After you've seen the video, be sure to read the blog post, where Graphicology author J. Jason Smith breaks down some of the shots together with the original covers.

1. The Revelation

We've been thinking recently about our business practices here at Design Less Better, so this recent speech by John Thackara really hit home for me.

It meanders a bit, but excluding the environmental stuff early on, I can appreciate at least three points he made about the business of being a thinker:

1. There is a need for deep thinking Folks will pay for strategy, futurism, ethical frameworks, etc. because most of them don't have time to come up with it themselves. It's a simple assertion, but creative types might take it for granted. We tend to think other people are like us.
2. A lot of well-known designers and thinkers don't have it as great as it might look. Like you, most of them have boring work they have to do to keep the lights on, but it's not the kind of thing that makes for a good lecture.
3. The monetary rewards of those "good" jobs you see in the lecture are also less than one might expect. Thackara claims that he only gets paid for about 25% of the hours he works. The other 75% of his time is writing, thinking, and hustling so he can land those paid hours.

This is not at all the point of Thackara's speech, but it's something I appreciate nonetheless as an insight into the process of how such a person works and an indicator of how important passion is in being successful at it.

2. Meet Mr. W

Love this wonderful German (yet English-speaking?) ad. Clever!

3. Dropbox – The Power of a “Value Based” Startup

We're huge fans of Dropbox, so this writeup on the company's strategy was of interest.

Essentially, it boils down to design less better.

Rather than follow the mantra of "release early, release often", the Dropbox team focused on a set of limited, but useful features that worked beautifully out of the gate. This high level of polish for a free product helped retain and gratify users who then went on to market the software to their friends.

Speaking as a user, that's exactly what happened to me. Dropbox is limited compared to the many other file-sharing sites out there, but this also makes it simple to use. And Dropbox does it so well that I can't help but recommend it.

4. This is not content

A recent post from 37 signals had this nugget, which is not an original observation, but bears repeating nonetheless:

[People don't want "content"] What people want is opinions, analysis, techniques, experiences, and insights. The best of all these come as a by-product from actually doing stuff.

One might rephrase this as: make things, not content.

Time to follow that advice...

1. Watch this Presentation: Square

Something that caught our eye a while back. This video is one of the most clever and legible explanations we've seen. It takes a complex, multi-step product and makes it seem accessible to anyone. Bravo!

2. The Six Things Clients Want

A nice reminder of what the designer's job really entails, e.g. you aren't just building your client a website, you're inspiring them, bringing in ideas, and improving process. See past the product in the contract. What does your client really want?

3. Adobe's Magic Paintbrush: Context Aware Fill

Very impressive technology demo. The "uncropping" part at the end is astounding. I was skeptical, but it's not a hoax. This will be in CS5.

It's not 100% perfect, but from the look of things, it's about 90% what you'd get if you spent hours with the Clone Stamp. I'd call that progress.

((as somebody commented on the Adobe blog, with this tech, sites like iStockphoto are going to need some new watermarks...))

4. A Manifesto of Manifestos

I like this post and tend to agree with its observations. Sort of a meta-manifesto.

Needs to be 10 points, though. A nice round number. ;)

Procrastination by Johnny Kelly
Graduation film from the Royal College of Art, 2007.

Link.

Hat tip to Thinking aloud.

1. Saul Bass: On Making Money vs Quality Work

"It costs every designer money to make things beautiful."

2. Productivity in 11 Words

Photo by Jayel Aheram

"One thing at a time. Most important thing first. Start now."

Probably the best thing I read last week.

Via.

Read More...

1. Facebook Now Accounts For 1 In 4 Internet Pageviews(?)

Database marketing firm Drake Direct claims that Facebook represents 1 in 4 pageviews in the US. By comparison, Google gets 1 in 12 pageviews using the same dataset.

The data sounds questionable, but it made me think. These days, I probably visit Facebook at least as much as Google. I wonder how that traffic breaks down in terms of Facebook applications vs. socializing? How much of those numbers are games, for instance?

Read More...

1. Now this is how to market something

This harrowing video shows a skier wearing a helmet-cam, buried by an avalanche for several minutes and dug out by his friends. He survived the encounter because he was experienced, lucky, and had the right equipment. It was one of the most oddly compelling (if unintentional) marketing episodes I've ever witnessed.

Left: the viral video in question; Right: A Black Diamond Avalung

Before watching the video, I had no idea what an avalung was, but I do now. It's a device that helps skiers breathe easier if they get caught in an avalanche. According to the comments on the video, it probably saved the skier's life.

One wouldn't even dream of trying to stage something like this --a life or death situation-- for marketing purposes, but I can't get over how effective the whole experience was. To watch this event through this person's eyes and survive(!) was so compelling, I just had to learn more. I could see the value of the product and I was convinced even though I have no intention whatsoever of attempting such an activity. That's powerful stuff.

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Let's look at two films about information.

The first was created recently by Pittsburgh based Maya Design.

Let's say I put three mugs in front of you...If I then ask you the question, "do you see my favorite mug?" would you know which one it is?

The second was created in 1953 by Ray and Charles Eames.

...a nervous condition on the part of the receiver...could change the message from "I love you" to "I hate you." How do you combat it? One way is through redundancy, "I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you."

I think, among many telling differences between these two films, it is perhaps most telling what and how much information they choose to deliver about information.