Archive for the ‘Design’ Category



Fantastical

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

My friend Michael Simmons and his company Flexibits have released their long-awaited calendar app. Creating appointments is simple: you just type something like "lunch with John Tuesday at noon", and it creates the event for you. This sounds simple, but there's something fun at play here: it feels like you're ...

• Cheap Magic

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011

Last week, a respected and popular company released a new Twitter client. Unfortunate timing, given recent developments, but it's safe to assume that they started work on this project before Twitter decided to become a bunch of assholes. Immediately, my own timeline started filling up with tweets proclaiming that this new ...

Texture Tutorial

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Louie Mantia posted an excellent screencast on how to use textures in Photoshop. He references CG Textures, which is my own favorite source. If you enjoy his wallpapers, you should check this out.

Mac and Cheese

Thursday, April 7th, 2011

My friend (and boss) Daniel Pasco on design: Every task, no matter how small, is worth pouring your heart into. Whenever we look at a new project, I ask myself “What is it about this app that is going to make it a Black Pixel app? What characteristics do I want ...

How to Steal Like an Artist

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

Austin Kleon: There’s this very real thing that runs rampant in educated people. It’s called imposter syndrome. The clinical definition is a “psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments.” It means that you feel like a phony, like you’re just winging it, that you really don’t have ...

On the Subject of iPad’s Multitasking Gestures

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

Noted Canadian Guy English points out a subtle but important problem with multitasking gestures in 4.3: The problem isn’t that they’re not handy (zing), rather that they break what I feel is one of the key wonders of iPad — it becomes the application that is running. These multitasking gestures add ...

Questionable Typography

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

This font exists. Someone made it. Think about that for a moment.

White Distraction

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Marco Arment on which iPad 2 to buy: While I haven’t seen them yet, I suspect that the white bezel is more likely to be distracting. You’re not supposed to notice the hardware while using it, and I bet the black will be easier to ignore than the white. Nailed it.

Del Monte Putting Bananas in Wrappers

Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

Apparently this isn't a joke. The company claims that the bag contains ‘Controlled Ripening Technology’ – which extends the shelf-life of the banana by up to six days. The banana is put into the plastic bag when it is green and, according to the manufacturers, goes on to ripen more slowly than ...

Disappearing Car Door

Monday, February 21st, 2011

The doors go away when they aren't needed. I especially love the note about the side mirrors.

• Black Pixel

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

A while back, I started a little company with my friend (and next-door neighbor) Jay. We called it Massively Overrated. The name wasn't meant to be public-facing, but plans have a way of changing. Our little social network for fashion never really took off, but we did discover how much ...

More Talking

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

I'm speaking at some more things: 360MacDev in Denver, next week iOS DevCon in Boston, April If you like watching me talk, you should attend.

Above the Fold

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Alex King points out Apple's feelings on the "above the fold" issue. It's amazing how often this comes up with iOS design, too.

Speaking Engagements

Wednesday, September 29th, 2010

You may know that I design things for a living. You may also know that I occasionally get up in front of rooms to talk about designing things for a living. Two such events are coming up. The first is 360iDev in Austin, where I'll be talking about how developers can ...

Photoshop Style A Day

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of this, but it sure looks like fun.