June 18, 2009, 12:25 AM
Now this is pretty sweet for those of us who like to sketch things out on paper first. Mmm. I still remember my green plastic template of zoo animals when I was a kid.
Link: iPhone Stencil Kit from Design Commission
(via Shaun Inman)
June 08, 2009, 07:59 AM
As with most creative people, I have ideas. A lot of them. I’ve got ideas for websites, products and of course iPhone apps. The last bit has gotten me really excited recently, especially with articles about how tiny iPhone app developers have been able to make a lot of money. I’m not necessarily interested solely because of the iPhone gold rush—just partially—but also because of the thrill of exploring the new user interfaces that are possible with iPhone.
I’m not a developer. I’m a designer. Although if I tried really hard I could probably learn Objective-C and hack something together, it probably wouldn’t be the best quality and wouldn’t necessarily be the best app. There’s an old quote from Pixar’s John Lasseter that I love: “Art challenges technology and technology inspires art.” If I am to do anything well in the saturated iPhone appland, I need to find a genius dev.
In my quest to hook up with an iPhone developer—since I only know talented web devs—I found Steve Weller. Fantastic guy. He fits the profile of an Apple developer perfectly, in a good way. He knows his stuff and he lives and breathes Apple. Although we haven’t actually worked on a project together yet, he is of the same mindset: good developers need good designers (and vice versa).
To me there are just too many apps out there that are nice from a functionality standpoint, but really fail in user experience. That’s where we as designers can give an app that extra special sauce to help it reach Apple’s Top 25 lists.
Steve has organized a meetup for iPhone developers and designers during WWDC this week. It will be on Wednesday, June 10 at 12:15 by the waterfall at Yerba Buena Gardens. See his site for more info and to RSVP.
February 13, 2009, 10:50 AM
One of my favorite apps in the iPhone App Store is Ocarina (iTunes link) by Smule. It turns your iPhone into an electronic wind instrument. The interface is not anything I’ve seen before and it’s just fun—even for a non-musical guy like me. The best thing about it is listening to what other people are playing around the world right now.
So this morning comes news that after selling one million copies of Ocarina, Smule has secured $3.9 million in funding. I’m very happy to see some money come out of such innovation.
Now where’s my million-dollar idea?
(Via TUAW)
Although he has been designing since the seventh grade, Roger Wong officially began his design career in 1995. He is currently a creative director at PJA Advertising + Marketing in San Francisco.
This site is an outlet for his musings on design, advertising and culture.
