The way we pay has changed from coins, to paper money, to plastic cards. Now we’re on the brink of the next big shift.

I am definitely looking forward to not having to carry around my wallet :)

Inforgraph on the future of mobile payments

• Illustrations
• Printed paper
• Realism
• Imageless & typography-focused
• Minimalism
• Vintage look
• Large images & photo backgrounds
• Rich & slick user interfaces

While many designers seem to be very against trends and already popular styles, one must understand that these certain styles are popular for a reason. That reason is that there is already something about them that works, whether it be efficiency, viewer-connection, or interesting visual appeal. The goal is to always view popular styles from an intuitive standpoint, and take from them what works best. This is the only way to learn and gain experience as a web designer, even when developing one’s own particular style.

Tufte’s initial work will be on the recovery.gov website, which is the primary way the board will conduct business transparently to the American public.

Wonder if he brought his own litter of kittens, or will be borrowing them from DC shelters…?

How would sites or web apps be different if you could see who else is there with you in each moment?

We should all start an accessibility push in our organizations, here’s why:

• There are about 60 million people in the U.S. who can’t use a computer to get on the Internet in the normal fashion. For those people, a mix of screen reader software, keyboards with special buttons, and even motion-sensing Web cameras must take the place of the mouse and QWERTY keyboard.




• With a rapidly aging population in many parts of the world — notably the U.S. — accessibility requirements will become useful for today’s crop of baby boomers as they grow older




• In order to do business with the U.S. government, companies must comply with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, which insists that electronic and information technology products sold to government agencies be designed with disabled employees in mind, and that government services produced by contractors consider disabled citizens in equal measure.

Performance, internationalization, and accessibility are not a feature, they should all be standard.

Inventor, entrepreneur and visionary Ray Kurzweil explains in abundant, grounded detail why, by the 2020s, we will have reverse-engineered the human brain and nanobots will be operating your consciousness. Filmed in 2005, this is a little dated (his 2010 predictions seem a little optimistic). But you still can’t help be blown away by the audacity of his vision. He believes we’re heading for a radical merging of humanity and technology. What do you think?

However, the lack of a new term is significant in itself. These people are not entrepreneurs because they don’t spend their time managing a business. They spend their time writing, painting, making toys….following their passion. They are writers, painters, and toy makers.

As more of us start using these new software and technology  tools to make money from what we love doing, the need to replace the term “entrepreneur” disappears. We are designers, photographers, musicians, match-makers, illustrators.

I came across this new website from Adobe called INSPIRE, an online publication of the Adobe Experience Design Team, which will easily attract anyone into software, web & graphic design.

The Adobe team shares valuable, real-life experiences both written & via videos.

Here are some interesting content:

• Adobe and the future of multitouch (really cool!)
• Collecting User Feedback: You’re Doing It Wrong
• Icons In Space