The 2008 Art Center Design Conference: Serious Play

Join some of the greatest inventors, designers, tech wizards, and artists of our time exploring the key role of play in creativity and innovation - in business, the arts, technology, and more. For information go here.

May 7, 8 and 9
Art Center College of Design
Pasadena, California

Email: conference@artcenter.edu or call 626.396.2357.

The @Issue Business & Design Conference

Top CEOs tell how design has made a difference to their bottom line, and top designers explain how their best designs address corporate goals. Real case studies. Real problems. Real solutions. Plenty of opportunities to ask questions of speakers and trade with other attendees.

Robin Marino, President of Merchandising for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, and Gael Towey, Chief Creative Officer, have joined @Issue's illustrious slate of speakers at this year's conference at The Times Center on Thursday, April 29. The two will speak about the intersection of business and design and how they are spearheading many new partnerships, expanding the Martha Stewart brand, and rolling out thousands of new products. For a complete list of speakers, go to the Corporate Design Foundation's website.

ADC members can attend for the discount price of $510.00. Two or more people from the same organization can attend for the Corporate Design Foundation member discount of $450.00. To register, send an email to admin@cdf.org indicating that you are an ADC member and provide information on who would like to register.

Corbis Helps Celebrate Worldwide Pinhole Camera Day on April 27th With Designer Cameras

Take a break from your computer! Download, print and build your own pinhole camera, designed exclusively with Corbis images and illustrations. Check it out here.

ihaveanidea Portfolio Night 6

"One night, many cities and the best creatives in the land"

Portfolio Night 6, the world's largest annual advertising portfolio review, returns to New York City next month. The event will happen in twenty other cities worldwide. New York's night will happen at ADC's Gallery and is sponsored by DDB Worldwide and produced by ADC's partner, ihaveanidea.

If you are a student, recent graduate, or junior with an advertising portfolio you should consider attending Portfolio Night 6! New York is sold out but you may still buy tickets for Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco or one of sixteen other cities. For more information and to see the full list of Portfolio Night 6 locations, where thousands of juniors will receive valuable face-to-face time with the best creative directors in the world, go here. Please purchase your ticket with plenty of anticipation! Every year most cities sell out before the event.

Thursday, May 8, 2008
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Safari 3.1 brings the Apple experience to Windows

The good folks over at Ars Technica decided to check out Safari 3.1 for new goodness fresh out from Mac-land. Their verdict? They were blown away with the improvements since Safari 3.0.
My favorite Web browser on Windows is Cast your Vote

ADC Young Guns Call For Entires

ENTRIES ACCEPTED APRIL 3 THROUGH JUNE 2, 2008.

ADC Young Guns exists to identify today's vanguard of young creative professionals. Those of you who've set your minds to making a name for yourself, raising new standards from within cubicles, conference rooms, cramped apartments, and studios across the world—this is your chance to put those battle cries in action.

Register Now

Amazing flame fractals take your breath away

Witness the beauty and elegance of mathematics with 50+ breathtaking fractals. Webshots member rajah created these fractal flames with Apophysis.

View the Gallery

ADC 87th Annual Gala

THE ADC JURIES HAVE SPOKEN.
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH IS ALMOST UPON US... Stay tuned! This year's winners will be revealed and celebrated at ADC's 87th Annual Awards Gala. Yahoo!'s Big Idea chair will be awarded to the top winner(s) in the ADC Hybrid category and the Corbis Creativity for Social Justice Award recipients will be named and receive cash prizes.

Buy tickets!
87th Annual Awards Gala
May 1, 2008 - 7pm
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC
http://www.adcawards.org

ADC Young Guns Live | Julia Hoffmann: In Transit

Julia Hoffmann treks back to the ADC to talk about transitions from design to advertising, from traditional to interactive, from Pentagram to Crispin Porter Bogusky, and from New York City to Boulder, Colorado. She'll share her work, which - like her career, life, and location - is constantly in flux.

Prior to the 7:00 presentation by Hoffmann, Adobe presents a one-hour tutorial on Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, led by Adobe Certified Trainer Scott Citron. One lucky attendee will win a copy of Adobe CS3 Design Premium at the end of Julia Hoffmann’s presentation.

Thursday, April 17, 2008
5:30 pm Adobe Workshop
7:00 pm Presentation
@ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Tickets $20
ADC Members $14

Register by clicking here.
Questions: 212.642.1440 x10

Step Inside Design ISSUE PREVIEW

Here's a look at what you'll find in your copy of the new STEP:


















“Each year we focus an issue of STEP on the subject of type. While it's easy to get caught up in the latest fonts or the tools we use to access and manipulate them, that's not all this issue is about. As Allan Haley, who guest-edited this issue's special type section, points out in his introduction on page 71, type's diversity is among its enduring attractions. So it's only fitting that in the articles about type that follow, the full range of human cultures, moods and technologies is explored with all the scrutiny and joy the subject deserves ..." { Read more }

In This Issue: May/June 2008
1: Gail Anderson: Versatile Typophile
2: For The Love Of Letterpress
3: Type Tips & Tricks: InDesign CS3
4: Wish You Were Here
5: Pro Practice: Tracking The Money, Part 1

Office and computer pranks

What better way to welcome back coworkers from an extended vacation than an amusing practical joke?

View the Pranks

Ref5esh

iStock's premiere photographic holiday is happening in Malta from June 15-22, 2008. A Ref5esh ticket will get you a cultural tour, access to a private island, a day cruise, an exclusive beach party and access to a megalithic temple. There will be photo shoot opportunities every day, cocktail parties every night and plenty of exotic adventures in between. Visit the Refresh website.

Convicted of endangering their computers?

Just because you can take your laptop into the bathroom, doesn't mean you should. Unfortunately, users often ignore common sense and place expensive computer equipment in harms way. From soft drink spills to duct-tape fixes, these users are support calls just waiting to happen. I recommend they all be convicted for endangering their computers.

More TechRepublic.com

Wiki technology appearing all over the place

Wiki, a technology for online encyclopedias and other documentation, is beginning to find itself in some interesting places. A Stanford professor has proposed that wiki technology be used in Congress to help make the process more transparent.













Read More TechRepublic.com

Tech Sanity Check

Over 50% of businesses have iPhone users, but only 27% of IT departments support it

When Apple recently announced its SDK and Exchange support for the iPhone it unleashed a lot of talk about the iPhone becoming an enterprise powerhouse and even a BlackBerry killer. As a result, TechRepublic ran two polls to see where the iPhone currently stands in business. Here are the results.


















Continue Reading TechRepublic.com

Touring Microsoft's Science Fair

An insider's look at the latest gizmos Microsoft's developing.

Walking around TechFest 2008, Microsoft's chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundie talks to News.com's Ina Fried about the latest from Redmond's labs and where the company is placing its bets these days.

Watch the Video TechRepublic.com

Marketplace for book makers

Almost exactly two years ago we first wrote about Blurb, a publishing software and services company that brings bookstore-quality publishing to the masses. The San Francisco-based company has been pretty busy since then—publishing nearly 80,000 unique titles in 2007, for example, and doubling in size every three months—and now it's come out with BlurbNation, a way for users to monetize their book-making skills.

Read More Springwise.com

Fitness-focused cell phone

Back in 2006 we wrote about the Nike+iPod Sport Kit as an example of the growing number of branded brands—smart partnerships between brands —and now adidas and Samsung have launched an offering along similar lines.

Read More Springwise.com

5 of the best desktop operating systems you never used

Bill Gates’ original dream when he created Microsoft was to have “a computer on every desk and in every home, all running Microsoft software.” Clearly, he accomplished that goal. Depending on whose statistics you want to believe, Windows has a market share in the high 80% - low 90% range. So, unless you run Linux or prefer Mac OS X, chances are you’re a Windows user.

There are other options, or at least there USED to be. Here are a list of five of the best operating systems that you probably never used.

Continue Reading TechRepublic.com

Photos: Building the 200-inch HDTV

ZDNet blogger George Ou is the world's most opinionated gadget fanatic -- which is why his friend asked him to help create a 200-inch HDTV home theater system.

View More TechRepublic.com

Ad-supported photo editing tool

Just when Photoshop’s photo-editing software has become a household word, along comes a free online application that offers many of the same editing tools.

Read More Springwise.com

Blog List

Recently added to my blog List is BOOK COVER DESIGNS. - GET YOUR DESIGNS REVIEWED

"This blog is an effort to bring all the creative talent together to review, discuss, criticize and appreciate designing work. This will give you an opportunity to explore new ideas in designing. You can submit your designs and we will post it here to discuss it with all other creative peoples."

My Latest Design

Civil Engineer Ringer Tee - I have several friends who are Civil Engineers, so I couldn't possibly leave them out in this venture. See CafePress

Interactive touch-bar

Interactive touch-bar combines drinks, ads & games
Food & beverage / Marketing & advertising

We wrote recently about the interactive wine bar at Adour in New York City's St. Regis Hotel, and since then we've spotted several mentions of iBar, a related innovation by UK-based Mindstorm.

Read More Springwise.com

Project profile: Bringing Google Analytics to the desktop

Google Analytics is a web service to help businesses figure out where their visitors come from and how they interact with their sites. The Analytics Reporting Suite is an Adobe AIR application that brings Google Analytics to the desktop (see Figure 1). In this article, I talk about my experiences porting the Google Analytics web version to an Adobe AIR application and tell you about our plans for the suite's future.

Read More

Three reasons to try Flex 3

On the same day Flex 3 became available, Adobe released the first official version of Adobe AIR. Flex, Adobe AIR, and Adobe Flash Player are the foundation of the Adobe technology platform for RIAs. Before I jump into Flex 3, here's a brief explanation of the products that make up the platform:

Continue Reading

Get up to speed on Adobe AIR

Surely you've heard about Adobe AIR. Perhaps you've already played with this new runtime and discovered the cool things it enables you to do. If not, let me point you to some resources that will pique your curiosity and help you get started building and distributing AIR applications in no time. Even if you've already played with it, you may find the following resources helpful.

Introducing Adobe AIR

Linked Data Planet

Who should attend

• Database and Information Architects
• Metadata Specialists and Semantic Strategists
• Venture Capitalists, Industry Pundits and Investors
• Enterprise Architects and Senior Developers
• Database Designers, Managers and Administrators
• Researchers, Analysts and Data Consultants
• Web Software Developers, ISVs and SaaS Providers

What you'll learn

• Linked Data Technology Strategies
• Industry-Specific Linked Data Applications
• Connecting Local Data with Public Data
• Building and Using Ontologies
• Lessons Learned
• Linked Data Search and Query
• Business Cases for Linked Data Technology
• Government Use of Linked Data Technology

Register Today Linked Data Planet

Webcast: Storage Is Changing Fast--Be Ready or Be Left Behind

April 16, 2008 (2pm EDT, 11am PDT)
The storage landscape is headed for dramatic change, thanks to new technologies like Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), pNFS, object-based storage and SAS that will affect everything from NAS and SANs to disk drives. Join us for this enlightening webcast that will arm you with the knowledge you need to make the most of your storage environment, now and in the future. >>Register now!

STEP’s Best of Web 2007 : CALL FOR ENTRIES

Extended Deadline: April 15, 2008

Enter your great web designs in STEP’s Best of Web Design Competition sponsored by Jupiterimages Unlimited and get the recognition you deserve. Winners will be interviewed and prominently featured in the Best of Web Annual [September|October 2008 issue].

Enter your ...
• Entire Website
• Web Advertising [web banners, pop-ups, etc.]
• Motion Graphics

... in these categories
• Business
• Consumer
• Self-promotion
• Nonprofit | Public Service

www.stepinsidedesign.com/bestofweb

Picturehouse Chicago 2008

Picture buyers ...
Picturehouse events offer a unique opportunity to discover new sources of imagery, meet the people you only speak to and email, and network with peers in the industry — all in one location, all in one day!

Picture sellers ...
Build stronger relationships with your existing clients, and broaden your client base in all market sectors. We admit only professional picture buyers and researchers, ensuring your time and investment is entirely productive – far more so than advertising and a lot more fun!

For more information Picturehouse