Typolis has come closest to the kind of blog services I would like to use in terms of layout but unfortunately it lacks a good admin panel as well as the right touchpoints to make blogging simple.
Hence, I have
moved to
'Shareaware'. Kindly continue to follow my thoughts there.
I am hoping that
Vox lives up to my expectations.
After being impressed with ClearTrip as a web service, I am truly impressed with their blog. Even the fact that a company like that has a blog is awesome. Its great that ClearTrip realizes the need to connect with their customers. Companies that have blogs seem like they have are alive as opposed to companies that are represented only by their logos and the buildings that they operate out of.
What do they talk about in their blog? A variety of things - customer
feedback, business models, inspirational quotes, and many other things;
but the best part about it is that there is loads of emphasis on 'design'.
The fact that there these guys are 'design aware' is exciting. They recognze that its the simple user friendly design of the site, that is the driver of its success. Therefore the blog has a lot of design talk which is very educational. This to me is a great sign of things to come. I feel many companies will slowly realize the potential of design and give it the attention that is required.
Bravo ClearTrip for being one of the first !
Was just catching up on
Karns' blog (friend, colleague and founding member of Exit Design) and I read a really interesting article - the simple things it takes to be a professional in the field of design.
Read it here.
Its not too hard you know. Its all about being prompt.
Here goes...
001. Get Organized/Systematic
I am a very disorganized person. Everything is in my head and is chaotic. Only I know the method in the madness. Although this is good at times, most of the times it isn't.
002. Bring discipline into the daily routine
I am very adaptable & tend to go with the flow of things. As positive as that might sound it isn't always the case. My day could be planned when I start it but there is still enough vagueness in the plan to accomodate a new plan. I need to discipline myself and prioritize what is important (even if its in the long run) - and then if there is room for a new entry I should go with the flow.
003. Keep an Idea/Sketch/Log Book
A habit that was lost in the chaos of being caught up with real-world/client projects. The log book was always a world I used to escape to (as a student) because this was my own space - no rules what so ever. Its a must in a designers life as it acts as a vault for your observations & a creative outlet for ideas .
004. Nurture personal projects/initiatives
Ideas just don't stop popping up in my head ! However an idea is no good if it remains in the head. It needs to be executed and only then it can be truly called a 'good' or 'bad' idea. I need to dedicate time to my own personal projects and initiatives that emerge out of this pool of ideas in my head.
005. Try not to say "there is no time "- Make time
We always hear ourselves that there is not enough time on our hands and there is so much we want to do. But isn't how much time we have totally up to us? We don't have to buy it from a shop or import it from Antarctica, so why do we say that? I need to stop using that as a reason for not completing my personal projects.
006. Blog
This looks like the simplest one but is the hardest in my opinion.
007. Be well read
If I see myself as entrepreneur material, I need to be informed. This can happen only through taking interest in current issues, reading books that are related to field I am interested in. In my opinion, it is important for all of us to have deep vertical knowledge in atleast one field - it could be the process of design or even the rules of chess - but we need to know it at the back of our hands!
Well here I am trying to modify this blog to look as I want it to look before starting writing. I think we designers can't go ahead without having good visual design.
"Thinking Out Loud"
This is a Diploma Project blog that Shruti Ramaiah, a friend and a final year student at Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore (India).
What is the blog about? As described by Shruti in her own words...
"This blog is dedicated to my current project. And as the project floats forward without a name I tell people ?it?s about how people negotiate their identity in cyberspace? particularly social network sites like hi5, orkut, MySpace, Friendster??
