Blog Posts.

 

Designocracy – A Design Initiative

The designer community depends on Internet resources for learning & research. Indeed many of us rely upon Google to lead us to that particular source of design elixir. Not very long ago a bunch of my passionate graphic designer friends ran an online community fondly called Surfunion. It’s a part of history now, but the experience of critiquing our artworks, sharing our thoughts and participating in debates still refreshes my mind to this day.

Let me come back to 2012. During the course of my daily work I scour the Internet stumbling upon one site to another, and in the process, finding dollops of useful design information. Such information could mean a lot to someone in need. Then Twitter afforded me the luxury of sharing those links quickly and reach out to the designer community without great effort. This concept persuaded me to invest in a personal program which I’m calling Designocracy. The intention is to collect & transmit design insights from around the Internet. You can follow Designocracy at twitter.com/Designocracy.

Designocracy will be a repository of interesting articles and insights on design ranging from graphics design to art/architecture and will feature all aspects of usability engineering. The scope will be limited to design only since it’s one area that I’m keenly passionate about. I hope you enjoy the tweets at @Designocracy and give it all your support and love.

‘Watchmen’ – My Notes from the Comic Book

The Comedian's BadgeI confess that I’ve not come across a superb piece of art called ‘Watchmen’ before. Unlike the west, comics aren’t keenly followed or marketed to a bigger audience in this part of the country. But here’s the thing – it’s usually the artwork that encourages me to buy a comic-book.

The movie version of this comic book was released last year but it’s a misplaced judgment to think that I picked the comic book ONLY for this reason. The artwork of ‘Watchmen’ – colouring, penciling, compositions grabbed my attention, Dave Gibbons has done them so wonderfully. Also all the 12 issues published by DC Comics in a single volume makes it a collector’s item!

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Insights Into Web Content Writing

I had the privilege of attending a workshop by Techved Design on writing content for the web. I wasn’t planning to leave the house in the killing humidity and heat but changed my mind thanks to my dearest friend Neha Modgil.

Writing immersible content for the web is always challenging. It’s a medium not known to sustain readership beyond a few seconds. Imagine having to sell a product in a limited amount of time and sustaining the attention span of an online user. This is what the workshop intended to address. Content speaks to a specific audience and good content only makes the actions on the website more compelling.

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I'm a Mac

Apple Logo Just as there are moments of great achievements in career like a promotion, getting a mac would undoubtedly rank among the higher for me – no less a promotion from a Windows system for me. The journey from knowing a Mac to owning one has been 13 years long. From my first computer lessons on a PowerMac in 1996 to getting a Macbook Pro in 2009. And the moments leading to my first Mac just made it more memorable for me.

FedEx would have delivered the package on March 23rd if Mount Redoubt had not erupted ‘untimely’. All FedEx flights were diverted and the package took a week more than usual for delivery. It was a situation beyond anyone’s control but I was getting impatient. Finally the good news from FedEx that the package had arrived in Regina early morning and was going to be delivered today. No way I was going to miss the delivery schedule (and wait another day). I requested the executive to let me know an hour before the delivery van was at my doorstep so I could go home and she agreed.

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Heading for A Change

It’s been a while since I have written on my website. The time schedules apart, my motivation for new creative thinking has almost dried up.

I have been on WordPress since 2005. However I have found that it takes a lot of effort for a single person to update and maintain this highly acclaimed application. I have to take constant back-ups of my database/files/wordpress files and keep up with the current version as and when it has been released. It’s time consuming and stressful and sometimes puts me in a panic state of mind – what if the new upgrade doesn’t work for me.

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