our thinking for December 2006…

1. December 27th, 2006

   Off travelling, happy holidays

   I’ll be travelling between Christmas and New Years, so there will probably be a lack of posts during this time. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you busy in the meantime. Hope your Hanukkah/Christmas/Kwanzaa were festive and your New Year’s Eve is a blast. As my friend Shaun says, 2007 is the new hotness. I couldn’t agree more.

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… News

2. December 23rd, 2006

   The Creative Class and Creative Education

   An interesting interview on Fast Company’s website about the “Creative Class” and where the Creative Class will thrive in the upcoming years.It also mentions the state of education in the United States and how most current educational systems aren’t designed to handle a creative curriculum and future. Sir Ken Robinson gave a great presentation about this topic at the TED…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration

3. December 21st, 2006

   I heart coffee

   A couple days ago I received what could be the best holiday present ever. My parents-in-law (parent-in-laws?) sent us four pounds of Stumptown Hair Bender coffee. I have been a self-proclaimed coffee snob ever since I moved to Portland over 7 years ago, but I didn’t even realize what this meant until we received the Stumptown package in the mail.…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Events

4. December 20th, 2006

   The future of wireframes, part 1

   I’ve had several discussions and comments regarding a previous post about wireframes and prototypes. So let’s continue the conversation. I’m not saying that wireframes are bad. I’m just saying that as strict component and navigation dictators, they’re growing obsolete. They simply fail to communicate the emotion and story necessary to deliver creative experiences. Let’s look at an example: Google. Looking at Google.com,…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration

5. December 18th, 2006

   Coffee, doughnuts and tipping points

   Well, all of you who couldn’t make it to coffee last Friday lost out. Not only did you miss the last coffee morning of 2006, but you missed out on some delicious Voodoo doughnuts (pictured above, minus the ones we ate). It’s okay… my family appreciated me bringing these treats home. Apparently many people had deadlines to meet, but Alison, David…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Events, Inspiration

6. December 14th, 2006

   Coffee, Friday, December 15th

   Quick shout out to the coffee drinkers… Friday, December 15th. 8:30am at Stumptown at 128 SW 3rd. Don’t know if this will be the last gathering before the holidays, so come prepared with gifts (it’s the first night of Hanukkah after all). And if not gifts, bring your sense of adventure.

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Events

7. December 13th, 2006

   On to the present!

   above: The Weather Project at the Tate Modern, installation by Olafur Eliasson As I continue my assault on back issues in order to reach the most recent New Yorker, I come across articles that you might have read weeks, if not months, ago. So November 13th, for me, was about a week ago. There was an article about the artist Olafur Eliasson.…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration

8. December 13th, 2006

   Where do blog entries go when they die?

   photo above found somewhere on the domain of Chris Glass. I don’t know Chris, so I hope he doesn’t mind me borrowing this image… in exchange I encourage you to check out his blog. Has some beautiful photos and a nice voice/story going on. I’m sure this happens to anyone who blogs: you spend time writing up an entry, and when…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration

9. December 12th, 2006

   Emotion over message

   Came across a post on another blog about emotion over message in advertising… “Advertisements with high levels of emotional content enhanced how people felt about brands, even when there was no real message.However, advertisements which were low on emotional content had no effect on how favourable the public were towards brands, even if the ad was high in news and information.” I’ve…

   posted by Stephen Landau

   thinking about… Inspiration

10. December 11th, 2006

    Coffee and prototypes

    Noel and Ben from PopArt joined me on Friday for coffee. We spent a decent amount of time talking about some of the practical aspects of the interactive business, namely wireframes (or gray models), paper prototypes, and user testing. I’m not against prototyping or user testing. It can be incredibly valuable in determining what people will do online and why they’ll…

    posted by Stephen Landau

    thinking about… Events, Inspiration