Design
Back in Black
My first laptop was a black Apple Powerbook G3, aka the WallStreet. I dragged the ten pound sucker across Europe in a backpack. I’ve had many computers before and since, but this was the one I pecked out stories on while riding trains through the European countryside, the one I fell asleep next to in [...]
What Would Google Do?
Google and I, we’re old friends. I’ve written about them here and there for years. Google, as a web innovator, has done just about everything right.
But as a designer, I’m tired of hearing clients and associates ask, “What would Google do?” as if every move they make is pure gold. When it comes to visual/exerience [...]
Calling All Designers: Learn to Write!
I recently had the good fortune to work with a client who asked me to, in addition to doing my usual experience design / visual design thing, also write much of the text that appeared on the site. And it made me realize that I’ve often done this for clients - it just wasn’t an [...]
The Art of No
Being a designer is all about embracing the word “no.” When we sit down with a blank slate and a job to do, we have to say “no” over and over again. Choosing a primary audience means saying “no” to all the others. Picking a task to enable means saying “no” to all the other [...]
What I’m Up To Now
Two months ago, I posted about leaving Technorati and starting a design studio. I also lamented how hard it was to find a good domain name, and lots of you wrote in with fabulous suggestions and offers. I tried to reply to everyone, but please forgive me if I didn’t get back to you. They [...]
The Wisdom of Browse
There’s some drama afoot lately as bloggers pick apart Digg’s user-controlled editorial system, looking for evidence of editors lurking in the darkness. But much of the conversation is overlooking a crucial nuance when it comes to authentic media and democratic editorial systems.
For the uninitiated, Digg is a tech news site, where the members post links [...]
Design for Selfishness
In 1996, Paulina Borsook wrote a story that, frankly, really pissed me off. In “Cyberselfish,” published in Mother Jones and eventually turned into a book, she wrote about how new have-it-your-way technology was creating a generation of spoiled brats with computers.
I took umbrage. Not only was I a proud member of the generation she [...]
I Live in the Future
So today I found myself at home, sitting on the couch, plugged into my laptop. I was talking to a gentleman in Australia, where it was already the next day, over the internet with Skype. We talked about the web, blogging, and community, while his daughter squealed in the background. He recorded the conversation and [...]
Four Themes from skinnyCorp
Another one of my favorite sessions at SXSW Interactive 2006 was Zero-Advertising Brands, where we got to watch Maggie Mason talk to the guys from skinnyCorp, the makers of Threadless among other creative commerce/community hybrids.
One of my favorite things about talking to folks that really get the user-generated web, is that when they tell [...]
What I’m Up To
So I’m starting a design studio. Something small, specializing in participatory interactive projects - sites that do something. It’ll just be me and a partner, at first. We’ve even got a small office space already, and an ever-growing list of clients. There’s just one thing we do not have. A name.
I have spent the last [...]
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Derek Powazek lives in San Francisco with his wife, two nutty Chihuahuas, a grumpy cat, and a house full of plants named Fred. More ยป
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