PLANET Design

Who doesn’t want to play with this? Totally lickable UI. FourTrack.

Networking is one of the most important things you can do in any industry and the graphic design industry is no exception. Below is a list of 6 types of people every graphic designer should know. So start networking with the right people now and you might be able to dodge some bullets and have a more successful career in design!

Jason Morris, a professor at Western Washington University's ID program, has just posted up the findings of a year-and-a-half long survey of software requirements for ID jobs, summarized above. Taken from an admittedly small and arbitrary sample--200 or so job postings in IDSA Perspectives--the results point out a few trends worth considering.

As seen onnytimes.com: For those daunted by the complexity and clutter of high-end audio systems, the GenevaSound Home Theater offers a tidy alternative. The 66-inch credenza, which is large enough to accommodate a good-size TV, has an integrated iPod dock, CD player and FM radio. Stereo speakers and a 12-inch subwoofer (specifically designed not to rattle a TV above) are hidden behind the perforated metal grill in front.

Etymology is fascinating to me. Most recently I was reading about the history of the word “one”. Have you ever wondered why it’s pronounced wun instead of rhyming with own? According to the sources I’ve read (including the awesome Online Etymology Dictionary), it originally did. In fact, the word only still uses that pronunciation, and derives from the same root. The change apparently began in the 14th century in southwestern England, and by the 18th century it was in common usage.

Related: did you know that the term “one night stand” was originally used in reference to theater performance? It wasn’t until the 1960’s that it was first used in a sexual sense. Also, “one-of-a-kind” was first used in the 1960’s as well. On the other hand, “one fell swoop” was first used by Shakespeare, in Macbeth.

There's at least two ways to design a new category of product:

The Anemona lamp, by Ukrainian designer Igor Pinigin, is like a Weeble that can commit to its leanings; heavy glass balls hidden inside the base provide stability, no matter which way you tilt it. Working prototypes were exhibited at Moscow's SaloneSatellite 2008, though there's no word on if it will go into actual production.

A bite-sized list of what's happenin' now:

wwd lifestyle
Ron Arad Fetes Solo Exhibition in Paris

forbes
Nokia Designs The Future: chief designer discusses his inspirations and what's next

To access the RAM slots in a unibody MacBook you must first remove the back plate—a thin piece of aluminum attached by eight tiny screws. Half of the screws are hidden beneath the battery cover, and each one is surrounded by a recessed magnetic zone. The purpose of these zones is ostensibly to help keep the battery cover seamlessly attached to the case.

The Designers Review of Books is a brand new site reviewing design books. It's run by Andy Polaine, an interaction designer, journalist and lecturer.

A three-part special limited-edition run of t-shirts? Each one available for purchase for only 48 hrs? Each with a different angle pulled from research-based marketing? ! With one fell swoop we've taken care of every hipster, vinyl-collector-sneaker-freaker and ethnographer on our holiday list!... and You can too! Learn more with this PDF. The first one drops December 3rd.

We've spent some time raiding the latest internet time sink--Google's archive of previously-unseen Life Magazine photos. There's three pages of film on Raymond Loewy, who was apparently quite the partier (check out his crib, above).

Next time someone asks if you know something (for example, “what was the URL for that swissmiss blog you told me about?”) simply go to Letmegooglethatforyou.com, put in whatever it is they should’ve googled in the first place, then send them the link it spits out to show them how it’s done. Made me laugh. See the swissmiss demo here. I love you Internet!

I rarely put on my 'swissmiss criticism hat' but but the redesign of the DIE WELTWOCHE website has me stunned. (Die Weltwoche is a weekly swiss newspaper) How in the world did the Weltwoche management give a sign-off on this design? I don't even know where to start in pointing out the flaws... It feels to me as if the developers happened to have worked off an unfinished mockup.

A video of Malcolm Gladwell's talk at the recent AIGA Gain Conference. (Dear AIGA, please add the 'embedd video' functionality to your videos. Yes?)

In her weekly column in the International Herald Tribune, Alice Rawsthorn argues that design has always coped well with austerity, and is especially well-equipped to do so now.

Anyone know what this is?

Google has a new feature that allows you to search through millions of images from the archives of LIFE magazine. And the best of it all, they’re high-res! Nope, I will not get any work done today!