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I think the new iMac 27" inch is the ultimate designer machine with its 2560 by 1440 pixels resolution and 375 cd/m2 brightness thanks to the LED technology. But for those used to 15-20" screens. Just how big is it?

It's great to see that Apple constantly innovates their input devices. They brought the mouse to the mainstream (by taking Xerox's design further) in the first place. Later they brought in the hockey puck design which was innovative in it's shape and design. Next, they came up with a simpler one button design, which was used by millions. The mighty mouse really broke new ground, but unfortunately the nipple broke too easily. Here is the history in detail.

Now the Magic mouse combines the best of the mouse and the trackpad into one input device. Hopefully this new design eliminated all the problems the previous designs had and we finally have the ultimate mouse. Well done Apple!

Adapted from EdgyCute: From Neo-Pop to Low Brow and Back Again (Mark Batty Publisher)
By Harry Saylor with Carolyn Frisch
Dateline: October 20, 2009

I believe in art. I collect it, search for it and am driven to own it. My first “real art” purchase was in 1988: an Andy Warhol “Cow.” I loved the use of a trademarked character—Elsie the Cow—to create a homey feeling that was so familiar to me that it created instant comfort. Next, I acquired a piece by Rodney Alan Greenblat: “Challenge of the Suburbs.” At first glance it comes off as very silly. At the time none of my friends understood why I bought it. But I understood it and that’s all that matters anyway. It was like a new roommate. I look at all my art as roommates, silent, joyful, sometimes scary, always thought provoking, and happy! When I look at them they speak to me and even haunt me.

See the collection of images on Graphics.com

How do you like the new logo?

The next iteration of its Creative Suite will not only feature new features, but it will also be rewritten in Cocoa for 64-bit native support. This will give us another good reason to upgrade to Snow Leopard when CS5 comes out. Unfortunately it will only run on Intel machines.

Have you noticed that the more pressing the deadline the cleaner your apartment gets? Procrastination is a problem almost every designer struggles with. Group hug guys.

We make excuses like: I work better under the pressure of time, close deadlines make me more creative or I'm not inspired to do work today. It is true that stress caused by an approaching deadline releases adrenaline and other chemicals in your body, which can make you think faster and be more focused. However increased productivity is only a perception. You're doing great considering you only spent 3 hours of the job before the very deadline, but you would've done much better spending those 3 working hours by spreading them out over a week.

There are 3 reason why people procrastinate. If you can recognize why you do it you can make a mental effort to overcome the internal block.

Photoshop.com Mobile for iPhone provides users a simple way to view photos with full-screen previews and edit images with gesture-based editing. You can transform your photos with basic editing tools like crop, rotate and flip; as well as adjust color with saturation and tint tools, enhance exposure and vibrancy and convert images to black and white.

You can read more about it here.

While I can't say that there's a huge desire by any designer to do photo editing for client work on their iPhone or iPod Touch, it's nice to see even basic editing arrive on our favorite Apple pocket device!

Download here: http://mobile.photoshop.com/iphone/

Adapted from What is Illustration? (RotoVision)
By Lawrence Zeegen
Dateline: October 9, 2009

“I’m a graphic designer at heart. I understand that different problems require different treatments, and that the mantra ‘form follows function’ is going to save my ass one day,” says Christoph Niemann, a passionate advocate for ideas-centered, problem-solving illustration. Niemann trained in graphic design at Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts in Germany, moving to New York upon graduation in 1997 to begin a career in illustration, working predominantly as an editorial illustrator.

“Despite studying graphic design, I majored in illustration,” Niemann admits. “I had a harsh tutor, but it was a fantastic education.” The harsh tutor was no less then Heinz Edelmann, art director and illustrator of the 1968 classic Beatles movie Yellow Submarine. It was this education that set Niemann on his path to concept-led illustration.

“I have a real problem with illustration that isn’t created within the context of graphic design,” he continues. “Being an illustrator is like being an artist without being an artist; it is not about self or ego, it is always about collaboration and compromise.” Niemann understands the complexities of working to a brief, for a client and for an end user or “reader,” as he refers to his audience. “For an illustrator, the collaboration with a good art director means that it is never just about making a picture to fill a white space on the page—an art director will always have an opinion,” he explains.

Read the full article on Graphics.com

Below are a few of my personal experiences with both programs. Feel free to add your own.

Pros of Quark:

• It is a better layout program.

• Its onscreen 100% is fairly close to actual size. With InDesign, I have to manually enter 137% to view a somewhat actual size.

• When working with a stroked box, every time I change the strength of the stroke the size of the box remains consistent. In InDesign the box size keeps changing...more steps :( to fix.

• I prefer Quark's keyboard commands.

Pros of InDesign:

• Its obvious integration with Illustrator and Photoshop make working between layout and image work nearly effortless.

• You can perform some pretty cool F/X work, which now Quark is emulating...copying Adobe's lead when it came to copying Quark's superior layout capabilities.

• Smaller file sizes; especially when working a lot with PDFs.

• No problem handling duotones; but sometimes I get edges around my F/X sections when distilling to a print-ready PDF.

I learn these programs on the fly while earning a living (like a lot of others here)...so maybe there are methods that I've overlooked that can correct these issues.

WAKE UP AND JOIN IN ANONYMOUS!

Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) will be the manufacturing partner for an upcoming tablet PC device from Apple, according to market sources. The device is expected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2010, with initial shipments from Foxconn being in the 300,000-400,000 range, the sources said.

Are you getting one?