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A reader of this blog suggested I take on Jakob
Nielsen to practice my drawing skills. Instead of waiting another two years
before using a pencil again I decided it’s a good thing to draw more frequently
(additionally, it really proves relaxing). Besides, Nielsen really is a joy
for any cartoonist — the man is almost a caricature in real life.

As opposed to last time I had enough material to work with. Nielsen’s
assortment of pressphoto’s
was definitively useful in this case (or should I say usable?) This illustration is a reply to Herasimchuk — seems like he has a new fan. I depicted Nielsen
as I would like to see him — and I’m sure many designers will agree. Show
the love brother, show the love… Do not be afraid, we will not bite. Back to work kids!

This afternoon I needed a brake from all things university. I decided to leave
the digital world for what it is, momentarily, of course. The last time I seriously
used a pencil and a sheet of paper must have been more than two years ago —
shame on me! So today I decided it was time to pick up that pencil again and
what better than to immortalize my new found favorite guru: Andrei
Herasimchuk.

I’ve never actually met Andrei in person, and all I had were the
photographs on his website. Apart from the limited resources I really need
some more practice drawing. Yes, I know his head is huge — that’s
the whole point, from a stylistic point of view that is, of course. I’m
not much of a “one stroke” cartoonist (if I can call myself one),
as you can probably see. So, are there going to be any future editions? Well,
that’s not sure. First I need to seriously practice! But I had fun either
way.

Introduction

Before I go on with this first post let me quickly introduce you to this new
weekly section on SB entitled FAST. I have a passion for cars, especially fast
cars. Nevertheless it’s not all about facts and figures — I especially
value the design of a car. FAST will present you with an exotic car every week (price and exclusivity are not the only criteria). The good thing: you can contact
me and make suggestions, or send in your own short review.

You can be sure to find the stylish Italians, the classic British, the big
Americans, the powerful Germans and the fast Japanese, but there’s also
those rare and unique vehicles from all over the world. FAST will mainly review
the design of the car, with a quick overview of the most important facts and
figures related to performance. Without further ado, let me introduce you to
our first candidate: the Lamborghini Murciélago.

(more…)

• French
  Find Saint-Exupery’s Plane BBC
  News
• The
  Design of Business (PDF)
  Roger
  Martin — Rotman School of Management [via: Core77]
• Putting
  Blogs in Their Place Martin
  Nisenholtz — Wired Magazine
• Show
  Me Your Reality, I’ll Show You Mine This
  Is A Magazine, Issue 13 [via: K10k]
• Winning
  the Name Game Alan
  Earls — COMPUTERWORLD
• Conqueries:
  Google Querybar Jean-Yves
  Delort — CHI-WEB

My first article, The
Designer Is Dead, Long Live The Designer!, went up over at Digital Web today
(or rather yesterday, while I was asleep). This first article is part of a series
of columns entitled Art
of Interaction.

Everyone agrees that a good user experience is important but many miss the
fact that design plays an integral role. In current and future columns I will
assess the importance of aesthetic quality (or attractiveness) in user interface
and web design, examining an assortment of topics.

In this first publication I discuss why aesthetics is important when it comes
to designing a web site, or any interface for that matter. Some
people on the web have argued
that “making things pretty” is irrelevant. Function and usability
first, design second, so it seems. I disagree. In this column I will go as far
as stating the contrary: design comes first, usability second.

It’s about time we put design back on the agenda! Read
more.