Designers are unique people. We look at the world through different lenses. When I look at an object I think of the possibilities and other purposes it can serve. This thought process also follows me from graphic design to web design and to interaction design. I look at how interactions can be improved. In Roger Martin's book The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage, he argues that designers are more equipped to take on more complex challenges in the coming years. As we all know, we are in the midst of an exciting technological explosion
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Khoi Vinh is the Design Director of NYTimes.com, where he and his design team seek to communicate the prestige of The New York Times via an innovative online user experience. Khoi has his own blog, Subtraction.com, and also recently launched his dog’s blog, Misterpresident.org. Before joining NYTimes.com, Khoi worked with other high-end clients, including HBO and the Smithsonian, through his design firm, Behavior LLC. In this interview, Khoi takes us behind the scenes at NYTimes.com. He also tells us which skills and sensibilities are, in his opinion, most important for today’s web designer. Q: Please tell us about what you do at
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Role: UI Designer StreamFocus is a SaaS web application. They streamline customer's time by integrating communications and documents directly with the work at hand. Their focus is the workflow. They make understanding and creating workflows easy and allow connecting workflows together to better organize projects for secure and simple collaboration. Before
Role: Creative Director As a consultant at Online Design I rebranded Data Physics. The old site was out of date and lacked good information architecture. They wanted a new look that communicated high-end, clean and informative. Since they have many products but only four flag ship products, they wanted those products to stand out. The old site was clustered with information that was thrown on the site without any consideration of information hierarchy.
Role: Art Director, Interactive Designer www.internactive.org As a consultant at Online Design, I served as Art Director on for InternAcitve. There are many internship sites that will post any internship opportunity and will accept any candidate's resume. However, InternActive strives to be a high quality database of art related opportunities with an integrated social experience. InternActive seeks to connect high quality interns with supervisors to create their ideal internship. When the intern becomes a member of the site he/she selects an internship of interest. The supervisor is notified, and this starts the conversation between the supervisor and intern. If the supervisor feels
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Role: Creative Director , UI Designer www.bay101 .com As a consultant at Online Design, I served as Art Director on Bay 101. Bay 101 is the only casino in Northern California that hosts a World Poker Tour Event. The owners wanted to convey that Bay 101 is a classy, safe and fun Calif. Casino. In addition, they have a 24 hour / 7 day restaurant which needed to be an emphasis on the new website. The original website for Bay 101 was disorganized , there was misplaced content, and users could not easily find information. In particular, visiting contestants for the
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Role: Creative Director From the kitchen to presentation, Birk’s Restaurant appeals to a clientele that knows and appreciates fine dining. I re-designed the site and pared down visual clutter and unnecessary information. This creates a sophisticated experience that communicates the deliciousness of the food by showcasing the dishes in a clean, grid-like pattern. I made the food the most prominent feature on this site. Food that looks as divine as it tastes, tantalizing copy, and a custom photo shoot created the mouthwatering content for his site.
Role: Art Director www.rmhessling.com As a consultant at Online Design, I served as Art Director to develop an overall marketing portfolio for Renee Hessling’s attorney practice. I created an image that presents both a feminine, yet strong brand presence. As part of this portfolio, I designed and developed a website, business cards and letterhead. The goal of this website was to design an image that reflects Renee’s personality and professional knowledge. This conveys the impression of a seasoned defense attorney that can rival the ‘good ol’ boys club’. She’s a professional Defense Attorney that is here to alleviate anxiety, make life easier for
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Role: Creative Director, Interactive Designer As a consultant at Online Design, I served as an Art Director and Interactive Designer on the CPP project. CPP is best known as the exclusive publisher for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® assessment. Much more than just a product, the Myers-Briggs® (MBTI®) assessment is a powerful solution that has helped millions of people around the world better understand themselves and how they interact with others. MBTI®Complete is an online version that
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