design, archives
An alternative, rotary traffic signal designed by Charles Marshall in 1936 & used from the 1940s through 1970s in Australia. 2 rotors pointing at colored sections denote whether traffic in either direction should proceed, prepare, or stop. Based on a traditional clock face, it has the advantage of clearly showing signal phase timing.
It’s downfall was apparently the ability to cope with changing traffic loads. Wikipedia Entry
“Flow, as a mental state, is characterized by a distorted sense of time, a lack of self-consciousness, and complete engagement in the task at hand. For designers, it’s exactly the feeling we hope to promote in the people who use our sites.”Jim Ramsey, in his excellent article in ALA 250
Burton redesigns its website and products every year. Its rider-centered product design has played a key role in pushing where the whole snowboarding industry is today.
“Companies focused on customer-experience design outperformed the S&P 500 by a 10-to-1 margin from 2000 to 2005”http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/119/all-about-yves.html
“There is yet another problem: the curse of individuality. Designers have to make an individual stamp, their mark, their signature. And if different companies manufacture the same type of item, each must do it differently to allow for its product to be distinguished from the others’. A mixed curse, individuality, for through the desire to be different come some of our best ideas and innovations. But in the world of sales, if a company were to make the perfect product, any other company would have to change it—which would make it worse—in order to promote its own innovation, to show that it was different. How can natural design work under these circumstances? It can’t.”From the book, “The Design of Everyday Things” by Donald Norman speaking about the forces that work against evolutionary design
“Without aesthetic, design is either the humdrum repetition of familiar cliches or a wild scramble for novelty. Without the aesthetic, the computer is but a mindless speed machine, producing effects without substance. Form without relevant content, or content without meaningful form.”Paul Rand
“Whenever I think about designing something to have a better chance of being contagious, the issue of authenticity invariably comes up. All things being equal, we’re more likely to tell people about the authentic things in our lives. When was the last time you joined a cause because it was hollow, shallow, and fake? Authenticity matters.”Diego Rodriguez on “What’s Authentic?”
“Whenever I think about designing something to have a better chance of being contagious, the issue of authenticity invariably comes up. All things being equal, we’re more likely to tell people about the authentic things in our lives. When was the last time you joined a cause because it was hollow, shallow, and fake? Authenticity matters.”Diego Rodriguez on “What’s Authentic?”