ACU iPhone Video Press Release from ACU Videos on Vimeo.

Recently I completed the design on a first-of-its-kind mobile project for Abilene Christian University. They are the first school in the country to give all of their freshman iPhones (or iPod Touches for those who didn’t want a new phone) in a initiative to integrate mobile devices into the academic learning environment.

My part in the project was to take their early concept of functional (but visually sparse) iPhone-based software, re-organize the content, add in a few new ideas and mix it all together with a striking visual identity that would enhance the mobile experience.

The project was without a doubt one of my favorite design challenges ever. Rather than go on about the process, I’ll let them talk about the vision for the project over the coming years, and then you can fire up your iPhone and check it out at:
m.acu.edu.

I push pixels. A lot of them. And I do mean individual pixels. Zoomed in at 1600% I often find myself moving or editing single pixels when I do design work in Photoshop. And what I’ve found is that most mice out there just aren’t that precise.

So when I realized that my long-time sidearm (a Logitech MX500) was run by flakey software that was consistently causing my Macbook Pro to kernel panic and refuse to wake from sleep, I finally decided it was time to move to a new mouse. I had a few requirements:

1. Not Logitech. It wasn’t the hardware of my mouse that caused problems, it was Logitech’s awful software that allowed you to customize the controls and extra buttons. Unfortunately, Logitech seems to make over half of the mice out in retail right now, so my field was automatically limited.

2. Wired. This cut out another 2/3 of the remaining mice. Wireless mice are all the rage right now, but they don’t tend to be as precise as wired ones. If you move your cursor slowly, the wireless signal from the mouse to the USB receiver in your computer sometimes isn’t consistent, causing skipping or lack of response. Very minor cutouts in response time, but it has been infuriating to me in all the wireless mice I tried since my work can be so precise.

3. Five buttons. Right-click. Left-click. Forward. Back. Scroll.

4. It had to feel right. That illusive, indescribable quality of rightness. Most of the mice I tried in stores (Best Buy, Office Max, Staples, etc…) just didn’t *feel* right. Too flat. Too boring.

After trying to go back to my old Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 400, I found it just was as slow and imprecise as any wired mouse. No dice.

As my search continued, I grew more and more frustrated, because this is how I make my living. It’s something relatively simple, but I immensely important to the work that I do every day.

After searching off and on for a month, I found a review for a gaming mouse. As soon as I started to read the reviews, I realized the mousing needs of a good graphic designer are right in line with hard-core video gamers: a wired, multi-button, hypersensitive, customizable mouse.

So I bought the “Death Adder” by Razer. After a week of use It’s everything I’ve been looking for so far. It meets all my requirements, and achieves them with style, precision, and a throbbing blue 3-headed snake logo under my palm.

If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to fragging designing.

You know what’s great? When one of your most valuable and expensive electronic devices stops working while it’s still under warranty.

The touchscreen on my iPhone was suddenly non-responsive at the bottom of the screen yesterday, less than 3 weeks before my 1 year warranty runs out. I couldn’t send a text message or email from the phone because the bottom half inch of the screen just wasn’t registering that I was trying to do anything.

So I plugged the phone in to my Macbook Pro last night to make a backup and took the iPhone down to the Apple store this morning. I started describing the problem to Bryan the Genius when he kindly offered, “and the space bar doesn’t work, right?” Five minutes later, after reloading the OS on to the iPhone and finding that the bottom of the screen was still unresponsive, he reached back into the cabinet, handed me a new iPhone and sent me on my way.

Way to go Apple.

No arguing, no pro-rating, no arm-wrestling, just “here’s your brand-spankin’-new iPhone.”

Brought it home, hooked it up to the computer, it automatically copied all my contacts, photos, songs, videos, calendars, notes… it was all too stinkin’ easy.

Now if it just had 3G…

Okay, so this has nothing to do with design, but I’ve been working out at Crossfit for the last six months and managed to pull off a personal and gym record for box jumps in 1 minute on a 20 inch box. Take a look:

Ran across a GREAT article on what web design is (as opposed to traditional print or logo design).

You can’t appreciate a web site in the same way you appreciate a logo or a poster. When a logo works, it makes you think certain things. Makes you think about the company, their influence, their reach. It’s about branding. The IBM logo suggests a solidity, the rock that is Big Blue. At this point, after you’ve thought these things, you’re done. There is nothing else to do. Maybe you’ll consider their products in the future.

When a web site works, on the other hand, you’re using it to do something. You might be looking for your next favorite book on Amazon, or searching for a critical piece of information on Google. You’re using the web site…interacting with it, having an experience that, contrary to logos, involves you. You are inputting information, asking questions, getting answers.

What I love is that I get to design what something is and what something does.

via daring fireball

I’m out of the line of fire.

As I started writing, I didn’t know where to begin. I still don’t.

There are no fires burning within the city limits.

Suburbs and spots throughout the county are on still on fire.

Most people who evacuated their homes have been allowed to return, some to find nothing has changed, some to find nothing.

Collectively, I think this is the first day the population as a whole is beginning to move past shock into the spectrum of feelings from grief to gratitude. So many of us were simply inconvenienced, while thousands have been devastated. It’s hard to know what to expect next. I think this is where the real trials begin.

Two days ago the city asked people to stop making donations because the evacuation centers didn’t have enough space or need for all the food and supplies the locals were bringing in. In two weeks I hope we have the endurance to keep supporting each other with such enthusiasm. We know from exactly 4 years ago that the fire damage that happens in one week is the beginning of a multi-year process for the ones who have been affected.

There is so much to be thankful for… we’ve had a minimal number of injuries and loss of life (considering the unprecedented size of the fires) and those who have lost property are generally in good spirits. On the radio this morning I heard someone say that San Diego is the biggest small town in America, and it feels true this week. People are just helping each other. It’s inspiring.

And all of you guys who have emailed and called to make sure I’m doing okay–it makes me personally grateful for all that I have in my friends and family. Monday night as I began loading “important” objects in my car in case of an evacuation, I was surprised as how much of my stuff I was absolutely willing to leave behind. Beyond the tax records, my work backups and some clothes, there wasn’t a lot that I felt like I needed to protect. It was just stuff. What I wanted with me were the tokens that reminded me of special people and times in my life. It all came down to sentimental value. Nothing like a natural disaster to teach you that when it comes to what we keep around us, the only thing of real significance has to do with people.

So, not to get overly sentimental, but… thanks. For your friendship. For your support now, in the past, in the future. I’m thinking of you and thankful for you.

chad

I worked on a rush design last month for a book called Same Kind of Different As Me. It was a job where the book authors already had a programmer they had a relationship with, and they only needed a new design. So I worked with them to create a site look that reflected the tone of the book and the site was recently launched with my design as the foundation of the look and feel.

One of the things that caught my attention about this project was the fact that at the time the book had 65 five-star reviews on Amazon.com and no reviews that were less than 5 stars. After reading the book for myself, I can see why. Check out the site and then get a copy of the book. You’ll be challenged and changed by the end of it.

Do you ever get that feeling in your gut… that happy, twisty, can’t-wait-to-snatch-another-look at something so beautiful feeling?

Right now I feel that way about CNN.com.

And no, I’m not joking.

I can’t help it. The presentation is so… clean. Crisp. Functional. But *beautiful.* It’s… simple. News sites have a hard task of taking SO much information (text, photos, videos) that is constantly changing and making it look good no matter what. They hit this one out of the park. I’ve been reading a couple of design reviews of the news site that both do a great breakdown of what make this such a makeover success. I just want news to happen so I can go back to CNN.com and see, well, what’s new.

Read all about it:
Quiet Structure

New Media Meets Old: A Look at Redesigned Mainstream News

Speaking of design infatuation…

SAY HELLO TO MY LITTLE FRIEND…

And then there’s the iPhone. WAY too much has already been written about this little game-changer. Do me a favor. Stop reading all the reviews. Just go to the Apple store or AT&T store and take one for a test drive. Try it for a week and see if it’s not the best electronic device of any type that you’ve ever pulled out of your pocket. Some things you just have to experience for yourself and the write-ups don’t do it justice.

I can’t wait.

A person knows they are a hard-core computer geek when software gets them excited. But I gotta admit it. Not so much about the entire Final Cut Studio software package, but about my favorite program of the bunch: Motion 3.

What is Motion? Simply put, it’s software that lets you create visual animations. That’s the really dumbed-down definition, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg. In my brain, I speak this unseen visual language, and Motion was written for people like me to express the imagery that is locked away in our heads. Some people think in numbers. I know one person who can (off the top of her head) recite any phone number she’s ever had to dial. Numbers make sense and are branded into how her brain is wired.

For me, it’s pictures. I think in shapes and colors and visual allegories. And for as much as I love Photoshop, the pictures in my head don’t stand still. Motion 3 gives me the ability to put my daydreams into a form that other people can see.

Some people call that “art.” I just say it’s wonderful.

Hello. My name is Chad, and I think in pictures. What’s your language?

Holy Mother Theresa, Batman, I’ve been to the holy land.

Actually, my pilgrimage this afternoon was to Nashville’s “Best Coffee House,” Bongo Java, home of the Nun Bun. You’ve heard of it. You’re jealous, but you’re happy for me. And as always, I’m humbly appreciative of your selfless attitude.

It’s been about 7 years since I’ve been to Nashburg, and it’s good to be back. Went to SatCo last night for dinner (mmmmm.. queso) and drove around the old stomping grounds. Today I’ve been doing some of my favorite things (traveling, face time, brainstorming, drawing, brainstorming, thinking about the future, brainstorming…) with some of my favorite people (and long-term clients), working on an exciting upcoming project that will have a literal worldwide scope. Of course, my blog technically has a worldwide scope since you can read it from anywhere, but that’s not the point. The point is that this is big time for a big impact, and I’m stoked to be on board.