March 6, 2007
Becoming A Digital Designer
Steve Heller and I have sent in the manuscript for our co-authored book Becoming A Digital Designer. The purpose of the book is to provide an overview of the issues and trends that are driving the industry. I wrote the first section of the book, which includes chapters on information visualization, semantics and semiotics as they relate to code, and designing for multiple devices. Steve and I both contributed interviews with renowned designers and programmers working in every aspect of digital design. Having the renowned Steve Heller to guide me through the process of putting a book together was an education in itself. The book is designed by Rick Landers and will be published by Wiley and Sons in Fall, 2007.


March 5, 2007
Sacred Tech
Business Week has reprinted an article I wrote about Ranjit Makkuni, an Indian technologist who spent twenty years at Xerox Parc before returning to India where he is now creating new interfaces inspired by ancient traditions. As former Xerox Chief Scientist John Seely Brown put it, "The East and West have deeply ingrained and profoundly different traditions for communicating knowledge. What makes Ranjit's work so exciting is that he explores traditions that could take human-computer interaction along entirely different trajectories, if they are allowed to." That last bit is key. So far, Indian entrepreneurs have adopted a very Western mode of development that overlooks, and threatens to replace, ancient traditions of communicating knowledge. Read the article


March 2, 2007
Uncertain Futures: An Interview with Professor Anthony Dunne
So this was supposed to be a straightforward interview for Adobe Think Tank, the online journal I edit. But I just found Professor Dunne's perspective on technology so interesting that I ended up writing a 750-word intro to the interview. Now it's basically an article with all the quotes down at the bottom. Dunne resists the description of designers as "problem solvers." In fact, by masking difficult issues under a slick veneer, he points out that design can actually prevent probems from being recognized and resolved. Dunne's solution is to create products that force us to confront issues--ranging from future energy sources to ambient radiation--that designers (and their clients) would rather we avoid.


February 26, 2007
Japan Society
I am working on a strategy for the Japan Society that will completely reimagine its digital presence. The project consists of launching a series of new websites, including a redesigned main site, on a new content management platform, as well as partnering with IBM to create a hub for the Society's archive of digital video content. We are also partnering with Keio University in Japan on an experimental fiber-optic network that allows for real-time transmission of high-definition audio and video content. The first small step in what will be a long process is a site celebrating the organizations 100th anniversary Japan100. The site was designed by the fabulous Agniezska Gasparska.


February 2, 2007
Design and the State
I was excited to be writing my first article for Metropolis, a magazine I've long admired, but I was really delighted when the piece was accompanied by this illustration by Benoît Guillaume. As a writer, it's a rare treat to have your work interpreted by a talented illustrator, and in this case it seems like Benoît really pulled out the stops. The article is about a government crackdown on design in Romania, which threatens to force some of the country's best designers "underground." View the article and illustration.