Am I the only one who doesn’t like the new JCPenney logo? I feel like people have an “Emperor’s New Clothes” complex – no one wants to come out and say it’s bad because everyone wants to believe it works.

JCPenney’s new CEO Ron Johnson is a former Apple and Target retail executive so this guy must have the Midas touch. So of course people are going to flock to his feet praising his good works with little hesitation. I really don’t want to make a Tim Tebow analogy… so I won’t.

Let’s get one thing straight: I don’t dislike what he has done to the overall brand. In fact, I really like everything he’s done so far – except the logo. I get that they are branding around America and nationalism and local businesses to combat the Swedish invader H&M. However, do they have to be so damn literal? What happened to a concept being subtle?

I also understand that they are keeping in line with the box in the previous logo, but the previous logo had no strong concept behind the box. They are building on an empty concept and injecting a cliche concept. Furthermore, I feel like it is about to fall over. It is extremely top and left heavy. I see no balance, no elegance, no subtlety.

I recently read an article titled “What’s Next in Web Design.” The conclusion of the article states:

“Better interaction design, less graphic design. Better user experience, less debates about taste. Faster technology, more reliable design standards.”

What I find interesting is I’ve been seeing the opposite in web trends. With the introduction of more web friendly fonts and more flexibility in development, web design is starting to look more and more artistic and refined. Designers are able to explore their artistic roots with illustration, sketching, painting, etc.

When you look at a site that is so beautifully designed, it just makes you feel good. It’s the intangibles that can make a difference. Things that click tracking, heatmaps, and analytics can’t measure. I also find it interesting that, yes, of course the author is arguing the benefits of minimalist web design. Look at their site. Almost as minimalistic as it gets.

Minimalist design style has its place in web design, but it is far from the end-all for web design. Sites like Apple have been so successful because:
1. Their web design matches their brand style
2. They are able to display big, beautiful photography and not every company can afford that level of photography.
3. The amount of information they have packed into their website demands a simplistic design style in order not to overwhelm their audience.

While I agree that a design that is too cluttered and flowery can be extremely frustrating when I am looking for something specific, but why must it be one or the other? That is the challenge of web design: creating a web experience. Combining form and function so they work together seamlessly.

Would you hire an architect to design a building that meets the needs of keeping you warm and a roof over your head but is a plain box? No. You hire an architect to create something beautiful but still functions as a well structured building.

Bottom line, the minimalist approach works, but not for everyone, and not as often as many people think. Personally, I am seeing more creativity and interesting visuals than something flat and boring but usable. Pairing usability and beauty is a web designer’s job. So rather than casting off graphic design as unnecessary, I foresee it becoming more and more crucial.

What’s your name, position, goal in life?
Erik Smith, Programmer. My goal in life is to program, live comfortably, retire in the mountains to ski, bike, and golf until my body wont let me anymore… then ill code.

If you could define yourself as Beats Per Minute, what number would you be?
I’d probably be a shade above the average of ~70. I consider myself fairly even keeled. However, since I grew up outside of NYC, where everything moves a mile a minute, I constantly have to tell myself to slow it down.

What is the worst thing you’ve ever done and gotten away with?
I’m not past the statute of limitations yet.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Learning the mountain of technologies in front of me.

What’s your favorite thing about Colorado so far?
Where do I start? The mountains, the view, the skiing, the hiking, Boulder and Denver being 20 minutes from me, the biking, the people, the weather, and the lack of humidity. 95 degrees here feels like 80 degrees back east! Did I mention the mountains?

What’s the best part about your job? The worst?
The best part of my job is the relaxed atmosphere. So much different than what I am used to. A great change of pace. The worst so far has to be route 36!

Sweet or salty?
Salty.

Would you rather be mechanically induced to scream at the top of your lungs for an hour or have your eyes glued shut for a day?
Eyes glued shut. I have a very hard time sleeping for extended periods of time, so if my eyes were taped shut, that just might help me along…

If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be?
I would have probably not accepted my first job out of college as a non-technical job. It set me back a few years getting to where I want to be in my career. Hindsight is 20/20?

What’s your favorite meal of the day?
This is an easy one. I love to cook so it hands down has to be dinner. Plus, its the only meal where I have time to make something. I recently bought a new grill so now I’m enjoying it even more.

Describe your biggest achievement.
Ask me in 30 years…

If you could be any animal, what would you be?
I would have to say a Grizzly bear. What other animal can run 30 mph, scare the hell out of everything and everyone, stuff itself for 3 months each year while sleeping for the next 6?

Note: I do not in anyway fancy myself the supreme expert of Design. Nor do I think anyone is or ever can be. Design is a living, breathing entity that will forever evolve, push limits, and astound. This blog is simply some exercises that can help broaden your horizons even if it’s the slightest bit. Also keep in mind, they are in no particular order. That being said, on to the list!

1. Do online tutorials.
The dreaded vacuum. As designers, we avoid it like the plague (or should). We strive to break out of our own design shells constantly, but what about our Photoshop shells? Photoshop is such a unique and complex tool, sometimes when we learn how to do something one way, we stick with it. Even if it’s not the most efficient way. Try doing something strange and off the wall – like setting someone on fire. You might learn something new about photoshop and/or a more efficient way to do something.

2. Use a design style from one of the greats.
Sometimes it’s not enough just to look at inspiring pieces from the great graphic designers throughout history; sometimes you need to scoop it up and play with it. Try designing in a style that is opposite of your own. If your design is clean and precise, try designing a piece inspired by Stefan Sagmeister or David Carson. If you love wild and crazy design, try designing something inspired by Josef Muller-Brockmann or Yusaku Kamekura. Obviously, I don’t mean recreating the works. Use some elements and the general style to make something new and unique. It will challenge you and force you to think differently.

3. Use colors you rarely use.
Look at old designs. Do you have a tendency to use blues and grays? Design a piece that is only oranges and yellows. Go to Kuler and find a crazy color palate and stick with it. Splash around in the color wheel and don’t be afraid to go crazy. Sometimes you’ll discover use of color you were afraid to use before.

4. Design upside-down.
I am constantly guilty of this: I start a homepage design and I whip up a heading and navigation that I love. I gain momentum and pretty soon I’m almost done with the design. Oh yeah, I need to design the footer. Well, everything else looks great, so I’ll just throw in a bar of color with text links and call it done. Who scrolls all the way down to the bottom anyway? What? What am I thinking? My design should have love and attention from top to bottom. That’s what makes a truly inspired design. A way to combat this is design upside-down, top to bottom (and no, I don’t mean stand on your head – but I won’t stop you if you want to try). Not only will you give extra attention to things you sometimes forget about, you’ll also approach a design in a very unique way.

5. Steal a fellow designer’s PSD
No, I don’t mean literally. Ask a fellow designer if you can borrow an old PSD of one of their designs. Only use the elements in their design and create something new(don’t add anything, don’t change colors, don’t change fonts, etc). Blow elements up, shrink elements down, do whatever you can to make it different and interesting. By limiting yourself, and using design elements you’re less familiar with, you force yourself to learn new things and see things differently.

There you have it. Obviously some of these exercises are not always going to work for client work, but try to put aside time to design just for the fun of it. Be your own client and always try and push your own limits.

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you and what do you do?
I'm the new kid on the block here at Imulus. I like to think of myself more as a Mark than a Donnie. I have known the crew at Imulus for several years and jumped at the opportunity of joining them as a programmer. I work on the databases and backend logic of the websites we develop, and add my experience in mobile application development to the strong list of capabilities at Imulus.

If you could describe yourself with an onomonopia, what would it be?
huh?

What is your name, what is your quest, and what is your favorite color?
Sir Brycious
To seek and create software that makes people happy
Black, no wait …. that's the absence of color, greeeeeeen.

When you were a kid, did you always know you wanted to be a programmer?
I knew I always wanted to write code. I was lucky enough to have a computer teacher in elementary school (a rarity at that time). She entranced me with the cleverness of logic circuits and all the cool things you could make a computer do if you just knew how to speak its language. At that point I never really thought about being a programmer though, as it wasn't really a well known profession. I love science of all sorts, so I thought of being a physicist, chemist, mathematician or a computer engineer at various times in my childhood. Yes, I did want to be an astronaut, until I went to Space Camp and learned that it's really one of the worst jobs out there. It wasn't until early in high school with the rise of Linux and the open source community that I really thought of programming as a career path.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?
Teleportation. That way I could go anywhere I would normally go by car or plane quickly and with style. It would cut down the commute time and I could travel to all the places around the world that I want to see. No traffic, no TSA, just pure experience. Also, if you could do it fast enough you could emulate flying.

Tell us about mobile applications. What is your history creating them?
When the iPhone first came out, I was fascinated by the concept of it (and yes, I quickly purchased one). Instead of a phone that could do run dinky applications, it was a mobile software platform that had a phone application. When the developer beta program opened up, I was quick to jump on board and was thankfully one of the few to be selected early.

While this was going on I was writing highly scalable backend code for very large financial websites. A client of the company I was working for at the time wanted to create an iPhone app. I and another were recruited to take on this project. The app turned out the be a success, followed by another app that became very popular (over a million users). The team expanded to four people, and when the iPad was announced we started a project to get the Financial Times onto the iPad.

We designed and developed for something that we hadn't even touched, but the fruits of our labor were rewarded when we received an Apple Design Award for one of the top five iPad applications at WWDC in 2010. It was great to meet a bunch of extraordinary people and be in the presence of Steve Jobs' reality distortion field. I look forward to this year's winners, mainly so my picture will be removed from the Apple website.

You're called "The Magician" here at Imulus. What's your favorite magic trick you like to perform?
I like performing magic tricks that I've created. These often involve an integration of technology and magic, so you might see your chosen card show up on the home screen of an iPhone or materialize on a website. People think I should sell them, but there is something special of keeping them for myself. Otherwise, I love performing anything by Darwin Ortiz, Jeff McBride or Jay Sankey, and no, I don't know why magicians can never create a good website.

If you could relive the last 10 years of your life, what would you do differently?
The last 10 years of my life have been pretty darn good to me. Any of the "bad" things have had an upside. I probably wouldn't have bought an older house in the suburbs, but if I hadn't I wouldn't have re-connected with a friend who is now my wife, and I couldn't have thrown such lavish parties. It was also a good thing to learn that I don't particularly like home maintenance, and much prefer to live near the city in a small condo. I also probably wouldn't have worked for a government contractor, but again, without that experience I wouldn't have the chance to work on large scale software projects or learn that I detest excess bureaucracy and paperwork. Now that I'm at the end of it, I think I would have answered this question differently.

If Imulus was a person, what would he/she be like?
Imulus is like the eccentric aunt who has the scent of patchouli, gives her young nieces and nephews beer* and tells them about her adventures in Thailand with details that might be a bit too graphic for young people. She is there to encourage those around her to think outside the box, and approach an issue with a different viewpoint. Above all, her passion for life, knowledge and experience inspire those around her.

* Imulus neither promotes nor condones serving alcohol to minors

Tell us about yourself. Why did you want to be a front end developer at Imulus?
Casey Patrick O'Hara. Yes, I'm Irish. I'm originally from New Hampshire, so I'm culturally predisposed to using New England jargon, not paying sales tax or wearing a seat belt, and Tom Brady fandom. For reasons I'm still not sure of, when I graduated high school I decided to move to the frozen, wind-swept plains of Ohio to go to school. In December I graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in Visual Communication Technology. During my academic novitiate, I fell in love with web design and development. I've slowly moved away from design and now I focus more on the programming side of things.

Finding Imulus was pure kismet. I interviewed with Bruce and Taylor a few months before I graduated and we totally hit it off. It seemed like a perfect fit doing exactly what I love. I knew I wanted to live in Colorado, so the move was a no-brainer.

Your nickname is "The Prototype." How did you come about this nickname?
At my first Imulus team meeting, George polled the room "Who is our best JavaScript programmer?" I patiently waited for someone else to answer, but I couldn't keep my love affair a secret; I involuntarily shouted "I kick ass." Apparently they didn't know how much I love JavaScript when I was hired, and it quickly became a joke I probably won't live down any time soon.

If Javascript was a woman, what would she look like? Don't be afraid to get a little PG-13.
Courtney Love. Battered, sloppy, and drunk enough to be dangerous. If you look past the puke on her dress, it’s easy to see a few gems in there. Once in a while she will spit in your face, but you know she didn’t mean it because deep down she’s probably a nice person.

What about your job do you like the most?
I like that Imulus moves so fast. At times it can be equally exciting and terrifying, but it’s rewarding to work on a team of super-smart, super-talented people with an “Okay, build it” philosophy because it affords us the freedom to explore and experiment with new technologies. Research and learning are not only encouraged but required. This means our workflow and development processes are constantly evolving and never stagnate.

Least?
We’re often so busy building awesome stuff that it can be hard to find time to just stop and reflect on how awesome what we’re building actually is. Does that make sense?

Do you live free or die?
Yes.

Would you rather be a pirate or a dinosaur?
Definitely a pirate. As a pirate, it's professionally acceptable to get drunk and steal things every day. Plus, I've always wanted a cannon.

What do you like best about Colorado?
I've been here for a few months now and I'm still blown away by the landscape. I love driving up into the mountains aimlessly without a map or cell signal. I totally get off on that. The tech scene and entrepreneurial culture in Denver (and Boulder) is awesome. The weather and people are nice too. I still haven't been to Casa Bonita.

If you could have a dinner with anyone in the world or throughout history, who would you dine with?
I'd love to go out drinking with Charlie Sheen. Just once.

Describe the color blue to a blind person.
I fell for this trick once, except I was trying to describe what a square looks like. Before I got past explaining what a right angle is, I realized that my new blind friend had a saddle on his safety dog. I got too distracted imagining him riding the dog around his house that I never finished describing the square.

For all of my three years at Imulus, I have always known the joy that is Stacks. I’ve seen it as a glimmer in George’s eye to the project management powerhouse it is today. Recently (or not so recently) I have taken on the arduous task of… planning a wedding (cue ominous music and lightning). Knowing my typical knee-jerk reaction to procrastinate and then forgetting what I needed to do in the first place, I opted to use Stacks for personal use.

The Good

Like so many brides-to-be before me, I have been using The Knot to stay on track with my wedding to-dos. The Knot does a fantastic job of divvying out to-do’s based on your time-line. Unfortunately because there have been so many brides-to-be who enjoy the usage of this site, it has become bloated with ads, banners, links, animated gifs, you call it, they have it. Furthermore, sometimes the to-do’s don’t apply to me (i.e. no videographer).

So instead of digging around in the links and ads of The Knot, my “wedding planner” populates Stacks with the to-dos. This is helpful when there are tasks specific to the bride or groom or maid of honor etc. Furthermore, if the to-do has any other information, I can add notes in the details and I can adjust the urgency of each task.

The Bad

I mentioned my procrastination, right? It’s a wonder I completed this blog at all. Anyway, one problem I encountered is that unlike my thorough use of Stacks at work, I have a tendency to ignore tasks in my wedding stack list. Because each task is something I need to complete by the end of the month, I usually ignore it till I get nagged about it. Sort of defeats the purpose of Stacks. However, I chalk that up to user error.

Another problem I encountered is my wedding planner is no project manager. Each month a task dump occurs and each task isn’t carefully scoped out giving it the correct due date, actionable date and details within the task. Stacks isn’t utilized to it’s full potential. It becomes a to-do checklist for whenever I get around to it.

The Conclusion

Being the sexy app that it is, Stacks is an extremely powerful project management tool. I’m glad I have the opportunity to use it for my wedding so I don’t have a random freak out that I am forgetting to do something. However, it is becoming a glorified to-do list. There is nothing wrong with this, I just know what Stacks is really capable of. So thanks, Stacks, for helping remind this procrastinator that she is continuing to procrastinate, but will get around to it eventually.

Before I dive into this review, you should probably have some background information. First of all, as the title suggests, I am a graphic designer for a web design company. I spend 90% of my time on Adobe Creative Suite programs (most of that time is dedicated to Photoshop). Second of all, I am a female. This piece of information applies to this review because as a woman, I am genetically predisposed to have smaller hands than (most) men. Lastly, I have run through the gambit of Apple mouses since 2004. That being said, lets get started, shall we?

The good:

1. The size. I love the way this thing conforms to my hand. So much so, I feel like all other mouses feel too large and clumsy. I have read reviews where people have claimed this mouse is too small and light. I have not had this problem – however as stated previously, I have normal sized hands for a 5′8″ female which means they’re relatively small.

2. The scrolling. The predecessor to my Magic Mouse was of course the Mighty Mouse. One of the main problems I would have with the 360 scroll ball on the Mighty Mouse was it would become gritty and would stop being functional. This could always be cured by holding it upside-down and puffing can o’ air into the recesses of the 360 ball. Obviously this problem is cured by Magic Mouse. Please note – being a control freak while using Photoshop, I turned off the momentum scroll. I have been told this is a nice feature, but I can’t say that from personal experience.

3. The right-click. Although the right click is functional with the Mighty Mouse (as long as that is specified in the system preferences), I feel like the Magic Mouse’s right-click is more responsive and intuitive.

The bad:

1. The sensitivity. This is a double-edged sword. Sure, it’s nice when you WANT to scroll, but when you don’t it’s a pain. This rears it’s ugly head often when I am using Photoshop. An example of this is when I have the color picker window open. Notice on the screen shot the field next to the “R” (meaning red) is highlighted; this happens by default when one opens this color picker window. What happens when this field is highlighted is the scroll functionality on your mouse can easily add and subtract the color red. Many times I have barely brushed the top of the mouse and it will change my selected color without my consent. There is no clear area on your mouse where the scroll sensitivity begins, so just laying your hand on the top of the mouse can create a scroll with any slight movement.

2. The two finger swipe. This also goes back to the sensitivity problem. I had to turn this option off after I was working on code in our CMS and my fingers brushed the top of the mouse. The mouse somehow gleaned from this that I wanted to go back to the previous page in my browser, and thus losing all of the work I had just completed.

The conclusion:

After turning off the two finger swipe functionality, life has been easier along with learning how to deal with the problems in Photoshop. I haven’t yet ditched this mouse for the older Mighty Mouse (which is still in my possession), but that’s only after adapting to its downfalls. Basically my conclusion to this review is I would NOT recommend this product to a Graphic Designer, but I would recommend it to people who don’t use Adobe Creative Suite.

We are proud to announce one of our logo designs is featured in the newest edition of “LogoLounge: Master Library – 3000 Initial & Crest Logos.” The logo we created for Tenge Law Firm is shown as an example of using initials in a logo. LogoLounge is a reference book that includes a collection of logos organized in categories. These books are often used as inspiration for logo designers and are used as teaching tools.

Keep in mind, I am NOT reviewing any of Simply Audiobooks’s MP3 services. I prefer my CDs because I am archaic like that.

Simply Audiobooks is a service designed for people who enjoy books differently than your typical bookworm. They send books-on-CD to your mailbox, and once you’re done listening to your selected tale, you send it back in the same package free of shipping charges. This was particularly appealing to me because I have a long commute to work (45 minutes one way on a GOOD day, yuck) and I love me a good story. I’ve been using the Simply Audiobooks “Rental Program” for over a year now, and I don’t plan on stopping.

Overall grade: B

Price: A
I didn’t research a ton before selecting Simply Audiobooks, but for their services, I believe Simply Audiobooks is the best price.

Usability: B
Pros: Overall, Simply Audiobooks is pretty usable. It’s set up similar to Netflix you search for an audiobook and you add it to your “queue” which will be sent out when it’s available (see Cons). Their queue functions similarly to Netflix where you can either drag and drop order or type in a number. Furthermore, the design is very clean and extremely well laid out.

Cons: A few nitpicky things I find from time to time is the reason usability receives a “B”. The first issue I have is unlike Netflix, you’re not guaranteed to receive the book at the top of your queue. This, however, I can let slide. Audiobooks aren’t as popular as movies by FAR and are much more expensive.

My second nit is there is an extremely short log-in period. I understand the need for security, but it’s slightly ridiculous how short it is. On top of that, when you don’t realize you’re logged off and you’re prompted for your log-in info, you’re kicked off page you were on (forcing you to search for the book all over again).

Lastly, this is for us nerdy readers who like series. It’s very unclear which book out of the series it is in or if it is in a series at all. I feel this could be remedied easily with more consistent titles for these instances. Sometimes books DO have an indication it is in a series (i.e. The The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (Book 1)), but not always.

Customer Service: A+
I have nothing bad to say about their customer service. I would give them an A++ if I didn’t think that was tacky. Questions are answered promptly on either the site or their twitter account (@SimplyAudiobook). Not only that but they will bend backwards to make you happy. They’re always wonderfully nice, and I don’t hesitate to say they’ve given me the best customer service I’ve ever had.

Shipping: C-
My only real problem with this service. If not for this, I would give them an “A” for an overall grade. I don’t know if it’s because I am in Denver and it has to ship all the way down to Vegas, but from the day I send out my book till I receive a new one is 10-11 days. Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Netflix, and like I said, audiobooks are way less in demand than movies. However, for my first 15 days (which was free). I didn’t receive any audiobooks. So much for my free trial.

I hate to end this review on a bad note, so I’ll reiterate what I said before: I have used this service for a year and I don’t intend on stopping. Despite their pitfalls, Simply Audiobooks makes my horrible commute much more bearable.