastic talk about developing products and learning from mistakes. Matt shares the lessons that his company grappled with during the design and production of their first major product. Matt talks about how smart products bring their own design challenges. Internet-connected devices and plastic filled with electronics behave in unexpected ways: what does it means for a physical thing to side-load its behavior, or for a…
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Information Design Watch
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Geography Awareness Week: November 15-21
18 Nov 2009 | 8:37 amTo kick off this year’s Geography Awareness Week, National Geographic invited all 100 U.S. Senators to draw a map of their home state from memory and to label at least three important places. Visit the online gallery to see who was up to the challenge (pictured above: map of Wyoming by Sen. Michael Enzi (R)–who knew it was so square?). For more to do, also check out NG’s My Wonderful World, an online resource for promoting global literacy. The site includes a number of map-based features, including Google Earth geo-tours, a blog with a global perspective, and a survey… -
Resume as Infographic
18 Nov 2009 | 5:55 amDesigner Michael Anderson has created an infographic representation of his resume: View the full-size image. -
The Sweet Spot Between Information and Design
17 Nov 2009 | 2:16 pmTrying to explain what information design is to our families and friends, and yes, potential clients, has been an ongoing challenge for us here at Dynamic Diagrams. Verbally, I usually resort to something about creating visual explanations for complex sets of data. But that doesn’t really satisfy anyone. Venn Diagram Information is Beautiful recently took on the same question on their blog. Their visual approach tries to show–with a Venn diagram-in-progress–what information is; what design is; and what happens when these overlap. Not every product of the two entities is a… -
Typography on TV
17 Nov 2009 | 8:27 amThe New York Times runs a breezy article on typography mistakes in popular culture which fortunately links to Mark Simonson’s incisive review of the typography in the television show “Mad Men”. Here’s an sample of Simonson’s critique: These lipstick ads feature Fenice (1980) with Balmoral (1978) for the script caps. Amazone (1958) for the script lowercase is fine here, but the outline looks too much like a modern computer graphics effect (which is what it is). -
Maps: Fighting Disease and Skewing Borders
9 Nov 2009 | 12:40 pmThe Freakonomics blog features a short Q/A with Strange Maps creator Frank Jacobs. His perspective on maps ranging from the beautiful to the bizarre is the subject of the new book Strange Maps: An Atlas of Cartographic Curiosities. Pictured above: The Inglehart-Welzel Cultural Map of the World, which plots “how countries relate to each other on a double axis of values.“
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Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!
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How Coca-Cola empowers fans all over the world — live with Adam Brown
20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmWe’re bringing together an all-star group of word of mouth marketers for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on December 16 in Chicago. We’ll feature 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’re going to learn practical, hands-on techniques to get people talking about you the next day. Our lineup of speakers includes word of mouth supergenius and Coca-Cola Group Director, Digital Communications, Adam Brown. Here Adam shares a few tips based on the case study he’ll be presenting:… -
Microtesting: Sell it before you build it
20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 amBefore you build a product, test it by offering it for sale on your website. If no one responds, you’ve just saved tons of time and money. If the responses include suggestions, you’ve just improved the product before you even started. If people give you money — bingo! This sort of testing is faster, cheaper, and more informative than any generic study or focus group. From Inc. Magazine: Consider the method used by TPGTEX Label Solutions, a Houston-based software company that specializes in bar codes and labels for manufacturers and chemical companies. Like many companies,… -
How Starbucks used fan feedback to help launch VIA — live with Matthew Guiste
19 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmWe’re bringing together an all-star group of word of mouth marketers for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on December 16 in Chicago. We’ll feature 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’re going to learn practical, hands-on techniques to get people talking about you the next day. Our lineup of speakers includes word of mouth supergenius and Starbucks Social Media Manager, Matthew Guiste. Here Matthew shares a few tips on using fan feedback based on the Starbucks case study… -
Newsletter #757: The “Inspire People” Issue
19 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am[Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That Email Newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] It’s more rewarding to work at a company that does its part to make the world better. You can do it without pushing an overly-political agenda or getting ultra-hippie; here are three ideas to get you started inspiring people: 1> To help local communities 2> To be eco-friendly 3> To do awesome things 4> Check it out: Oddly Specific 1> To help their communities Give your… -
Will It Blend? Our 4-part series on creating content people love to share
18 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pmAs a preview for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference here in Chicago on December 16, we’re dedicating a full week to our halftime celebrities from Blendtec’s Will It Blend? video series on our Word of Mouth Marketing Blog. We’ve long been big fans of Will It Blend’s simple, cheap, and brilliant formula for creating content people love to share, and we’re thrilled to have Blendtec’s VP of Marketing and Sales, George Wright, join us for our big event next month. Installments to check out in our…
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Mystery Man on Film
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101 Best Of MM Articles!
3 Nov 2009 | 12:32 pmHey guys,I’m back for one last post – links to 101 of my best articles!Who needs film school?-MMCinematic StorytellingI read Cinematic Storytelling, which was written by the great Jennifer Van Sijll, and I just LOVED IT. This should be in the library of every aspiring screenwriter on the planet and every single technique should be memorized backwards and forwards. Period. This book is exactly what the screenwriting community needs right now.The Art of Visual Storytelling…reminds me of a quote by Ingmar Bergman’s Swedish cinematographer, Sven Nykvist: The truth always lies in the… -
I've moved!
5 Sep 2009 | 9:21 amHey guys,I’ve moved! You can find me athttp://www.mysteryman.org/ About the new site:- I was finding that most of the things I used to blog about ("news," "around blogosphere," "check out this article" type posts) I now tweet, which doesn't take up as much time. This new site will be premium content only, which means true articles written by me.- A comments section for articles is a feature they're still developing and should be available in a couple of months. Until then, talk to me on Twitter- Those who were receiving e-mail notifications for the old blog will continue to get e-mails… -
Until we meet again…
22 Aug 2009 | 8:22 amHey guys,I think it’s time for a new website, don’t you? Nothing terribly ground-breaking, just a little more organized, a little flashier. So we are devoting all of our energies to the as yet unnamed site, which I will announce here in due time. Until then, you can catch me on Twitter.In fact, I tweeted last night about smoking my first Cuban cigar. Above is a pic of me holding the soft, smooth, almost leathery, Cohiba Cubana that was accompanied by some Courvoisier VSOP Cognac. Below are pics of our special spot, which was heart-stoppingly gorgeous. The old man (twice my age) is my… -
In Celebration of Hitchcock
13 Aug 2009 | 9:45 pmHey guys,Yesterday was Alfred Hitchcock’s 110th birthday. He was born on the east of London at Leytonstone on August 13, 1899.To celebrate, MTV posted Faith No More's video of "Last Cup of Sorrow,” a comical yet faithful homage to the master’s canon of great films. Lindsay Goldwert and Emily Christensen Flowers celebrated at ABC. Megan Wedge compiled some quotes for the Examiner. The National had a nice piece on the master of suspense. Psycho recently topped Telegraph’s poll of 10 Greatest Movie Shower Scenes. And I have to mention Bill Martel’s great, thoughtful ongoing series for… -
Script Review - “Balls Out”
9 Aug 2009 | 9:42 pmBALLS OUTA Truly Somewhat AWESOME Original ScreenplaybyTHE ROBOTARD 8000I can’t tell you how many e-mails I’ve received about this script. Over a hundred, I’ll bet, all asking (sometimes begging) me to do a script review. I added this to my to-do list. And God help me, the moment has arrived. So I took time out last weekend (from writing, tweeting watching the masterpieces of Kurosawa, and studying Shakespeare) to consider a script called Balls Out by The Robotard 8000. First, the script is available here via The Robotard 8000 who also twitters. In fact, he has a (tasteless/insulting?)…
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The Moth Podcast
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Dina Pearlman: Casting Couch
16 Nov 2009 | 11:20 amAn actress trying to break in to Hollywood finds herself with a tricky decision to make. Dina Pearlman is an actress, comedienne and writer living in New Jersey with her husband and their two children. She’s been seen on Sex and the City and Law & Order. -
George Dawes Green: The Shotgun Party
9 Nov 2009 | 10:11 amAlienated in rural Georgia, a young man takes matters into his own hands. George Dawes Green founded the Moth in 1997. He is the author of three novels: Caveman’s Valentine, The Juror, and the new Ravens, which is receiving rave reviews around the globe. -
Kevin Wilson: Out of Print
2 Nov 2009 | 9:48 amKevin’s first love rewrites his poems and musings on onion skin as a gift and binds them together into the novel that wasn’t. Kevin A. Wilson is a freelance automotive writer who lives in Waterford, Michigan. -
Joan Juliet Buck: The Ghost of the Rue Jacob
26 Oct 2009 | 11:00 amAfter landing her dream job in Paris, Joan Juliet Buck, the new editor of French Vogue, is haunted in her dream apartment. Joan Juliet Buck is an American born writer, social critic, and performer, who also edited Paris VOGUE for seven years. -
Simon Doonan: Fear of Squat
19 Oct 2009 | 1:04 pmAn 80’s obsession gets a window dresser into trouble. Simon Doonan is the Creative Director of Barneys New York. He is a columnist for the New York Observer, and is the best-selling author of many books, including Eccentric Glamour and Whacky Chicks.
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design mind
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Remarketables 11.17
17 Nov 2009 | 3:40 pmThis week's collection of remarkable marketing links, curated by the frog marketing team. 10 levels of intimacy in today's communication Hungry for Pizza? Revolution in Mobile Ordering Most Fortune 100 Companies Don't Get Twitter iPod helps Alzheimer Patients: Music for Memory Social Media for Social Good -
The Art of the Unfriend
17 Nov 2009 | 2:51 pmPoking. Friending. De-friending. Messaging. Posting. Tagging. Liking. Ignoring. frog Senior Interaction Designer Kevin Hutchinson confesses that our social power is evolving due to our presence on online social networks because we are able to find, reach, and communicate with people at a greater speed. But with this new amplified social connectivity comes a new set of expectations for increased engagement. Social networking etiquette is still evolving and it can be difficult to decipher what is appropriate in this hyper-social online space. Hutchinson believes that, we as social creatures,… -
Brands and Brand Loyalty
17 Nov 2009 | 1:14 pmIt goes without saying that true customer loyalty is one of the most rare yet rewarding goals a company can achieve. In today’s highly competitive, ultra-connected world, instant gratification is often not fast enough. Consumers have more choices and options than ever. I’ve recently started to think about how loyalty and brands are connected. Why is it that some brands are able to consistently stay at the top of people’s minds while their competitors struggle to break through? Especially in today’s competitive markets, how can such loyalty exist, and more importantly,… -
The Question of Sustainability
16 Nov 2009 | 9:21 amLast week I sat on a panel at swissnex San Francisco, discussing sustainability in business. The panelists represented a wide range of industries, from a start-up software entrepreneur to a leadership expert at a major grocery chain and a research scientist from a global food producer; each had a story to tell about their field and the conversation was lively. As the lone designer in the bunch, however, I often felt like I was speaking a different language. When we think of sustainability we often attack the root of the problem directly. The Earth is warming because of our impact, we’re… -
Apple and Bloomberg: Old Champions in the New Economy
15 Nov 2009 | 11:03 pmReading the business section of the New York Times today, you can’t help but notice the juxtaposition of two seemingly different companies, which, at second glance, have more in common that you might think. One is Bloomberg, the financial data juggernaut that has enough cash to aspire to become “the world’s most influential news organization.” The company has placed its bets on the acquisition of the venerable BusinessWeek, trusting that it will broaden its reach into a mainstream business audience. A few pages later, Digital Domain columnist Randall Stross reveals…
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Yahoo! News: Business
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Bank of America CEO Lewis may delay retiring: report (Reuters)
20 Nov 2009 | 8:33 pmReuters - Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis has said he would consider postponing his retirement if directors need more time to find a successor or smooth the transition to the next CEO, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. -
Time Warner, News Corp reported interested in MGM (Reuters)
20 Nov 2009 | 8:03 pmReuters - News Corp, Time Warner Inc and Qualia Capital LLC are interested in buying Hollywood's Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio, home of the James Bond movies, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. -
GE-Vivendi talks over NBC Universal stalled: report (Reuters)
20 Nov 2009 | 7:38 pmReuters - Talks between General Electric and Vivendi over the future of NBC Universal have stalled, the New York Times reported on Friday night. -
Stocks could sputter with Black Friday eyed (Reuters)
20 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmReuters - U.S. stocks could sputter next week as volumes dry up in holiday-shortened trading and with a slew of economic reports likely to illustrate the recovery is still fragile. -
Hershey mulls $17 billion solo bid for Cadbury: source (Reuters)
20 Nov 2009 | 4:09 pmReuters - U.S. chocolate maker Hershey Co is considering launching a bid of at least $17 billion for British chocolatier Cadbury Plc as it seeks to trump a hostile offer by Kraft Foods Inc, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.
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PostSecret
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Sunday Secrets
14 Nov 2009 | 9:06 pmPostSecret is an ongoing community art project where peoplemail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard.-----Email Message-----I worked for Reuters my entire life and was one of their most senior, valued employees. I was laid off last year when Thomson bought them over. Thank you so much for sending this in. If you can't join 'em, beat 'em.-----Email Message (pic)-----A designer friend told me that the secret inspiration for the new Pepsi logo was the Simpson's Comic Book Guy.-----Email Message-----My ex-husband and I left the court house the day of our divorce and spent the…
