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MaKey MaKey

I haven’t been this excited about a Kickstarter project in months. As we spend more and more time on touch interfaces, it’s refreshing to see something that turns just about any physical object into a button.

MaKey MaKey is an invention kit for the 21st century. Turn everyday objects into touchpads and combine them with the internet. It’s a simple Invention Kit for Beginners and Experts doing art, engineering, and everything in-between.

I love the spirit behind this. As the father of a 15 month old, I can imagine that this will amount to infinite hours of creative invention for me him in the future.

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Icon Fonts

Chris Coyier’s Icon Fonts are Awesome demo pushed me up to the edge, and seeing how fuzzy image icons look next to ultra-crisp retina display text threw me over. Now, I’m testing out an icon font on this site for the comments, 3 footer links, and even my logo (why not push it all the way). The icons I use are a hodge-podge, pulled from my own stuff, Glyphish, and Gedy Rivera, so I had to toss them all into a font.

icon comparison

For that, I used the fantastically simple mac app, Glyphs. It gets an A+ for suiting my needs perfectly. I put in a B+ amount of effort for results I’m pleased as punch with, though as I learn & test I may shoot for minor improvements from time to time. The font icons may render a tad on the jagged side for older machines, but it’s a fair tradeoff when you’re browsing from a retina iPad.

In addition to Icon Fonts are Awesome, check out Displaying Icons with Fonts and Data- Attributes from John Hicks for help with implementation. If you’re looking to create custom web fonts, check out Shifticons.

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The World’s Longest Invoice

I came across The World’s Longest Invoice website today from the Freelancers Union. It’s tallying up the dollar amount that is being “held hostage by deadbeat clients.”

While I think the Freelancers Union site has some great resources & goals, I can’t get on board with the attitude of the longest invoice page. Since being in business, I’ve had 2 unpaid invoices. Sure, I’m disappointed in the clients, but I’m more disappointed in myself. I run a small business and like the fact that the buck stops at my desk, but I also realize it’s my responsibility (through things like contracts, legal advice, and payment schedules) to be sure that the buck gets there in the first place.

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Reagan Ray’s Shop

Grab your wallets! Reagan just opened up the shop section of his website. He’s been designing & screen printing posters this spring, and two are available for purchase now. I’ve got both, but have to admit I’m partial to this one as a fantastic visual representation of AFI’s top 25 movies of all time. It’s a poster and a game—a game in a poster!

Reagan Ray Greatest Movies of All Time

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Ideas of March 2012

Paravel got really busy from November thru January. I spent the majority of my time with my head down, focused on client work, deadlines, basecamp, and email. We were a part of some fun projects, but when it came time for me to speak at New Adventures this year I realized I was a little used-up. I felt disconnected from my identity as a web designer because I wasn’t experimenting or blogging much, both of which are core to my work and where I especially find value. Fortunately, my talk & workshop preparation afforded me ample time in the lab to gain back that sense of wonder and enthusiasm I like to carry with me when sharing with my peers. There are always going to be times when work gets busy and we have less time to inventory our thoughts and ideas. The trick is resolving to get back into it when time becomes available.

This post is my small way of participating in Ideas of March.