I am unfamiliar with the world of interactive.

There, I said it. Cat’s out of the bag. Or maybe it was never in the bag, because most of you have probably figured this out after the repeated, wide-eyed, blank expressions that result when anyone mentions things like wireframes, scripts, or coding to me. I have absolutely no clue what anyone is talking about.

So, you’re trying to tell me that when someone says javascript, they aren’t offering me some alien variety of coffee? Too bad, I have an insatiable coffee addiction. And when Liina says wire flames, she is actually referring to wireframes and, talented as she is, cannot spontaneously combust websites online? Thank god, I don’t need the CIA on my case. Again.

I’m a writer here. Who knew I’d have to learn an entirely new language to work with interactive? In fact, after my first day here, I left the building in a state of confusion far beyond the typical bewildered fog that surrounds me. I ran straight to my trusty Webster’s dictionary, which I affectionately refer to as Big Red (unless I have to carry the thing, in which case I’m something rather less than affectionate). Believe me, it’s big. Like bigger-than-my-physics-textbook big, a feat I hadn’t thought possible prior to the discovery of this sixty pound red dinosaur at a garage sale last summer. There is just one teeny, tiny problem about my good friend, the dictionary- it was published before I was born.

This really hadn’t been a hindrance before my first day at Azul 7, when I lived in a world shrouded by the pleasant belief that websites appeared magically from thin air. However, the time was finally upon me to look up all the outlandish internet terms I’ve heard of but never understood before. Such peculiar terms as javascript and bandwidth. So of course, I turned to Big Red and searched its dusty pages for enlightenment in the form of wireframes.

I found nothing.

I moved on to scripts. A passing mention of manuscripts and old documents. I tried interactive. Something or other about human contact. At this point, I was getting pretty frustrated with my former friend. I decided to look up the mother lode- the internet.

There it was, between internee and internist: internaught.

My dependable old dictionary did not even contain the term internet. Maybe that’s why it was sold for fifty cents at a garage sale, cast off the shelf in a fit of cruelty, only to be replaced by a newer, smaller dictionary that accepted and defined our digital future. I felt betrayed and deceived by my affable giant. There was nothing left for me to do but visit the source of my confusion- I went online and quickly found myself on Wikipedia.

There amidst pages and pages of user-produced content, I found clarification and subsequently lost two hours of time. I now understand that javascript is not my precious coffee but instead a language for coding websites, and wireframes are layouts containing descriptions of a website’s functionality. So, the next time someone slides down the slippery alphabetical slope from wireframes to wire flames, not a thought of spontaneous online explosions will enter my head (Okay, well maybe just one. It’s a pretty cool idea, after all). Not only this, but I’ve learned what the ‘dev’ team is and AJ shouting “SCRUM!” in the mornings doesn’t even sound like a strange German word to me anymore.

Thus far, this experience has led me to two conclusions:

1. I’m going to get the hang of this.

2. I’m going to need a new dictionary.

Nevertheless, don’t ask me to define the internet. We’re in the process of doing just that.

As a relative newcomer to the web design scene, one of the first things that an individual developer such as myself discovers is that not all web browsers are created equal. There are plenty of slick, standards-based, and forward-looking browsers out there, but for as long as web development has been a serious and profitable field there has been one Inevitable Exception.

Even standards-based browsers often conflict in their interpretation of the same HTML + CSS code due to differences in their rendering engines. Because of this, it is necessary to test a site across multiple browsers. This requires, first of all, having multiple browsers available for your use, which in turn requires having multiple operating systems.

Traditionally, this meant you either had multiple computers or multiple operating systems on the same computer. The first option required a significant investment in hardware, and the second required a reboot every time you wanted to use a different browser. In both cases, testing took you “out of the game,” as you had to drop what you were doing in order to use another browser. This loss of focus is a serious time drain, as any developer knows.

The only really viable, convenient way to test on multiple browsers was to develop the site targeted to a standards-based browser and then “back-port” it to the industry’s less-capable brethren once everything had been done. About 50% of the time this would be a relatively easy job, and the other 50% it would be a long, torturous journey with horrible conflicts and multiple redesigns. This process had many of the same properties as the old waterfall method of software development: most notably the tendency to overrun project deadlines because there is not sufficient testing early in development to catch bad design choices before they are thoroughly entrenched in the system.

Thankfully, this is no longer the only option available to us. Like the agile process broke the waterfall paradigm, a new technology has given us a solution to this problem.

A veritable revolution in virtualization has resulted in several high-quality and freely-available software virtualization options (especially for my fellow Linux users and me). It is now possible to run multiple operating systems on one computer simultaneously, so that switching between them is a simple as switching between windows on your desktop.

Want to make sure that new feature will work in IE? Just flip over to Windows XP and refresh the page. Once your done, check it out in Linux, too. If you’re running a Mac, you can have all three major operating systems ready to go at all times. The mental barrier between testing and development is blurred significantly in this arrangement, so much that they hardly seem like different tasks anymore.

You’ll be happier because you’ll catch your mistakes moments after you make them instead of weeks, and your clients will be happy because your deadlines won’t slip when you realize that your slick header design is completely broken in IE three days to launch.

Try it out. It will change the way you do development.

Having recently graduated from a four-year graphic design program, education is still a prominent thought in my mind. Four weeks after starting here at Azul7 the same thought continues to narrate my bus rides home – I still have so much to learn. I realize that every rookie designer goes through a similar phase during the beginning of their career, but I cannot help but wonder if there is any way that my college education could have better prepared me for entering the world of design, particularly the growing world of interactive design?

I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have been placed in the hands of a professor in my last semester of college, who constantly encouraged us to think about design as an interactive experience. Until that point in my education, interactive design seemed to be more of an afterthought in the curriculum of many professors. Since graduating, I have become increasingly concerned that not enough emphasis is placed on interactive design, and that interactive media is being positioned not as a core component but rather an elective.

Design will be a means for communicating information to audiences. In order to do this effectively, design constantly evolves with technology. As the world begins to devote more and more of its time and resources towards online and digital activity, design will do the same. So, why aren’t design programs following suit? Students are required to take classes in packaging and logo design, yet not all programs require students to study web design. Websites and other interactive media are far more effective at reaching audiences than direct mail and packaging campaigns, yet certain schools continue to elevate traditional design fields above the rest.

Web design has come a long way since the 90s, and it’s time that design programs, professors, and students start realizing that a well-designed web site can be far more beautiful than any bottle of vodka or line of beauty products.

Designers, start encouraging students and young designers to think beyond print. Share your work with as many classrooms and students as possible. Professors, start showing students the potential and potency of interactive design. An education isn’t valuable if it isn’t relevant. Students, start paying attention to what’s happening in the world outside of your design classrooms. Look to business and other sectors to really see what your audience is really interested in.

As for me, I will continue to discover countless things that I still need to learn. I will also look forward to each day, knowing that another part of my interactive education is waiting for me .

In a meeting this morning, someone shared a phrase his father used to tell him: “Give a lazy person a hard job and they will figure out an easy way to get it done. “It’s a great, and incredibly true, statement. We have to admit we’re all a bit lazy - or impatient or demanding or whatever term you prefer. However, our “laziness” has allowed for great leaps and bounds in new innovations and processes that enhance efficiency and productivity, making our lives easier - which is what we all really want. I know “lazy” may have its negative connotations, but in the web environment it is usually the smart way to go. Feeding into this “laziness” is part of a good web strategy - organizing website content so that users can get the information they need without having to think and businesses are able to run at maximum efficiency. Simple is good. Often hard to achieve, but good nonetheless. As a web strategist, I for one, have found a career amidst this “laziness” - finding ways to make lives and job easier. I love finding resources (online and off) that make my life more efficient. So, below are a few efficiencies that have allowed me to embrace my laziness, and I would love to hear about the tools you use as well. E-newsletters and RSS Feeds - A great way to get automatic reminders of bills, low bank statements, coupons, sales, concerts, breaking news, the stock market or anything else you may want to be reminded that you care about. Metro Transit GoTo Card - No more scrambling to find exact change for the bus or waiting in line for a ticket while watching the train go by. Just swipe and go with the prepaid card. Meebo.com - Consolidates all your instant messaging accounts in one place. Kayak.com - Gathers flight information from all the major carriers and travel search engines. It also provides trends in flight costs and other great tools. Web Bookmarks - In one click of a button I have access to all the website I visit on a regular basis. No need to type in the URL every time. Auto-bill pay and online banking - I haven’t had one late payment and receive my statement notices online, reducing the amount mail to sift through and overall paper waste.

The twentieth-century saw a great shift in the style and purpose of art and design.

The Art Nouveau movement at the turn of the century had elaborate, lush, organic ornamentation that provided a decorative visual language with an emotional quality. Art Nouveau laid the groundwork for abstraction by breaking organic forms down to basic shapes rather than creating realistic representations.

In A History of Graphic Design Philip Meggs states, “Art Nouveau became the initial phase of the modern movement, preparing the way for the twentieth century by sweeping this backward looking spirit from design.”

The sparse geometric style of the modern movement was a stark contrast to Art Nouveau, and modern design went beyond mere decorative element; it served a purpose.

In A History of Graphic Design, Meggs discusses Walter Gropius’ beliefs on purposeful design. Gropius was one of the founders of the Bauhaus, one of the primary influences on modern architecture and design.

“Recognizing the common roots of both fine and applied visual arts, Gropius sought a new unity of art and technology as he enlisted a generation of artists in a struggle to solve problems of visual design created by industrialism. It was hoped that artistically trained designers could ‘breathe a soul into the dead product of the machine’ for Gropius believed that only the most brilliant ideas were good enough to justify multiplication by industry.”

Now at the turn of the twenty first century, we asked ourselves, what is the designer’s role in the age of mass production? We create so much, and the work that we create needs to have a purpose. We aim to unite art and technology by creating interactive spaces that are both functional and memorable. Creating rooms with walls that talk. Exploiting technology to create structures that the visitor can engage with. Spaces where the creative is fully integrated into the structural planning, not just a facade.

I have been asked why I work with such unstable technology, such as wireless sensing, for my performance and dance pieces. I also ask myself that often. My answer is usually something along the lines of, “Any technology can fail.” Other times I say, “I have no idea.” There was a performance while I was at grad school at Arizona State University in which a live band was playing on stage with dancers. The microphone ended up not working so you could barely hear the singer. The microphone has been around since 1876 (according to Wikipedia) how can it fail? I have seen lights not come on or stay on, sound systems shutoff and MANY operator errors. I feel that the technology I use is no less stable than some of the things we use daily. Granted it has been a horrible technology dance season for me and many of my co-workers don’t let me near their iPods, cell phones or cameras, I still have faith. I mean it was all of my stable technology that failed me for the recent dance concert with the Nancy Hauser Dance Company. The first night of tech I could not get my computer to output sound. The second night of tech, I could run sound out of my computer but my Bluetooth mic would not record into my computer. The “unstable” part of my whole setup, the wireless sensing system and Max/MSP patch I had programmed, worked just great! :: continue reading this ocean post ::

The marketplace is swarming with new technologies and products that promise to make our frantic lives easier and more efficient so we can get more done in less time with less effort. Work less and get more. Talk less and say more. You get the picture. We’ve always got too much to do and too little time. So it’s only natural that we’re drawn to technology that makes our to-do list a little less daunting and life a bit more enjoyable.

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With Apple’s release of MacBook Air, has cloud computing finally gone mainstream?

Cloud computing, or where computing is moved from personal computers to an application server or a collection (”cloud”) of computing resources, is a hot topic these days. Amazon made waves with its EC2 and S3 services, and Google’s been in the news this past year with its Google File System.

But up until the MacBook Air, the closest “cloud-like” devices available to the non-technical user were the Asus eeePC and gOS. And despite the tremendous progress that has been made on Linux distros in the areas of user interface design and technical ease of use, those devices are still on the fringes of comfort level for the average Joe.

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Amidst all the iPhone launch hoopla, we overlooked a compelling article from GigaOm contributing writer Raghav Gupta. Gupta, VP of Consumer Services & Partnerships at Brightcove, contends that iPhone represents a “Sea of Change” for the music industry.

Why iPhone Will Change the Mobile Music Industry via [GigaOm]

The past few weeks have reminded us once again of the massive hype that develops when a revolutionary new product hits the mainstream marketplace. Apple’s iPhone is no exception. The so-called “Jesus Phone” has dominated online and offline news in the past weeks, with one person even attempting to steal a device during a live interview on FOX.

Beyond the hype of the launch itself, there have been an equal number of industry pundits and experts predicting that iPhone will “change the way we think about phones and wireless“. So, in the spirit of bold soothsaying (such as predicting a single product will turn a multi-billion dollar industry on its head), here is one more:

iPhone will change…

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