January 2012
4 posts
4 tags
4 tags
Design does matter.
John Gruber, today:
For years, when Apple was down, they were held up as proof that making the best products didn’t matter. The Mac is better than Windows and look what happened was the refrain.
Not any more. Yesterday, Apple recorded the second most profitable quarter of any US company, ever. Just look at these charts from Dan Frommer:
These numbers are unreal. You’re looking at a...
6 tags
Whither the TO Events Calendar.
We shuttered the TO Events Calendar late last year because we:
1. Were having trouble managing it, because;
2. We hadn’t improved the technology to help make our lives easier as curators and your lives easier as contributors.
Our plan for the past year was to integrate Plancast via their API as they were (are?) doing a pretty good job of sucking in events from most of our event sources...
4 tags
Design for living, beginning tonight at the TIFF...
From January 13 to January 17, browse to tiff.net/design for details on joining Gary Hustwit and friends in viewing his three-part exploration of modern design, the docs Helvetica, Objectified, and Urbanized.
November 2011
1 post
5 tags
Burton Kramer, Identities, chronicles an icon of...
Designers in Canada owe a debt to Burton Kramer. As Roger Remington states in the introduction of Burton Kramer, Identities:
Kramer became known as a staunch advocate of fully integrated design at a time when such an approach was virtually unknown in Canada.
Bringing this Swiss design ethos to Canada in the mid-60s was quite a revelation and, with Expo 67, gave Kramer and designers such as...
October 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Oh, wow, we totally need to find some great app...
If you’re passionate about game play, game mechanics, game theory, sports, poker, first person shooters, beer and socializing, we want to hear from you. Well, only if you can design too. Say Yeah is hiring designers with Web, mobile and mobile app experience to support our gaming clients (console, PC and mobile) in their efforts to build a stronger, more rewarding relationship with their...
3 tags
4 tags
WatchThe new Playstation Video Unlimited service highlights how a responsive, animated interface can be built with Javascript and access to hardware APIs.
Access to these APIs is not something that’s generally available on the PS3 platform now, but it does point to the future capabilities of both browser and hardware developers to build intuitive interfaces with a lot of great animation without...
September 2011
1 post
2 tags
“Discernment is the hardest part of marketing—seeing the world as it is,...”
– Seth Godin, on the law of large groups:
This explains why the people you see at the gym tend to be in better shape than you are. … People who are at the gym a lot (as in the people you see the most often) tend to be in better shape because they show up more often.
August 2011
3 posts
4 tags
Iterate, baby!
Foursquare’s Mari Sheibley talks about the evolution of Foursquare design on the iPhone, from Jan ‘09 through to August ‘11:
One of the great things about working on one product is the ability to iterate; the bad thing is you never feel like you’re done.
When foursquare started there was no real visual design on the app. Naveen was coding it up alone and he used all native...
6 tags
Redesigning the browser window.
A wonderful exploration from Henrik Eneroth on the limitations of the current standard Web browser layout (tabs across the top, running left to right) when used on hi-res, wide screens.
This reference image sums up the dilemma presented when all of your controls are in thin little rows at the top of the page and yet the pages of the site you’re browsing are generally designed at 960...
3 tags
“It’s all about removing the unnecessary.”
– Jonathan Ive, Senior VP of Industrial Design at Apple.
From Five Low-Hanging UX Tips.
July 2011
6 posts
3 tags
8 tags
OSX Lion: Form over function highlights.
The two skeuomorphic apps which ship with OSX Lion, iCal and Address Book, offer some frustrating form over function compromises which obscure content.
iCal has relegated your list of Calendars to a recessed button top left. Clicking this pops up a semi-transparatent overlay with a list of your calendars which you can then toggle on/off, but there’s no way to make this list of calendars...
3 tags
“Think of it like this: jumping in a Mario game is very simple. You hit a button,...”
– Oliver Reichenstein in a footnote comparing Facebook to Google+.
4 tags
“Make everything that CAN be alike as alike as possible. Let the differences...”
– Mike Monteiro talking about simplifying a user interface so the differences in your content stand out, rather than trying to make every element look different.
Making every element look different inherently makes it more difficult to discover new content since you destroy easy to scan visual...
7 tags
Making searches more convenient on touch screens.
Here’s a fantastic new interaction Microsoft’s just introduced with their updated Bing app for the iPad.
The skinny:
From our research, we know that many searches are inspired by things people see on the web. Today, it can be somewhat painful to search on a tablet when you’re engaged in reading something; just copying and pasting pieces of text from a webpage to a search box can...
5 tags
Startup apps and competition from heavy hitters.
For a startup the biggest problem is almost never a competitor. The biggest problem is typically non-adoption.
Dan Moral rightly points out at StartupNorth that Apple introducing iMessage to the iPhone should help companies like Kik who up until now have been serving a space that only a small percentage of people likely knew or cared about, private messaging.
Nobody knows there is something...
June 2011
4 posts
7 tags
Watch
Now when the parental units ask “what do you do at work all day?” I will just send them this link.
Here’s a quality video from Santa Monica’s DKNG Studios showing them working from inspiration to Illustrator to screen print for their Black Keys poster.
Some weekend inspiration for everyone enjoying Canada Day tomorrow and Independence Day on Monday.
7 tags
We're hiring! We're looking for a hyper organized...
Things are happening at Say Yeah that are making the business development and creative director’s heads spin.
So much on the go, so many projects with so many emails to sift through, blog articles to write, and people to connect with.
If you’re the kind of person who has a passion for design and loves playing with apps, while slightly OCD about being organized, we want to hear from...
6 tags
NXNE Interactive and the black hole of Facebook.
I’ll be at NXNE Interactive tomorrow with an exceptional panel talking about marketing your brand on Facebook and beyond. The Black Hole of Facebook talks about how marketers are spending all of their dollars on driving users to Like brand pages, but then what…?
Jay Goldman and I originally set this up as a dual presentation but he’s off to Boston on business…sooooo,...
4 tags
Patio Friday 2011 kickoff, this past Friday at...
This past Friday we kicked off the Patio Friday season with a great crowd at Margaritas. Our gracious hosts at Margaritas let us take over the top floor patio as we grew to over 30 strong.
Photo taken by Chris.
Conversations were had around graphic design, Nat & Marie, the trials of post-CIA job hunting, finding your own summer place in Toronto, and much more.
Photo taken by Rannie.
...
May 2011
2 posts
4 tags
More innovation from the Windows Phone 7 team.
Microsoft is continuing to innovate with Windows Phone 7. It’s great to see something from Microsoft that carries with it some excitement around features and design. Beginning with Metro, Microsoft has shown great care in their use of typography, motion, and a simplified aesthetic, which they describe as content not chrome.
Now with the upcoming release of Windows Phone dubbed...
4 tags
See you next week at Mesh!
You know, we’d love to talk about some of the stuff we’re working on, we’ve just been so swamped with work we haven’t had much chance to write.
So, track us down at the perennial Mesh conference next week, May 25 and 26, and ask us what’s up (Matt, Danielle and I will all be there!). We’re happy to share some project highlights with you and even more excited...
April 2011
2 posts
3 tags
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It...”
– ~ Albert Einstein talking about the virtues of simplification.
4 tags
A little about blog navigation.
Here’s a terrifically confusing navigational element that seems to be the default on many blogging systems. You get to the bottom of the page and you have the option to browse to the Previous or Next pages. But does Next mean the next entries that were added (ie, newer posts) or does it mean the next page that you haven’t read (which would mean older posts).
When you’re...
March 2011
2 posts
4 tags
Doyald Young, RIP.
It is with a heavy heart that I share with you the passing of one of the great type designers of the past century, Doyald Young. Doyald passed away last week at what seems to me to be an all too young 84 years of age.
I first met Doyald at a Toronto Type Club event in 2004 as he walked through some of his publications. That day I was able to score myself an inscribed copy of Fonts & Logos...
6 tags
Oh dear, it's March! Travel time, project updates,...
We’ve been ever so neglectful of our website as we’ve been heads down working from our new Spadina and Richmond HQ. We did have the chance to skip out of the office last Tuesday to share Kipu with the Democamp crowd, which was a blast.
And on the Kipu front, we’ve got a Kipu iPhone app in development along with another round of updates to the Web app before we take it public....
January 2011
4 posts
5 tags
George Lois on creativity.
This month’s Vice magazine has a tremendous interview with the deliciously outspoken George Lois, who dates back to the early days of DDB, around the time Bill Bernbach had the epiphany of forming a creative team that consisted of a writer and designer. This standard served the ad industry well throughout the 60s and well beyond.
Lois:
Now it’s all about eight people sitting in a room,...
12 tags
Hey there, 2011!
2011 is off to a heckuva start!
We’ve got work in the pipeline for Web Foundation, NuLayer, Jet Cooper, blogTO, and a whole host of other great companies and people. Everything from desktop to Web to mobile apps.
We’re pretty well settled in our new Richmond and Spadina office space.
And we just received word that our (Jon Lax and I) Abolish the Hourly, How Value Pricing Wins...
3 tags
“Less does not equal more. And more does not equal more. Just the right amount...”
– ~ Milton Glaser
This quote, purportedly from the great Milton Glaser, though I can’t find any other reference to it.
7 tags
Task Ave has landed.
Today is the day I’ll no longer be able to make excuses for forgetting to pick things up at the store. Yes, Task Avenue is live & available in the iTunes app store.
After a whirlwind weekend at Startup Weekend Toronto we were lucky enough to be invited to present at DemoCamp. As if that wasn’t enough, we’ve had several wonderful articles written about us including articles...
December 2010
4 posts
6 tags
Words are the soul of UX; making forms that speak...
We’re in the throws of what feels like an endless project trying to improve on what should be a relatively simple donation form for Web Foundation. I’ve been pushing hard to work through the convoluted error messages that we’re getting back from the API we need to work with simply because running into a problem when you’re trying to give someone money is just about the...
4 tags
Events for the week of December 13 to December 19.
With all the holiday season events on the go, let’s take the time out to focus on one that affects us all locally, HoHoTO. Now in its third year, HoHoTO has been focused on raising money for Toronto’s Daily Bread Food Bank, an organization for which I’ve volunteered in the past and one that Say Yeah has been supporting with each of our HoHoTO sponsorships over the past few...
3 tags
We're rocking and rolling...
…but Tumblr isn’t, so please forgive the lack of site updates. Next week: new articles and see you at HoHoTO!
8 tags
Client news: mobile and more...
Some brief client news as we’ve been super busy, have a few projects that are still in development, and really just want to send a shout out to some of the great teams we’ve been able to work with over the past month.
We’ve been busy working on a number of mobile initiatives in November, including Kipu mobile which includes exploring ideas on mobile time tracking and...
November 2010
9 posts
7 tags
Events for the week of November 29 to December 5.
As we swing into December’s holiday season, the list of things to do is going to grow exponentially. From workday seminars to afternoon holiday get together’s, and evening soirées, including our favourite event of the season, HoHoTO. We’ll focus on highlighting a few of these events throughout the month that are worth juggling your schedule around.
This week, one of the most...
4 tags
Events for the week of November 22 to 28.
This week is super busy as we approach the holiday season. Apart from the whack of daytime work events to explore on the TO Events Calendar, fundraising and evening socials dominate the calendar this week.
The week began Monday with the #pepsitweetup, celebrating all the great Canadian initiatives Pepsi is supporting in 2010. There was a chance at the event to show what you care about. And...
4 tags
“Timeliness means being on time, not before the time.”
– Sage advice from The Atlantic which, in a business context, is well worth following when you’re developing new products and services. Being before the time brings a sales battle you’re bound to lose. Capture the zeitgeist; don’t attempt to reinvent it.
Of course, that...
4 tags
Events for the week of November 15 to 21.
Two big business events this week which will be of interest to entrepreneurs. Happening now is The Art of Management, with Mesh Marketing taking place this Wednesday.
On the lighter sider, tonight presents Tweetgasm v1.5: Movember Edition and coming up Friday: Likemind Toronto.
For devs: Rypple and Points.com are hosting a Thursday evening discussion on Google’s Web Toolkit.
Lots more...
6 tags
Movember fundraiser photos.
Last week we helped launch The Beards campaign to raise funds for Prostate Cancer Canada by co-hosting an intimate affair at the Fair Trade Jewellery Co’s Parliament St atelier.
In the spirit of men’s clubs of yore, we had fantastic food catered from Little Kitchen, an assortment of scotch from Say Yeah!, fine brew from the Great Lakes Brewery, cigars and ambiance from FTJCO, and...
3 tags
Mo your phone!
With Movember in full swing and men moving from that first week embarrassment to comfortably forgetting about their 10 day old upper lip hair growth, now seems like a great time to Mo your phone. This way, just as you’ve forgotten about the silly little thing on your face, a quick glance at your phone will get you back in the Movember swing of things.
Also a great way for the ladies to...
3 tags
Events for the week of November 8 to 14.
We were a little quiet with publishing last week, somewhat distracted planning our somewhat private Movember fundraiser, which took place this past Thursday. To make up for that, we’re dubbing this week Movember week and will be sharing Movember related treats all week long. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, this week presents a number of healthy event options for design geeks, tech nerds,...
5 tags
Image vs understanding.
Ottawa based designer Steve Zelle contributed a great article to LogoDesignLove last week titled: Logo warehouses, crowdsourcing, and a lack of understanding. He begins with:
Logo design should not be approached with the goal of filling that blank spot on the top of your letterhead. It is not the time to recklessly do something trendy and cool. Most importantly, it is not about getting a task...
5 tags
Events for the week of November 1 to 7.
This week is all about marketing with day and evening events happening throughout the week. Here’s a rundown:
Monday, November 1, 2010 Mobile Monday: CBC, From Canadian Institutional Broadcaster to New Media/Mobile Powerhouse at MaRS from 6:00p to 8:00p Hosts Perry Voulgaris and Richard Siwtzer talk about CBC mobile projects including the 2010 World Cup and Hockey Night in Canada....
October 2010
21 posts
3 tags
How tuned in customer service can help improve...
From Duncan Davidson’s A Hidden Genius:
It’s the data that’s generated at the Genius bar that fascinates me. This data, in aggregate, can tell Apple a lot about what machines break, how they break, and after how long in a much more direct way than what would come out of a third party service center.
Remember when Apple introduced the Intel-based MacBook Pros and they changed the power...
4 tags
Apple heads back to the mac with some very subtle...
A couple of weeks ago, my excitement was ratcheted up a notch or two with the prospect os OSX Lion presenting us with a new unified skin for “the world’s most advanced operating system.”
For years we’ve had inconsistencies between the design and icons of the various native OSX apps, even being left with version 1.0 scrollbars in most apps, long after Apple’s aqua...
6 tags
Events for the week of October 25 to 31.
Where to begin! This week we’ve got Twitter and Hallowe’en parties, music industry get togethers, UX Intensives, small business, Android and open source conferences and get togethers, and much, much more. But our most important event of the week, municipal voting. If you haven’t already done so, get out and vote.
A Toronto mayor Even if you’re not happy with the two top...
3 tags
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
– ~ Steve Jobs
A simple philosophy which can help drive you from desperation to a 20 billion dollar quarter a dozen years later.
4 tags
Events for the week of October 18 to 24.
Lots of exciting events this week that run the gamut from networking to development to fundraising, including a very busy Wednesday for entrepreneurs. Here are just two of the events from Wednesday’s packed day:
Wednesday, October 20 Canadian Business Leadership Forum at the Carlu, 8:00a to 6:00p Learn from top business leaders from a variety of industries including Amber Mac, Bonnie...