Blog

Adobe Launches CS4 Suite of Applications

· Michael Angeles

Ars rounds up the new features in the forthcoming release of the Adobe CS4 suite to be released sometime next month. I think I'll have to upgrade for the multipage docs in Illustrator alone.

Photoshop CS4

* GPU-based drawing of documents onscreen
* 64-bit for Windows
* Expanded 3-D paint, lighting and rendering tools

Illustrator CS4

* Multipage documents with different sizes
* Indesign-style separations preview
* Many updated tools like gradient and blob brush

Indesign CS4

* Live Preflighting
* Easy Flash document creation
* Smart guides and spacing tools

Flash CS4

* Powerful Animation presets
* H.264 encoding
* Expanded 3-D transformation and object support with inverse kinematics and bones

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080923-adobe-launches-cs4-suite-of-applications.html

NO!SPEC vs. crowdSPRING Debate at 37signals

· Michael Angeles

37 signals gave the soapbox to crowdSPRING to justify the crowdsourcing and spec work platform and the debate ensued. I got through about half of the long rant, then half of the comments, and called it a day.

I've already chimed in about my opinion for crowdSPRING. I believe there is a place for this market, and if small businesses will support it with dollars, then it will continue to exist. As a lot of designers commented, market places like this don't threaten them. Someone going to crowdSPRING doesn't really expect depth of experience for what they pay. Like it or not, this marketplace appears to be thriving and a good number of designers of varying levels of experience are participating, much to the disappointment of AIGA. Nevertheless, the debate rages on.

http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1253-the-nospec-campaign-vs-crowdspring

Study of User Response to Fake Dialogs

· Michael Angeles

Ars reports on a study by the psychology department at NC State that will appear in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. The study tested how college students respond to fake dialog boxes in browser popup windows and found that the students are so anxious to get the dialog out of the way, they click right through obvious warning signs.

Follow-up questions revealed that the students seemed to find any dialog box a distraction from their assigned task; nearly half said that all they cared about was getting rid of these dialogs. The results suggest that a familiarity with Windows dialogs have bred a degree of contempt and that users simply don't care what the boxes say anymore.

The authors suggest that user training might help more people recognize the risks involved with fake popups and the diagnostic signs of genuine Windows dialogs, but the fact that the students didn't appear to spend any more time evaluating the fake dialogs raises questions as to whether education is enough.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080923-study-confirms-users-are-idiots.html

Announcing the Konigi Store

· Michael Angeles

I'm pleased to announce the first of a series of products that I'm producing for creatives involved in design for the screen. The first 2 products are graph paper notepads formatted for user interface design and design of time-related sequences.

The Wireframe Graph Paper Notepad is made for visual designers, interaction designers, and information architects designing for the screen. The notepad has 50 sheets at 8 1/2 x 11 inches on white 70# paper, glued on the left side. The ink is a non-photo blue (cyan) so that the grid lines and any sketch lines made in non-photo blue pencil can be knocked out when scanned and processed in graphics software.

The Storyboard Notepad is made for creatives who think about interactions over time, whether doing user interface or interaction design or planning video, film, and animation sequences. The notepad has 50 sheets at 8 1/2×11 inches on white 70# paper, glued on the left side. The ink is a non-photo blue (cyan).

You can find out more about these products at //konigi.com/store. Due to several large advanced orders supplies are limited.

I welcome your feedback!

//konigi.com/store