While going through one of the reads, I came across this beautiful line from the founding father of neuroscience, Santiago Ramón y Cajal. He elaborates on Diseases of the Will and the Six Psychological Flaws That Keep the Talented from Achieving Greatness

Our neurons must be used for more substantial things. Not only to know but also to transform knowledge; not only to experience but also to construct.

I couldn’t agree more with this statement. We are addicted to information not the devices it comes from. Prior to mobile phones, there were newspapers but the overload of information today has transcended the barrier where we differentiate between which information to keep and which to use. The share of latter is declining. Using information and transforming it will enable our brains to go beyond the limits today.

In the meanwhile, here is another reading list for you.

Graphic Design

More than ever before, designers today are tasked with designing with digital tools, for digital environments like web pages. This change affects all aspects of design, but perhaps none more than typography, where the readability of digital fonts depends so much on the environment of display. But the question arises of whether there is still a meaningful difference between digital fonts and any other type. Alex Bigman explores the history in Digital Fonts: A Condensed History. Dean Vipond thought it’d be a good idea to explain what design in all its forms is. He says he has long held the notion that all forms of design are effectively about communication, be that user experience design, industrial design, fashion design, but that’s a pretty lofty thing to explain to kids. So he shares how he tells children about what he does in Explaining Graphic Design To Four-Year-Olds. The federal government doesn’t stray too far from a few familiar topics when it comes to its agenda: the economy, health care, national defense, immigration, reproductive rights. But for roughly a decade not long ago, good graphic design was a national priority–and the story of how it became one is a forgotten chapter of design history. Diana Budds writes about it in Nixon, NASA, And How The Federal Government Got Design.

Picture Credit: Fast Co Design

UI Design

The card is a user interface component that acts as an entry point to more detailed information. Varying sources of information are pooled together and presented in a digestible way. It is a reflection of our current media environment. Andrew Coyle writes on how to Design Better Cards, the components that symbolises the web. Bree Chapin says we are a throw-away society. From fast fashion to manufactured obsolescence in our gadgets, much of what we buy gets thrown in the trash within less than a year. Products wear out far too quickly or are replaced by something shinier, newer, or more trendy. Not only is this terrible from a sustainability perspective, but when something is designed to be replaced almost immediately, it means we are literally creating garbage. Read more in Stop Making Garbage: A Guide to Designing Interfaces That Last. Colm Tuite says after having spent the majority of the past few years thinking about how to design, build and present design systems for products like Marvel, Bantam and Modulz, he figured he’d share tips for designing and building a consistent design system in How To Construct A Design System.

Picture Credit: Medium

UX Design

Social media is one of the dominant forms of interactions on the Internet. Leading platforms such as Facebook and Twitter count hundreds of millions of users each month. In this article, Dave Ellender shows how social media is a rich vein of data for user researchers in Using Social Media For User Research. Claire Lew says that the next time you’d like to get honest feedback, try asking for advice instead. Notice how much more people open up to you. See how swapping that one word makes a difference and help you Unlock Honest Feedback. This is indeed very helpful for stakeholder and user feedback sessions. The confirmation design pattern isn’t something to be taken lightly. If employed erroneously, or not at all, users may commit unintended havoc. This article by Andrew Coyle shares guidelines and best practices for designing effective confirmations in Designing Confirmation

Picture Credit: Medium

News

Google Hangouts is getting a major overhaul to take on Slack with a surprisingly rich feature set. Smashing Magazine is changing: a new design, a new layout, a new technical stack, a new printed magazine and a new Smashing Membership. Here’s a sneak preview of what’s coming up. Google announced Guetzli, a new open source algorithm that creates high quality JPEG images with file sizes 35% smaller than currently available methods, enabling web-masters and graphic designers to create graphics that can load faster and use even less data.

Life & Beyond