Regular readers of Graphic Diction may have noticed that for a week, the publication has been shut down with a reboot holder live. I’m excited to announce that Graphic Diction has participated in the May 1st Reboot movement and we’ll discuss what inspired the new layout.

As quoted from their authors, “May 1st Reboot offers a chance for convergence within, what continues to be, an increasingly fragmented and segregated medium. The event is a public showcase of collectivity and individuality, of cohesion without uniformity, part of an increasingly pressing drive to demonstrate the significant and potential of digital authorship in a medium becoming more and more saturated by bland conformist methodologies and insipid commercialised aesthetics.” For me, they represent the freedom allowed in design over the Internet and the movements to revolutionize within the medium.

It’s not uncommon when we hear news about rips being made from designers and developers, but it’s rare to hear about a case where the organization is like the Olympics, a respectable organization, and not just another big-shot company. Not only are we talking about the same type of game, it is the exact same game with changed out graphics here and there. Sohu has stolen the idea, the concept, the execution - the game, the source code and the graphics. That’s a lot of stealing.

And it isn’t only 1 or 2 games, 3 games in total are in question so far. Cadin Batrack, from The Pencil Farm, brought it to the attention of the 2008 Beijing Olympics representatives saying, “At the time Sohu made three requests of Google: that they stop offering the software for download as quickly as possible, that they make an apology, and that they discuss compensation for the offense. I’m currently considering my legal options, but I think these three things sound like reasonable requests to make of Sohu.”

This symposium, in its 3rd year running, brings together local design, technology, architectural and art communities in the North Carolina, USA, Triad region. Presenters from all over the country discussed their work, why they’re doing it and where they expect to go. It was hosted at The University of North Carolina Greensboro.

From the website: “This year’s theme of ‘Between the Lines: Innovation in Art, Architecture, and Design’ promises to bring together communities, industries, and individuals for 3 days of celebration and inspirational exchange. This interdisciplinary event will bring together academics, designers, creative professionals, artists, business entrepreneurs, economic developers, and technology researchers to explore the possibilities of new and innovative approaches to design and technology. Join us and see how creative forces are crossing lines to bring inspiration to the Triad and celebrate the talent and opportunities of the region.”

So I was recently asked to be interviewed in my area by Candy MacDonald for a research paper. I thought the questions and answers were worth sharing with everyone, so here we go:

1. What do you believe is the job outlook for Graphic Designers over the next 10 years? And, do you feel […]

I just wanted to share a piece of open source code for everybody. Introducing, Live Validation.com, the most well-built open source form validation code I have ever come across.

Pros:

- The validation is on-the-fly and onClick. Meaning, that it validates during user input plus when the user hits submit.
- The validation displays up to 4 types […]

The 2008 Business of Software Conference is (hopefully) to be set in Boston, MA in the Fall of this year. I am hoping to attend, so I joined the mailing list to acquire a seat. What can you expect? I’m not sure as I have never attended, but I imagine there is going to be […]

“How To Be A Rockstar Freelancer”, by Cyan and Collis Ta’eed, is a book from the creators of FreelanceSwitch and Eden Creative Communities on how to start and become a great freelancer. I was really excited about this one, but this book is receiving one of my lowest scores and is not recommended. In short, […]

Known only to true geeks and web development companies before the year of 2000, the content management system has been increasing in popularity since web blogs have come about. But what exactly is a content management system, how do you know when you use one and how do you know if you need to use […]

“10 Years of Photoshop”, by Jeff Schewe, was an article written for PEI magazine(web site longer up) back in February of 2000. It’s a lovely history lesson full of fun facts about the Adobe Systems company and it’s comprising software and engineering feats. Definitely worth a read if you use Adobe software or have heard […]

Interaction Design - Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (1st Ed), by Yvonne Rogers, Helen Sharp and Jenny Preece, is an interaction design textbook usually aimed at graduate level or professional study. The book is titled after the profession of interaction design itself, defined in text as “designing interactive products to support people in their everyday working lives”. […]