Category Design

Entries 59 Total Description

The design process, or examples of design.

Bike Lending at UConn Library

Nov 11, ’10 1:00 AM

UConn plans a bike-sharing test program in the next few months, in which anyone with a current UConn identification could borrow one of 20 bicycles at the Homer Babbidge Library.

The Undergraduate Student Government purchased the bikes. If the pilot program is successful, more bicycles will be purchased.

I wonder if this was a library idea supported by the student government or if the student government approached the library. Either way, I’m into it.

[via Jen Waller]

Other bike related stuff here at Walking Paper:
- Reading Rickshaw +
- P+ Bike System
- Libraries can Learn from Rivendell Bicycle Works

Comments (3)

A Lesson via Design Theft

Nov 10, ’10 1:00 AM

Rapha is a London based cycling apparel company that makes super nice gear. They really seem to be committed to quality and their website is quite nice.

Primal Wear makes cycling apparel that is stylistically the opposite of Rapha. I don’t know if their stuff if nice to wear or not. Regardless, they’ve chosen to fully rip off Rapha’s website. Shamelessly.

What’s most interesting about this to me are the differences beyond the two homepages. The Primal Wear site is still decent looking but lacks the great narrative focused photographs and text that Rapha uses to draw people in.

Take a look at the pages at the individual item level.

Rapha’s visual design has clearly been pilfered but upon closer inspection the difficult stuff – the overall strategy and engaging content – can’t as easily be nicked.

The lesson here for libraries? Your homepage is only so important. And the visual design of your site is important, but if you can’t easily improve it you can always make gains by improving what the visual design is there to support: the content.

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Solution Based Organization

Nov 9, ’10 4:00 AM

Wouldn’t this be a compelling way to organize some health related books? Might have to be sensitive about the questions posted, however.

The Help Remedies website has some nice things going on too*, including this “about” info.

Help Remedies was created to make solving simple health issues simple. We find the best solution there is, and take away everything else. By stripping away some of the complexity and fear mongering of the health industry, we hope to make medicine friendlier and more accessible, and in doing so empower people to make their own health decisions.

We think a little help, honesty and kindness will go a long way.

*The front page of the site is cute, but at first I thought clicking on the items was going to lead me to product info.

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Content Strategy & Writing for the Web

Nov 7, ’10 7:30 PM

I’m in the middle of digging though a content audit of a large library website and the more I do them the more convinced I am of their utility. Assessing every page (and other pieces of content) on a website is a granular task that can expose some big problems force people to think about the not only the purpose of a website, but the whole organization. Super great stuff for libraries to be thinking about.

Here’s a PDF of my slides for a presentation I gave at Internet Librarian last month: Content Strategy & Writing for the Web. Take from it what you can, and with any luck I’ll be able to give the topic the treatment it deserves with a proper post here in December.

Comments (3)

Content Strategy & Writing for the Web

Nov 7, ’10 7:30 PM

I’m in the middle of digging though a content audit of a large library website and the more I do them the more convinced I am of their utility. Assessing every page (and other pieces of content) on a website is a granular task that can expose some big problems force people to think about the not only the purpose of a website, but the whole organization. Super great stuff for libraries to be thinking about.

Here’s a PDF of my slides for a presentation I gave at Internet Librarian last month: Content Strategy & Writing for the Web. Take from it what you can, and with any luck I’ll be able to give the topic the treatment it deserves with a proper post here in December.

Comments (3)

Unusable Tableware

Jun 2, ’10 10:28 AM

Metalwork from David Clarke.

[via today and tomorrow]

Comments (3)

Visual Design Libraries Should Be Proud Of

Jun 1, ’10 12:36 PM

In response to my post beautiful > ugly Suzanne Chapman just shared some examples of nice looking graphic design from the University of Michigan Library.

See her post and the MLibrary Branding & Marketing Materials set on flickr for more.

This got me thinking about two other things I’ve seen recently. The first is a collection of library cards from the Edmonton Public Library (via John Blyberg’s Twitter feed).



They also have an associated sticker contest. I think I have a pretty big crush on this library.

Lastly, the District of Columbia Public Library has two new library card designs. One of them is a promotion for the forthcoming second version of the DCPL iPhone app.

I really like the idea of a library putting out collectable, limited edition library cards that people can trade in their old cards for.

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Reading Rickshaw +

May 25, ’10 11:57 AM

Three students and alumni from the Department of Art at the University of Minnesota have a project called Reading Rickshaw on Kickstarter:

The Reading Rickshaw aims to spread the word about art and books by offering patrons a ride on a 4-person bicycle fully outfitted with an art library. We seek to offer both mobile and stationary programming: Patrons can browse the permanent collection or pick a book from a temporary collection curated by artists, participate in mobile story hour, listen to artist lectures, and many more fledgling ideas. We will focus on creating a presence where a traditional library cannot go: parks, sidewalks, the lakes communities (land of 10,000=popular Minnesota activity), downtown Minneapolis/St. Paul, and high foot traffic neighborhoods. [emphasis mine]

It is interesting when non-librarians observe service gaps, brainstorm solutions and then take matters into their own hands. It sort of makes me feel like libraries aren’t living up to their potential. It is also interesting that often times they don’t consider partnering with established libraries. The IKEA ad I just posted is an example of that. So are the community book exchanges / tiny tomato gardens I see around Portland.

A related project: A group of folks involved with the Art Shanty Projects erected a library shanty on the frozen Medicine Lake:

Come hang out at the Medicine Lake Branch and create a library card, join a book clubs or enjoy the curated shelf-sized art exhibitions.

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The Library Book

May 21, ’10 1:00 AM

 

Ages ago I meant to point to this post about the the Library Initiative in New York. They’ve created some nice looking spaces.

Now there’s an entire book about the project: The Library Book: Design Collaborations in the Public Schools.

The L!brary Book takes readers behind the scenes of fifty groundbreaking library projects to show how widely varied fields and communities – corporate underwriters, children’s book publishers, architects, graphic designers, product manufacturers, library associations, teachers, and students – can join forces to make a difference in the lives of children. – Dexigner

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WPA Book Safety Posters

Apr 5, ’10 8:24 AM

From a series of posters for the WPA Illinois art project Be Kind To Books. The series of five posters is up for auction in May and are expected to go for $1500-$2000.

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