Visualizing a Website... Websites as Graphs

Visualizing a website can be an extremely complicated and time consuming task. The image above is a graphic representation of MUHSASHUM created by using this applet designed by Sala. This really neat java applet allows anyone to enter in a domain address for visualization, depending on the complexity of the site, it can take some time to load... so be patient. ;)

Here's a breakdown of what the colored dots mean:
blue: for links (the A tag)
red: for tables (TABLE, TR and TD tags)
green: for the DIV tag
violet: for images (the IMG tag)
yellow: for forms
(FORM, INPUT, TEXTAREA, SELECT and OPTION tags)
orange: for linebreaks and blockquotes
(BR, P, and BLOCKQUOTE tags)
black: the HTML tag, the root node
gray: all other tags...

You can view more examples at http://www.aharef.info/2006/05/websites_as_graphs.htm and if you want to try and generate your own website graph visit http://www.aharef.info/static/htmlgraph/ - enjoy!

Thanks for creating the applet Sala!

COOL! The History of Visual Communication...

Excerpt from the website introduction page:
This website attempts to walk you through the long and diverse history of a particular aspect of human endeavour: The translation of ideas, stories and concepts that are largely textual and/or word based into a visual format, i.e. visual communication.

Wikipedia defines visual communication as: Visual communication is the communication of ideas through the visual display of information. Primarily associated with two dimensional images, it includes: art, signs, photography, typography, drawing fundamentals, colour and electronic resources. Recent research in the field has focused on web design and graphically oriented usability. It is part of what a graphic designer does to communicate visually with the audience.

I've only taken a few minutes to look at the site but, it seems to be quite a good resource for students of design/communication as well as for instructors. I highly recommend that you take some time to check it out, visit http://www.citrinitas.com/history_of_viscom/index.html - enjoy!

Via swissmiss' blog.

Don't Choke! 8 Steps to Succeed Under Pressure...

Some of you may already be aware of this but, for those of you who aren't, I'm currently studying Kyokushin Karate under the tutelage of Sensei Diego Beltran at the Guardian Dojo.

Anyhow, aside from being my Sensei, Diego is a talented software development consultant. The other day he sent me this article, The Ultimate Guide to Not Choking Under Pressure... although the article is situated on a software development blog, the advice given within is applicable to anyone facing the pressure/stresses of daily life in our 'modern' society. Read the article here.

Recommended Plugin | Phantasm CS(2)...

I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to check out the Adobe Illustrator (CS, CS2, CS3) plugin, Phantasm CS(2). If you do a lot of vector based work/illustration, this plugin will come in handy... the Phantasm CS(2) plugin allows for comprehensive colour control/adjustments found in the likes of Photoshop. Once you've purchased and installed the plugin, you'll be able to access these colour control features directly from Illustrator:

Brightness/Contrast
Curves
Desaturate
Hue/Saturation
Invert
Levels
Shift to Colour

For more information, features, reviews or to purchase, visit http://www.phantasmcs.com/ - cheers!

Chris Jordan Photographic Arts | 'Running the Numbers' - An American Self Portrait

Chris Jordan is an American photographic artist, his work has received international awards and recognition. One of his more recent projects was 'Running the Numbers' - An American Self Portrait, which is a series of images that looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics...

The above image entitled Barbie Dolls (60x80"), is a depiction of 32,000 Barbies, which equals the (staggering) number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed in the USA monthly in 2006! Below is a detail at the actual print size...



I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to browse through the rest of the images in this project (link) as well as Chris' other works... visit http://www.chrisjordan.com - enjoy!

Watch Helvetica: The Movie - ONLINE NOW!

If you haven't seen it yet, you can watch the Helvetica documentary film online now via Google Video here - enjoy! Via Computer Arts Daily, via Best Documentaries Online blog.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Gary Hustwit (who was very pleasant), it appears that the video was uploaded illegally and Google Video will be pulling the video from their servers shortly (I had a suspicion ;P).

If you're still interested in watching the film, I suggest that you look into purchasing the DVD. Visit the Helvetica Film shop at http://www.helveticafilm.com/shop.html - Cheers!

Sagmeister Interview on IdeasOnIdeas Blog...

One of my design 'heroes', Stefan Sagmeister recently did an interview on the Ideas on Ideas blog. It's an interesting look into the mind of Sagmeister and his work... read the interview here on the Ideas on Ideas blog. Want to see more of Sagmeister's work? Visit Sagmeister Inc.'s website - enjoy!

Wicked Illustrator! Goro Fujita...

I've just been introduced to the amazing work of Goro Fujita via startdrawing.org (see the original post here). Goro Fujita was born in Japan, raised in Germany and studied at the German Film School, where he concentrated on 3-D character animation. He's now a freelance character animator and visual development artist.

He has an impressive body of work (ranging from personal sketches/paintings, professional work, animations, 3D/2D, etc.) which you can view through his website and blog.

Check out his website at http://www.area-56.de/ and his blog at http://www.area-56.de/chapter56/ - enjoy!

COOL! Kagan McLeod's History of Rap...

Slowly but surely I've been trying to sort through some of the neat things I wrote down/sketched, found, thought about over the last holiday period. One of the things I came across (which I had meant to blog about a while back) was a cool find from a copy of the National Post (December 11, 2007 to be precise), on pages B8 and B9 was Kagan McLeod's History of Rap.



It's a really cool, visual history of Rap comprised of small portrait/caricature illustrations by Kagan McLeod for some of the most recognized/pivotal artists in the genre. You can view more images or order a print of the poster here at www.beguiling.com - enjoy!

COOL! PSYOP - Adidas "Together"...

The incredibly talented folks over at PSYOP have gone and outdone themselves again with their latest project for Adidas. Working with the agency TBWA/China they've created an amazing piece called "Together", it's the anthem spot for a four spot campaign... the concept, Olympians literally being supported by their countrymen. You have to watch it! See more of PSYOP's works on their website at http://www.psyop.tv/ - cheers!

Via Motionographer... see the original post here.

Recommended | The 50 Most Popular Web Design Blog Posts, Resources & Cheat Sheets of 2007

WOW! I recently came across this blog posting on Crestock, via SpeakUp and I highly recommend that you check it out. There's a wealth of information available across a wide range of topics ranging from basic theory, colour, typography, CSS, photo editing and more... check out the blog posting here.

COOL! Design Police...

I'm sure that in your daily travels you're constantly being exposed to poorly designed ads and signs... the Design Police want to bring bad design to justice. They've even provided a visual enforcement kit to help you in your vigilante quest... you can download the kit here.

Via NOTCOT. NOTE: In no way am I condoning that you commit acts of vandalism or criminal damage. If you decide to use the templates provided, you do so at your own risk. Please respect private property. Cheers!

Recommended Reading | LogoLounge.com's Logo Design Trends...

LogoLounge.com is an online (paid-subscription) resource of logos (over 60,000+). There have been a number of LogoLounge books published in the past few years by Rockport Publishers, I believe they're on number four now... anyhow, take a look at the logo design trend articles by Bill Gardner. To learn more, visit http://www.logolounge.com/ - Cheers!

Recommended | Ian McCausland...

Ian McCausland is an extremely talented, multifaceted commercial photographer based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. I've had the pleasure of working with Ian on a few occasions and every time he delivers amazing results. Ian is currently preparing for his trip down to San Fran for MacWorld 2008 where he will be documenting all the cool, new stuff for New Media Manitoba.

Keep an eye on http://newmediamanitoba.tv and Ian's blog for all the coverage... visit Ian's blog at http://www.ian.mb.ca - while you're at it you should also check out his website at http://www.ian.ca and his Flickr photos (amazing would be an understatement). Cheers!

GDC Manitoba AGM - February 5, 2008

Mark your calendars and save the date! The GDC Manitoba chapter is having their AGM this year on Tuesday, February 5, 2008 at the Park Theatre on Osborne St. (South).

Aside from the reports by the GDC Manitoba executive board members, the GDC will be screening a certain film about a well know Swiss typeface (hint-hint) as well as drawing for an awesome door prize, a 40GB Playstation 3!

In order to qualify for the draw, your membership dues must be paid by January 31 and you must be in attendance... the odds are really quite good... don't say I never told you about it. Cheers! Hope to see you there...

Recommended | Vektorika Magazine...

If you're a fan of illustration, cool graphics and vector artworks you'll want to check out Vektorika magazine. Vektorika is an online PDF magazine put out by the folks at vektorjunkie.com - the magazine is now up to issue #10 and is available for download (FREE), along with back issues on their website at http://www.vektorjunkie.com/mag.html - enjoy!

Recommended | Broke Trek - a Star Trek Brokeback Mountain parody

LOL... This video on YouTube just made me spray coffee all over my computer monitor. Some very clever video editing (in my opinion) and a frightening familiarity with the original Star Trek TV series. Worth checking out! See the video here on YouTube.

'Chinglish' - Lost in Translation...

2008 will be an exceptionally exciting year with many major events taking place around the world. One of these would be the Beijing 2008 Olympic Summer Games. As I'm sure that you're all aware, the Chinese have been preparing for the event for some time now (they made the news for being well ahead of schedule years back), part of these preparations is ensuring that english translations are incorporated into store and navigational signage systems.

Sadly, that is where the trouble begins... Chinese (Mandarin) is a rather complex language built out of individual characters/symbols which can represent multiple meanings depending on how they are vocalized. Enter 'Chinglish', which generally is the result of rigid machine translations of Chinese to English, often with humorous results. The picture above when correctly translated actually means, Loose Dried Fruit. There's a great article about this lost in translation problem, with more examples here.

If you think its an isolated incident, think again... check out the 'Chinglish' pool on Flickr. Some of these are ridiculous... enjoy!

More Wicked Typographic Animations...

Further to an earlier posting I made on cool typographic animations, I've come across a few others which are worthy of your viewing attention. One of which is by Brian Cain (a student at the Rochester Institute of Technology) where he animates Vince Vaughn's "Perfect Girl" monologue from the movie, The Wedding Crashers. It's quite well done in my opinion... check it out here via Motionographer - be sure to check out the other examples on this page as well. Enjoy!

Via Armin at Speak Up.

'Clothing Optional' Wedding Social...

Good friends and fellow designers, James Gillespie and Beth Romphf are getting hitched this summer (in June or July I believe...)! In keeping with Manitoba tradition, they're having a wedding social on February 2, 2008. For tickets or more information contact James through his blog, KALAMAFRAZ. I'm planning to be there, fully-clothed with my camera at the ready. Cheers and congratulations to Beth and James once again!

COOL! Mark Story's B&W Portrait Series...

WOW. You have to check out photographer Mark Story's B/W portrait series, Living in Three Centuries: The Face of Age. The photos for this portrait series were taken in various locations around the world between 1987 and 2005, some of the models have lived for over a century... look at character and stories that each of these faces tells... words cannot do them justice. See the project at http://www.markstoryphotography.com/ - enjoy!

Via Boing Boing.

WTF? C.I.A. "Terrorist Buster" Logo...

No, the above is not a parody... it is an actual government logo. What were the C.I.A. thinking? I'm sure that they've gotten a lot of criticism for the design... you can read some of it here.

COOL! WIRED Magazine's Visual History of Manga in the US...

Wired magazine has put together a brilliant little PDF (available for download here), which charts the history of manga in the US! In keeping with manga tradition, the PDF reads from right to left with the translated english captions keeping to tradition as well, by appearing backwards... a bit confusing at first but very cool. See the original Wired magazine article here.

Spotlight Ideas...

I recently visited http://www.spotlightideas.co.uk/ through a comment posted on my blog. Spotlight Ideas is a blog about Advertising, Media and Creative Thinking. The blog administrator, Eamon worked for some time as an Advertising Account Planner (in some of the leading advertising agencies in London and abroad), as well as a Researcher and Developer for TV and Radio. The blog seems to be full of useful information for anyone in the creative industries... check it out at http://www.spotlightideas.co.uk/ - Cheers!

Recommended | Baby Steps to Living Green...

One of my colleagues at Circle, designer Susan McWatt FitzGerald (MGDC and soon-to-be Mom), has been doing research in preparation for her new arrival (expected late April 2008). Take a look at the stats she came across re: Disposable Diapers... scary. See her original article here.

OMG, It's 2008!?... Happy New Year!!!

Happy 2008 everybody! I hope you all had a nice Christmas and were able to partake in some festive activities over the past few weeks. 2007 was a blur of a year... where does the time go? Personally, I had an excellent break... lots of festive/social activities as well as sufficient down-time to recoup/recharge for the new year.

I had a lot of interesting ideas/concepts over the break which I intend to develop further through the course of the year... stay tuned for more to come! Here's to a prosperous 2008 for all - Cheers!