This turned out to be the history issue: A look back at people, products and ideas that shaped our craft and profession. From Eameses' films to the works of women pioneers & much more... And a note on events plus a shoutout to Adobe 🙌

Guess Who Made Computers The Design Tools They Are Today? Women — www.fastcodesign.com

At NID, I was a big admirer of-the-then new-age-designs of Zuzana Licko (a creative force powering the whacky digital fonts that Emigre—the magazine and foundry—became known for) and graphic designer April Greiman who pushed pixels to avant-garde status. This is a tribute to Licko, Greiman and Apple's iconic (pun intended) designer Susan Kare who influenced a generation of Designers and reshaped Design.

Charles and Ray Eames' Films Shine a Light on Their Design Philosophy — www.theparisreview.org

Today we increasingly rely on short films with user stories to 'sell' ideas/initiatives to stakeholders, users. Several decades ago the prolific Eameses made 125 films (when film making tech wasn't easy)—"just attempts to get across an idea". This is an interesting read on the work of Eameses and their legendary films in particular—some of which, like Powers of 10 (1977), was essential watching at NID. "The Eameses goal was to make the house a home, the chair a host, the film an understanding. The uncharacteristic looseness of House: After 5 Years of Living shows us the lifestyle they weren’t just marketing, but living themselves: a work-life balance of two equal parts..."

ffffound: A few words for the nearly departed — medium.com

2017 is the year we lost ffffound. Digital products often die premature deaths and ffffound was relatively young. Being a compulsive curator, I was one of it's early members (it was invite only - uncannnny similarities with dribbbble). ffffound "opened my eyes to a whole new way of using and building the web. Its bookmarklet was a milestone [...] Within a few years of ffffound’s launch, the web was teeming with services who’d picked up on its promise: Tumblr, Stumbleupon and Pinterest to name a few big ones"

Vintage Humanscale design manuals show nerdy beauty of ergonomics — www.curbed.com

Designing for human scale was the way until usability, usefulness and user-centricity in the #DesignInTech world overshadowed the hallowed profession of ergonomics. And delighted that "a classic design manual is being reintroduced to a new generation of creators via crowdfunding. But this time, the publishers believe they’re not just providing an inspiration, but also a valuable tool."

What does innovation sound like? For a century, typewriters chattered an evolving story

Some of my early memories feature an Olivetti typewriter my dad had (he is now more addicted to his mobile than many 20 somethings). This is a look back at the pre-PC era and an astounding audio narrative by Michael Winslow, tracing the "88 years of typewriter sounds, from 1895 to 1983, when the personal computer began rendering the world-changing machines obsolete. Beyond showcasing Winslow’s incredible capacity for impeccable vocal imitation, Uriarte’s film is a time capsule of forgotten, once ubiquitous sounds, and a uniquely creative exploration of the arcana of technological change."

Events

🔔 Adobe has graciously taken on the role of the Title Partner 🙌 for DesignUp Conference—a big shout out to them for supporting the growing Ux Design community in India.

🔔 DesignUp Super-Early-Birds (Talks+Workshops) sold out in hours, very few Student passes & All-Talks are left (at time of writing). We'll announce Early Birds next week (enjoy your 🇮🇳 Independence Day 🇮🇳 holiday without worrying about early-birds to catch!)

🔔 PreConf-event coming to Pune soon (early September), keep an eye out via our Facebook page

🔔 Delhi will also play host to Monochrome—"the first time ever some of the smartest UX/UI designers from the country are coming together to share experiences and the growth of design thinking in Indian products".

Since this is a history issue—over the last decade several Design conferences and events have evolved in Goa, Pune, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and more. Whereas many aren't Ux focused - the conversations on design thinking (and doing) in Indian digital product and services has only grown. Glad that PDF, UxIndia, Kyoorius, IxDA, UnBox, UxNow, ADI, LadiesWhoUx, and now Monochrome, continue growing that! Here's to more Design events, and applauding all organisers (its anything but easy)!

Long issue for a longish weekend...

Until next week,

@JDallcaps

PS: sharing an interesting and unusual role: Toy/Games Designer for Ekayana, involved in learning/teaching aids. Reach out to Ravi for more details!