What I know now // 016

A little late but not unwelcome I hope. I learned a lot of neat things this month!

DESIGN

• SkyArt. I found these utterly charming. (Pictured above).
• 271 Years Before Pantone, an Artist Mixed and Described Every Color Imaginable in an 800-Page Book. Beautiful!
• How I joined Google by S. Gabriel. it’s coincidence that it’s Google, what’s more important is that it was a really wonderful journey that reflects my own path that I found really compelling. Too bad he beat me to the punch :). (Though, you’ll see his design chops are quite worthy of admiration).
• Ukrainian nature photographer Vyacheslav. BAWWWWWW! Must see.
  

SOCIAL

• The Congresswoman Whose Husband Called Her Home (via NPR). Interesting bit of history about an relatively unknown but important congresswoman.
• The psychology behind people believing they aren’t creative. All the self-proclaimed non-creatives should give it a read.
• 21 Images of Where Children Sleep Around the World Paints a Powerful Picture of Inequality. So compelling.
  
• Millennial Women Don’t Lack Confidence — They’re Just (Justifiably) Cynical. Great article in the kind of way that is frightening when you realize the extend of the inequality gap (yet again).
• Walk this Way, infographic on our water footprint. This was a really compelling case for being more water-conscious in our habits and our food consumption. Highly recommend you check it out.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

• The Microscopic Structures of Dried Human Tears (via The Smithsonian). Who knew that different tears (ie: happy vs sad tears) are actually chemically different? So interesting! Check out the link for photos.
• How To Marry The Right Girl: A Mathematical Solution (via NPR). Maybe I should implement this technique. But how do I know how many people are in the first group?
• Baffling, Boy-Swallowing Holes Close An Indiana Dune (via NPR). Yikes!
• Here’s a Surprising Look at What Sleep Deprivation Does to Your Body. Double yikes–My bad habits are going to kill me.
• VIDEO: This man thinks he’s figured out how Stonehenge was built. This is totally random, but it was interesting  and impressive. I am glad that people with this insatiable curiosity exist.
• 5 Mind Blowing Underwater Cities. I want to visit these so bad, they seem so beautiful.

MEDIA

• What’s Your Major? 4 Decades Of College Degrees, In 1 Graph (via NPR). Really neat interactive map showing the popularity of different majors over time.
• The Largest Vocabulary in Hip hop. Super interesting data visualization of the vocabularies of hip hop artists.
• These 50 Photos From The Past Are Shocking And Hilarious. I Can’t Believe How Things Have Changed…I thought Sarah would like these cooky old-timey photos of people really behaving like people.
• How Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ Is Spawning Amazing Travel Videos From Around the Globe. One viral trend that I enjoy, to my surprise. It’s really heartening to watch different countries/cultures perform this song and to get a glimpse into their city and young people!
• These Adorable Solar Lights Follow You Around Like A Loyal Pet (via co.exist). Awwwwww! As if I don’t already personify objects too much…
  

THESIS / IxD

• “Copy is the interface.” I exclaimed “YES!” When I saw this and felt the same way after reading it. Writers are UX designers, yo.
• Good Design Starts with Empathy. Pretty nice article.
• Flat Pixels: The Battle Between Flat Design And Skeuomorphism. Really interesting and thorough article discussing two fractions in design right now. Really enjoyed this one.
• Dan Saffer – Attention Awareness for Interaction Designers 2009. . Lots of thesis research involving watching recordings of IxDA conference lectures.
• Is Interaction Design a dead-end job? heh. Interesting article and I might agree. Luckily, I’m a generalist anyway :).