Really, RIT? I’m a proud alum, but did you really send out this mass mailer with ‘comic sans’? Embarrassing.
Print is dead. Print is alive.
Frank Piacitelli was featured in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, in an article about a joint project between Martino Flynn and RIT’s New Media Design Program.
Frank Piacitelli was featured as a subject matter expert in a recent article in the Rochester Business Journal on use of mobile devices for marketing.
Alright now. Like most web designers and developers, I have to spend a lot of time hacking code and compromising design so that my work displays acceptably in Internet Explorer 6—an awful web browsers that does a terrible job rendering properly coded HTML, but that people still use. Microsoft has put an an “Internet Explorer 6 Countdown” site:
The site claims “This website is dedicated to watching Internet Explorer 6 usage drop to less than 1% worldwide, so more websites can choose to drop support for Internet Explorer 6, saving hours of work for web developers.” I wish that Microsoft would simply drop all support for the ten-year-old browser, but, this is something.
Microsoft claims that only 2.9% of users in the USA use IE6 — I believe the figure to be MUCH worse, close to 10%. The site is going to “watch” IE6 usage drop to 1%, and while they are providing some useful information about why it’s a good idea, they’re not even naming a target date. That’s pretty non-commital if you ask me.
If you’re using IE6, Microsoft wants you to upgrade to a newer version, currently IE8. IE7 and IE8 are much better than IE6. But they’re still not a good choice, for a number of reasons. Microsoft pretends to align with web standards, but makes their own rules and follows conventions only as they see fit. I say, don’t use any versions of Internet Explorer. Almost any other browser is better. I recommend Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
via @engadget
Hand soap? Dishwashing liquid? Both? This packaging is a bit confusing. A little attention to the design, with the shopper in mind, might make this a little more clear. And maybe even better sell this product, which I assume is good for both washing hands and washing dishes.
I saw an ad in a magazine for a brand of running shoes named “Gravity Defyer”. They appear to have actual springs in the heels.
But what really caught my eye is the mark placed predominantly on the side of the shoe. It bears a striking resemblance to, well, human male reproductive cells.
Sophomorically, I thought that this must be some sort of joke. But apparently Gravity Defyer, Inc., claims that their “…logo is delibrate” and that they are “not embarrassed by it, nor are [their] customers”. They even call it out as “slick” and “cool”.
Really? There’s a press release on their website that states the pride the take in this logo (http://gravitydefyer.com/Gravity-Defyer-Logo-Causes-Pull-Out), but I’m skeptical. I think maybe this mark was grafted onto hundreds of shoes before they realized what it looked like. Maybe it was deliberate, but if that’s the case, at risk of sounding prudish, it doesn’t seem like a very wise choice.
If the new MacBook Air “the next generation of MacBooks”, does that mean Apple won’t update the MacBook Pro? I hope not.
Chart via Engadget.
I love you Ikea, but are you really emailing me about the swedish meatballs in your in-store restaurant? With type rendered in graphics using Verdana. Did you lose your license for Futura or something? Brand erosion hurts.
I make it no secret that I generally dislike Microsoft. I believe as a corporation, Microsoft’s M.O. is simply to dominate—not to make good products, or to help people work better or enjoy life more. And like most web designers, I despise the Internet Explorer browser. Despite Microsoft’s membership in standards-creating organizations, Microsoft rarely follows accepted and agreed-upon standards, and wastes tons of everyone’s time and resources. Having said all that, each time Microsoft upgrades IE, it gets a little less bad. And I’m glad when Microsoft encourages users to update their browser. But, I recently saw this alert on a windows setup I use for browser testing, which is currently running IE7:
This is an invitation to upgrade to IE8. But it’s strangely deceptive. It reads ‘Welcome to Internet Explorer 8’ as if I’ve already installed it. It wants me to click a radio button reading ‘I want to help improve Internet Explorer’. Uh, what? Am I going to be participating in some sort of beta testing group? At least the submit buttons are labeled ‘Install’ or ‘Don’t Install’.
Not surprisingly, Firefox has a simpler, clearer approach:
It’s encouraging me to upgrade, but there’s no question that the action I’m agreeing to is downloading a new version. In my opinion, Microsoft might have done something like this:
