Kyle Meyer

Clutching our Memories

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:56:00 -0700

Memories are tragically short-lived, and always in danger of escaping our mental treasure chest.

The greatest moments of my life have made me tingle all over with happiness. Walking the Lisburn Road towards the Belfast city center as the rainy mist deposited droplets upon my glasses, transforming street lights and faces into a fish-eyed dreamy fog while the new discovery of M83’s saxophone solo added its robust soundtrack to my personal movie. Tingles. I wanted to cry out some magic word that would ensure that moment was never lost to time.

While it lives vividly in my medium-term memory, I know—even while in the moment—the pang of fear of ever losing that memory. I look back as recently as the last five years and know, begrudgingly, that some of these moments elude me.

I wonder if memory-loss is bittersweet. A culling of the less important for a top ten list committed to the human limit of long-term memory. Technology allows us to surpass such drawbacks, but at what cost? Pulling out your phone to document removes you and those around you from the moment if ever so slightly. The gain is a series of photos and videos of portions of these moments from sporadic days of your life.

In a world where I could document every moment—think an always on wearable camera, such as Google Glass—I trade the signal of the peaks, for the noise of the flatlands of each and every second. Many miles of desert to cross for the oasis of a rich and meaningful moment. Fear alleviated, but for what?

There is a scene in Minority Report which has stuck with me. In it, our hero watches a holographic video of his tragically deceased wife. Overcome with desire and longing he reaches out to the hologram only to be reminded that this memory is only ephemeral; perfect in its accuracy, but impossible to rejoin. In our minds we can toy with memories and relive them, perhaps smoothing the rough edges a bit to make the thought more pleasant to hold. Complete video documentation of our lives seems harsh and too true to the details, unlike the comforting, hazy, quality of a true memory.

I’ve always found Instagram and Facebook interesting. Small square portholes into the lives of my friends. An opportunity to be a fly on the wall. Most recently, the effect that filters have added, trading off fidelity for that dreamlike quality of a memory.

Maybe we’ll look back on these photos and laugh at our wanton middle-finger waving to true archival, or maybe we’ll smile at the memory—comforted by the vignette and strange colors that leave the details to our imaginations. For now, I want to keep asking questions about how we can transcend memory, but hold the magnificence of imagination dear. So that we can enjoy the present, and dream about the future, while knowing our smiling remembrances of last night’s antics remain safe kept for revisiting. Our own personal movie.

“Glass, remember this moment.”

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 11:34:00 -0700

I always wanted to be Like Mike.Jordan turned 50 a few days ago....

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:16:38 -0800

I always wanted to be Like Mike.

Jordan turned 50 a few days ago. Childhood heroes aging is such a blow to the psyche and a reminder to push the here and now. Happy Birthday to the Greatest of All Time.

A Short Lesson in Perspective

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 15:06:00 -0800

A Short Lesson in Perspective:

Linds Redding breaks down what amounts to the industrial revolution in the world of the creative.

I’ve found myself rereading this article since it was first posted almost a year ago. It’s so true it hurts, yet I’m not sure how to right the situation. Organizational change to remedy the issue of available time per task isn’t something easily modified. In the face of A/B testing, ‘agile’ development styles, and more I fear we’re doomed to continue this trend unless we’re independent or lucky enough to have a designer as a founder or co-founder.

Tidy Up Your Life with Vitsoe

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:07:34 -0800

While the video is a tad pretentious, I’ve always loved Rams’ 606 Shelving System. The video is an intriguing look into a house where it’s used in every single room in a different way and put to use for decades—a tribute to lasting, flexible, furniture design.

Why the Build Home Page is so Damn Long

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 17:07:00 -0700

I answered a question on Quora today dealing with long home pages. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and having recently used this type of layout again for Build I decided to share my thinking.

—

There are three types of marketing home pages:

Sparse home pages with a call to action. I have a strong dislike for these because they never tell me why I should care. They just shout “Buy!” or “Sign Up!” at me. Start-up and social media sites are notorious for this.

Short-form home pages tend to push you to other pages on the site where there is more room to give detail. However, when you split content over pages you have no ability to know a) what page a user will land on, b) which order of pages they’ll choose to explore, and c) whether they’ll explore all the pages. This results in a broken narrative structure which is counter-intuitive to the goal of most home pages: tell the story and sell the product.

Long-form home pages aim to provide the bulk of the site’s content in one place. This provides a pair of benefits: a) you can ensure the user will experience the content in a linear manner (starting at the top and scroll to the bottom), and b) most people want to finish a short story, and the scrollbar tells them there’s an end in sight. As long as your initial content is engaging enough for them to scroll, they’ll most likely stick it out for the ride. Don’t worry, people scroll—it’s the easiest interaction with any internet browsing device—both on mobile and desktop.

When you know you have a linear narrative, you can set things up and tell a more cohesive and engaging story. I like to structure pages like this as follows:

Top

Establish the what, where, when and top-level why with a visual wow to hook the viewer. It would be advisable to include a call to action if they’re already sold or visiting the page with an intent to buy.

Middle

Convince and educate the viewer by fleshing out the reasons why they should care and how you’ll do it. This is where you make your case.

Bottom

Provide a conclusion to your story. Summize. Repeat the call to action or offer alternative action steps. If users have made it this far they’re now deciding if they care enough to go forward. Make it easy for them.

You can see these principles applied on http://2012.buildconf.com/teaser/ (now archived version).

As a top down Twitter reader, I always load in a ton of new...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 12:42:00 -0700

As a top down Twitter reader, I always load in a ton of new tweets and then quickly scroll to the top and read down. My logic is that if I don’t make it back through all of the tweets I caught the latest, and arguably most contextually important, news based on time.

Occasionally I have enough time to really read through my feed and realize too late that I’m scanning and reading tweets from my last session. A last read/scrolled-to marker in Twitter—synced with my mobile app—would be incredibly useful.

Earlier last month I was fortunate enough to design the teaser...

Thu, 03 May 2012 18:37:00 -0700

Earlier last month I was fortunate enough to design the teaser site for Build 2012, which sold out in 1 hour 8 minutes. Yowch!

It was a lot of fun creating a story-based experience which would give visitors a taste of the week long design festival. Big thanks to Tim Boelaars for doing an amazing job on the icons we commissioned for each part of the event.

A taste of the work I did for Big Cartel’s new store...

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:24:00 -0700

A taste of the work I did for Big Cartel’s new store customization interface. The best way to see it is to try it (for free). Really proud of what we were able to create here.

Kill the Blockbuster

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:16:00 -0700

The following was written by Matt Wigham, one of the co-founders of the company I work for, Big Cartel. It was initially written for a book—which was never published—on the topic of entrepreneurship. After speaking with Matt about it, I’d love to share it with you.

—

Let’s talk about movies for a moment. According to a recent article in GQ magazine, here’s what Hollywood has on tap for us this summer:

“Four adaptations of comic books. One prequel to an adaptation of a comic book. One sequel to a sequel to a movie based on a toy. One sequel to a sequel to a sequel to a movie based on an amusement-park ride. One prequel to a remake. Two sequels to cartoons. One sequel to a comedy. An adaptation of a children’s book. An adaptation of a Saturday-morning cartoon. One sequel with a 4 in the title. Two sequels with a 5 in the title. One sequel that, if it were inclined to use numbers, would have to have a 7 1/2 in the title.” (source)

Why does Hollywood continue to rehash the same formulaic ideas over and over again? Because that’s the safer bet. More people are likely to go see Transformers 19 than sit through an Oscar-winning dramatic film. Sure, a couple of these blockbuster movies are bound to be pretty good, but the bottom line is that it’s never been more difficult for filmmakers to get an original story made. It’s too risky. It doesn’t test well in focus groups. It’s not made for everyone.

Luckily there’s a talented group of independent filmmakers that will fight endlessly to get their films made, in the face of a system built against them. Of course, these films have small budgets, don’t have huge grosses or opening days, don’t always feature big names, and might not be suitable for all audiences, but without them we would be without some of the most important art of our lifetime.

Why do I bring this up? Because it’s happening in my industry too.

In the internet startup world, we have our own version of Hollywood – Silicon Valley. Just like Hollywood, Silicon Valley is investing heavily in finding the next big blockbuster. Unfortunately they also suffer from the mentality of repeatedly rehashing the same recycled ideas.

Every day on the tech blogs you read about the new social networking site that promises to be the next MyFace, and received 80 bazillion dollars of Series A funding, or the hot new iPhone app that is a mix of Twitter and Flickr that will change the way people eat and breathe. Entrepreneurs around the world are clamoring to come up with that next big sequel, and they’re racing to find venture capitalists and angel investors to back their blockbuster idea.

Unfortunately, just like Hollywood, this system is broken. Sure, a couple of these companies will be pretty good, but the majority will be as unoriginal, short-lived, and forgettable as Transformers 19. Is that what you want for your company? I hope not.

I’m here to invite you to join an independent movement.

I run a company called Big Cartel that helps bands, designers, crafters, and other artists sell their stuff online. I founded the company with a friend back in 2005 because I needed a way to sell my band’s merch online, and since I’d been making band websites for years, I figured I could build something better for my needs than the complicated e-commerce software that was available at the time.

We worked on the site on top of our day jobs, spending countless hours obsessing over design details, improving features and functionality, and helping our customers use our product. We did no marketing, and instead relied on the product being good enough for people to tell their friends about. Finally, after two years, the business was making enough money for the two of us to quit our jobs and work on Big Cartel full-time. It was a great feeling.

Over the last six years we’ve grown from just my band’s store to over 200,000 stores, and we’re doubling that every year. We’ve slowly built the company itself from the two founders to a twelve person company, using only the profits generated by the business. We’ve also been able to help our customers make a living doing what they love. Last year our stores generated over 100 million dollars of revenue, and we’ve seen a staggering amount of new brands and entrepreneurs bootstrap and hustle their way to success using our service.

Of course, we’re not talking about Facebook type of money, we’ll never get Twitter type of press, and we may seem boring compared to the glitz and glamour of the Silicon Valley celebrities, but what we have is even more valuable – freedom. Now, just like the independent filmmakers, we can build something with a heart and soul, that cares more about the art and culture of our craft than just doing what is most profitable.

The ironic part is, we never really set out to build a business, we just started doing something we loved and the money part took care of itself. In fact, since we have no investors or shareholders beyond my partner and I, we rarely even talk about money. Instead we’re able to focus all of our attention on whatever we want to do next. It’s incredibly liberating.

Now you may think we’re a fluke, or perhaps we just got lucky, but I don’t. Money is a natural byproduct of doing something valuable – so why not focus on doing something you love, that is valuable to you, and I think you’ll be surprised to see how valuable it is to others. Luckily we have it a lot easier than our filmmaking counterparts. We don’t need millions of dollars for sets, cameras, actors, editors, costumes, and the rest. All we need is an idea, some hard work, and a cheap server to get started.

I want to challenge you to forget about the Hollywood dream of huge rounds of funding and giant acquisitions, and instead focus on building something you’re proud of. I think you’ll find that the joy of doing something you love, and the freedom to control the vision to be uniquely yours, is worth much more.

Pixel Perfect Open Tracking and Alignment

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 15:20:00 -0800

I was reminded while working on the redesign of The Manual website this weekend that letter-spacing and text-align don’t play as pixel-perfect-nice as they should out of the box if you’re working with centered or right-aligned text.

The Issue

When you open up your tracking, the text will always push out to the left as letter-spacing is applied from the right. As a result, if you’re centering or aligning your type to the right, it will be a few pixels further to the left than it should be. If you’re just leaving it in standard left-alignment, you don’t need to do anything—browsers handle this situation just fine.

The Fix

Resolving this is simple, but easily overlooked.

If you’re centering your copy, just add padding on the left side which is equal to the value you assigned for letter-spacing. You may want to play with this +/− a pixel or two depending on the typeface and amount of letter-spacing used. Optical alignment will always trump whatever the computer renders in these situations, so use your best discretion.

If your text is right aligned, you will want to substitute a negative right margin for the left padding.

Example CSS

h1 {
font-size: 36px;
text-transform: uppercase;
text-align: center;
letter-spacing: 3px;
padding-left: 3px;
}

Boom, your OCD is satisfied.

The art of Karin Anna Henny Angstrom Ludwig. Artist...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 21:05:00 -0800

The art of Karin Anna Henny Angstrom Ludwig.

Artist statement:

My work touches on several issues, such as: the seduction of consumerism, the fetishisation of female commodities and the female body, fetishism, the restraints of the “beauty myth” (see The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf). I explore these issues by constructing my own visual ideas about them using my own body as well as glossy, golden latex fabric, documenting and further constructing them using photography and Photoshop. I have considered how the female body in itself is treated as a commodity in, for example, advertising and. The body used in those mediums is never an unrendered and natural body. It’s a body dependent on treatments, make-up, airbrushing, starvation, surgery and youth in order to even be present in these mediums. It is often presented as perfected isolated parts, stripped of its circumstances.

The department stores have also made an art out of these kinds of displays, creating seductive sagas and narratives around banal objects. The display dolls are often displayed, perfected and beautifully dressed, so that they are most often positioned above the women as they consume, made almost goddess-like, gazing down on us. I’m interested in this relationship, it seems almost like the doll has taken over the role of the “perfect woman”, yet the department stores are places where women are given a sense of control, where she can be the voyeur, she can be the one who desires and “looks at”.

On Productivity

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:55:00 -0800

Most creative people I speak with hold to getting most of their work done in short bursts of being in a zone. Me too. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get myself into this mental state so I can have Awesome on Demand™

Activities which result in being more productive

See a movie for the first time which resonates with me
Take a week off from work
Sit somewhere with an amazing view
Be excited about the near completion of a great project
Find a new album which begs to be thrown on repeat (preferably bouncy)
Eat brunch
Have a drink with someone who makes me feel stupid (in a good way)
Drink way too much espresso

Basically, I’m just more able to get things done when I’m feeling happy.

Happiness = productivity.

Design is a Machine

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 07:24:00 -0800

I posted a quote from Sol LeWitt before—I love the way he sees art as a machine rather than something creative. It’s a mirrored way of thinking which will simultaneously humble and confuse you.

If you’re unfamiliar with the man, he typically does not create physical pieces of art that are then bought or sold. Rather, what is bought and sold is a simple set of instructions on a certificate that can be used to recreate the piece many times over. Ownership of the piece is implied by who owns the instructions in the same way that knowing the secret formula to Coca-Cola would allow you to create and consume it whenever you please. Knowledge is power—and free soda.

In some ways I wonder if design can be seen in the same light. After all, design is typically an applied process of problem solving for visual communication. If art, a true form of self-expression, can be a machine than surely design can.

There are formulaic approaches to visual problems that often yield a solid result or act as a foundation for commonly-defined creativity (grids, typographic scales, everything that is The International Style). My own work is so largely predicated on these approaches that I often feel that the term ‘creative’ is questionable for how I do what I do.

Everything is a Remix is a great video mini-series by Kirby Ferguson about what I like to think of as the “It’s All Been Done Before” line of thought. Whenever you read an interview with anyone remotely creative the question of inspiration pops up. It’s always the same answer: whatever is around them—their experiences. After all, many of us have a black box of design tricks that get us out of creative binds, built from the works of others and our past experiences. Sounds formulaic to me as well.

Many creative processes, especially if you went to a design school, involve multiple rounds of iteration. Break a larger problem into smaller pieces, figure out the variables, and make a dozen thumbnail sketches. Pick the best few and see if you can improve upon them. Survival of the fittest thought on pen and paper. Design evolution. Logical. Granted, if there is a spark of ingenuity, it usually occurs here. Darwin would be proud of your design mutation.

Is design as simple as everything you’ve experienced being digested, iterated upon, and spat back out on top of a foundation of principles? I’m not sure either, just thinking in writing.

2011

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 05:15:00 -0800

Last year was massive, and since I promised myself I’d be better about documenting things (and that I’d write more, but we all know how that goes), here’s a shameless quick recap:

I was lucky enough to visit Dublin, Belfast, New York City, Austin, Salt Lake City (3 times), San Francisco and Las Vegas—I’m hoping to continue to travel more in 2012. Flying is no fun, but seeing friends and new things is always worth the sacrifice.

Friends. I met a whole slew of new ones—too many to list for fear of leaving anyone out. It was wonderful seeing everyone at SXSW, Brooklyn Beta, Build, as well as David and Andria’s wedding. Great craic and hugs all around.

I was also fortunate to design a few sites for friends: Build 2011, Permanent Art & Design Group, 8 Faces, and an update for The Manual. I’m proud to have been able to contribute something to their new endeavors. There’s a rekindling feeling of entrepreneurialism from those close to me that is a lovely motivator for all sorts of things—or maybe that’s just jealousy. Well done.

A few of the aforementioned side projects were done on faster than sane timelines as a result of limited working hours (evenings and weekends). Balancing an obsession with trying to produce my best results in a condensed timeline can be an exercise in sleep deprivation and occasional alienation—not something I’m proud of. Establishing a more realistic and less stressful plan for future projects is something I want to work on.

Thankfully I’ve spent my days working for Big Cartel with a super-talented team and founders who truly care about work/life balance as well as creating a product of quality. 2011 was a great year for Big Cartel and I can’t wait to show off what we have planned for this one.

Lastly, I made a big move to San Francisco from Minneapolis in mid-November. I’m still working on settling in and have made a commitment to explore new cities and living situations thanks to my current flexibility. It’s always tough to leave behind a city where you’ve stayed for the better part of a decade, but life is short, there’s lots to do, and I’m tired of snow. Fuck snow.

My new music mix on the awesome Designers.MX just went live,...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:41:00 -0700

My new music mix on the awesome Designers.MX just went live, give it a listen →

"What is deceptive, especially in the West, is our assumption that repetitive and mindless jobs are..."

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:30:00 -0700

“

What is deceptive, especially in the West, is our assumption that repetitive and mindless jobs are dehumanizing. On the other hand, the jobs that require us to use the abilities that are uniquely human, we assume to be humanizing. This is not necessarily true. The determining factor is not so much the nature of our jobs, but for whom they serve.

‘Burnout’ is a result of consuming yourself for something other than yourself. You could be burnt out for an abstract concept, ideal, or even nothing (predicament). You end up burning yourself as fuel for something or someone else. This is what feels dehumanizing. In repetitive physical jobs, you could burn out your body for something other than yourself. In creative jobs, you could burn out your soul. Either way, it would be dehumanizing. Completely mindless jobs and incessantly mindful jobs could both be harmful to us.

”

- Dsyke Suematsu from his white paper discussed at Why Ad People Burn Out.

The art of Martin Pfeifle.

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 23:35:00 -0700

The art of Martin Pfeifle.