frameworksforinquiry

[frameworksforinquiry]

".. when their users were presented with a custom loading animation in the Facebook iOS app (left) they blamed the app for the delay. But when users were shown the iOS system spinner (right), they were more likely to blame the system itself." from The psychology of waiting, loading animations, and Facebook

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Another good thrift day. I’ll need to spend some time with Google Translate to figure out who did these covers.

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Emil Ruder's iconic die Zeitung -ZZZZZZZZZing! poster via the Katherine Small Gallery newsletter

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"The KC Streetcar has served as “a laboratory” of sorts for implementing technology that supports smart city innovations, said Kansas City CIO Bob Bennett. ... Along the KC Streetcar route, smart city sensors collect data used to deliver basic city services more efficiently. Various agencies such as the KC Streetcar Authority, Kansas City Power and Light, the Kansas City mayor’s office and others work together to maintain these sensors. Some sensors can detect traffic flow and adjust lighting to facilitate travel." read more at here

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The thrifts were very good to me in 2024.

Paul McCobb Contempri Mugs

Hank Lowenstein [style?] Padova Chairs

Still no luck id’ing the cover designer here

Arcoroc 34 France smoked glass cups & saucers

Heller Dinnerware by Vignelli

Yugoslavian? Danish? Slat benches

Building my Bialetti collection

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I've been thinking about [obsessing over?] feedback while reading Don Norman's Design of Everyday Things, noticing how many design flaws result from designers complicating simple processes and functions.

I keep noticing the prevalence of locksets that make it difficult to tell if they're locked. I assume this "push to unlock" functionality is becoming more common as a safety feature — I could see this being helpful in the case of a fire or other emergency — but they're not great for peace of mind when you want to ensure someone won't walk in while you're in the bathroom at a café ...

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Some select Reid Miles' Iconic Work for Blue Note Records. Would love to see these used as art direction for site design.

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Amber Case is a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and the Civic Media Group at MIT Media Lab. She's been exploring how tech and media both enhance and diminish our lives as sentient beings — and "how we can use technology as a tool, not have it use us." I listened to her talk on Calm Technology at work this week, and I really enjoyed hearing her break down the limits (to say the least) of the algorithm, the ignorant bravado of many tech entrepreneurs, and a variety of other prescient issues. I hate the term "must watch," but ... I recommend this.

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"Do you find yourself surrounded by people who whine that “clients don’t understand what we do”? Those people will never have good clients."

via Collins' 101 Design Rules

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St. Louis' Traffic Light Problem. I've been noticing this issue with sunlight on traffic lights around St. Louis — recently at Grand & Russel and another at Hampton & Manchester — and it's been driving me nuts. This light is ... green. I saw someone drive through a red light and nearly t-bone another driver on a sunny day last week, and I can't really fault them. I started doing a deep dive into why this happens, researching traffic light materials and traffic engineering methodologies to see if this was perhaps an issue with the tinted fiberglass being too reflective, the aluminum gallium indium phosphide (AlGaInP) LEDs not working in sunlight, or an issue with the aluminum casing. After some digging, I found a post on Reddit where a user pointed out the fatal design flaw — these traffic lights are missing their shields/tunnel visors. "Dangerous as hell" is right, u/One-Timeline. It looks like tunnel visors run ~$40 a piece. This seems like a good investment on the St. Louis Street Department's end.

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Technologist x Humanist Venn Diagram via Self Aware Studio

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Two new pickups as suggested by Ben. Very excited to dig into these.

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I've started hosting Art Nights with friends as an outlet to get together and quickly make things without any expectations or pressure.

It's a true free-for-all with no rules or obligations besides focusing on physicality [no screens!] and exploration. Some of us draw, paint, knit, and experiment with different materials. I typically collage, using the medium to "design" with my hands and scrap materials. I've found that I often think best utilizing kinesthetic methods — drawing outlines to learn & teach, working through problems by creating diagrams, etc. — and I've really enjoyed having tangible pieces to pick up and move while creating. I'm definitely planning to utilize more tactile practices to plan digital designs. It's also probably time to invest in a straight edge. 1. B&W photo I took in New Orleans, construction paper 2. Photo from The Atlantic, Construction Paper 3. Spiral Collage made by my friend Sean 4. Construction paper and magazine clipping collages inspired by John Gall's book covers

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Critical Understanding Through Practice: “Autoprogettazione” by Enzo Mari (1974).

In 1974, Enzo Mari published his famous "proposta per un'autoprogettazione," a collection of manuals on how to self-build 19 different pieces of furniture with the most common and affordable materials in Italy at the time: simple wooden boards, nails, a hammer, and a saw. The designer's intention was to de-commercialize and democratize design furniture and make it available to anyone "apart from factories and traders."

[frameworksforinquiry]

Really enjoy the design of this Didion & Babitz book my girlfriend is reading. Designed by Kyle Kabel at Simon & Schuster.