Today, Google search page for users in Indonesia has a doodle to celebrate National Batik Day 2019. Quoted from Google Doodle’s page:
Today’s Doodle celebrates and was made using Batik, a technique for decorating fabric using wax and pigment to create complex, colorful patterns. Batik artisans cover fabric with a wax design, add dye, and finally remove the wax to reveal the pattern underneath. Repeating the process with different colored dyes can create intricate, multi-layered designs to adorn textiles and clothing.
Indonesia has been known for its Batik since the 4th or 5th century, and it has been said that Indonesian batik dye techniques and designs are as numerous as its islands. The designs and colors vary in accordance with the villages and ethnic groups that have spread out in different islands.
Happy National Batik Day! Let’s wear batik today!
When I switched to Mac (from Windows), I never looked backed on Windows-only applications. One of them is CorelDRAW. There was a time when CorelDRAW became a popular graphic design software.
Recently, Corel Corporation released its latest CorelDRAW Graphic Suite 2019. And, it’s for Mac.
Even I use Telegram more than WhatsApp, but I still have WhatsApp installed since some of my contacts are still there. The latest WhatsApp for iPhone — I haven’t checked the Android version — has some features that I think needed to be noted.
Google Apps for Work now has a new name. It’s G Suite.
G Suite is a set of intelligent apps — Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Hangouts, and more — designed to bring people together, with real-time collaboration built in from the start. And there’s a lot more on the way. Because we believe that when organizations break down silos, connect people and empower them to work together, we get the speed, agility and impact needed to compete in today’s market.
BlackBerry will stop designing its own phones and focus on software
“The company plans to end all internal hardware development and will outsource that function to partners,” CEO John Chen said in a statement. “This allows us to reduce capital requirements and enhance return on invested capital.”
“Telling a good story, whether that’s through email, film, or any medium, creates a connection. And it’s this connection that leads to attention, which leads to trust, which leads to sales.” — Mikael Cho: Why you don’t need design like Apple
What’s inside Beats by Dre? With $199 retail price, there must be something inside.
Lots of optimizations are to be expected in a product manufactured in the millions of units: snaps and glue are used for assembly rather than screws (which require lots of human manipulation) and almost every part is injection molded plastic (which is essentially free at high volumes). (Source: Medium: How It’s Made Series: Beats By Dre)
For every bet that Google makes, there are many others quietly forgotten, and others still abandoned when the winds changed or the prime movers moved on. Put another way, you can create good design in sprints, but creating great design is a marathon, run over and over again. Google still has so many miles to run. Source: How Google Finally Got Design
Source: How Google Finally Got Design
F Pattern Layout — “Rather than trying to force the viewer’s visual flow, the F-Layout gives in to the natural behaviors of most web surfers and it uses scientific studies to back it up.”
I couldn’t remember how many bags I had. I was not so picky about the design, colors, or models. I only need some common criteria: it’s functional, and its price should be good. I don’t mind spending more cash on bags (or any other fashion items) as long as it’s good and it fits me.
Last year, I discovered NOKNbag. It’s a business by some cool guys in my hometown, Jogjakarta. One of them is my junior high school friend who I haven’t met for years. He shared about NOKNbag products. I have to admit that it was cool. But, I decided not buying it right away. “Well, may be later…”, I thought. In some occasions, I saw more people having this kind of bag. And, I had a chance to experience this bag, to meet this bag in person. And, it only took me seconds to decide: I need to have one.
And, I didn’t buy one. Not two, but also bought special vouchers (worth around 50% off) for all friends at work. We invaded NOKN’s studio — it’s not far from the my office — to do a live mix-and-match. These are some items we bought back in 2013.
The collection has only simple name: NOKNbag v2.1. And, it’s only a single product, but each element can be purchased separately. Some color options are also available. This is my configurations (I don’t always have them at once, anyway):
Some customers mentioned that they could bring lots of stuff in it. And, they’re right. When I need to do a short trip (2-3 days) to Jakarta for example, I only bring one bag that contains these following items: 15″ MacBook Pro (with its MagSafe), iPad (with charger), iPhone, 3 t-shirts, 2 skirts, 2 shirts, small towel, and some stationaries.
It’s my primary (and daily) bag. It’s my companion for work, or business trip.
Clients From Hell — A collection of anonymously contributed client horror stories from designers.