Lux Aeterna, György Ligeti. Part of the Music Pioneers Series.

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Isaac Newton spoke of having stood on the shoulders of giants. Richard Feynman tried to stand on his own.

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As the title suggests, Ordering Disorder talks about how grids can make you a more efficient and well tuned web designer. Using a grid system as part of your regular design process is immensely powerful and Khoi breaks down the process of grid setup and theory behind it. Ordering Disorder is well written and engaging.

One criticism is that he skipped over the use of fluid grids in his approach even though he does mention it in passing. Given that 'responsive design' seems to be the order of the day, I find this puzzling. Also, some may find his examples a little too specific to one design style.

In the end though, Khoi no doubt has a skill for passing on his passion for a subject that could otherwise be dry and brings it alive for the uninitiated. He also shows how important grids are in any design process.

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I had heard Bach through my dad, so recognised the piece that was playing. It was Bach's Goldberg Variations and it was played by Glenn Gould. I was fascinated and had to find out more.

A documentary was released last year called "Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould'' that went some way to explaining the man behind the myth yet it was the 1992 film, "A Short Film about Glenn Gould" that really got me interested. It was an original and highly arty film about his life, but offered glimpses of why he was and still is so magnetic as a performer.

Gould was confident as a child and knew that he would be great. He was an original and unpredictable pianist and a unique thinker.  He played the full gamut of the classical repertoire, but Bach was his first love and which made his name. Although it wasn't standard in the repertoire in the 50s, he recorded a disc of Goldberg Variations, which made him a star.

Internationally famous and loved by his audience, one day, he dropped out of public view. A brave decision, but one that let him concentrate on becoming a recording artist. This was true to form; a completely individualistic statement.

Gould was more than a pianist, he was foremost a communicator. He was fascinated by the possibilities of communication and media and pushed the boundaries of modern recording.

He is one of those pianists or indeed classical musicians here I get a sense of heightened emotion from his playing that I rarely get with other musicians.

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This British public information series from the early 80s on how to survive a nuclear attack gave me nightmares as a child. Everytime I see the end graphics, I feel uneasy. Still, this is a classic of government sponsored design.

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Although I'm not the most frequent of bloggers, I have decided to take a break from posting anything for the indefinite future due to babies and too many work commitments. 

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Artist: Frank Sinatra
Designer: Saul Bass
Year: 1956

This album cover was in contrast to much of Sinatra's earlier album covers which had his face beaming out. Maybe as this was somewhat of a ego boosting project of Sinatra's, conducting a 60 person orchestra with songs om 8 top composers of the day. He must have had free reign after his success, letting himself get Saul Bass, at the top of his game, to design the cover.

It is distinctly a Bass design, geometric blocks of colour, it emphasises the playful and cool manner of the compositions inside, but also hints at the the modernist angle that Sinatra was trying to reach for. Beautifully simple and balanced.

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Design and illustration: Hvass&Hannibal in cooperation from Kasper and UFEX
Year: 2007

Hypnotic and amusing illustration from the Danish design and illustration duo Nan Na Hvass and Sofie Hannibal, long time collaborators with this unique band. Watch the wonderful video for Efterklang's song Mirador, which builds on this illustration.

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I wanted to see how a subtle colour change can effect the choices of users. I tried a simple experiment on the homepage of www.deliciouslycreative.com over a month and a half period.

On my homepage, I have a 'Get a Quote' button. I created a blue and orange version.

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Now I expected to find that I had a greater conversion rate with the orange version, simply because it is a brighter colour, yet I found that the blue version had double the conversion rate. This is a huge difference.

I do understand that this test is not a 100% conclusive, but it does give some clues as to how subtle changes can make a difference and effect your website performance.

The ever great UX Booth has a good primer, How to Increase Site Performance Through A/B Split Testing.

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I think these are brilliant pieces of 'graffiti/guerilla art', whatever you want to call it. Princess Hijab who works in Paris is the founder of a movement called 'hijabism', where the artist graffitis a veil over consumer and iconic poster images around the city.

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Artist: Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose
Design: Kellerhouse
Year: 2010

Along with a classic poster design, this cover is beautifully simple and haunting. It evokes the isolation and loneliness of Facebook's 'creator' and makes you want to delve into what's inside.

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Very spooky but strangely beautiful and sad at the same time. No information on how this cover was conceived or designed.

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Kaizen (Japanese for "improvement" or "change for the better") refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, supporting business processes, and management. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen

I have used it recently when reviewing a finished website. I wanted to see if there were any possible issues with a sign up form on the site. I tried to identify any problems with the page and then tested different solutions with A/B testing. Many issues arise from there simply being to much visual clutter on a page, so cutting back on the amount of questions and inputs for the the user to fill in solved any potential problems.

I know it has become a trendy buzword, but there is no doubt it is an efficient philosophy to work by.

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THIN, transparent, waterproof wrappers for covering packages intended for gifts may be easily and cheaply made at home, giving a truly cosmopolitan appearance to gifts. A thin, liquid celluloid is made by dissolving strips of clear celluloid in either ether and alcohol or amyl acetate. Coloring matter may be added at this stage if desired to increase its attractiveness. (1930)

From Modern Mechanix

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So when I need something to inspire me, I quickly scan the pages of two magazines in particular; Wallpaper and WAD. These are not exclusively 'design' magazines but could be described as 'culture and lifestyle' magazines, in that they comment on a wide range of interests.

It is refreshing and inspiring to see what architects, fashion and furniture designers are doing. This range of different forms of expression can really influence what I'm designing for the better and lead me away from just designing a 'website', and hopefully imbue it with something  a little bit different.

WAD is published in French and English and its editorial style is very quirky in contrast to Wallpaper's more serious tone.The photography in both is simply stunning.

There a few other things I do to get inspired, like listening to certain types of music for different sorts of projects and sketching for awhile, but these magazines have kick started my ideas many times.

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Apeloig is one of my all time graphic design icons. His compostions are sometimes stripped down, and built purely on type. At other times he really pushes the tension on the page to the limit, with a true artist's eye for colour.

This makes his work deceptively simple, but there is so much wit and feeling behind every design he does. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea, but there is no doubt that he has a unique vision.

http://www.apeloig.com/

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It comes in a comprehensive range of weights and styles. The Serif and Sans have a warmth and character that make it stand out and is also highly readable. It isn't cheap though and for those on a tight budget, purchasing the Serif first may be a good option if you need something that will work across many projects.

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I love opening film titles. Up In The Air is one of my favourite. It's geometric and playful. Makes the landscape below look abstract but oddly beautiful and ties in with the film wonderfully. Shadowplay Studio were the people behind it and you can watch it here.

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I've taken a cross section of sites that I've developed (no sites dealing with IT or web) and worked out the percentage of browser usage over a three month period.

1. Firefox: 31%
2. IE8: 26%
3. IE7: 12.5%
4. IE6: 11%
5. Chrome: 10.5%
6. Safari: 9%

As you see, most users are using Firefox and IE8 and being secure, fast modern browsers, this is great news for both developers and users.

Unfortunately, the man made virus that is Internet Explorer 6 is still hanging around with a good 11%, so not enough to completely ignore it for now.

The good news is that IE9 is just around the corner, and that will hopefully further erode IE6 and IE7's share. Whether businesses will wake up, begin upgrading and start dumping wretched IE6 is another matter.

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