We used to call ourselves “motion designers.” People who flirted with a new type of design where things moved, videos played, and content was immersive.

I’m ashamed to say I wasted a lot of my formative years learning Actionscript, keyframe animating, and some BS catchphrase called R.I.A. design.

I bought the Macromedia pitch pretty wholeheartedly. While Zeldman was preaching standards, I was still obsessed with the idea that the internet would turn into something like an interactive television.

I still think it might, eventually, but we’re further away from that now than ever. I’m glad the industry caught its breath, and a dose of sanity about interface design, but I miss “motion design.” Keep Reading

“Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way.
This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody
thinks of complaining.”

-Jef Raskin

“A new study shows that every hour per day spent in front of that monitor raises your risk of early death from heart disease by a whopping 18%—even if you’re not obese and you exercise. It also raises the risk of dying from cancer 8%, and all causes 11%.”

Well how are we supposed to do our jobs if we’re not at the flippin’ monitor? If your work day is anything like mine- everything takes place at the computer, leaving you few options. On that same note, our team works remote a lot of the time, so in order to communicate effectively, we need to be available… via e-mail, chat or Skype. That doesn’t leave much time for me to escape to the gym.

Turns out you don’t have to do that much exercise to tip the scale in your favor, according to this other Newser.com article. Keep Reading

You already know you can create Snippets- words or phrases you use repeatedly- throughout a Jumpchart project, but we’re introducing a Global Snippets- an upgrade we hope you find really useful.

Now you can create Snippets for use account-wide, improving your workflow by allowing you to access constant bits of information across multiple projects.

In a nutshell:

• When you share a project containing a Regular Snippet, the Snippet is then available to view, use and edit by whomever you share the project with.

• When you share a project containing a Global Snippet, the Snippet is then available to view and use by whomever you share the project with- but not editable by that person. It is only editable by you… and it’s available for you to use across each of your projects.

• You cannot see someone else’s Snippets unless they share their project with you.

For more info on how they work, check out the new support article we’ve added.

I semi-religiously read the NY Times online. it’s sometimes frustrating inside of a browser, but the writing is amazingly worth the effort. Even on the iPhone, it’s worth all the pinching to get at that great content.

I have never in a decade of post-college adulthood subscribed to a physical newspaper. I have subscribed to a few printed magazines (mostly as received gifts) but for more than a year have subscribed to none.

However I’m what I would consider a voracious consumer of content. I read blogs, books (both virtual and digital) listen to podcasts, and lots of audiobooks. So it’s not that I lack the wherewithal, or the desire to read a daily newspaper. Keep Reading

The Problem

According to this New York Post piece, “Biking is booming” in New York and there aren’t enough places to park the bikes- inhibiting a growing trend.

The Solution

The city is replacing some parking meters with bike racks!

“The new racks will cost about $300 to install, but will save the city the $200 cost of removing the entire meter and then repairing the ripped-up sidewalk.”

The solution is cost effective, and aesthetically pleasing. It’s a two-fer.

This is Cool Because…

It encourages us to mold solutions from existing problems. Instead of searching for brand new ways to solve an issue, why not look right under your nose? A simple re-design, or addition of code, or re-vamp of copy might be just what the project needs. Sometimes the best form of innovation means using the work already laid before us.

You know the feeling.

It’s having the guts to carry out your great idea. It’s waking up at 3 A.M. with the perfect way to implement it. It’s panicking a little with the fear that someone else has already done it better. It’s looking your project in the UI and forgetting anyone else even exists…

It’s passion.

Most of the passion is behind the scenes- stuff nobody sees because it takes place in your car on the way  home from work, or at 2 a.m. when you’ve figured out what your one button will be. The excitement you feel will probably spill over into the launch phase, and maybe even last longer. The real question is, how are you showing it? Does your passion shine through in your work? Are you proud every single day to be the face of your app… your company… your brand? Keep Reading

Campaign Monitor says:

“Forget any legal mumbo jumbo – here is our definition of spam.

While the CAN-SPAM laws are a step in the right direction for classifying and reducing spam, we don’t feel they go far enough. Our definition of spam goes beyond the laws in most countries and encompasses what we believe to be true permission email marketing.

Spam is any email you send to someone who hasn’t given you their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the email.

But that’s not enough. Permission is a fuzzy word open to interpretation. Let’s get into some specific scenarios so it’s clear what does and doesn’t constitute permission.

Scenarios that DON’T equate to permission: Keep Reading