I had to pass this on. Popular Science just finished posting 137 years worth of their magazines online. Not only are they online – the archives are free and can easily be viewed via browser or mobile.
The gadget geek in me is jumping up and down, but so is the designer side of me. It’s very cool to read about and look at photos of past technology, crazy inventions, and (what were) futuristic ideas. At the same time, it is amazing to compare the designs from various dates such as 1874, 1940, 1972, and 2010. Design and the technology printing those designs was constantly changing as well. People were creating new ways to share ideas and information. Layouts changed from plain, standard column text to full page ads and articles with lots of photos and flexible regions of text.
The talk itself is very interesting. I was a little surprised at how much time was spent on how media affected a few isolated events. The talk repeated the same message that I’ve been reading in articles all over the internet lately. That’s the idea that media has gone from a one-to-one relationship to a one-to-many and finally to the many-to-many relationship that we have today. At one time people could talk to one another. Then TV networks, radio show hosts, or columnists could reach out and deliver a message to a broader audience. Today millions of people can literally communicate with millions of other people with all sorts of different messages. Not only can a person talk to a person, but an organized (or unorganized) group can interact with another group thousands of miles away if they’d like to. Shirky states that we have had the “largest increase in expressive capability in human history.”
Shirky mostly touched on Twitter and a tiny bit on text messaging. I didn’t actually catch any mention of Facebook. I think it’s just assumed that it’s included as one of the biggest networks that people can communicate through. I thought one specific quote was especially interesting.
These tools don’t get socially interesting until they get technologically boring. It isn’t when the shiny new tools show up that their uses start permeating society, it’s when everybody is able to take them for granted.
It seems that this is entirely the case. Most people are still acting like Facebook is a brand new network, when really it’s been around since the beginning months of 2004. It just seems new and exciting because everyone and his brother is now a member. Or Twitter. Twitter is already three years old. It wasn’t until the end of 2008 or early 2009 that Twitter really started being dropped in conversations. In either case, both networks are now mentioned daily, if not hourly on news stations and throughout personal conversations.
As Shirky says,
The question we all face now is how can we make best use of this media even though it means changing the way we’ve always done it?
As I had touched on in a previous post, Social Media -- Where Is It Headed?, more and more people feel the literal need to get involved. This of course leads to what Shirky touched upon -- more and more of the “producers” of content are amateurs. Every second, people are connecting to new networks and adding content to those to which they already belong. Are we going to hit a breaking point? How are we supposed to filter this media, or are we?
Great site: Epipheo. I first came across this site when the post, Epiphany Videos to Propel Viral Campaigns ended up in my inbox as a result of my subscription the the Flip the Media blog. The article itself was a brief insight to the site’s beginnings as well as where it might go from here. What most interested me was the embedded video, How Internet Has Changed Advertising. From there, I couldn’t stop watching videos. Each one really does make you think, even if just for a second. It’s definitely not brainless material.
There are videos in a variety of different categories. What I most enjoyed were the videos on advertising, marketing, and the spread of information on the internet. This is why I love the internet, social media, and digital media. There is so much information out there. I can’t get enough of how much there is to learn, how easy it is to get your hands on practically any information, and how people display it. Whether it’s videos, websites, photos, blogs, etc. The variety and depth of material is astounding. Check out the video from my last post if you don’t get where I’m coming from. Amazing.
On a personal note, the 2009 redesign of my portfolio is officially up at mepriestley.com . Complete with portfolio, services, a short bio, twitter updates, social networking links, and a contact form. Oh, and of course links to both a web and print version of my resume.
I guess that’s all on that for now. It’s been full steam for two days getting it where I wanted it. Time for a breather.
Having both a business for digital design, as well as graphic design, fonts certainly are a necessity. There’s always a need for fonts of all shapes and sizes. While my favorite site was always dafont.com, through reading various RSS feeds and such, I have come across quite a few resources to find just the font I need for any project.
dafont.com – Not only are the downloads PC/Mac friendly, but each font is categorized based on its look and feel. I really like the Eroded, Distorted, and Destroy categories. The one downside to the site is that more often than not, the search is broken. Usually it’s not too big of a deal because of the categories.
fontsquirrel.com – This is an excellent site that I somehow came across. Every font is free and is licensed for commercial use. The administrators of the site hand-pick the fonts that they deem especially great which is greatly appreciated since one of the downsides of trying to find good fonts is weeding through all of the not-so-great selections. The site has a featured section right up front and from there you can also select a style and format to browse.
myfonts.com & fontfont.com – Great sites, but only a select few are ever free. If you need to locate a specific font for a job or such, I’d start here, if not at Adobe or Fonts.com. Just be prepared to pay a bundle.
