I'm not a developer. I learned some HTML and CSS back in school in the days of HTML tables and Flash was the only way to break out of that. Oh, how long ago that was. Now we have CSS3 and @fontface and the web's design capabilities keep growing. I try to keep up on the latest developments since they are really quite exciting, but without getting your hands dirty it's hard to always understand the details and implications of new advancements in web capabilities until you actually see them in use. For awhile now, however, I've been hearing over and over again about how HTML5 is going to change the face of web, and if you listen to Steve Jobs, make Flash a dinosaur. People go back and forth on that argument, but regardless, HTML5 will change web design significantly and I've just seen the first real example pointing that direction.
A friend posted this music video on his blog saying it was the coolest music video of all time, so I clicked of course. To my disappointment, it only runs on Google Chrome, which I had not yet installed (in protest to Google for waiting months to release a Mac version after the initial PC-only release). So I went, downloaded Chrome and in that download time, promptly forgot about it until this morning when I noticed the Google Chrome icon sitting there in my dock. So I finally clicked through to the site and watched the video. It's quite cool—and well worth the extra steps of downloading Chrome. I suggest you go watch it here (sorry, it's just too unique to embed in this blog).
Have you watched it? I love two aspects of this video. One is the customization and coordination with Google Earth—not totally unexpected since you have to enter the address, but still, the animation being incorporated into the custom Google Earth imagery is awesome. Second, the choreographed windows opening and closing as the video plays is a really dynamic way to present. Plus the animation is Can you imagine the possibilities with online presentations in the future?
The animation is built in HTML5 too, not Flash, using HTML5 Canvas 3D, it interacts with you mouse and the music. Ridiculous. You can read about the behind the scenes here, but this makes me very excited for the future of web design.
When was the last time you used MapQuest? Anyone? I think the last time I ventured to that site was through a link on an out of date website. Any other time, I'm all about Google Maps. That's not to say Google Maps is perfect, it's not. Google has led me to the complete wrong location a couple of times, but in the past few years, regardless of Google Maps' mistakes it has swept the internet mapping market. I want to say the shift began when Google introduced Street View and continued as Google Maps was automatically included on iPhones and Blackberrys. Then came walking and biking directions, the ability to shift your route, automatically giving you alternate routes and times and the live traffic feed.
Well, MapQuest has finally revamped, a couple of years late, but they're trying nonetheless. They have a new logo and a revdesigned website. First off, the new logo is definitely an improvement. I like it, thought as mentioned in Brand New's review, I originally saw M to the Q, which I really liked, until the video showed me the little MQ creature thing. Now that's all I see and I kind of liked the other direction better. Oh well. The logo itself seems to be molded around being a good icon, like an iPhone or iPad icon, which is a little different, but smart approach. The new logo overall is secondary to how the MQ functions as an icon and all in all, much improved.
The new MapQuest website is also much improved, though the real question is if it can recapture some of Google Maps market share. The revamping makes me want to give it a shot again, but unless it proves to be significantly more accurate than Google Maps, a switch back is doubtful. While they've finally incorporated some of the perks of Google Maps, like traffic and street view (though Google's is on a larger scale). They've also copied a few other features like customizable printed maps. While MapQuest is touting some of it's features that Google doesn't have, like saving your own maps, they're relatively small things I don't see a huge amount of use for. The little icon buttons that show ATMs and Gas Stations are nice though—I can definitely see the use for that if I needed something like that on the go, however, I see that mostly useful for a phone app and other popular applications, like Siri, already have that covered. The biggest lack in the new design, is if they were going to copy so much of Google's features, they really should have worked in the walking, public transporation and biking directions that Google has. Honestly, I think those are one of Google's best features.
Overall, the website, logo and icon are nicely designed, but in terms of functionality, it's hard not to feel like MapQuest is trying desperately to play catch up to Google Maps. What do you think?
Sharpie has a new social media campaign site, Sharpie Uncapped, encouraging people to use their Sharpies to create art all over the place, from shoes to soccer balls to Barbies. It seems to be a permanent extension of Sharpie's Write Out Loud campaign from earlier this year. The big idea is great, but I don't think it's really working yet.
For one thing the home page is a little confusing. It seems to be mostly an aggregator for everything referencing Sharpie on YouTube or Flickr. If you venture over to the Uncapped Gallery area of the site, it invites you to submit your Sharpie art and promises the possibility of being featured in the gallery. It took me much longer than it should have to figure out that would be in the gallery's Sharpie Showcase, mostly because 80% of the gallery page is more aggregators like we saw on the home page, just organized slightly differently. If you click on these you get a Flickr page key word searching 'Sharpie' or their YouTube channel.
The Sharpie Communities page really just reiterates what the Sharpie Gallery showed, but tagged a Facebook fan page and Twitter account in there for good measure. This page makes sense. What doesn't is why it's confusingly repeated in the gallery section.
The Sharpie How To section is abysmal. If you're going to even have a how to section and I'm going to take time to watch one of those how to videos, I do expect them to have some information that goes beyond a fourth grade art class. I realize we're dealing with markers here, but come on, Sharpies must do something slightly cooler than just draw on book covers and t-shirts, which I could probably figure out how to do without a video.
The site does have a few merits though. The look and feel of the site is great. It's clean with bold color accents, hand lettered headings and fun Sharpie doodles throughout and it works well. The banner ad inviting you to play around with the Sharpie twin tip marker—which really just translates to a fun little drawing widget—is fun and engaging. On another site, this banner ad would have me hooked—on this site, I really thought it needed it's own page to play and have fun with. And why don't you give me the option to draw on some shoes or other objects while we're at it?
Overall, the idea has some merit. Uploading your Sharpie Art will get Sharpie lovers involved, but for a simple four page website, the organization and user experience is not very good. Sharpie is a great, well-known brand and is such a widely used product it will naturally have a presence on social media sites like YouTube and Flickr, but this site isn't yet working to bring them together. What do you think? Did you get as lost as I did trying to navigate through the site?
Apparently not a week can go by without us mentioning CP+B. This time, I'm impressed. Their latest work for Burger King shows regular drive-thru customers ordering exactly what they want--no onions, can you cut the fries in half?--to symbolize the voice we all have, and use, every day. The voiceover then encourages us to have it our way while the screen reads "VOTE 2008." It's actually an engaging and thoughtful ad.
Keeping in Burger King style, they also have a Web site, haveityourway08.com, that supplies two Poll-a-rizer applications (one for Facebook, one for MySpace) that lets users take a questionnaire to see where on the political spectrum they fall. It then entertains by showing which "advisors" and "opponents" they might consider, and lets their friends see the results.
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find the video anywhere yet. If I come across it soon, I'll be sure to post it.
Click here to read more about this effort from Burger King.
CC: Do you expect FontStruct to expand beyond modular fonts?
RM: Probably not. FontStruct is a modular font building application, and it's limited nature is closely linked to its success. There's already a faction within the community who complain when we add new bricks (building blocks) to the system. So some people want less, even when admittedly most are screaming for more.
CC: Is FontStruct working to drive people to FontShop?
SC: It certainly is. The little commercial type teasers on each page are just a small part of how FontStruct is working for FontShop. We have found that creating creative tools like this does wonders for our company's image, which has always been rooted in our dedication to the creative community. FontStruct is a confirmation of FontShop's place as a leader in the design world, not just another font seller.
CC: What is your all-time favorite font? Favorite FontStruct font?
RM: I am truly and constantly amazed when I see what people are creating with FontStruct—at how much time they invest in it and their ingenuity and skill. A couple of personal favorites are Queen Mab by Bent Hamm (http://fontstruct.fontshop.com/fontstructions/show/queen_mab) and Origamistic by deshzx (http://fontstruct.fontshop.com/fontstructions/show/origamistic).
My favorite FontStruction is also constantly changing as new, great stuff is created almost daily. I am really impressed with Gene Buban's (geneus1) work which is always very complex and often takes on the theme of a current movie release: http://bit.ly/4huMcr
I am also impressed with the FontStructions by Anton Terekhov who has managed to create some very functional, legible typefaces despite FontStruct's modular format. The latest of which is his Skipper series: http://bit.ly/2sGfUx
Without further ado, Creative Cooler brings you an exclusive interview with online font creator FontStruct. We'd like to extend our most gracious thanks to Lead Developer Rob Meek and Type Director Stephen Coles for taking the time to answer our questions.
Watch for the second and final part of our interview tomorrow. ______________________________________________
Interview with FontStruct - Part I
Creative Cooler: How did the concept of FontStruct come about?
Rob Meek: I've been creating online typographic toys since 2000, and the idea for something like FontStruct had been on my mind for several years without ever really going anywhere. I couldn't find the time or money to do it. At the same time I was working as a contractor for FontShop and realised one day that they would be the perfect partner. They were looking to develop more innovative online services for the typographic community and saw the potential in FontStruct straight away.
CC: How does FontStruct fit into the Web 2.0 world?
RM: In many ways FontStruct is a typical Web 2.0 application. One thing which I think sets it apart from many other existing, online, creative applications is that it's really about creating artwork from scratch rather than remixing , editing or sharing artworks which are created offline. Fonts with their relatively small file sizes and clear structure really lend themselves to the online editing environment. FontStruct also provides tools which are not really available in an offline application. Many, many designers, professionals and laypeople, have made their first font with FontStruct. It may be limited but it is much simpler than offline font editing programmes, and of course it's free.
CC: Can fonts created in FontStruct be used successfully for commercial purposes or online? Have you seen any examples of this yet?
RM: FontStructions are most certainly being used in commercial work. We only recently added a feature to allow people to upload their artworks to the site so we're looking forward to see what comes of that.
CC: What are your future plans for FontStruct? How are you updating/enhancing the program?
RM: An initial priority has been to ensure the stability and reliability of the service. We certainly didn't expect to have so many registered users in such a short time, so we've had to to do work to make sure the system can reliably support this high level of use. There are many, many ideas being discussed by the FontStruct team, including suggestions from the user community. At the moment we are working on improvements to the community aspects of the website including homepages for users which will allow users to promote themselves a little more directly if they wish. The highest priority enhancement for the FontStructor editing program is to add some support for control over letter spacing (horizontal metrics). We will also be improving the font generating module, to ensure the highest possible quality for the downloaded fonts.
Stephen Coles: We also just launched a revision of the Gallery section which makes it easier to see recently added FontStructions with the addition of a "What's New" tab.
This Dutch retail site, Hema, has one of the most clever uses of flash I've seen in quite awhile. It's definitely worth checking out.
My only critique is it's hard to get to the rest of the site. Once the flash is over the only link I could find to the rest of the site appears only after you've emailed the flash link to someone else. A bit cocky, no? No matter how cool the flash is, it's not so economically smart to keep your customers from easily accessing the revenue generating portion of your site. If you do want to check out the retail side without emailing this to someone, here's a direct link.
