The objective was to design an iPad application for a website with a large amount of content. The application needed to be cohesive with its current branding styles and utilize the features of mobile platforms.

Behance is the leading online platform to showcase and discover creative work. It is widely known for its rich content and amazing designers from around the world, allowing users to follow and thumbs up favorite projects. I wanted to carry that experience from the desktop to the iPad so I decided to use a grid based layout for the gallery. Throughout the application I wanted to keep the navigation simple, clean, and easy to find for both new and returning visitors while keeping the format uniformed with site.

Would love to hear your thoughts about the concept in the comments below!

Made by Hand / No 2 The Knife Maker from Made by Hand on Vimeo.

Via Matt Abersold

Watch how future technology will help people make better use of their time, focus their attention, and strengthen relationships while getting things done at work, home, and on the go. (Release: 2011)

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Crazy, right? Just wait…it’s still crazy, right? Yea, I know. I thought the exact same thing. It’s inevitable to not think of the future in that way with the way technology and touch-screen devices have created. No longer does touch-screen belong to a smartphone or tablet, but now it becomes part of our everyday environment. It becomes part of us.

It’s interesting to note though that Microsoft isn’t the first one to think this. Many designers have been talking about touch-screen homes for years. Earlier this year Corning released a similar video to Microsoft’s that touched on the everyday lifestyle, and it’s called A Day Made of Glass. Here’s their video:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

So you can see a similar trend here. Everything around us has become the subject, we are the creators, and technology is providing a more efficient way to be productive regardless of where we are. Touchscreen devices will not be limited to smartphones and tablets, but rather it will be expanded to our homes, workplaces, commutes, and surroundings. It will be everywhere.

What do you think? Is it scary real? Or did you already expect it? Write your thoughts in the comments below.

If you’ve been following the news lately you may have heard of Facebook’s new Timeline feature, which is currently in beta, that will be implemented into user profiles over the coming weeks. This is a huge stepping stone for Facebook as it allows the user to upload a custom photo and use it as a feature photo or banner that will be displayed on their profile. For a preview of what this looks like check out this demo:

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

So, what does this have to do with your brand and what does it mean for your Facebook fan page? Quite simply, it means more control over how your brand is viewed:

1. Control Your First Impression
First Impressions are everything. Within 1 to 2 seconds of viewing a page, a user will decide if they’re going to stay and explore, or hit the dreaded back button. Choosing a visually stunning cover photo to draw in fans rather than a blurry, pixelated or oversimplified (read: logo only) image is a poor brand signal

2. Bring New Products or Features Center Stage
The cover photo can be easily replaced to rotate out new products, advertising campaigns or promotions. This is the first image people will see, so keeping it relevant and fresh is key.

3. Create a Unified Brand Experience
A brand’s profile photo and cover photo should work together, not clash or compete for attention, to create the perfect brand experience for consumers. We like to use the profile photo as the brand’s logo, so that when comments, photos, or other content is posted users easily identify the poster, while using a large campaign or graphic image as the cover photo.
If you haven’t seen the new layout, check out some of these designs I created for some of our favorite brands. Let me know your thoughts on this topic.

Note: These designs have not been approved by the client and they have no affiliation with the designer. They are purely samples.

So, do you think this will change Facebook for brands? Is it worth putting effort into it? Will it work? Why won’t it? Write your thoughts in the comment box.

Look around the site, if you’re into web development or web design, there’s plenty of information that will feed your nerdy heart. Share the site with co-workers and friends, soon enough this site will be the new Web Design Ledger. You never know.

During the summer I had the privilege of designing a mobile application that would serve both the iPhone and iPad platforms, and it was one where I had complete control over the subject and art direction. I’ve always wanted to start designing for mobile devices, whether it was personal or business, and never really had time for it until recently. I’ve been both an iPhone & iPad owner when they first came out, so I’ve had experience with a touch-screen interface that has changed culture.

I am, to some degree, a foodie. I love reading recipes, eating new dishes (sometimes with hesitation), and love exploring new restaurants. To feed my hungry heart the App Store has hundreds of food apps that serve the foodie community, apps such as Epicurious, Big Oven, Urbanspoon, Yelp, and the Food Network. All of these applications were awesome but they lacked one great feature and that was to have an all-in-one application. If I wanted to look for recipes I had to use Epicurious, if I wanted to find a good restaurant I had to use Yelp, if I wanted to search for a cooking term I had to use Dictionary, if I wanted to create a shopping list I had to use Things. As I started using these great apps, I started to see a big hole that could serve both the foodie community and those on the iOS platforms.

With that being said, I started sketching out my ideas I had for this application that would have all of these features together. I wanted this be a one-stop app for anyone looking for food, so I came up with the name Foodielogik.

The main purpose of Foodielogik is to provide quick, easy, and efficient food results no matter the category. The user can search for bars around the area or look for new recipes to entertain people, and Foodielogik will present multiple options for the user to choose from. The main features of Foodielogik are Restaurants, Recipes, Glossary, Shopping List, and Favorites. From these features the user can access information with only a tap away. Foodielogik is the fastest way to find information for your foodie lifestyle, no matter the subject.

After going through multiple ideas and scrapping multiple layouts I decided to stick with what seemed more logical. From there I chose to my colors, which originally were red & green to reflect bell peppers, but after getting feedback from other students the red was reminding them too much of the Food Network. So I decided to stick with an earthly lime-green. Below are some of the screenshots of the iPhone application.

iPhone version

For the iPad I wanted to keep the flow very similar but transform that experience to the iPad without loosing it’s main features. Below are some screenshots fo the iPad application, as well as a demo that shows the functionality of the app.

iPad version

Foodielogik iPad Demo

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I would welcome any feedback, comments, or questions. Leave a comment below and we can have a discussion. Does this seem like an application you would use? Why or why not? Is there something you wish it had? What is it missing?

Ran into this awesome infographic site, thanks to an online buddy, that was created by Frank Chimero. The thing I love about this site is the way you scroll and the information and images start moving, making the user interact with it. This makes the users more attentive to read what is being displayed. I might start working on some interactive infographics myself, this looks like a nifty new way to display information.

“Frank Chimero graphic is a designer, teacher, writer, and creative person in Portland, Oregon. His fascination with the creative process, curiosity, and visual experience informs all of his work. Each piece is part of an exploration in finding wit, surprise, honesty, and joy in the world around us, then, trying to document those things.”

You can view his website and see more of his work or view the infographic

If you haven’t heard about Google+ yet, then you might be missing out on something spectacular. Odds are you probably have, given that news travels faster on the internet than on the television or the morning paper. Last week Google released a social media hurricane integrating all current Google accounts with their new platform, Google+. This is equivalent to Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, etc. and is aimed to have users share information no matter where they’re at on Google. Watch this video to see the demo:

So that is Google+ if you hadn’t already heard. Most recently, Google has finally released its iOS version for the iPhone and iTouch devices. You can download the app for free in the iTunes App Store.

It will be interesting to see how this changes the social media game, seeing as Google+ is a mix of all things. This definitely brings competition to what’s already out there, causing Twitter and Facebook to come up with new features to keep their user base. But chances are that Google+ is targeting the tech savy group with it’s similar news feed like Twitter. Let’s just hope that my grandma doesn’t sign up for an account, although I love my grandma very dearly, it’s not for everyone.

Also as well, as of today all my posts on my blog will have all links to share them on Google+, Twitter and Facebook. This was a much needed feature I’ve been meaning to add and now seems like it was feeding. You can add me to your circles +Miguel Solorio.

What do you think about Google+? Do you think Google+ is the Facebook-Killer? Is it just a hype? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

I love typography…I just hate designing for it.

My site was going to be a Typography news/source/gallery site where users will be updated on new things related to type, be able to view a “found type” gallery, and be able to download free fonts (provided by Font Squirrel).

For the design process, one of the ways I wanted to emphasize on the type was to use color at a minium, in doing so I used a variation of my favorite colors: black & white. Recently I came across a very sleek and nice typeface called Avenir, in which I used as the main typeface for the site alongside Myriad Pro for content copy. For the most part of the site I chose a 2-column grid, very much like a blog, so that while reading on the home or freebies section users would be able to easily filter each category or type they would want to see.

Below are my mockups and final designs of the site and would welcome any critique or comments. Like it? Hate it? Don’t know what to think? Write me a comment. The only way to grow is to be corrected & critiqued, and am open to it. Cheers!

Mood boards are suppose to express the look, feel, and environment of the site, this includes typography, color choice, images, buttons, anything that will get the point across of what you want the user to experience.

Netflix Mood Board
For this site I wanted to focus around families, both children and parents, who are switching from renting movies from Blockbuster and are joining the online world. One of my main focus was light colors and Netflix’s red to focus on certain elements, as well as creating more space to allow the user to feel comfortable.

Netflix Wireframes
I then went on to creating the wireframes of the site to get a good sense of the website’s layout and navigation. At this point they’re all just greyscale and the focus is on the layout. I really wanted to get rid of the bulgy header that displayed all of the user’s recently watched movies and fit it into one line, adding a “See All” button that would slide the content down if they wished to see more. I also used a horizontal navigation bar that stretches across the whole page instead of using the classic centered navigation.

Netflix Design
With the final design, I really wanted the red to be the focus of the call to action; whether that be to change pages, rate a movie, play or add a movie to the que. Space was a big obstacle to overcome, especially when adding more movies to a collection, so I went with using the white & grey to lighten the look and feel lighter.

Overall, I’m somewhat pleased with the design. I have a feeling that I’ll be coming back to this & tweaking more things. But for now, I will leave it as is and welcome any critique or advice.