Will someone please create a vid like this for the iPad? I find the sparkly wifi much more entertaining.
Kthxbye.
Now that’s a big font.
Whilst watching Up In The Air (very good by the way) the other day, I was distracted by the massive American Airline logo on a tail-fin of a 747. And then a question popped into my head that I can’t shift: what/where is the biggest type in the world?
Dr B, ever patient with my inane fontular ramblings, suggested the Hollywood sign. Possible, I thought. After a quick visit to Wikipedia and few taps into Convertbot, it turns out the sign is set at an impressive 42,520pt. Pretty darn big.
And then I was directed to Woodtyper’s post on the Tillamook Air Museum, a massive hanger sporting the words “AIR MUSEUM” in gargantuan 120,000pt Helvetica. Now that’s BIG (see the comparative scale image above and shudder in vowel-fear).
But I’m sure that can’t be it. There must be something bigger. Probably in Vegas. Can you think of anything? Please send any suggestion on the back of a stamped addressed tweet to the usual address.
I guess self-actualization isn’t everything Maslow cracked it up to be.
For an explanation of how Live Search, including Google Suggest, works, see here.
Thanks to Bianca for the find.
I encountered this door latch recently at Tria Cafe on 11th and Spruce. I’m sure Donald Norman, Steve Krug, and
E. E. Cummings would all have something to say about this. But none of them are here, so I will share my thoughts.
The conceptual model for this door latch is several notches past a just noticeable difference, so it necessitates an explanatory diagram. The diagram, however, is the saving grace of this interface, simply because it shows the user very plainly how to do the two things one would need to do with the door of a single-stall public restroom: 1. Lock the door upon entering. 2. [Unlock and] open the door upon exiting.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from Liza Potts, it’s that if a common interface merits a technical explanation, it’s poorly designed. The sheer fact that I must consult an explanatory diagram to operate a door latch in order to ensure that no unfortunate soul interrupts me whilst I am emptying my bladder is my case-in-point.
Do I need to mention that most of the people attempting to use this door un-knob will most likely be inebriated with delicious wine? I’ve had a glass of zippy white followed by a funky red, and now I must decipher an infographic to lock the bathroom door?? You’ve added an unnecessary step to my public-restroom user workflow, and all I really want to do is urinate.
One can only conclude that the architect must have been under the influence of several funky reds himself when he sat down to design this bathroom.
Suggested uses for this interface:
Along with many others, I was skeptical at first. I felt just like this person:
But the smartees at Gmail are right—I don’t need to see all 34 of my labels. I’ve narrowed it down to seven and it only took a minute.
I love the idea of dragging a label onto a message or vice versa, but for the most part, I’ll probably stick to using the keyboard shortcuts (“L” to label, “V” to move).
However, I still agree with many dissatisfied former right-side label users, that we should have a choice (or at the least, a heads-up).
Now all I want to know is:
1. What happened to auto reply-all?
2. Can I move my gCal and gDocs widgets to the right side now??
Wait, what?
Which part am I canceling or which am I okaying?
(Thanks to @edw for pointing this out to me.)
The structured bits and atoms we encounter everyday exhibit both subtle and provocative qualities. Interfaces are meant to be used but are not always useful or usable. They can evoke the whole gamut of emotions—from :D, to OMG!!, to GRRR!!!—and I intend to explore the how and why of these interactions.
