|
|
A thrilling tale of a true hero, in a futuristic Metro City, a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost - his name is Astro Boy. Hot Toys has unveiled prototype photos of their Astro Boy Vinyl Figure based on the upcoming movie. The figure stands approximately 12.5" tall, allows limited movements and should be released in the 4th quarter 2009.
via: plasticandplush.
The craigslist team isn't interested in updating the site, so Wired asked leading designers to give it a user-interface lift.
Visitors arriving at craigslist are confronted by a confusing homepage cluttered with links most people will never click on. Overall, the user interface is in dire need of an organizing principle that guides you to the details you seek while filtering out extraneous information.
It's hard to know even where to begin: Should you start your career search under Jobs or Gigs? The right side of the screen is devoted to an exhaustive list of cities and countries, although most users care about only the one they live in. Once you dive into a section, navigation requires more backtracking than a hedgerow maze. Locations aren't sorted in sufficient detail, images aren't available until you click through to a listing, and items can't be flagged for side-by-side comparison. And that's just the desktop version. On a mobile browser, craigslist is an interminable roll of links rendered in eye-crossingly minuscule text.
The NYTimes.com team retained craigslist's basic look and feel while making the site work more like an app. Since search is the most important feature, design director Khoi Vinh and his colleagues gave this function more real estate and placed it at the top of the page. They moved the all-important Post to Classifieds link to the right side of the page and increased its visibility by bumping up the type size. They made room for white space and eliminated the gray backgrounds, which they thought weighed down the site. "It feels more open, more nimble," Vinh says.
In the design created by Vinh and his team, the listings themselves don't stand alone but are framed by navigational aids that let you jump immediately to other parts of the site. Buttons up top lead to the major sections (the current one always appears front and center in light gray). On the right side, the My Craigslist sidebar shows the ads you've viewed most recently and the sections you browse most often, transforming Craig's list into your list. The calendar, fixed at the bottom right, is available on every page.
"Craigslist is working," says SimpleScott, former design director of BarackObama.com—why fix what isn't broken? Instead, he focused on making the site easier on the eyes. On the front page, he aligned rows and columns in a uniform grid so they're clearer at a glance. Links you've already visited leap out in blue so you can retrace your steps easily. Displaying the site on a mobile browser, however, presents bigger challenges. SimpleScott met them by dividing the pages into a series of screens. A hierarchical menu makes it easy to navigate without accidentally clicking the wrong link. A map page lets you browse listings by location. Ads and photos each get their own screens. Buttons along the bottom make common functions available at all times.
"Craigslist is frustrating and claustrophobic," Matt Willey says. His layout has a contemporary look, a Web 2.0 feel, and plenty of breathing room. He eliminated long lists in favor of two pulldown menus: one that lets you jump to various sections and another that sorts listings by price or date. His design displays images in the category pages, so you don't have to click through to the individual listings to see them. Thumbnails load rapidly and blow up to full size with a mouseclick. A button called Add to Watchlist marks favorites, while the Share button emails listings to friends or posts them to social networks.
Think the current homepage lacks personality? "We decided to do something about the cult of Craig," Lisa Strausfeld says. She and Luke Hayman highlighted the contradiction between Newmark's interest in grassroots democracy and the reality that the site is, well, his list. The arrangement of words is essentially random; this design won't win awards for ease of use. Numbers from the calendar outline Newmark's head and glasses; longer text strings form facial features. Newmark is always in the background—this version brings him to the forefront.
via: wired.
Poketo Notefolio
An attractive way to be prepared, Poketo's Notefolio combines the functions of a folder with a notebook to keep thoughts and important papers in one place, held together with a super strong rubber band. It's available from Poketo for $16.
via: coolhunting.
Emilio Garcia is releasing four new maple skate decks in four different sizes (7 3/4", 7 7/8", 8 1/8" and 8 1/2"). The Brain Pattern v.1 Skate Deck is available in Pink, White, Black and Wood versions. You can purchase each one for $77.10. Hang it on your wall or use it.
via: plasticandplush.
After an early leak a couple of days ago, the Original Fake 4 Feet Grey Dissected Companion has now been officially announced, which means that a release cannot be far away anymore. We expect a drop in early September.
This week The Hundreds will be releasing their Fall 2009 Footware Collection. Three styles will be coming to stores in several colorways and material options.
First up, there’s their core sneaker, the Johnson Mid-top – now in it’s fourth release. This season’s version of the mid features perforated leather fabrication, with contrasting white and red accents for a splash of color. They are coming in 4 colorways this season. In addition to the mids, there is the third installment of the Johnson Low-tops, which are back in a classic canvas fabrication, and are also available in four new tonal color combinations. Last but not least, they have three new colors of the Valenzuela Low-top, their updated interpretation of the classic skate shoe, constructed with traditional canvas, with the addition of subtle leather trim for a touch of class.
The Hundreds Fall 2009 Footware Collection will come to TH LA and TH SF this coming Thursday.
via: highsnobiety.
The magnitude of the catastrophe is depicted on a personal level in the new graphic novel “A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge,” written and illustrated by Josh Neufeld and published by Pantheon.
Amanda Visell is currently jetting around the USA for her Wood Donkey Dunny Signing Tour for Kidrobot. After she returns in a week or so, she’s off to Taipei with Michelle Valigura for their Eating the Sun exhibition + signing on August 28th at a very cool toy spot in Taiwan – Paradise Toy Land. About a week ago we brought you a look at her 5 spot set of Wood Llama sculptures. Here’s another limited edition of five – Skunk King (just under 6” at the crown) in wood. You’ll note that the sun/moon duality ties the two wood editions together. These are very cool – pretty neat to see her create them. So if you live in Taipei or nearby, you’ve got dibs. Enjoy. More pics after the jump.
via: vinyl pulse.
We get a first look at an upcoming collaborative toy between Original Fake and Undercover. The iconic Undercover teddy bear graphic becomes a vinyl figure and gets paired up with the Kaws Companion character, which is lying in the arms of the bear. The toy seems to be coming in two colorways and a September release is expected.
Arriving in stores now, the Fall/Winter collection is dropping on a rolling basis on their online shop over the next couple months, so check back with them often.
via Freshness
"Last week we checked out the new “Run This Town” video by Jay-Z, featuring Rihanna and Kanye West. One of the things we asked right after watching the video was – who made those crazy stud sunglasses for Rihanna? Luckily we can tell you today – a-morir.
Kerin Rose set up a-morir a little under a year ago. The designer is best known for her sunglasses, which are all made by hand in her workshop. To date she has made sunglasses for Rihanna, Katy Perry, Mariah Carey, Cassie, as well as Mickey Factz. Her sunglasses also recently appeared in Married to the MOB and Hellz Bellz lookbooks.
Rihanna is wearing the Pyramid Stud sunglasses in Jay-Z’s music video. The sunglasses are entirely covered in hand-painted pyramid studs, that have been slightly distressed. Since we know the question will come up – yes, you can actually perfectly see through them. You will be able to purchase the sunglasses from October, when not only a black, but also silver and gold colorways will be coming out. The sunglasses can be pre-ordered for 350 USD here."
via: high snobiety.
Posts
