Blog

The Little App Factory cleverly shows off its wares

2010-03-09T15:28:10Z

After buying MacHeist's latest nanoBundle and installing all of the great little apps that came with it, it was time to register. A lot.

RipIt, from The Little App Factory is software for ripping entire DVDs to your hard drive. And once installed they've devised a great way to get you to take a look at the other pieces of software that they develop.

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The writing is sincere and the the discount is pretty substantive. And best of all, it works. I immediately checked out the rest of their wares and am seriously considering purchasing one.

MacHeist gives to charity at your behest

2010-03-08T15:12:09Z

Every so often, MacHeist offers a great bundle of software at an extremely discounted rate. A portion of the proceeds funnels to them, some to the developers and some to charity.

I always find their site design really engaging. In the case of their nanoBundle 2 page, they have a huge amount of information to convey, but manage it so well you're never overwhelmed.

The form design is top notch; very clean and above all very clear. And I love that I can self select from a list of charities for my money to go to.

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There's two days left to get the deal, so what are you waiting for? Go get yourself some software on the cheap!

The Totally Rad Show gets 86'd

2010-02-25T19:38:17Z

The Totally Rad Show is a video podcast that's pretty much what would happen if you filmed me and my friends sitting around talking about movies, TV and videogames each week.

They're living every geek's dream; reviewing the things they love and reliving their childhood week to week. So it was fantastic when they decided to "go into the vaults" and pull out a fictional episode from 1986.

They riff on Short Circuit, Ghosts and Goblins and LA Law, three of my favourite things growing up. Their hairstyles and fashion sense are second only to the fantastic video editing to really make the entire show feel completely authentic. In short: totally gnarly to the max.

Heavy Rain transforms paper

2010-02-25T05:00:21Z

Heavy Rain is a new release for the PS3 that is more of an interactive movie than a game. A series of intersecting story lines reveal a pretty complex murder mystery. The "Origami Killer" leaves, as suspected, a piece of origami at every crime scene.

So I was thrilled when I went to install the game and it directed me to pull out a sheet of paper from the case and follow the onscreen instructions.

In a matter of minutes (ok, a lot longer than it should have taken...I stink at origami) this little guy appeared:

click to embiggenThe great because it's a good old fashioned piece of misdirection. You see, the PS3 requires an install of the game which takes about 10 minutes. Manual installs are a constant bone of contention within the gaming community. But by giving you something to do during the install process, you don't notice the time.

It also takes a major game element and puts it into a physical context. With a game bent on hyper-realism this is a great way pull you into the game before hitting a single button combination.

Tarantino is succinct for a change

2010-02-23T05:00:00Z

Fellow Toronto designer and art director, Ibraheem Youssef has created a wonderful set of minimalistic posters for a variety of Quentin Tarantino films.

Amongst the designs, one really stands out: Kill Bill.

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The eye instinctively hones in on the yellow dot and slowly the black circles surrounding it materialize. Is it a honeycomb? A kernel of corn stuck in a sieve? It's a bit of a mystery.

But when the pattern is combined with the movie title it clicks: The Bride in her yellow jumpsuit surrounded by the Crazy 88's.

Vimeo's login screen screams personality

2010-02-22T05:00:34Z

Vimeo has a great login screen that reinforces the community approach to video sharing that they're all about.

Depending on where you are in the site, you're either given a lightbox version (pictured below) or a very open, very vibrant full screen view. In both cases, the design really draws the user to the log in fields nicely, without the beauty and vibrancy of the imagery taking a backseat.

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As a nice added touch, the full screen version of the login page incorporates a whimsically floating cloud. As an even nicer touch it doesn't use Flash to do it.

Krop is number one in my book

2010-02-19T19:44:56Z

I've been using Krop for my online portfolio for a while now. Not only do they offer a quick and easy process for putting your work online, they have a variety of slick prefab designs to choose from. All this is great for us graphic designers who need to get their work up quickly, for any variety of reasons.

And unlike other online portfolio sites, you can pay by the month which is a much more attractive option.

Having just landed a new gig, I decided I should cancel my pro account, but unfortunately had a little trouble finding the option in my preferences. I emailed their support service and within minutes I recieved this back:

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It always makes me feel better about a company (and makes me more likely to recommend them) when I have proof that there are real human beings taking care of things. And their congratulations to me on my new job really put a smile on my face.

Finally, a tea you can jog with

2010-02-18T05:00:49Z

The other day, whilst buying some tea related swag for my honey, I decided to forgo my usual afternoon latte and venture into something less bean-based.

I ordered myself a tea. Not just any tea but a sweet, spicy, aromatic citrus blend from The Tea Emporium. The clerk measured out the appropriate amount of loose leaf tea, but instead of putting it some sort of steeping device, she poured it directly into my cup. I was perplexed.

Until I saw this clever little device:

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Now, tea on the go can be steeped directly in the cup you carry it in and enjoyed through the Filter Lid. Tea purists probably hate it, but it allowed me the pleasure of strolling The Danforth on an unseasonably warm February afternoon, gingerly sipping my delicious beverage.

WARNING: Fox in Socks!

2010-02-17T05:00:44Z

My little girl loves to use powers of cuteness to squeeze at least one extra book reading out of you ever night. Since one can only take so many read-throughs of the "Monkey Book" or, god-forbid, Backyardigans books, I ventured into the attic in search of new material.

I grabbed all the Dr. Seuss that I had from my childhood that looked like they were A) in good enough condition to read and B) short. Fox in Socks seemed to fit both bills.

I couldn't have been more wrong. The book may not be long but it's a killer of a tongue twister. Soon, I found myself up at 3am trying to recite such lovely verse as:

Who sees who sew whose new socks, sir?

You see Sue sew Sue's new socks, sir.

So now, whenever my daughter asks for Fox in Socks (or...ahem...a rather naughty toddler pronunciation of such), I always smile to myself when I see the intro page. I can't say I wasn't warned.

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Disney paints a pretty picture

2010-02-09T16:02:37Z

Paint swatches: I just love them. Maybe it's the art director in me, but there's something to mulling about, randomly pulling out the colour scales and wondering which ones would look best in your living room.

Thanks to Disney, they've instilled that same feeling in my toddler. And in such a simple way: every colour they offer in their Disney collection of paints comes on a Mickey Mouse shaped swatch.

click to embiggenThe iconic shape instantly reinforces the brand and names like "Princess Purple" and "Space Hero Blue" only make them more adorable. And they stick around. My daughter plays with them long after we bring them home, sorting them out into little piles or just sitting and looking at them. And we grab more of them each time we visit the Home Depot.

When the day comes that she gets to paint her room, I'm pretty sure I know where she'll want to start looking. All because of two little circles attached to one big one.