Here was my initial response:

I think what’s best is each role [design and developer] is cognizant of what the other role does and has an understanding of the process. I may not know how to write a jQuery plugin from scratch or understand the specifics of a PHP module (for example), but I know by looking at it from an inquisitive mindset or asking the developer specific questions, I’ll better understand why it exists, what functions it performs, etc.

Likewise, a developer should feel free to ask the designer questions, examine their work and understand the process. A hybrid can just ask himself questions.

…it looks like magic to both sides but a lot of what comes out of design/development is experimentation, flashes of brilliance and guesswork. Both roles are not brilliant from the get-go.. you just keep working at it until that message you are trying to communicate breaks free. Even then knowing you can continue to iterate is key. And by all means, know your limitations and be open about them. Some things to remind yourself with as a design/dev: Don’t be a miracle maker, ask for help, collaborate. We don’t do enough of this and silo ourselves to the point where the lines of communication become cumbersome or non-existent.

Jay replied with:

Right back atchya man — it all seems like common sense — but sadly, it is very rare to find. it creates understanding / efficiency / & ultimately = #innovation.

My final thought:

I think because the environment that we all initially work in or learn within (art/design/illustration or development/mathematics/programming) is set up to be competitive in a way. People look out for themselves — natural human instinct — but the more you collaborate the better it’ll be for you and your co-workers, friends, family. I remember being in art class and asking the professor for more projects where I could collaborate with my classmates, there was very little of that. More silo’d projects with followup critiquing.

It happens so often, in fact, that I begin to doubt my instincts as a designer. It boggles the mind that a Designers Anonymous group doesn’t exist for this very reason, but I digress.

This way of thinking is ludicrous because everything we create is vital to the design process, no matter the context.

For example: That movie poster that you spent several hours on, the one that was eventually canned because the hero’s (or heroin’s) face ended up being badly contorted at a specific viewing angle would probably seem like a failed creation. You might even be tempted to trash it from your hard drive, never to speak of it again.

But guess what? Horribly mangled facial crufties aside, you might end up recycling the typeface or that speckled texture for a future poster or project.

Make it a habit, if you haven’t already, to file away your delightful creations for future use and avoid cursing your design work with voodoo.

It just never works, I mean what am I supposed to do with this Chihuahua-Goat™?

Just remember the three R’s: Redeem, Reuse and Rejoice.

It also focused somewhat on the shortcomings of the WTC, such as stairwells hugging the core of the building providing what they thought was extra stability, that led to so many civilian casualties during the 2001 attacks.

There was obvious concern over the methods used for high-rise building evacuation. In most cases stairways are used, provided that they are in working condition. The planes that struck the WTC buildings destroyed a large portion of the stairs which in turn contributed to the lack of proper evacuation.

As I watching this, I was thinking about better ways for efficient and safe evacuation during high-rise building emergencies. One solution (not necessary failsafe) that occurred to me was an enclosed slide that essentially loops around the building. The slide itself would be oiled so that when groups of individuals are preparing to evacuate, they descend in such a manner where clogging of the slide would be prevented.

Again, not a failsafe method of course, but I believe one that doesn’t rely on the shortcomings that occur with stairways. If you’ve ever used the stairs in a high-rise building you know that this isn’t an efficient means of getting people out of the building in a timely fashion, especially during an emergency when people typically lose the ability to think sensibly.

Yet, when I was thinking about this I realized that using a slide could also lead to oversights in the process of evacuation. It’s possible that like the stairs in the WTC building, a portion of the slide could also be destroyed. That said, it’s difficult to try and come up with various ways to efficiently transport people out of a building and at the same time making sure the means of doing so are safe and expedient.

There are other methods such as zip lines (think James Bond or the military), extendable slides and chute systems that could work but again, which of these would actually work when the real thing occurs, as opposed to just testing them in labs.

I personally don’t think we’ve found a perfect system yet, despite how much technology has improved in the past 20 years, and I don’t feel like we ever will.

What should be stressed however is that we need to have alternate ways of evacuating people from structures to prevent massive casualties when an emergency occurs. 

However, I came to the realization that when you look past the negative aspects and focus instead on the positive outcome of reconnecting with people that you might have lost touch with, well then it doesn’t seem so bad.

In fact, it’s safe to say that despite the countless amount of good and bad press, which any good journalist or sane person would tell you is just effortless advertising, there are a lot of interesting outcomes that occur when you set up your own space on the web.

To me, MySpace is a messy combination of personal journal and media, mixed together with self expression and sometimes self reflection. If one were to attempt to map Myspace it would probably be neither here nor there.

Frankly, it’s a phenomenon that would sound wonderful on paper or pitched to in front of a group of investors, but in it of itself it’s like a swap meet of individuals coming from various social, ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds on display for the world to see, a messy one at that.

It’s also a potentially dangerous breeding ground for stalkers, but that light has already been shone many times by the media and it’s not worth revisiting that hazard since it steers the purpose of this article in another direction.

Back on topic, it’s worth noting that within 3 days of activating an account on MySpace — as well as making it pretty thanks to Mike Davidson’s Hacking a More Tasteful Myspace — I’ve reconnected with people that I lost touch with 4 to 5 years ago and that alone is remarkable considering I felt it’d be difficult to do so otherwise.

The thought of contacting and reconnecting with people from my past, the majority of them from high school, has always been in the back of my mind, but the conversation starter, for example; “How I’d approach the person or begin the conversation” always seemed a bit difficult. Also, there never really seems like a good moment to do so and the notion that it might be awkward as such can make what would otherwise seem appropriate and good willed turn into something contrived or put on.

Sad to say, but Myspace has allowed me to jump right in and test the waters. To show friends from my past that I really do care despite the lack of communication. For that, I can forgive the site for being a mess from a functionality standpoint and instead remained focused on sifting through the vast resource of individuals and egnited friendships from yesteryear. 

Elementary Schools and Teachers

Ever since I accepted a position working as a cleaner (janitor, custodian, slop mop guy) at an elementary school I’ve gained a new perspective and greater appreciation in regards to everything that occurs behind the scenes.

Prior to working at an elementary school, I had a very one-dimensional view of how schools actually ran, seeing as though my last encounter with a peewee educational fortress was many years ago.

Yet, when you pull back the curtain and realize that teachers have flaws, library shelves do in fact get dusty and there’s a bittersweet human element to it all that’s hard to describe, only then do you realize why schools continuosly run themselves.

All of this boils down to the teachers themselves, who in turn are modivated by their student’s achievements, which fuels their inner passion to educate, looking past the spitballs and dirty looks, knowing full well at the other end there will be a result.

On that note, since we live in the era of Google, I was thinking how much smarter a teacher can seem if he or she has access to a computer in their room. With Wikipedia and Google at their fingertips, said teacher can instantaneously look up unlimited subject matter, print or project, and contribute endless amounts of information to the education process.

It’s really fascinating, considering when I was younger all we had is an Apple II and maybe, depending on if you were good or not, Oregon Trail with buffalo shooting action all at a grueling pace.

Wii!

For weeks on end I’ve been thinking about Nintendo’s recently unvieled and renamed console, Wii. I’ll admit that at first I was a bit taken back by the name (shocked even), seeing as though the console and it’s premise sounds kind of silly.

However, after thinking about it some I’ve grown to actually love “Wii” and all it has to offer. Especially after seeing the slew of E3 demos that have popped up on sites like YouTube and Gamespot.

There’s just no denying the fact that you’re no longer just playing, but participating in a game using their Wii-mote, which looks like your average TV remote but recognizes 3D space and movement. How cool is that? Way cool!

Spore

With sites like Total Spore appearing out of thin air, there’s something intriguing and undeniably mouth watering about Will Wright’s newest sim creation, Spore, that has the media and blogosphere and maybe your neighbors in a gaming frenzy.

Spore isn’t just going to change the way people look at simulation games, it’s going to turn the gaming realm upside down. From the previews to demo footage and demonstrations given by Wright himself, it appears to be a mish mash of evolution, creation, old school gaming, clay modeling, strategy and sci-fi (amongst other things) all rolled into one.

I haven’t been this excited about a video game in years, not since I first laid eyes on Simcity and Populous. 

Update #2: Jeremy Keith responds to Arno after receiving a similiar email, but for perfume.

Update: Arno responds to this post. (read below first if you haven’t already for the full scoop)

You know, I’ve sifted through a truckload of emails in the past few years about instant credit reports, money-making opportunities and not to mention salespeople interested in selling me everything from pet rocks to laser-guided golf ball retreivers.

In all this time I’ve never once received a domain acquisition email, until today of course.

Not more than 8 hours ago, I received an email from an Arno Zimmerman in regards to purchasing, or actually acquiring this domain for a “well-known Hollywood studio”. The email was a bit hazy, but to keep this on record for future conversations I’m presenting it here in it’s entirety.

Read on as I really can’t make this kind of stuff up:

Dear Mr Sagen,

My sincere apologies for writing to you unannounced. My name is Arno Zimmerman and I am CEO of an Internet domain name acquisitions agency based here in Los Angeles, California.

My agency is currently engaged by a well-known Hollywood studio. The studio is producing a new action movie called The Kartooner. The movie has an all star cast, including Bruce Willis in the title role, and will be released in the fall. My client is therefore very keen to purchase the rights to the domain name kartooner.com from you.

I am sure that you will understand that I cannot provide you with much in the way of information about our client at this time. However I can assure you that they are sincere in their offer, and that they are keen to conclude this purchase quickly.

I would be interested to learn how much you would require for this transfer of ownership.

Many kind regards,

Arno Zimmerman

Okay, admittedly, you caught me off guard Mr. Zimmerman. If someone were to tell me — like you just did — that Bruce Willis would be starring in an action movie called The Kartooner, I’d be hesistant to believe such a thing.

However, if you want to talk about the greenback, I might be willing to budge for about $66,000 dollars, give or take.

Let me know, alright? In the meantime, I’m going to try and figure out what I’d purchase with that kind of money.

Arno Responds

To be honest, I’m clueless in regards to the seminars and presentations taking place due in part to the mess of information on the SXSW site. If anyone has put together a “SXSW Guide for Dummies”, let me know, since I’ll be running around trying to figure out what seminars/presentations/discussions will be worth attending.

If all goes as planned, I’ll be hanging with my travel pals Dave Seah and Eric Shepard and will most likely document the entire experience here, over a series of 5 days with exclusive photos and anecdotes-o-plenty.

Let me know if you’re going to be there since I’d like to meet and greet as many people as possible so I have something to write home about.

Austin here I come!

Earlier this morning I had my first eye appointment and when the nurse informed me that she would be administering eyedrops, I just nodded and tilted my head back. She then informed me that my eyes would become dialated and that everything would be extremely blurry up close. Again, I just nodded and was told to return to the waiting room to wait for the Doctor. A few minutes later, my eyes became extra sensitive to light and I noticed when I moved my palm close to my face that I couldn’t see anything except for a skin-toned blur. Sitting there, with poor vision due to the eyedrops, it made me think about various concerns I’ve often thought about.

In recent years, with the advent of technology, things are only getting smaller in size including the text we read on our computer screens. Unless one were to realize this initially while developing user interfaces for those with slightly poorer vision, I believe things will only become worse.

Despite this concern, I have seen various kiosks and web sites that use larger onscreen text, but some of these are only in effect because of a trend that I call “Biggie Size”, wherein the designer has decided to use larger text because it’s the “in” thing to do, not necessarily because it might help those with poorer eyesight.

It’s certainly something to take into consideration, not only because it looks cool or earn you high fives from your peers but that it might actually be more readable for those straining their eyes because of smaller text. Yet, where do we begin as designers as far as a baseline text size for onscreen reading? There’s been several debates on this topic, many of which never really draw a specific conclusion or answer to a perfectly legible text size for any reader. There’s good reason for this, mainly the fact that unless it’s a “one size fits all” t-shirt or baseball cap, I don’t think there will ever be a golden answer to that question.

Taking that into account, this is why various web sites utilize em or percentage text scaling instead of pixel perfect (px) sizing, allowing the reader the ability to increase or decrease the onscreen text. I had a discussion the other day with my friend and fellow 9ruler Peter Flaschner, who mentioned that the font size on kartooner was too small for his tastes, so he sent me a screenshot where he increased the font size to his liking.

I had no qualms with Peter doing this, especially considering that I sized everything according to a baseline font size of “small”. Everything else is scaled according to a specific percentage, including the body text (what you’re reading now) which is set at 95% of small. I could set the percentage higher and I’ve considered it, but I’m not sure if I’ll receive a complaint that the font size is too large. It’s at this point where I’m trying to figure out how to meet the needs of those who have good vision and those whose vision isn’t quite what it used to be. 

Such is the case with someone who has to adjust according to a change in their work shift. When that time comes, rarely are we ever afforded the ability to fully prepare for the change that occured. Instead, we have to tweak various aspects of our routines in accordance to whatever will incur balance in our lives. It’s never easy and most of the time it means stepping out of our comfort zone and understanding what needs to be done in order to stabilize oneself. For the individual who changes to a night shift, this means adjusting their sleep schedule to meet the demands and needs of their respective position.

Another example of making an adjustment could be budgeting oneself in order to prevent financial chaos. One first has to recognize the issue at hand and then make the choice to change and consequently adapt for the betterment of the situation. The outcome of making this adjustment might mean the difference between scrapping the bottom of the barrel or wading above surface.

Number of Books on Shelf

Oh wow. Truthfully, there are about 100 books on the small bookshelf in our living room and scattered throughout our apartment I’d estimate that I’ve collected over 3–400 books that run the gamut as far as different subject matter. The plan is that when we finally take the plunge and purchase a house to store our material items, that we’ll set up more bookshelf space to properly (for once) store these books.

Last Book Purchased

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. While I didn’t go to one of those overnight parties, I did purchase it from Amazon.com and received it the same day it was released, which was a commendable feat in itself on Amazon’s part.

Book Reading Right Now

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Unlike Greg, who finished the latest Potter book in a few days, I’m about halfway through. I’d say this book is much more historically-driven than the previous novels.

Last 5 Books Read

I typically read about 5 or 6 books at a time, meaning that a lot of the content kind of mashes together into what I can only describe as a vividly stitched and interwoven storyline.

• The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood
• The Notebook by Nicolas Sparks

Books That Mean A Lot To Me

As Greg stated, this is a bit difficult since there are a slew of fantastic books that have in some way or another effected me on an emotional level.

• Boy’s Life by by Robert McCammon
• Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
• Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
• The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Pass it Along

Instead of choosing a select few to pass this along to, I’ll just suggest that anyone that’s interested, feel free to steal this book meme and make it your own.