PopRally Presents: The Art of Dissent

This panel discussion looked at how dissent is more than a momentary impulse for artists; how politics are an essential component of both art and their interactions with community and commerce. In this panel, artists and musicians discuss how politics and art mix in their work and working processes.

The most notable panelist was artist and JustSeeds editor Josh MacPhee. Im a big fan of MacPhee- he began with describing the Celebrate People’s History poster series and finished with the announcement of his latest book, Reproduce and Revolt. It is a great resource of illustrations and graphics for use on flyers, posters, t-shirts, buttons, brochures, and other visual aspects of political campaigns. The graphics are easy to reproduce, and all are available for use without permission.

NYCUPA: UX Research at Google in NYC: Methods and Case Studies

I was looking forward to a discussion of research processes by Google’s User Experience team members. The promise was they were sharing recent case studies where designs were influenced by some unique work with metaphors. Sounds good, right?
Wrong! The presenters weren’t able to give details of the case studies – making the use of metaphors seem inappropriate. Without knowing specifics it was hard to follow the metaphors.

TIP:
If you want to compare seemingly unrelated subjects it is necessary to define the subjects.

Notes:
Domain metaphors are not Design metaphors.

Google Design principles:
1. Focus on the user and all will follow
2. Every millisecond counts.
3. Simplicity is powerful.
4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
5. Dare to innovate.
6. Design for the world.
7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.
8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
9. Be worthy of people’s trust.
10. Add a human touch.