contort.com

20 signs you don’t want that web design project

admin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:37:49 +0000

Hitting the nail on the head:

Jeffrey Zeldman Presents : 20 signs you don’t want that web design project

kuler.adobe.com/

admin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 17:49:03 +0000

I’m consulting on a build where the site is a child product from a larger enterprise.

So, the brand had to be similar, but almost completely different and driven by the new purpose and utility.

Dreaming up the color palette was reasonably tough.

This tool has been blogged to death, and I never used it til now, but it was really indispensable. For all you non-designers out there, it’s still fun to play with.

KULER

Free Plaxico Burress

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 19:53:06 +0000

Some truth in this. Still, guns + common sense are a winning combination.

Free Plaxico Burress - WSJ.com

Note: Sweatpants? Can’t buy classy like that for $35 million.

Previously:

Free James Brown

Free Slick Rick

Free ODB

And, most importantly, and seriously:

RLTD ♫ - “Free Nelson Mandela” / The Specials AKA

How Helvetica Took Over the Subway

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:22:15 +0000

Good primer on all sorts of NYC Subway typography:

How Helvetica Took Over the Subway

Related, and obviously:

Massimo Vignelli’s New York Subway Map: Tech: mensvogue.com

Massimo Vignelli - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Subliminal Footie

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:24:35 +0000

Funny:

A CHEEKY footie fan got one over his arch rivals by paving his team’s nickname outside their stadium.

The Birmingham City supporter spelt “Blues” in dark-coloured bricks at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ ground.

You cheeky hod

via FARK

RLTD ♫ - “You’ll Never Walk Alone” / Liverpool Fans

Sunset Park Brooklyn Street Gangs 1970’s-1980’s

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:18:50 +0000

Well annotated Google Map showing names, dates active, and headquarters of a bunch of Brooklyn street gangs.

Locations or Turfs Or Clubhouses From The Sunset Park, Brooklyn-NY Street Gangs During The Late 1960’s,1970’s, 1980’s.

Is turf like deer? Can I have many turfs?

Either way, on with the show:

Google Maps

RLTD ♫

“Warriors” / Judge

Record Shopping / Changed Times

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:02:16 +0000

Check out this archived Times article:

The Pop Life, NY Times, August 29, 1996

How many of these places are still open here in NYC? With the changes in the industry, and dated quotes like this, makes me wonder:

People who live outside New York City can order records by letter or telephone from all of these shops except Adult Crash, which is working to remedy the situation.

By letter? This article pre-dates mainstream email use, and predates mainstream mp3 use.

Cursory examination reveals that the following shops are still in business. This is true about most of the survivors (and probably the reason why).

Their employees are usually familiar with all the merchandise and willing to play records, make recommendations and order music they don’t carry.

Jammyland
Hard to get Reggae, Ska, and other Jamaican music. Great owners, great shop.

Kinokuniya
Buoyed by their book and other Japanese product business, I’m guessing. Also, it’s a bit out-of-sector vs. the others.

Other Music
Their brick-and-mortar operation has same idea as Jammyland - hard to get music in original formats - hi-quality authentic recordings that go above and beyond the mp3 trade.

They ensured their future by making the hop to digital mp3 sales on their website.

JS-909

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:45:25 +0000

This is a pretty cool thing.

Yes, 808-style sequencers/machines are a dime a dozen. Probably like $.02 a dozen.

But most are developed in Flash. Some use a bit of javascript, but mp3s or Flash for the sounds. Raw audio data.

This one, all javascript, and to boot, doesn’t use libraries like Prototype, or jQuery.
Nice job: JS-909

RLTD ♫

“Sexual Healing” / Marvin Gaye

Data Visualization

admin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 03:25:31 +0000

I’ve been hopping around researching data visualization methods, techniques, etc. and came across this great article:

Cotton Picking Correlates to President Picking

The more red a county is, the stronger the support for John McCain and similar for Barack Obama and blue. Below is cotton production in 1860. Each dot represent 2,000 bales. That’s some strong correlation.

Cotton Picking Correlates to President Picking

Updated: My pal Lionel showed me this. I guess it’s all beating a dead horse, the dead horse of the racist south, but why not visualize it: The Racist Vote

RLTD ♫

“I Never Picked Cotton” / Johnny Cash

Obama Used Conversion Rate Optimization to Win

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:25:09 +0000

Reasonably interesting assessment. They really nailed the web component of the campaign, obviously. But in this case, I wonder if the inverse control is true - they used the donation screen to decide what their victory shirt design would be.

Obama Used Conversion Rate Optimization to Win

via LinkedIn Lead Gen Group