Journal

The Survey for People Who Make Websites 2009

Dec 16 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | Add a Comment

A List Apart's third annual survey:

For the third year in a row, good citizens of the web, we ask that you take a few minutes to tell us about your professional skills, educational background, career prospects, job benefits, and more.

ISOC-NY monthly meeting

Aug 13 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | Add a Comment

ISOC-NY's August monthly meeting will take place tomorrow, 14 August 2008, at NYU.

Date: Thursday, 14 Aug 2008
Time: 7:00 pm–9:00 pm
Location: Room 317, 251 Mercer Street NYC (SW corner of West 4th)
Note: Use the entrance on the west side since construction blocks the Mercer Street entrance. Must bring photo ID.

Agenda

• Meet new members. We expect and welcome new faces!
• By-laws reform. Progress report from Joseph Shraibman.
• Planning future meetings and events. Good news is we have just received a sizable grant from ISOC-NY for our Fall program.
• ISXubuntu Linux project progress report. News from our trusty coders.
• OneWebDay planning progress report. Washington Square Sep 22 event taking shape.
• NYC Broadband. Discussion of new report from from the Mayor's office.
• ICANN. We have been accepted as an at-large structure.
• Status of Connecting .NYC. An update from Tom Lowenhaupt.
• Web standards. How can we make our own site more W3C compliant?

Jeffrey Barke is senior developer and information architect at theMechanism, a multimedia firm with offices in New York, London and Durban, South Africa.

The survey for people who make websites 2008

Jul 29 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | Add a Comment

A List Apart's second annual survey:

Calling all designers, developers, information architects, project managers, writers, editors, marketers, and everyone else who makes websites. It is time once again to pool our information so as to begin sketching a true picture of the way our profession is practiced worldwide.

ISOC-NY monthly meeting

Jul 17 | Posted by Jeffrey Barke | Add a Comment

ISOC-NY's July monthly meeting will take place tonight, 17 July 2008, at NYU.

Date: Thursday, 17 Jul 2008
Time: 7:00 pm–9:00 pm
Location: Room 317, 251 Mercer Street NYC (SW corner of West 4th)
Note: Use the entrance on the west side since construction blocks the Mercer Street entrance. Must bring photo ID.

Agenda

• Meet new members. We expect and welcome new faces!
• By-laws reform. Needed but a drudge! How can we set about it?
• Planning future meetings and events. Good news is we have just received a sizable grant from ISOC-NY for our Fall program.
• ISXubuntu Linux project progress report. News from our trusty coders.
• OneWebDay planning progress report. Washington Square Sep 22 event taking shape
• Access advocacy program. Just an idea at present—the city needs some kind of central resource for those with connection difficulties.
• ICANN. Tom Lowenhaupt will report on his experiences at the ICANN Paris meet in June.
• Web standards. How can we make our own & OneWebDay sites W3C compliant?

Jeffrey Barke is senior developer and information architect at theMechanism, a multimedia firm with offices in New York, London and Durban, South Africa.

Paul Rand interviewed in 1991

Jul 12 | Posted by Dave Fletcher | Add a Comment

I used to live near Pratt Institute, on Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn. One of the many great graphic artists and designers that attended Pratt was Paul Rand (back in 1929). For those of you that don’t know the name (shame on you), Paul Rand (August 15, 1914 – November 26, 1996) was an American graphic designer, best known for his corporate logo designs, helping to originate the Swiss Style of graphic design, and keen thinking and curmudgeonly attitude about our profession.

I stumbled on a 1991 interview with Rand conducted by Miggs B, producer/host of “Miggs B On TV,” a public access TV show in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3 of the interview features an idiot known as “Art Mann,” – a bit of a ghoul – and obviously a bi-product of early 90’s baboonery. Rand doesn’t fully grasp the intended humor of a segment where Art claims that Westinghouse came to him to simplify their logo (one of Rand’s logo designs), which added uncomfortability to the hearty porridge of nonsense that was being served up to Rand in heaping spoonfuls.

Part 3

However out of date the interview segment is, it is full of great nuggets from one of the “design greats.” One of Rand’s quotes that particularly impressed me was, “A good logo is meaningless until it is used.” Good food for thought, indeed.

Dave Fletcher is a Founder and Creative Director at theMechanism, a multi-disciplinary design agency with offices in New York, London and Durban, South Africa.