Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Color Series: Pink
Below are a collection of thinks that are both pink, and interesting to look at. Feel free to contribute your own images.
Type on the Web
Every web designer grows tired of using web safe fonts, and while SEO and good practices dictate it, there are some creative ways to introduce more interesting type without sacrificing SEO.
1) Better font stacks. While all users might not have Helvetica Neue on their system, some users will. So, when you put together your next font stack, call it...followed by Helvetica, Verdana, Sans Serif. Granted, your site will look different on different machines, but it will degrade gracefully if you put together the right font stack. Here is a site with suggestions for good combination if you have a particular font in mind.
Unit Interactive >
2)More accurate conversion If you're working up your layout in Photoshop, use the following site to convert pixels to ems for better translation into CSS.
> PxtoEm
3)Font Replacement There are a couple of methods for font replacement that will not affect your SEO. One of the most popular options, sIFR, embeds non-web-standard fonts in your site using a Flash file, and then calls the font from the CSS. The content remains searchable, since Flash and Javascript simply replace the content of your H1 tag. To convert fonts to sIFR files, you can use this handy site. For more information on how to implement sIFR on your site, visit, the sIFR Wiki.
Another interesting method for Font Replacement uses Javascript to embed the font. Visit Typeface.js for more information.
1) Better font stacks. While all users might not have Helvetica Neue on their system, some users will. So, when you put together your next font stack, call it...followed by Helvetica, Verdana, Sans Serif. Granted, your site will look different on different machines, but it will degrade gracefully if you put together the right font stack. Here is a site with suggestions for good combination if you have a particular font in mind.
Unit Interactive >
2)More accurate conversion If you're working up your layout in Photoshop, use the following site to convert pixels to ems for better translation into CSS.
> PxtoEm
3)Font Replacement There are a couple of methods for font replacement that will not affect your SEO. One of the most popular options, sIFR, embeds non-web-standard fonts in your site using a Flash file, and then calls the font from the CSS. The content remains searchable, since Flash and Javascript simply replace the content of your H1 tag. To convert fonts to sIFR files, you can use this handy site. For more information on how to implement sIFR on your site, visit, the sIFR Wiki.
Another interesting method for Font Replacement uses Javascript to embed the font. Visit Typeface.js for more information.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Dockers Introduces 'Shakeable' iPhone Ad
SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- The latest example of a cool marketer-created iPhone experience is not an app but an ad. Apparel maker Dockers San Francisco has created a "shakable," motion-sensitive ad that uses the phone's motion-detecting feature.
Dockers shakable iPhone ad
The ad, which stars Dufon (aka Orb/Orbit/Orbitron), an urban street dancer from the Seattle dance group "Circle of Fire," will appear in the iPhone games "iBasketball," "iGolf" and "iBowl" and the lifestyle application iTV. Between the various levels of game play, users will be prompted to shake the iPhone to spur the Dockers-donning Dufon to perform his moves.
Uses accelerometer
Dockers believes it is the first brand to launch a motion-sensitive ad that makes use of the handset's accelerometer, which detects movement. It's the feature that lets users change the orientation of the phone from, say, portrait to landscape when they want a bigger view of a photo or web page.
The San Francisco-based apparel brand, which at one point in its history was synonymous with casual-Friday office-wear, is targeting 30- to 39-year-old men with its latest mobile advertising.
"Our target is tech-savvy," said Patti Sircus Bender, director of brand marketing at Dockers. "With the introduction of the iPhone and other technologies, it became clear to us we need to talk to our target when and where he's open to our message."
Ms. Sircus Bender said the placement of the interactive ad in gaming applications makes a strong case for the target consumer to engage with the brand. "He's in gaming mode and in the mood to be entertained," she said.
Dollars shift
Dockers sought to reinvent its positioning several years ago by injecting more edginess to its name, rechristening itself Dockers San Francisco to invoke a more relaxed and casual feel associated with the city by the bay. It has since shored up its clothing lineup, adding more hip styles to its staple of pleated khakis.
Ms. Sircus Bender said the brand would continue to seek out innovative advertising channels, in step with its strategy to shift more of its budget to digital, a move that began last year and is expected to continue in 2009.
The ad will launch within the next week and run for four weeks, Ms. Sircus Bender said.
About 27,000 applications have been downloaded more than 500 million times on the iPhone, according to OMD, Dockers' media agency. Razorfish is Dockers' online and creative agency of record.
Read More>
Dockers shakable iPhone ad
The ad, which stars Dufon (aka Orb/Orbit/Orbitron), an urban street dancer from the Seattle dance group "Circle of Fire," will appear in the iPhone games "iBasketball," "iGolf" and "iBowl" and the lifestyle application iTV. Between the various levels of game play, users will be prompted to shake the iPhone to spur the Dockers-donning Dufon to perform his moves.
Uses accelerometer
Dockers believes it is the first brand to launch a motion-sensitive ad that makes use of the handset's accelerometer, which detects movement. It's the feature that lets users change the orientation of the phone from, say, portrait to landscape when they want a bigger view of a photo or web page.
The San Francisco-based apparel brand, which at one point in its history was synonymous with casual-Friday office-wear, is targeting 30- to 39-year-old men with its latest mobile advertising.
"Our target is tech-savvy," said Patti Sircus Bender, director of brand marketing at Dockers. "With the introduction of the iPhone and other technologies, it became clear to us we need to talk to our target when and where he's open to our message."
Ms. Sircus Bender said the placement of the interactive ad in gaming applications makes a strong case for the target consumer to engage with the brand. "He's in gaming mode and in the mood to be entertained," she said.
Dollars shift
Dockers sought to reinvent its positioning several years ago by injecting more edginess to its name, rechristening itself Dockers San Francisco to invoke a more relaxed and casual feel associated with the city by the bay. It has since shored up its clothing lineup, adding more hip styles to its staple of pleated khakis.
Ms. Sircus Bender said the brand would continue to seek out innovative advertising channels, in step with its strategy to shift more of its budget to digital, a move that began last year and is expected to continue in 2009.
The ad will launch within the next week and run for four weeks, Ms. Sircus Bender said.
About 27,000 applications have been downloaded more than 500 million times on the iPhone, according to OMD, Dockers' media agency. Razorfish is Dockers' online and creative agency of record.
Read More>
Thursday, March 12, 2009
ASCII-Topia
In graphic design, we normally view type as one-of-many important design elements to pull together a final piece. Manipulating fonts is an art in and of itself. But what happens, when the 95 printable characters on a keyboard are all you have to work with?
In the early days of computing in the late 1970's and early 1980's, the limitations of systems available at the time necessitated the use of text characters to represent images. This became particularly popular in computer bulletin board systems, which was like the first generation Internet. Along with ASCII's use in communication, however, it also began to appear in the underground online art groups in the form of comics. During the 1990s, graphical browsing and variable-width fonts became increasingly popular, leading to a decline in ASCII art. For the most part, ASCII art is mostly use in IM, chat and gaming applications as an additional form of communication. :-)
Below are some examples of interesting ASCII art. Feel free to post comments with your contributions.
In the early days of computing in the late 1970's and early 1980's, the limitations of systems available at the time necessitated the use of text characters to represent images. This became particularly popular in computer bulletin board systems, which was like the first generation Internet. Along with ASCII's use in communication, however, it also began to appear in the underground online art groups in the form of comics. During the 1990s, graphical browsing and variable-width fonts became increasingly popular, leading to a decline in ASCII art. For the most part, ASCII art is mostly use in IM, chat and gaming applications as an additional form of communication. :-)
Below are some examples of interesting ASCII art. Feel free to post comments with your contributions.
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