UI/UX Articles and Interesting Tidbits of the Week
April//1//2022
Here are some interesting finds on UI/UX of the week!
1.
Discussing Collaboration with Karin Fong. Another article from Shaping Design, this one is a part of their series, focused on interviews with Designers/Creatives, on the topic of collaboration. Ms. Karin Fong works for Imaginary Forces, where she is a Creative Director. Some of her work and her team’s work, has included crafting many title sequences for films and tv shows. For those interested in knowing more about title sequences, please go to Art of the Title, which lists an array of arresting and inspirational sequences which different studios and creatives have been releasing throughout the years. Worth reading. Highlight of the article includes:
“And, that’s part of our job — to make something so compelling that you want to. But seriously, as much as they function to open the shows, the titles might even have more value as short films that get viewed independently and shared. They can make a connection with the audience that stays long after the episode or even the series has ended. And since we’ve been talking about collaboration, I must add that there’s something great about how a show documents the names of the cast and crew on screen. It’s a way of honoring their professions and what they’ve made together. As the director Harold Ramis once reminded me after I proposed using way-too tiny type for the credits of his film, “Karin, the people need to see their names.””
2.
Unconventional Leadership Principles. Interesting article from Inc. Magazine and author Jay Steinfeld on the topic of Leadership Principles. One of the constant questions I get from Designers, is how a person gets to lead in this discipline, and how does one evolve one’s path in order to become a leader. While there are principles that are universal when it comes to Leadership skills, such as Being Flexible, Authentic, Empowering and Conscientious, this article highlights traits that may not be the most frequently discussed ones. And some of these may open to discussion, but they definitely warrant some reflection. They include leveraging strengths, but only until they become weaknesses, not assuming that just because something worked previously, it will work once more, and also thinking big, while taking care of what is happening today, to name but a few. Highlight of the article includes:
“To know the future, learn the past; for future effectiveness, unlearn the past. History doesn’t repeat itself, though it often rhymes. To my previous point about strict plans, know that you can’t predict exactly what’s going to happen. Leave yourself open to a new direction when it’s presented to you. When you clog up your brain making too many decisions, even if they’re small decisions, you don’t have any capacity left to make the most important decisions. So leave most of the decisions to your team, so you can think more conceptually and creatively about the future.”
3.
A Reflection on Helvetica. Another atypical highlight on this newsletter, this is nonetheless an article reading through. Hailing from The Web Designer Depot and author Patrick McShane, it’s an insightful and brief look at the Helvetica Font, its history, how it has evolved and how Designers these days view it and utilize it. While the article dives into debatable aspects such as its “coolness” factor, it’s nonetheless a worthy testimony for the importance this typeface has had and continues to have (another testament to the quality of good design: its long lasting stance). Worth a read. Highlight of the article includes:
“Helvetica represented a clean break from the fonts that came before. The designers upended the more formal and intricate serif fonts of the 19th and early 20th centuries with bold, clean simplicity. Perhaps it was a product of a new era, maybe it defined a new era as it went, but Helvetica was a revolution in font design. The new font was an enormous hit. One of its earliest fans was the United States Government, who put it everywhere from the sides of space shuttles to agriculture policy reports. The European Union went so far as to require its use on all health warning information. In addition, the font spread to languages as diverse as Khymer, Urdu, and Korean.”