Hard News: Some time last week
43 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 Newer→ Last
-
Wait: Twitter has a creative director? What does he do?
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Wait: Twitter has a creative director? What does he do?
More than you'd think.
-
Well, that's damned with faint praise: practically *anything* would be more than Gio thinks.
-
Yes. And it was a perfectly serious question: what does he do?
-
Andre Alessi, in reply to
Wait: Twitter has a creative director? What does he do?
If the answer is "making up punn-y handles all day" I will be so jealous.
-
Bonus badtom sighting in that first photo
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Yes. And it was a perfectly serious question: what does he do?
Principally, user-interface design, but also colours, branding, etc. One thing he expressly didn’t take credit for was the Fail Whale, which was introduced by Biz Stone and the original group of founders. He agreed that the decision to use the whale instead of an error message had favourably shaped perceptions of Twitter. How can you be angry at a whale?
He talk in his presentation about how they’d managed to keep everyone working on “new Twitter” sworn to secrecy – after he’d shared a corner detail of a window design he’d been working on on a designers’ community site (which, unbeknownst to him, had switched from members-only to fully public the day before) and triggered a flood of speculative press reports.
Doug was actually design lead at Google before he went to Twitter, and he hinted he’d left Google amid some disagreement over direction.
-
Amanda Palmer on Media7 last night. Legend.
(And I don’t even really like Radiohead.)
Oh, I see. Someone tweeted they were hoping they would come to next Webstock. Is that even a remote possibility? I’d go, FWIW.
Doug was actually design lead at Google before he went to Twitter, and he hinted he’d left Google amid some disagreement over direction.
Jeepers. That's some CV!
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Amanda Palmer on Media7 last night. Legend.
Oh yes. And her half-million Twitter followers will see her ... patting me on the head.
Oh, I see. Someone tweeted they were hoping they would come to next Webstock. Is that even a remote possibility? I’d go, FWIW.
Saw that tweet. They'd fit in perfectly.
-
Speaking of Twitter: it’s borked.
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
Principally, user-interface design, but also colours, branding, etc
What do you mean "but also colours?" Are colours not part of the design? And he didn't even come up with the whale, which favourably shaped perceptions of Twitter! I want this guy's job.
Am I free today? No, it's Tuesday, I've got colours all day.
-
recordari, in reply to
Oh yes. And her half-million Twitter followers will see her … patting me on the head.
I'm sure you won't let it go to your head...
<droll>
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
What do you mean “but also colours?” Are colours not part of the design?
Yes, of course. But I was meaning UI design in terms of where everything is put, the way forms are presented, etc.
-
(By the way I didn't mean to be wholly sarcastic, nothing but respect for actual designers. I happen to think that the new Twitter sucks, however, from a design point of view. Stop getting away from clean lines and simple designs, Internet! If he was going to complicate Google, I'm glad they parted ways.)
-
Just one thing of a technical nature, for your creative director, when you hit 'Edit Profile', it seems to come up with all fields, except the name, blank. At least on two Mac computers I've tried. Was thinking of adding some location data, but wondered where all my other details had gone?
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
Just one thing of a technical nature, for your creative director, when you hit ‘Edit Profile’, it seems to come up with all fields, except the name, blank. At least on two Mac computers I’ve tried.
Me too! Thanks. I'll pass that on now.
-
Russell Brown, in reply to
By the way I didn’t mean to be wholly sarcastic, nothing but respect for actual designers. I happen to think that the new Twitter sucks, however, from a design point of view.
Fair enough. He said they were prepared for the "I hate new Twitter!" messages when they launched it, but were quite surprised to get considerably more "I love new Twitter!" messages.
-
Andre Alessi, in reply to
he expressly didn’t take credit for was the Fail Whale
Which is a good thing, since the Fail Whale was made by an artist called Yiying Lu, who had posted the image to iStockphoto and didn’t realise it had been picked up and used by Twitter.
(I’m not sure of the more recent history of the Fail Whale and whether Twitter has ever paid Lu for its use, but given that I haven’t heard much about it in the last year or so, I’m guessing the answer is “Yes”.)
Edit: From a more recent new story:
Initially Lu felt dismayed that her illustration was being associated with failure. Lu, who has since removed her art from iStockphoto, was paid a small one-time licensing fee, but did not earn any royalties for its repeated use. She also found people copying it without her permission.
-
Another hirsute celebration:
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
Fair enough. He said they were prepared for the "I hate new Twitter!" messages when they launched it, but were quite surprised to get considerably more "I love new Twitter!" messages.
Yes, they all say that. :-)
To their credit, if you're still on the old one they at least give you a chance to fill out a survey on what it is that you don't like about the new one. Which is more than Facebook ever did.
-
Robyn Gallagher, in reply to
Which is more than Facebook ever did.
There are always going to be people who are genuinely distressed when a site changes its design, more due to the fact that it's changed, that it's different, not familiar, and they have to get to know it all over again.
Facebook is full of abandoned groups full of members vowing to boycott Facebook for the new designs of '07, '08, '09, '10 and '11, and then eventually forgetting what the old design even looked like.
These companies know they have to gradually introduce new designs - give people the option of playing with it, rather than forcing it upon users. But there are always going to be people who find any kind of change to be really upsetting.
-
giovanni tiso, in reply to
These companies know they have to gradually introduce new designs - give people the option of playing with it, rather than forcing it upon users. But there are always going to be people who find any kind of change to be really upsetting.
That's a tad condescending. Am I allowed to actually genuinely dislike something? Or is any change a good change? For the record I liked some of the Facebook redesigns, disliked others. And added functionalities aside I still like the old PA better than the new one. And no, I'm not "really upset".
-
People left with heads full of ideas about what they could do, and what they could do better. In the wake of the massive challenge that reared up on Tuesday, that's still no bad thing.
Something concrete that's come directly from the enthusiasm of Webstock (and also Kiwi FOO) is the Christchurch Recovery Map project.
On Tuesday evening, it was just an idea. By Wednesday morning, it was a website. Using the Ushahidi open-source software (previously used in the Haiti earthquake, and to monitor Kenyan elections), the site maps user-sourced information from tweets, texts to a SMS shortcode (and try getting a shortcode set up in a day), and email. So it's information about where people can get water, medical supplies, food, what bridges are out, what ATMs are running.
I've been helping out monitoring the tweets and I'm amazed at the amount of talent and time that's being put into this project. Volunteers are putting in hours and hours, companies are donating resources, from webhosting to office space.
And the site is working. Even though some parts of Christchurch don't have electricity yet, people with internet access have been using it. A woman with diabetes used it to find a supplier of insulin.
It's hard work, but it's paying off.
-
Che Tibby, in reply to
It's hard work, but it's paying off.
frankly, i think all you people should get a fcking medal.
-
(And I don't even really like Radiohead.)
I prefer the solo Thom Yorke stuff with the ambient 'Hyperdubby' thing going on. Very nice and perfect accompaniment for a fairly impressive white boy falsetto. He did a nice mix show with Gilles Peterson last year. Opened my eyes to his much wider than anticipated influences.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.