I’ve recently completed a talk on the golden ratio and how it’s applied in web design.

This was held in FFC (Form Function & Class) mini-conference in Ortigas last October 30. Cheers to those who attended! For those who weren’t able to make it, don’t fret, my presentation slides are up for download below.

Phi: golden ratio on the web
PDF download (922kb)

I am an avid Ubuntu Linux user.

I love the OS and how it has an entire community working hard to make it better all throughout: from it’s inner workings, to the applications, to it’s user experience. However, in the aesthetics department, here are a few things I noticed in it’s development:

• Artists make far-fetched concepts which would require too much work to implement. Why make new icons when we have a comprehensive set made by the Tango project?

• Too much copying of other OS’s happens. We all love the OSX-inspired dock (I use AWN myself), but there’s no need to make it the default.

• Some concepts require too much of an overhaul of the system. Why do we need to make things that require, for example, an entirely new GTK engine?

• …And lastly, there are not enough good talents contributing to the development of the OS.

My proposed theme

Here’s my proposal to address the aesthetics problem. This is a small concept I’m working on, codenamed Dust. Here’s why I think this is a good idea:

• They’re baby steps. This, I think, can be implemented without too much extra work.

• No custom software. It uses the Aurora GTK engine which sports a very polished look. Also, it’s made with the Tango iconset in mind.

• It’s neutral. The window decorations are not orange or brown — they’re predominantly dark gray. This is good so that when you’re viewing images or working on visual things, the colors of the decorations don’t influence your perception of the content. I think this is a strong point of OSX. Let the wallpaper define the look, not the window controls.

• It uses the default two-panel configuration of GNOME. Not only is it proven functional, but people have been used to this and it would be awful to break their expectations.

Granted, this is a very quick work-in-progress shot (gotta get rid of that Vista-ish gloss), but my point is just that I’m just trying to put my foot forward and try to give a push to the development of new concepts. I hope this inspires someone.

If you like this theme, you can air out your comments here:
Dust Theme on wiki.ubuntu.com

For comparison, you can see the current state of Ubuntu 8.10’s theme at Phorolinux.

Philweavers, the long-standing organization for Filipino webdesigners, is now open to everyone for membership.

Starting in the web 1.0-era with a humble membership of less than 50, Philweavers today has grown to be the de-facto standard organization for Filipino webdesigners worldwide. Membership has always been closed; today, however, the group formally opens it’s registration to all Filipino enthusiasts, practitioners, amateurs and professionals in the web design industry.

It’s a shame they’ve closed their content site and replaced it with the forums. However, there are lots of interesting discussions happening that would be relevant to web professionals.

External link: Philweavers.net

I’ve updated Behance with some of my lesser-promoted web design work. More to follow soon!

Most creative warriors ought to know about Creative Commons by now: a set of licenses to let you release your creative outputs with open free-culture principles.

Still, a lot of Filipinos using CC licenses don’t realize that they’re using general-use unported licenses. There are now versions of CC licenses adapted to Philippine laws. You can see the ported licenses at the Creative Commons International – Philippines site.

On a related note, do check out Philippine Commons–a local movement advocating open content and free culture.

*Jozzua has recently posted the slides to my design basics presentation I recently made for the Internet Marketing Bootcamp.

While the presentation isn’t exactly as verbose as I’d want it to be (it was a short 15-minute talk), and the slides posted don’t have explanations or annotations, I hope it offers a modest insight into the basic web design process. Also, I obviously advocate grids a lot!

Check it out here:
8 basic steps to web design →
(jozzua.com)

Here’s the new redesigned Sunsilk bottle, in line with their new campaign.

Unilever recently launched the Sunsilk “Life Can’t Wait” campaign, which presumably aims to revitalize the Sunsilk brand and conquer new markets. Quoting Wikipedia:

The Life Can’t Wait campaign features three of the world’s most iconic women; Madonna, Shakira and Marilyn Monroe, who all symbolise the power of expression and making life happen. (…) the campaign showcases these universal icons and reveals significant and life-defining moments in their lives. (…)

Sunsilk is targeting 20 something girls across the world, giving them the opportunity to share with each other their own life stories fitting the Life Can’t Wait theme – of how they have thrown caution to the wind and taken a chance which resulted in a life changing experience!

Now, let’s distill this to a cliff-notes of the creative direction for this campaign. From the snippet above, we can say that the “Life Can’t Wait” campaign is about:

1. targeting young 20-something girls;
2. screaming out a bold message about “power of expression” and “making life happen;”
3. taking a personal approach with focus on an emotional marketing message.

Whoa, what a modern and energetic direction to take! Their new bottle, though, seems to steer off-course.

The good (sort of): the patterns

If there’s something in the packaging for me to say something positive about, it’s the use of trendy patterns clipped on the “S” shape. It helps in bringing the brand some character. One of the aspects that the campaign promotes is power of expression, and this is their answer to that.

However, these patterns today are cliche and dated at best. Good (enough) idea, but lackluster execution.

The bad: the typography

Have a look at the old logotype for comparison. That old “S” definitely brings a good feminine touch to the style, while the contrast in stroke widths bring out a nice overall elegance. These traits are perfect for a brand that positions itself to a market of young, hip women.

Now, have look at the new logo. This is definitely a step backwards: from slender and elegant, to stark and lifeless. On top of that, it also has absolutely no character, completely going against the creative direction to be expressive and vibrant.

The ugly: the what?

Oh, you know I’m going to say it. What on earth is that thing in the middle? It looks like a punctuation mark with an identity crisis–as if it can’t decide if it’s a question mark or an exclamation point. It’s an abstract shape masquerading as faux typography, the result is that it screams out to the eyes in a bad way,

Going down one more level of nit-picking, this is a horrible contrast between a sharp shape and a round circle. The “S” curve seems to be aiming to bring in an graceful, refined rhythm, but it’s too thick to do so.

Bonus: the lack of coherence

To top this failure off: this bottle, their TV commercial, and their campaign website (lifecantwait.com) have no coherence at all. The font styles used all jarringly differ. Their TVC aims for retro, the site aims for modern, and the bottle is lost somewhere in the middle. Even the campaign taglines aren’t used consistently.

Adobe Director (formerly Macromedia Director) is now back in full, CS3 glory.

But WHY? Why? Why revive something that has been dead for nearly half a decade? Director enjoyed it’s utility back when interactive CD’s were all the rage (circa 2000). In our current decade, however: it’s just a tired, decrepit piece of archaic technology that’s better off forgotten.

The new CS3 version includes DX9 3D support (well, Director’s always been able to handle 3D anyway), a physics engine (promising) and better support for Flash (so that, er.. you could do what you could’ve done in Flash, anyway). I’m not too excited about this feature set.

As for web, Shockwave has long been deprecated by Flash. As for desktop applications, Flash and AIR are miles ahead. So where’s Director’s niche?

Verdict: I don’t think Adobe is aiming for getting new people excited about Director here. The update is, in my opinion, just a simple move to keep old users afloat and to delay it’s complete demise.

(Source: Adobe; Ars technica)

It’s a sad day at Yahoo. As part of their 1000-employee layoff plan, the entire design innovation team has been layed off. I’m pretty sure this is related to Microsoft’s bid on Yahoo.

From what I know, Yahoo’s design innovation team has been responsible for the product development of some unique ideas at Yahoo. They had some really interesting data visualization projects, see them here:

• Traffic map (shown)
• FlickrLens
• Delicious DNA
• Trip map

[Links nabbed off Solsie.com]

I’ve recently inherited a case of insomnia. On the downside, I’m tired as hell, but on the other hand I get an excuse to do more things like these.

Sleep issues aside: check out Jared (J3concepts)’s blog @ Electrichoneyhornetmitten. Aside from his brilliant illustrations, his blog hosts a collection of electronic music up for listening/downloading. I personally endorse his picks, this fella’s got taste.

We’re putting together an Internet marketing seminar and you’re invited.

First off all, I apologize for the blogging silence; I’ve had my hands full for the past few months. But that’s not to say I’m out of touch with the design community, actually one of the ventures I’m responsible for now is a small seminar, with one of the topics being web design.

We’ve put together the Internet Marketing Bootcamp: a series of half-day Saturday seminars as an open-to-all crash course on Internet marketing. I’m speaking on the web design segment, so if you’re interested please head on over to the site and request for a free invite (you can say you got there from my blog ).

More info and press release after the break.

The Internet Marketing Bootcamp: Learn the Industry Trends

In recent years, the Internet has become a potent tool for selling products or services. It has also opened employment and income-generating opportunities to many Filipinos. So much so, Internet marketing has become the latest buzzword in the online sphere.

A series of seminars aims at sharing basic information on the creative and technical aspects of Internet Marketing. The “Internet Marketing Bootcamp” will run for six consecutive weeks from January 26 to March 1, 2008. Each session will be held from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at RCC Center, Shaw Boulevard, Pasig City.

Some of the country’s Internet Marketing luminaries from U.S. Auto Parts Philippines (USAP) will discuss the key concepts and strategies on this emerging field:

• Michael Joseph Villar, USAP Affiliate Marketing Manager, will give a crash course on performance-based marketing, how companies and individuals can benefit from it, as well as the challenges confronting affiliate marketing.

• Email Marketing Manager Alvin Jimenez will present the email marketing campaigns and their relevance.

• Rico Sta. Cruz, USAP Creative Director, will discuss the essential principles in Web design and how to apply them to the Web.

• Copy Editing Supervisor Jennelyn Tabora will talk about online copywriting and its crucial role in attracting and building readership.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Project Managers Gabriel Libacao Jr. and Rhiza Sanchez will explain the basics of search engine marketing and how to convert visitors into sales and profits.

• Senior Web Analytics Specialist Maia Nuguid will discuss how Web analytics can help in assessing Internet marketing strategies.

• Marc Hil Macalua, USAP Vice President for Marketing, will give the inspirational speech. Web Project Manager Elymar Apao will facilitate the Bootcamp sessions.

The Bootcamp is sponsored by the U.S. Auto Parts Network, the premier warehouse of auto replacement and performance part brands in the United States. One of the leading players in the Internet retailing industry, U.S. Auto Parts ranks among the top 100 online retailers in the United States in 2007.

The Bootcamp is open for all professional bloggers, Internet marketing enthusiasts, or anyone who has a background in Internet marketing. Interested persons may send their updated resumés at elymar@usautoparts.net or glibacao@mbsautomotive.com. Qualified applicants will be informed via a confirmation email.

Participants are encouraged to bring their resumes as a Job Fair will closely follow each seminar.

For further details, please visit the following sites:

• US Auto Parts Internet Marketing Bootcamp (http://www.usautoparts.com.ph/imb/)
• US Auto Parts Official Website (http://www.usautoparts.com.ph/)

Contact Persons:

Elymar Apao
elymar@usautoparts.net

Gabriel Libacao Jr.
glibacao@mbsautomotive.com

Happy new year! See you 2008.

Salut to everyone I ran into at the Lomo Manila event (Oct 26 @ Team Manila offices, Makati). Aaron (AR/DP) has some pics posted on his multiply site. (though unfortunately none of me!)

(Image unrelated)

Getting ready for bigger things. By the way, got twitter? Random updates over at twitter.com/aescnt

Adobe™ Photoshop® has a new logo.

Now, it’s a nice approach, marketing-wise, that they’re expanding Photoshop from the single piece of software it used to be, to be a range of products that would cater to different markets. (For those who don’t realize it yet, so far there’s Photoshop CS3, Photoshop Extended, Photoshop Elements, and Photoshop Lightroom).

But from a technological perspective, I don’t like where Photoshop is headed. Photoshop online edition? The inevitable bloat per version iteration? Now, a new cliché-rific logo? Photoshop needs some serious competition.

Just about most professional software out there has at least two key players out there. 3D modeling/rendering? Max, Lightwave, Maya, XSI. Digital audio workstation? Pro Tools, Live, Cubase, Cakewalk. Now… 2D image editing? Paint Shop Pro’s nowhere close, GIMP is a joke and so are Pixel and Krita. Someone needs to step up, make the image editing software market a free market, so Adobe won’t have a monopoly-like control to come up with junk like this—including their lifeless, generic, glossy logo.

(Salut to AJ of ajb{log} for the heads up.)

(O, good song and video by the way)