Mobile App Install Screen

Google to punish sites with mobile app nag screens

DesignNewsSocial Media

Good news! Google is fighting the good fight, taking on websites that turn up their nose at good user experience.

If you’ve ever tapped on a search result on your phone only to see a giant ad imploring you to install the site’s app, you know how annoying that can be. Google realizes that too, thanks to its own internal study that showed users often don’t click through when they encounter these ads. Now Google wants to change that by downranking sites that pull such a stunt. Starting November 1st, any site that uses large app install interstitials will no longer be deemed “mobile-friendly” by Google, which could spell disaster for the site’s SEO. Other interstitials will still be okay, however, and Google is encouraging the use of less obtrusive app install banners instead. While ads aren’t going away entirely — this is Google, after all — at least it looks like they’ll be less aggravating in the future.

Via Engadget

typefaces

The look of letters – a history of typefaces you’ll recognize

Design

For every news story or advertisement you see, there is at least one writer who has agonized over every word. But a designer has also agonized over how those words look. This is a list that shows just how much thought goes into the look of letters.

The two shown in the featured image are Helvetica and Bell Centennial.

Helvetica

This list just wouldn’t be complete without Helvetica — not only is Helvetica everywhere; it also has an entire documentary devoted to it. In that film, design writer Rick Poynor explains that Helvetica was born of the “idealism” and “sense of social responsibility” among designers in the post-World-War-II period. That idealism, combined with a need for “rational typefaces” for things like official signage, helped Max Miedinger and Eduard Hoffman create Helvetica in 1957. And because of its simple, clean look, the font has become pervasive. In 1989, for example, it became the official font of New York City Subway signage, but it has also been used in countless logos.

Bell Centennial

Bell Centennial was created in the 1970s for phonebooks, and specifically to address problems with the printing of those books. If you look closely at the letters, you’ll notice little notches where the strokes meet each other. Those are “ink traps,” meant to deal with the combination of the thin ink used to print phone books and the cheap paper they’re printed on, MoMA explains. Leaving those notches allows the ink to fill in the spaces and make the letters look full and correct when they are printed.

See many more typefaces at Vox

Look-At-Me-App-

New App Helps Autistic Kids Make Eye Contact

DesignNews

Interacting with other people can be a struggle for autistic children and adults — reading facial expressions and making eye contact are just two of the challenges they face. From parents’ perspectives, the barrier is especially difficult to bear as they try to connect with their kids. In an attempt to help bridge this gap, Samsung and creative agency Cheil Worldwide teamed up with Seoul National University and Yonsei University to create “Look at Me,” a tech-based training tool.

Experts in the field worked with user-experience designers to develop a reward-based smart device application for autistic children to play with. The kids are tasked with completing seven missions designed to help them express their emotions, interpret facial expressions and work their way toward making eye contact. Much like a video or computer game, each successfully-completed assignment results in a prize, including points, rubies and character cards.

The app, available on Google Play, was originally tested by 20 children for eight weeks. Post-program surveys filled out by parents indicated that 60% of the kids showed improvement in making eye contact.

Norwegianpassport_cover

What we love: Norway’s New Passports

DesignNews

The internet is going nuts for this new passport design and it’s easy to see why.

Norway’s stunning new passport design has just been unveiled and it has mastered the art of Scandinavian minimalism.

Created by Neue Design Studio, the packaging features clean lines, a red embossed cover, and even secret images of the Northern Lights.

When placed under a UV lamp, the gorgeous landscape lights up before your eyes.

Norwegianpassport_spread

Norwegianpassport_spread_UV_light

The passport will have a red cover unless you are a diplomat, in which case, you will receive a blue version. Immigrants will be issued a pale gray design.

The new designs were an entry in the National Police Directorate’s competition to ‘find a unique concept with excellent design qualities and a theme that is widely accepted.’

The hope was also that the new design would increase the security of Norwegian passports, ID cards, and other travel documents.

‘Nature has always been an essential part of the Norwegian identity and tradition, as well as being a key fundament to our welfare,’ said the design team. ‘The landscape with its vast variation from the south to the north is the starting point for the design concept. The basis for the winning entry is the concept of The Norwegian Landscape.’

Though the design will be slightly adjusted and tweaked on the basis of technical and safety considerations, the final result will be presented soon.

The jury, speaking of their decision to crown Neue Design Studio the winners, said: ‘It illustrates the Norwegian identity and makes sure the passport will be viewed as a document of high value.’

Well done, Neue!

Dyslexie-typeface-by-Christian-Boer-dezeen_468_2_1000

A Typeface for Dyslexics

Design

I love it when design is used for a greater purpose. Designer Christian Boer has created a typeface to help dyslexics read more accurately and with less frustration.

“When they’re reading, people with dyslexia often unconsciously switch, rotate and mirror letters in their minds. Traditional typefaces make this worse, because they base some letter designs on others, inadvertently creating ‘twin letters’ for people with dyslexia.

Boer, a dyslexic himself, designed the letters with heavier bottom portions to prevent the reader’s mind from turning them upside down.

Lengthened ascenders and descenders – the portions of the characters that stretch beyond the two main horizontal guides – also makes them easier to tell apart.

Letters that usually appear similar are subtly italicized and have added tails where possible, so they no longer look alike and pose less risk of the reader mirroring them.

Boer has also added larger spaces between letters and words, as well as bold capitals and punctuation marks so the start and end of sentences can be better differentiated.

Dyslexia is estimated to affect 10 percent of the world’s population.

Dyslexie-typeface-by-Christian-Boer-dezeen_468_2_1000

chinese

Iconography: Learn Chinese!

DesignFunVideo

At Skiilight, we hold that iconography is the building block to your brand. Logos, letterforms, and icons combine to provide a user experience that creates meaning. Take a few moments (6 in fact) to learn the icons that billions of people already know.

In this TED Talk, ShaoLan walks through a simple lesson in recognizing the ideas behind the characters and their meaning — building from a few simple forms to more complex concepts.