Subjective Blog | Useful. The New Black.

Even though I posted this sentiment earlier…

Making a goal your “New Year’s Resolution” is the fastest way to watch it fail. You shouldn’t need New Year’s as an excuse to do it.

…I eventually decided upon a sole resolution for myself this year. One word. One Resolution. I like to think of it as my theme for 2009.

Cull. #onewordresolution

I have a lot of crap in my life that I don’t need, and a scene from a John Wayne movie, where he was explaining his usage of the word ‘Cull’ to his lady lead, kept playing through my mind. I have a lot of junk around my house that I need to get rid of. I have a few *cough* extra pounds I need to get rid of. I have RSS feeds in my reader that I need to get rid of. I have a lot of stress to get rid of.

I’m culling the herds of my life.

But looking upon the definition at Dictionary.com I found that Cull also represents a deliberate choosiness in general and I think this is particularly apt as well. If I’m to add anything to my life, it’ll be thoroughly considered.

“Apparently, you should pretend to like anyone who pretends to like you. This is called “networking,” and it’s why the web smells like feet.” – hotdogsladies (a.k.a. Merlin Mann)

The High Cost of Pretending

I remember when I was in a Web Design class back in 2002, I did something remarkable. The school itself was nothing great, except that I eventually graduated there in 2004, at age 22, after having some rather interesting adventures elsewhere. No, the satellite school was simply a place where you could pick up credits for high school, or learn new skills in the evenings after your job. I was doing the former.

There was one girl who sat behind me, was close to my age, and who was nice enough, but was generally not my type of person. I was polite to her for some time, because that’s just what you do.

One day, she had asked me a question that I can’t even recall but I must have replied to because she reflexively followed up my response with “Why?” I hesitated a moment, and thought, and decided to brutalize myself with my honesty. In a deliberate cadence of baritone articulation I looked into her eyes and plainly spoke.

“Because I don’t like you.”

It was one of the most liberating experiences of my life.

“Seems like it’s easier to promote other people’s stuff than one’s own stuff. You don’t take it so personally, somehow.” – Hugh MacLeod, The Gaping Void

the global microbrand riff continues

Absolutely. My wife and I have had this discussion, as artists, so many times. She believes in my work way more than I believe in my own, and vice versa. She’s told me that an artist’s worst critic is themselves because they’re acutely aware of their own flaws, and rejection is often so horrible because the artist feels that she is the one being rejected, and not the art.

I’m an extreme person. I do not believe that life is to be idly cherished. Rather, it is to be actively enjoyed.

Two of the most important things in life are learning and believing in yourself. If you can steadily do those two things, you can achieve your goals.

What would you do if you had no fear?

Who are those that are remembered? Those who touch people’s hearts.

“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight. It’s the size of the fight in the dog.”

If you are worried about your financial future right now, don’t be. Instead, concern yourself with the determination you have to get through it.

If you need help in this regard, find love. Hold on to it, and fuel that love. It will guide you.

“A good app has a balance of form and function.”

Absolutely.

For Chartypes, my design process has been completely iterative. Looking at one side of the app, then the other, tweaking each part, and going back and forth between design and development in order to optimize the entire experience. This is somewhat easier working by myself, as opposed to working with a separate developer, because I know exactly what I’m thinking. But design is wholly connected to development (or engineering, as your case may be) and each one compliments the other, culminating in a perfect experience.

freckle: time tracking rethought

User Centered Design is the discipline of creating an interface that provides minimal hassle to the person using the interface. In layman’s terms, that means getting the fuck out of the way.

Freckle is an inspiring example of this. I haven’t even *used* the software yet (I’ve no need for time tracking, really) and already I’m considering ways I can impress their example of usefulness upon my own designs.

Freckles User Centered Design

The first thing you’ll notice when going to Freckle’s website is the lack of the usual chuff. Instead, the first thing you see is the actual app in a bloody huge screen shot — not some weak posturing that’s been pushed off to the side. No, instead, the entire interface, which is the brand, and of which there is not much, smacks you in the face with it’s bold and cheery color palette, and inviting freshness.

Why? Because the interface is what you’re buying.