Singapore Web Designer - P16:3 Interactive

What is a Browser? Do you know?

Dinu — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:23:46 +800

The Browser is a Search Engine

Random people were asked the question "what is a browser?" and you'll be surprised at the answers most of them gave. Maybe it's an American thing? Almost everyone I meet here in Singapore knows what a browser is.

The Bing Bang and it Killing Google

Dinu — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +800

The Bing

Bing launched with a bang, just like any other product from The Corporates would. Bing wants to be the Google killer. The problem with a bang though, is that the noise is gone after the initial...well...bang.

Google came onto the scene as a best kept secret. I still remember my high school classmate telling me to try a search engine called Google because it was much faster than the rest. We were on dial-up then, and speed mattered.

In this digital age, big bangs that combust with huge marketing budgets don't succeed that often. That's not to say that marketing is not necessary. It means that marketing has moved onto the new world. Most corporate marketers haven't though.

Amazing Stop Motion Animation Videos

Dinu — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +800

Break Time!

Deadline:
Post-Its

This video is porn for colored Post It addicts. Seems like a lot of hard work went into putting this one together. Just how much hard work you ask? 3 months planning, 4 days shooting, and 6000+ Post Its.

Chalkboard

An animated music video from an indie band called FireKites. Brilliantly done. The erase marks left behind (intentionally methinks) adds to the awesomeness.

Ironman
vs
Bruce Lee

This video is from the amzing mind of the creator of the Batman vs The Joker YouTube Game, Patrick Boivin. The Ironman battles to the death with the mighty Bruce Lee:

Western Spaghetti

From the talent over at PES Film...

Game Over

Summer Nights

Yearning to remember a younger John Travolta.....

IE6, The Ugly Cousin of IE8

Dinu — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +800

This cartoon by John Martz is what appears for IE6 users on his website Momentile.com. Pretty darn hilarious if you ask me. Find out more at Johnny's blogpost.

The Greatest Microsoft TV Commercials of All Time

Dinu — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 02:13:17 +800

The Best of the Best form the Creative Minds at M$

MS DOS

I love this ad more than I love MS-DOS (no PC should be without it). Microsoft is hip. Microsoft is funky. Microsoft is cutting edge. Look see.

Windows 1.0

MS-DOS was however given a make-over when the ground-breaking Windows OS came out. Who else better suited to introduce it than the vivacious Mr. Balmer himself.

Windows 386

If you are willing to waste 12 minutes of your life have a look at this short film that is a prequel to Tom Cruise's MI movies. This video has been shortened to make it slightly more palatable. If you are enough of a loser to want to watch the whole video, head over here

Windows 3.1

Here's another Microsoft commercial that's a bit more on the freaky/horror movie side. It does show the reactions of that age correctly though. Companies were so proud to be having Windows on their PCs.

3.1 Japanese

This commercial is from Japan. But if you don't understand Japanese it's still ok, because 90% of the script is in English. It's indescribable.

Windows 95

How better to introduce multi-tasking than to show four colored squares doing random things at the same time. The brilliance of the marketing pundits at M$ never ceases to amaze.

Windows XP

After the astounding success of the Win 3.1 commercial, Mr. Balmer returns to sell Windows XP. Awesomeness.

Windows Vista

This commercial gets funnier as the years go by, as Vista's astounding non-success becomes more and more apparent.

The iPod Killer

Last but not least, the talented Mr. Balmer stars in a commercial for the iPod killer that is the Zune. You might recognize his signature dance routine from his conference talks.

If you liked this you will probably like these as well:

Next Week

More Steve Balmer......

If I Die Today, I have Lived

Dinu — Fri, 29 May 2009 11:03:47 +800

Friday Link Roundup: Typekit, Dilbert, Treehouses, etc.

Dinu — Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 +800

This week's link roundup

#1

Typekit - Font Licensing

This is a site that's truly on the cutting edge of web design. As browsers set to take on linkable fonts, the main problem has been licensing. Typekit is here to solve that.

#2

Dilbert on User Experience

Here's a collection of the best Dilbert comics on user experience. You can also get the animated podcast from RingTales.com

#3

Yellow Tree House (NZ)

Amazing bit of architecture in this Yellow Pages campaign to show that they can help you do anything, even build a treehouse 10 meters up a redwood tree.

#4

Wardrobe Outsourcing

This guy is serious. He will wear your t-shirt for a day. His calendar for May is almost fully booked. Budget advertising anyone?

#5

The Winged Horseman

Some eye candy with artist Klaud Wasiak's concept for a Dakar Rally car inspired by the Hussars.

Vendor/Client Relationships and Douchebag Clients

Dinu — Wed, 27 May 2009 22:49:34 +800

Client Primer

This video should probably be included in all initial emails with prospective clients.

The Funkiest Request for Proposal I've Ever Seen

Dinu — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:28:13 +800

RFP Fail

Ever wanted to work with a cool client? Ever wanted to get your freak on and push the envelop and go beyond your imagination in web design?

The BoysInBlues is the client for you. Question is, can you handle him?

Some of the Worst TV Commercials of All Time

Dinu — Mon, 25 May 2009 07:12:20 +800

The Baddest TV Commercials of them All

Montgomery Flea Market

I am literally speechless after watching this one. It's so awesome that it has it's own wikipedia page and instigated rapper/flea market owner Sammy Stephens rise to fame.

Pontiac Stinger

This ad might be the reason this funky 89 Pontiac Stinger concept car has so many haters.

KFC

The early 90's saw some pretty bad advertising come out of it. However, this just might have been the cream of the crop. Watch out for the sound effect towards the middle of the clip as the chicken starts to drop.

McDonalds

You will appreciate the previous KFC ad when you look at this early McDonald's TV commercial.

The Finale

Now cure the trauma the previous ads caused by watching this soothing video of a drive through the country.

Next Week

The best Microsoft commercials of all time

Creative Wednesday: The Matrix in Kinetic Typography

Dinu — Wed, 20 May 2009 00:00:00 +800

Friday Link Roundup: Twitter, Energy, Web Apps, Wars and the Milky Way

Dinu — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:07:29 +800

This week's link roundup

#1

Twitter's Business Model

Twitter takes a new approach to monetizing by ruling out ads and working on useful tools for users. I'm guessing they're working on a collection of tools which would replace those 3rd party ones.

#2

55 Ways to Boost Your Energy

If you're like me you tend to burn out from time to time. This post on ZenHabits.net gives some very useful tips on retaining your energy level so that you can improve productivity and your quality of life simultaneously.

#3

Launch a Business, not a Side Project

Ryan Carson challenges the idea brought around by 37Signals that you should launch a product as a side project and let it grow. Insighful read if you are working on side projects at the moment.

#4

Anti-American History Channel Ads

Here's some anti-American ads created for the History channel in South Africa by Ogilvy.

#5

Time Lapse Photography of the Galactic Core of the Milky Way

Watch in awe at this gorgeous video compilation of shots taken every 20 seconds for nine hours at a star party in Fort Davis, Texas

Information Architects JP: Final Beta of Web Trends Map 4

Dinu — Mon, 18 May 2009 04:41:39 +800

Web Trends

Following the success of last year's Web Trends Map, the aweosme guys at Information Architects have release the final beta for Web Trends Map 4. I'm thinking this would look nice on my office wall.

Previous maps:

Gary Vaynerchuck Handles Criticism and Kills It

Dinu — Mon, 18 May 2009 02:03:09 +800

Criticism

Gary Vaynerchuck walks the talk again as he shows how to turn a haters into lovers in the digital age. Moral of the story: Don't run away from your criticisms. Take them head on.

The Business Card that took 25 Years to Design

Dinu — Mon, 18 May 2009 00:00:00 +800

Infotainer

There probably isn't a designer blog or designer twit that didn't mention the master business card designer/infotainer(whatever that is) Joel Bauer in the last few weeks. Even the Time Magazine ran a piece on him.

"It doesn't fit in a Rolodex because it doesn't BELONG in a Rolodex!"

No Sir. It definetely doesn't belong in a Rolodex. Enjoy!!!

Creative Wednesday: Evolution of Website Designs and OS GUIs

Dinu — Fri, 15 May 2009 20:05:29 +800

The Blessing of Hindsight

#1

The Ghost of Apple Websites Past

David Appleyard at Appstorm dives into the internet archives to bring us the evolution of the mighty Apple website from 1997 - present. After the first design which was markedly "corporate", Apple shifted to a simpler design and maintained consistency for more than 10 years.

#2

How the DevDays Website was Born

Mike Kus graciously shares with us the process that he went through to create the DevDays site. It is quire an interesting thing to peek inside the mind of another design as he's working, and this is a rare opportunity to do just that.

#3

How the Latest VisitMix.com site design was born

Another wonderful opporunity to look at the design process of another designer as Nishant Kothary shares his design process for visitmix.com.

#4

Tweking the Highrise Contacts Screen

The newest designer at 37Signals shares the process that he went through to improve the design and usability of the contacts page of their hot application Highrise.

#5

The Evolution of OS GUIs over 30 Years

From website design to OS GUIs, this post at WebdesignerDepot showcases a variety of OS GUIs from 1998 to 2009. The post itself is not quite comprehensive, but most of the pages it links to contain very details screenshots.

Talk Tuesday: Off the Beaten Path to Building Web Apps

Dinu — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:03:18 +800

Unconventional

This talk is from the 2008 Business of Software conference. Jason Fried from 37Signals gives an insight into how they work. As usual, he brings forth some very unconventional ideas which sets your mind thinking. Some people, maybe most, would disagree with some points. But I actually get him (at least on most points).

He says working remotely is more productive than working together on location. He also says that 37Signals doesn't spend time planning a product, or creating wireframes, specs and user personas. They just dive straight in armed only with a "brief story(2 paras)" and take it from there.

Size Does Matter

Jason agrees with Seth Godin on the fact that bigger is not always better. There is an optimal size for each company. You should find it, and stay within it.

The same goes to products. You don't have to solve a big problem to make money. There's a lot of money to be made in solving simple problems. E.g. PostIt notes. More features on a product doesn't to quote:

None of the stuff is that hard. Anyone can build a project management tool. What differentiates your product is what actually goes on the wall. What are the museum pieces in your product? You have to be an editor and a curator. You have to say "no" to more things than you say "yes" to. That's what really separates every company.

Productivity

37Signals has 4 day work weeks. Friday is work. As a result, they are more productive and get more work done. The logic behind it is that when you have more time to do things, you spread things out. Less time means you prioritize more effectively and cut out the unnecessary stuff.

Something that has to be done on Friday at 4 o'clock doesn't really have to be done on Friday at 4 o'clock. It might as well be done on Monday. The idea that you are having a productive day on Friday in the afternoon is just BS.

Totally agree with that. Something I'm going to try out next week.

Internet Marketing and the Real World. How Not to Fail

Dinu — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:37:29 +800

Twit! Twit!

#sgTweetUp

The internet is full of scum like spammers, phishers, and MLM people. What happens when that spills over into the real world?

Someone thought they had a brilliant idea. Organize an event on Facebook, for Twitter users in Singapore. Call it #sgtweetup. Tweeple would love to meet up as people, so lot's of people will come. However, when they come, spam them with shameless plugs of your new product launch.

As you would probably expect, people were pissed, and Twittersphere and the Blogoshere were both overflowing with negative posts.

Know Your Medium

Before delving into social media, you should understand what it's about. You're dealing with a very vocal, opinionated community of real people. You give them a wrong impression and they will blog about you, tweet about you, tumble about you, flickr about you, or even form a Facebook hategroup against you. The whole world will know. A vocal minority has a much greater impact than a passive majority.

What if the organizers were transparent from the beginning? What if they advertised the event as Singapore's first tweetup organized/sponsered by their product? They would actually be praised for taking the initiative and organizing such a wonderful event.

Transparency gives you street cred in the world of social media.

Image By BubbleFriends

Creative Wednesday: The Perfect Girl in Typography

Dinu — Wed, 13 May 2009 00:00:00 +800

�

Pretty interesting typography work done by set to a dialogue from "The Wedding Crashers". For more video awesomeness chekout the creator Brian Cain.

Talk Tuesday: Seth Godin on the Importance of Tribes

Dinu — Tue, 12 May 2009 04:27:41 +800

�

Mass marketing requires an average product and plenty of ads. Tribes, on the other hand do the marketing for you.

Singapore Web Designer - P16:3 Interactive

What is a Browser? Do you know?

The Browser is a Search Engine

The Bing Bang and it Killing Google

The Bing

Amazing Stop Motion Animation Videos

Deadline:Post-Its

Chalkboard

IronmanvsBruce Lee

Western Spaghetti

Game Over

Summer Nights

IE6, The Ugly Cousin of IE8

The Greatest Microsoft TV Commercials of All Time

MS DOS

Windows 1.0

Windows 386

Windows 3.1

3.1 Japanese

Windows 95

Windows XP

Windows Vista

The iPod Killer

Previous Posts

Next Week

If I Die Today, I have Lived

Friday Link Roundup: Typekit, Dilbert, Treehouses, etc.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Vendor/Client Relationships and Douchebag Clients

Client Primer

The Funkiest Request for Proposal I've Ever Seen

RFP Fail

Some of the Worst TV Commercials of All Time

Montgomery Flea Market

Pontiac Stinger

KFC

McDonalds

The Finale

Next Week

Creative Wednesday: The Matrix in Kinetic Typography

Friday Link Roundup: Twitter, Energy, Web Apps, Wars and the Milky Way

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Information Architects JP: Final Beta of Web Trends Map 4

Web Trends

Gary Vaynerchuck Handles Criticism and Kills It

Criticism

The Business Card that took 25 Years to Design

Infotainer

Creative Wednesday: Evolution of Website Designs and OS GUIs

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

Talk Tuesday: Off the Beaten Path to Building Web Apps

Unconventional

Size Does Matter

Productivity

Internet Marketing and the Real World. How Not to Fail

#sgTweetUp

Know Your Medium

Creative Wednesday: The Perfect Girl in Typography

Talk Tuesday: Seth Godin on the Importance of Tribes

Deadline:
Post-Its

Ironman
vs
Bruce Lee