Five Hat Racks – Organizing Information
Posted by Steve Karr in Design on December 14, 2011
Five Hat Racks
“Writers and graphic designers seem preoccupied with stylistic and aesthetic concerns rather than making information understandable to the public.”
-Wurman, Leifer, Sume, and Whitehouse in Information Anxiety 2
I was bad in the sixth grade. I got demerits which led to punishment. Punishment was staying in at recess and writing reports on topics chosen from [...]
Color in Design
Posted by Steve Karr in Design on December 3, 2011
Design is like music. Different voices, composed harmoniously. Each voice may be nice on it’s own, but together, a sound can be made that is greater than the sum of it’s parts. Same with design. Look: Two punctuation marks make a whole human face ;)
Colors are important members of the design choir. Here are a [...]
Process Happens
Posted by Steve Karr in Design on November 30, 2011
Walking from Detroit to Toronto requires steps. The kind of thinking you do before you set off as well as during the trip has an impact on the steps you take. You may be the careful and deliberate type who plans well in advance, identifies the options you’ll have (bridge or ferry, scenic or direct [...]
Purposes and Objectives
Posted by Steve Karr in Design on November 30, 2011
The process of web design has three important areas of endeaver: Content Development, User Interface Design and Systems Design. Teams of people often work in groups aimed at acheiving one or the other but, of course, each group may benefit by being informed by the others.
Content , gui and systems folks follow a process to [...]
Designing With Principle(s)
Posted by Steve Karr in Design on November 24, 2011
Design is perceived by people through the senses. Information design is mostly percieved through sight but sound and touch are often included as well. Will web sites include taste and smell stimuli some day?
Do you know that your brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies? Those from the berlin school think so, and so do [...]
Skiing Above (and in) the Clouds
Posted by Steve Karr in Travel on March 2, 2010
Family ski trip time at Big White, British Columbia. This mountain is little sister to Whistler. Summit is 7,606 feet and base lift is at 4,950 feet. Famous for Okanogon champagne powder and glade skiing through snow ghosts.
If you like sitting in the basement and watching family vacation slides, here you go…
Recipe: Greek Quesadilla
Posted by Steve Karr in Recipes and Food on December 14, 2009
A fusion of Greek (think Skordalia) and Mexican. This can be done on the stove top, grill or campfire. A good use of left over mashed potato. Yes… mashed potato quesadilla!
Tools:
Flat Griddle or large flat pan
Basting or pastry brush
Chef knife or pizza cutter
Ingredients:
Corn tortilla
Vegetable oil
Mashed potato (soften left over potatos with milk if needed)
Garlic cloves- [...]
Recipe: S’moresgasbord
Posted by Steve Karr in Recipes and Food on December 14, 2009
Ahhh. S’mores. A campfire tradition and for good reason. Participatory food. Interactive eating.
The standard recipe for s’mores is more than marshmallow, graham cracker and Hershey Bar. It’s roasting your own goodness on a stick over an open fire, usually with good company and good conversation. Cowboy fondue.
Then there’s the construction step. A personal, almost ritualistic experience. [...]
E-mail Servers and Clients
Posted by Steve Karr in Technology on November 19, 2009
E-mail is a fundamental part of the daily workflow for many of us. It has changed not only how we communicate but also our expectations. As an e-mail hosting provider, I can tell you that folks expect their e-mail service to work fast and all the time. Despite standard industry fine print that states the [...]
To Blog or Not to Blog
Posted by Steve Karr in Random Musings on November 16, 2009
More than once I have had a client say to me: “I was told that if I’m not blogging, I’m missing out.”
My first thought is “who told you that and did they explain what you’re missing?” What I usually ask first, though, is:
“So you mean like a WordPress Blog where you have a web-based interface for posting your [...]