19 korrents from this recording
Every claim below is a statement made in this recording, quoted word for word and linked to the second it was said, so you can hear it rather than take our word for it. The wording comes from the transcript published alongside the recording; the sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording.
Their wordsalways focus on making things meaningful and memorable. And I think the heart of that is have a good idea and then the form will follow.
Our reading
A computer meant for anyone has to be understandable without a manual, and it has to be friendly.
Their wordsAnd we wanted it to be as understandable as possible, so you wouldn't necessarily need a manual, and that it should be friendly
Their wordsusually I think you can be creative in any constraints. You can make some pretty fun art with beach trash while you're walking around. And this you can be creative, but it's good to understand what the constraints are, and then be excited about that as opposed to being upset that you don't have a thousand colors.
Their wordsbut we tried not to have any any text so that it could be international without having to make a different version.
Their wordswhich is why I think like a simple drawing of a pencil can stand for writing in some ways better than a chrome pen with a reflection, which is real very fancy, but it's a very particular kind of pen that not everybody might write with.
Their wordsSo, I my bias in icons is the a salient detail or two, but don't lard it with a lot of extra stuff.
Their wordsthere's not a technical reason that they couldn't have plaid lunchboxes and shoelaces or be singing a song, but it would probably be more distracting and just take away from that instant recognition that you're aiming for.
Their wordsand I like the idea that since it was a process it looked kind of active and um and then it could be paired with a document that resembled it so our system was kind of a verb and a noun
Their wordsI tried to crop a person it's not a person with a little square head it's the idea is it's a crop so you don't know the gender or the age or the hair do or really anything about this glimpse of a person.
Their wordsBut again, too much detail. It would have had a much longer lifespan if I had just stopped and made it simpler.
Their wordsSo, in general, I think it's not good in icons to show pictures of a particular product design because like the 3 and 1/2 in floppy for save. Um even though some there's still a few of those kicking around, but obviously it it didn't age well. Better to use a metaphor.
Their wordsit was abstract and sometimes abstract things can be harder to remember and then something that has a metaphor that reinforces the concept.
Their wordsBut um I think the whole point of that project and the graphics was it isn't really just about a grid of pixels. It's the metaphor and the idea and the meaning behind everything.
Their wordsThe The point just being this is so not an exact science. And I always like to show either what a client asks for or what a programmer might have used as a placeholder because I've gotten so many good ideas that way.
Their wordsAnd color, even if 16 colors, and some of them weren't very good colors, but it was still so nice to have to be able to use red for alerts and to differentiate at a glance a little easier when you had color as another option.
Their wordsBut what I learned was that cute trumped everything. It just um teddy bears, anything heart-shaped, the kiss mark was the best seller of all time.
Their wordshe thought we should have a contest. Like probably which I would never think is the best way to get good creative
Our reading
However exactly you think you know what a project needs, allow extra time — nothing takes an hour.
Their wordsI mean, I know I always think, "I can do this in an hour." When really, nothing takes an hour. And um so many projects I've worked on you optimistically think you know exactly what you want to do, but it's still allow extra time.
Their wordsand I would probably preach the same thing like don't mess around with the logo and put it in a different color and put it on a crazy background until people know it so well that you can play with it