beauty_school_dropout and I have had a lot of fun here on blogger, but I've decided to go for a new look. If you've enjoyed reading me here, then please switch over now for more of the same, but different.
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Friday, June 25, 2010
Moving on...
As many of you will know I've been thinking for some months about moving this blog to another provider. I've now decided to do just that and have moved my entire blog to tumblr.
beauty_school_dropout and I have had a lot of fun here on blogger, but I've decided to go for a new look. If you've enjoyed reading me here, then please switch over now for more of the same, but different.
Make sure to update your reader to the new RSS feed!
beauty_school_dropout and I have had a lot of fun here on blogger, but I've decided to go for a new look. If you've enjoyed reading me here, then please switch over now for more of the same, but different.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
A Hard Day's Night
I'm sorry. I've been working like a well trained and unusually obedient dog over the last week or so. Have you ever stared at your screen so long that your eyes begin to work independently?
I'll be back blogging again soon, now that my eyeballs are a team again. In the meantime, enjoy this:
I'll be back blogging again soon, now that my eyeballs are a team again. In the meantime, enjoy this:
The amazing Fuck Yeah, Typography continues to make me think using words, shapes and fonts. If this makes me weird- I don't care.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Thing Four- Exploring Blogs
Exploring other blogs or b(l)og wallowing as Marsh calls it, is one of the best aspects of throwing yourself into the action. Reading other people's blogs can provide you with a good stock of ideas and inspiration when you're just starting out, and the sense of community will keep you motivated as your blog matures. Everyone has those periods when you don't know what to write and times when they feel disconnected to what's going on. This is a good time to reach out and see what other people are doing.
I'm going to make this a fairly short post but in it I want to share a few of my favouite places for insipration, news and relaxation:
Sarah Houghton-Jan, the Librarian in Black, who has the enviable job title of Digital Futures Manager at the San José Public Library.
Bobbi L. Newman who is a Librarian by Day
And finally, the amazing Awful Library Books blog; anyone who told you that collection management can't be fun is evidently not a regular visitor!
I've been really impressed with the blog output from Cam 23 participants, so many of them have a great mix of humour and information. A special mention must go to the witty Library Wanderer who, despite being a Bolton fan, has me hanging on her every word.
I'm going to make this a fairly short post but in it I want to share a few of my favouite places for insipration, news and relaxation:
Sarah Houghton-Jan, the Librarian in Black, who has the enviable job title of Digital Futures Manager at the San José Public Library.
Bobbi L. Newman who is a Librarian by Day
And finally, the amazing Awful Library Books blog; anyone who told you that collection management can't be fun is evidently not a regular visitor!
I've been really impressed with the blog output from Cam 23 participants, so many of them have a great mix of humour and information. A special mention must go to the witty Library Wanderer who, despite being a Bolton fan, has me hanging on her every word.
Histon Road Top Trumps
Marsh is getting pretty excited about her new twitter account and is tweeting about the folk we see on our journey in each morning:
Cambridge is full of eccentrics, and it seems that we're two of them!
- Green Goddess
- Pseudo Ange P
- Enthusiastic poodle
- Classic Pram
- Mrs Robin
- Five Star
- Lady in Red
- MiB
- Moonwalker
- Hawaiian Santa
- Crouching Mechanic, Hidden Cuppa
- Vote for Pedro x2
- Pink lady on a Schwinn
- Fat kid on a bike
- Tall Reader
- Bucket o' bairns
- HJ Watch
- Ginger Ninga
- Alternative jogger
- Orange Monk
- Reluctant dog
Cambridge is full of eccentrics, and it seems that we're two of them!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Thing Three- Designing a Blog: KISS
Not that kind of kiss. And watch out for the comma- a subtle change of sense.
KISS- Keep it simple stupid.
Aesthetics aside, with the bonnet up and our hands greasy, it is all about how it works, and you may have noticed that we've dropped the comma. Wikipedia has a full discussion on whether there ought to be a comma or not, but KISS with a comma signals that if the application or hardware fails then it should 'fail simple'. This kind of KISS warns against over-engineering a product or piece of software. The complexity to be avoided would be that which makes something difficult for a new user to understand, something that is counter intuitive, or something that requires a special tool or a Ph.D. in programming to fix. The chap who coined the phrase was an aircraft engineer- and expensive aircraft are not something you ever want to fail in a complex way- something that's simple stupid is something which ideally can be fixed with basic tools by a general engineer, possibly in the field under enemy fire. Less extreme examples of this kind of KISS include well-designed furniture which can be assembled using an Allen key, clockwork torches and radios, or this fun mouse experiment- how much instruction is there; how much do you need?
KISS in blogs
According to good KISS principles blogs should fairly easy to use, just like a physical journal. You pick one that you like, that's the right size and in your favourite colour. You grab a comfy pen. Maybe you'll want to plaster the cover with stickers. You write in it daily and within a week it feels like an extension of your mind. Why isn't it like that with a blog? Why do they have to be clunky, idiosyncratic and difficult to use? I mean, the premise behind it is quite simple: text, pictures, maybe the odd video clip- does it really have to be this hard?
I recently created a new blog for my book group books@pub on tumblr. Now tumblr is where the cool kids hang out, they have a lot of really good themes which look slick on screen, but I did find it very difficult to use. From the dashboard I didn't find changing the design particularly intuitive, it didn't offer a live snapshot of what your blog would like like with each design, only what a very well executed and trendy blog with chunks of quotations and blurred photographs would look like. Blogger doesn't always fare much better. Without the Blogger in Draft Templates blogs can all begin to look the same, sure they're simple, but they can look like the ugly sisters compared to the standard Wordpress and tumblr designs. books@pub is a group blog which was not as easy to set up on tumblr as I anticipated, Wordpress I think is even worse for this. When you have multiple contributors it's important that it the registration process is simple for you and even simpler again for the others involved, who may not have the same levels of expertise.
KISS for you
You too can apply these principles to your blog. Whether it fails simple or complex is fairly out of your hands, but you can make the reading experience better for your readers. It is worth spending some time to think about design. If the font is too small or serifed, if the contrast between colours isn't working then people won't enjoy reading it, and you'll enjoy writing it less too: it's worth taking pride in the display as well as the content. Have a look at other people's blogs for new ideas: is it worth adding a search function to your blog, a tag cloud? Do you have too many images and applications cluttering up your right and left hand navigation?
Try and find out who your readers are, what they search for and where they found out about you- this will help you tailor aspects of your blog to them. I use Feedjit and web analysis from eLogic, that knowlegdge gives me an insight into how my readers keep up to date with me, the kinds of keywords they search with, even their screen resolutions and browser choice- have a look at your site on a different machine, a different browser to make sure you're still gorgeous and easy to use.
KISS for libraries
Millennials, born digitals and other buzz-worded social groups are used to machines, software and interfaces that have been designed to be both instinctive to use and that you can repair with a wizard or a diagnostic tool. These people are our readers and customers; the consumers of our data. I cut my teeth on the Commodore Vic20: this makes me a patient person with low to reasonable expectations; I can wait 30 minutes for something to load from a tape, use a card catalogue and Boolean operators in my search strings. Good for me: have an 80s childhood sticker!
Our undergraduate users expect instant information, interfaces that are second nature to them and the seamless integration of all available reources. So they should too, this level of service is something we should all aspire to. Take a look at these slides from the excellent I've got Google, why do I need you? They should get you thinking about the disparity of what we expect from our users, what they demand from us and how good design can bridge that gap.
KISS- Keep it simple, stupid!
KISS is the design principle that says less is more, that sophistication is simplicity, and that something isn't perfect until you've stripped out all the unnecessaries. Something completely unlike the Rube Goldberg machine above!
There's two aspects to good kiss: aesthetic and practical. I've been talking a lot this week about simple but stunning webdesign, we've looked at myfav.es, moving on from the basic blogger templates and taken an early peak at Google Reader's possible future. Adherence to aesthetic principles is what makes Apple products attractive to millions, and commands a premium price for their gadgets.
KISS- Keep it simple stupid.
Aesthetics aside, with the bonnet up and our hands greasy, it is all about how it works, and you may have noticed that we've dropped the comma. Wikipedia has a full discussion on whether there ought to be a comma or not, but KISS with a comma signals that if the application or hardware fails then it should 'fail simple'. This kind of KISS warns against over-engineering a product or piece of software. The complexity to be avoided would be that which makes something difficult for a new user to understand, something that is counter intuitive, or something that requires a special tool or a Ph.D. in programming to fix. The chap who coined the phrase was an aircraft engineer- and expensive aircraft are not something you ever want to fail in a complex way- something that's simple stupid is something which ideally can be fixed with basic tools by a general engineer, possibly in the field under enemy fire. Less extreme examples of this kind of KISS include well-designed furniture which can be assembled using an Allen key, clockwork torches and radios, or this fun mouse experiment- how much instruction is there; how much do you need?
KISS in blogsAccording to good KISS principles blogs should fairly easy to use, just like a physical journal. You pick one that you like, that's the right size and in your favourite colour. You grab a comfy pen. Maybe you'll want to plaster the cover with stickers. You write in it daily and within a week it feels like an extension of your mind. Why isn't it like that with a blog? Why do they have to be clunky, idiosyncratic and difficult to use? I mean, the premise behind it is quite simple: text, pictures, maybe the odd video clip- does it really have to be this hard?
I recently created a new blog for my book group books@pub on tumblr. Now tumblr is where the cool kids hang out, they have a lot of really good themes which look slick on screen, but I did find it very difficult to use. From the dashboard I didn't find changing the design particularly intuitive, it didn't offer a live snapshot of what your blog would like like with each design, only what a very well executed and trendy blog with chunks of quotations and blurred photographs would look like. Blogger doesn't always fare much better. Without the Blogger in Draft Templates blogs can all begin to look the same, sure they're simple, but they can look like the ugly sisters compared to the standard Wordpress and tumblr designs. books@pub is a group blog which was not as easy to set up on tumblr as I anticipated, Wordpress I think is even worse for this. When you have multiple contributors it's important that it the registration process is simple for you and even simpler again for the others involved, who may not have the same levels of expertise.KISS for you
You too can apply these principles to your blog. Whether it fails simple or complex is fairly out of your hands, but you can make the reading experience better for your readers. It is worth spending some time to think about design. If the font is too small or serifed, if the contrast between colours isn't working then people won't enjoy reading it, and you'll enjoy writing it less too: it's worth taking pride in the display as well as the content. Have a look at other people's blogs for new ideas: is it worth adding a search function to your blog, a tag cloud? Do you have too many images and applications cluttering up your right and left hand navigation?
Try and find out who your readers are, what they search for and where they found out about you- this will help you tailor aspects of your blog to them. I use Feedjit and web analysis from eLogic, that knowlegdge gives me an insight into how my readers keep up to date with me, the kinds of keywords they search with, even their screen resolutions and browser choice- have a look at your site on a different machine, a different browser to make sure you're still gorgeous and easy to use.
KISS for libraries Millennials, born digitals and other buzz-worded social groups are used to machines, software and interfaces that have been designed to be both instinctive to use and that you can repair with a wizard or a diagnostic tool. These people are our readers and customers; the consumers of our data. I cut my teeth on the Commodore Vic20: this makes me a patient person with low to reasonable expectations; I can wait 30 minutes for something to load from a tape, use a card catalogue and Boolean operators in my search strings. Good for me: have an 80s childhood sticker!
Our undergraduate users expect instant information, interfaces that are second nature to them and the seamless integration of all available reources. So they should too, this level of service is something we should all aspire to. Take a look at these slides from the excellent I've got Google, why do I need you? They should get you thinking about the disparity of what we expect from our users, what they demand from us and how good design can bridge that gap.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
So you need a Typeface?
Needed to share this amazing flow chart from Fuck Yeah, Typography.
Discover it by yourself, but make sure you get to 'are you alone?'
Typography is one of my favourite strange interests, and this is frankly amazing- bravo!
Thing Two- RSS Q&A
Try as I might, I'm struggling to make this as fascinating as my normal output. So here we go with some Q& A, a couple of sets of slides which you can watch for extra credit and an unexpected bonus for fans of sleek design: something beautiful and new!
What is RSS?
Simply, it's web content in a special form, which is 'read' by a reader.
How do I get it?
You're going to need two things, something to read and something to read it on. The good news is that there's plenty to read, most newspapers, blogs and even LOLcats are available in RSS format. Now all you have to do it pick a reader. Some browsers, Firefox included, can understand RSS, but most people chose to access it through a web-based reader, a downloaded reader or via their email client. Web-based readers, Google Reader, for example, can be thought of as your inbox on the web. On the left you can see my a LOLcat RSS feed displayed on Google Reader.
Why do I want it?
In libraries we are in the interesting position of being information producers as well as consumers, so it's not just about keeping yourself up to date! A common library application for RSS is keeping readers informed about new acquisitions in a given subject area, this means they can browse print and digital titles they may be interested in without specifically searching the catalogue- good example of some of the subject detail on offer here at the Cincinnati Public Library. In our role as information producers we can 'curate' RSS content from multiple sources and present it for our readers. The science@cambridge gateway (below) aggregates news, blogs and library generated content for science students at the University.
This specially constructed page makes use of University branding and allows users to quickly access other University resources, but this can be done more informally. Good examples include LK's excelled Cam23 bloglist and the Philosophy feeds provided by the Casimir Lewy Library, both using netvibes.
In short, RSS feeds for libraries are like having a constant newsletter that can be discretely tailored to your readers' interests.
Can it do anything slightly more exciting?
No, well maybe. New from Google Labs is Google Reader Play which uses the same software as the 'Recommended' function in the standard reader. It visually displays web content you might be interested in based on feeds you currently subscribe to, you can then further refine it by hitting the smiley faced button. I've only been playing with it for the last 4 minutes, but it is quite fun!
Extra Credit
Google Reader Play makes your RSS feeds exciting - Pocket-lint
Library Garden's Magical Mystery Tour: RSS Demystified (slides)
RSS and Its Use In Libraries- Sukhdev Singh (slides)
What is RSS?
Simply, it's web content in a special form, which is 'read' by a reader.
How do I get it?
You're going to need two things, something to read and something to read it on. The good news is that there's plenty to read, most newspapers, blogs and even LOLcats are available in RSS format. Now all you have to do it pick a reader. Some browsers, Firefox included, can understand RSS, but most people chose to access it through a web-based reader, a downloaded reader or via their email client. Web-based readers, Google Reader, for example, can be thought of as your inbox on the web. On the left you can see my a LOLcat RSS feed displayed on Google Reader. Why do I want it?
In libraries we are in the interesting position of being information producers as well as consumers, so it's not just about keeping yourself up to date! A common library application for RSS is keeping readers informed about new acquisitions in a given subject area, this means they can browse print and digital titles they may be interested in without specifically searching the catalogue- good example of some of the subject detail on offer here at the Cincinnati Public Library. In our role as information producers we can 'curate' RSS content from multiple sources and present it for our readers. The science@cambridge gateway (below) aggregates news, blogs and library generated content for science students at the University.
science@cambridge
This specially constructed page makes use of University branding and allows users to quickly access other University resources, but this can be done more informally. Good examples include LK's excelled Cam23 bloglist and the Philosophy feeds provided by the Casimir Lewy Library, both using netvibes.
In short, RSS feeds for libraries are like having a constant newsletter that can be discretely tailored to your readers' interests.
Can it do anything slightly more exciting?
No, well maybe. New from Google Labs is Google Reader Play which uses the same software as the 'Recommended' function in the standard reader. It visually displays web content you might be interested in based on feeds you currently subscribe to, you can then further refine it by hitting the smiley faced button. I've only been playing with it for the last 4 minutes, but it is quite fun!
Extra Credit
Google Reader Play makes your RSS feeds exciting - Pocket-lint
Library Garden's Magical Mystery Tour: RSS Demystified (slides)
RSS and Its Use In Libraries- Sukhdev Singh (slides)
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