Is it 1997 or something?

Simple Branding

A nice overview of the Simple (formerly BankSimple) brand. What I did not know is that the icon is a guilloche:

[…] a complex pattern created from simple, repeated, geometric steps defined by elementary equations. It’s this easily generated, difficult to reproduce intricacy that has led to a guilloche appearing in some form on most of the world’s currency.

Susan Kare’s Sketchbook

An intriguing insight into the sketchbook of Susan Kare as she was developing the original Mac icons. All hail checkered sketchbooks.

Fascinating and delightful. And I did not know that the ‘command’ symbol (⌘) was meant to be a castle as viewed from above.

Address Is Approximate

This stop motion video is just awesome:

A lonely desk toy longs for escape from the dark confines of the office, so he takes a cross country road trip to the Pacific Coast in the only way he can – using a toy car and Google Maps Street View.

Barack Obama Website Redesign

I missed this when it went live but the website for Barack Obama’s re-election in 2012 is rather nice. It uses Jubilat from Typekit and contains 100% responsiveness.

Redesigning the Country Selector

A simple yet effective replacement for drop down menus as country selectors in web forms.

Read the backstory on Smashing.

Georgia Pro & Verdana Pro

Co. Design have an interview with Matthew Carter, the designer of the original Georgia & Verdana typefaces.

I’ve always loved Georgia. The new ‘pro’ version looks like a beautiful update.

Round Rects Are Everywhere!

Why rounded corners are easier on the eyes:

Some experts say that rectangles with rounded corners are easier on the eyes than a rectangle with sharp edges because they take less cognitive effort to visually process. The fovea is fastest at processing circles. Processing edges involve more “neuronal image tools” in the brain. Thus, rectangles with rounded corners are easier process because they look closer to a circle than a regular rectangle.

My UX Australia Slides

As well as being available on Slideshare, the slides from my UX Australia talk on technology are now embedded here for your viewing pleasure.

Alessi Tèo

The Tèo by Alessi heralds the end of unrefined teabag squishing.

(Via Tools & Toys)