I have been quite fascinated with the design of political logos and, more recently, websites. Particularly presidential campaigns. So I was delighted to find a cartoon slideshow reviewing many of the treasures from this year. Reading Tea Leaves and Campaign Logos

I had the opportunity to attend the Mobile Web Americas Conference in Orlando, Florida this week. The Mobile Web Market is HUGE and exploding. Now is the time to be ready to deliver content to mobile devices.

Every speaker at the conference began their presentation with a quote similar to:

"There are zillions more mobile units than PCs."

We need to be prepared for this growing user base.

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I was reading on nytimes.com and absentmindedly double-clicked a word in the article body. Up popped a window with the definition of the word I clicked on. Turners out that every word in the article body has that feature. It's a great way to be able to expand your vocabulary when you are reading online.

Over at What Do I Know, designer and developer Todd Dominey recently posted about his search for 'cool' office space in the Atlanta area and his visit to a house that had been featured on the cover of Dwell magazine. Yes DWELL magazine. While he was at first excited at the opportunity, once inside he quickly realized that there was much about the house that impractical and cheap.

I'll let you read the whole article but it really underscores a very important point for designers of all flavors, especially web design. If you are going to build something, the cool factor may get you some temporary points and publicity, but the lasting value comes in durability, function, and usability.

Want to deploy Flash 9 SWFs on your site? On our site, Google Analytics statistics show Flash 9 at only 59% of visitors.

That's not quite the 80% we like to see before deploying new technology. But don't worry, Disney's much talked about new Disney.com will help. The 995 pixel wide, media (video) heavy site requires Flash Player 9 to view any content. Users without the latest Flash Player are greeted with this graphic:

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Icons, like cars and refrigerators, have planned obsolescence.

It is interesting that the need to create visual stimulus for new product desire outweighs the value of the existing user knowledge and recognition of previous icons.

In the short-run, the change from one icon set to another for the same activities hampers usability because users cannot quickly transition to associating new icons with the products they use in their everyday workflow.

Do you remember the transition to Adobe's CS icons? It was a radical departure from the previously learned icon system. Where did Venus go? Quick, switch to Illustrator! Is Illustrator the conch shell, flower, or butterfly?

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