OSNews:

OSNews: http://www.osnews.com/story/18691/David_Lanham_Inside_the_Mind_of_an_Artist Exploring the Future of Computing en-us Copyright 2001-2009, David Adams adam+nospam@osnews.com Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:04:19 GMT http://www.osnews.com/images/osnews.gif OSNews.com http://www.osnews.com Trust Me http://osnews.com/thread?274847 http://osnews.com/thread?274847 Just trust me on this one: you definitely don't want to be inside the mind of an artist.

And I can say that, being one and all. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:30:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DittoBox) Comments Too many links http://osnews.com/thread?274854 http://osnews.com/thread?274854 Please, try keeping the number of links down and only use the most relevant ones. I can only talk for my self, but I want to read the interview without too much effort sorting it out of 5+ links.

The interested reader finds his own way to the other info. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:37:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (ElectricDevil) Comments Brilliant work! http://osnews.com/thread?274861 http://osnews.com/thread?274861 I really like how unique all of his work is. I would say his crowd surfing earth is f'ing genius (I would say that about everything in his portfolio). One thing that I don't appreciate, is all the crumby web 2.0 glossy buttons and banners that look like they were inspired in part by Mr. Lanham.Edited 2007-09-27 18:06 Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:51:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (sandwichbutton) Comments RE: Too many links http://osnews.com/thread?274862 http://osnews.com/thread?274862

Please, try keeping the number of links down and only use the most relevant ones. I can only talk for my self, but I want to read the interview without too much effort sorting it out of 5+ links.

The interested reader finds his own way to the other info.

Welcome to the internet. Linking is important - not only for you as a reader, but also for, in this case, David Lanham. By linking to his work, I acknowledge it, I give him the proper credit.

On top of that, if you browse through our archive, you'll soon realise the actual story links are generally 'long' links, covering a sentence or a sequence of words, where the less important, contextual links are single words/names. It's a conscious decision. We're not Digg.Edited 2007-09-27 17:59 UTC Thu, 27 Sep 2007 17:58:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments OS News? Really? http://osnews.com/thread?274878 http://osnews.com/thread?274878 How close is art direction really tied to operating systems, such that OS News ought to be the reporting authority?

Don't get me wrong, I'm very interested in this article, as I've been following Mr. Lanham since I discovered him through DrunkenBlog way back when.

Is OS news expanding it's interests? Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:40:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vogelar) Comments his OQO work http://osnews.com/thread?274882 http://osnews.com/thread?274882 i had the pleasure of working with David on artwork for the OQO Model 02. he did all the custom graphics for our in-house developed applications that ship with the device. besides being extremely professional, easy to work with, and prompt, the art was simply beautiful.

brandon @ oqo Thu, 27 Sep 2007 18:44:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (nivenh) Comments RE: OS News? Really? http://osnews.com/thread?274885 http://osnews.com/thread?274885 Um, this guy makes icon art, which is one of the most ubiquitous aspects of modern User Interaction in OSes. Icons are a fourth of the WIMP paradigm, so it is perfectly sensible to cover them. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (PlatformAgnostic) Comments RE: OS News? Really? http://osnews.com/thread?274886 http://osnews.com/thread?274886 "How close is art direction really tied to operating systems, such that OS News ought to be the reporting authority?"

The relation is simple and understandable: OSes profit from users (usage share, oh joy oh market share), and users usually are judging from visual impressions. If the GUI ontop of an OS looks appealing to the user, he will use the OS, for example, instead of a more advanced, more secure and more versatile OS which does not provide an appealing GUI. The first visual impression dictates all further decisions through introduced pre-judices (no negative connotation here). I won't say that's the way it should be, but that's the way it is. Usually, artists do understand the users requirements and assumptions about look and feel better than developers. Developers developers developers developers. Couldn't resist... :-) Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:14:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Doc Pain) Comments bah http://osnews.com/thread?274910 http://osnews.com/thread?274910 an artist who doesn't understand usability. typical. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (spikeb) Comments RE: bah http://osnews.com/thread?274913 http://osnews.com/thread?274913 Huh? Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:11:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (DeadFishMan) Comments RE[2]: OS News? Really? http://osnews.com/thread?274919 http://osnews.com/thread?274919 The news article presents him first as an artist, then secondly (and with less connotation) as a UI designer. I love his works as an artist, but would be hesitant to call him a UI designer.

And should artists really design UIs? This would devolve into a discussion on the definition and purpose of art, but this whole article could also devolve into the Apple-centric argument.

I'm just sayin' I never noticed the GUI category before. Then again, there is a nerddom category, so why ought I care? OSnews is still my site of choice, a lovely aggregate of topics that I enjoy. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:36:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vogelar) Comments RE[2]: bah http://osnews.com/thread?274922 http://osnews.com/thread?274922 look at his themes. Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:41:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (spikeb) Comments RE[3]: bah http://osnews.com/thread?274930 http://osnews.com/thread?274930 spikeb,

His themes are definitely form over function - but then again, so is the 'normal' Aqua interface, as it uses arbitrary colour coding instead of descriptive icons. That's why you see so many Mac themes without any descriptive icons on the window titlebar; they usually pop up on mouse-over.

However, those two themes are not all that David has done. He works for the IconFactory, and hence, has (maybe) worked on the world's most used icon sets: the one in XP, the one in Vista, and Human in Ubuntu. Those are three very descriptive, yet beautiful sets that are, as far as I'm concerned, about as good as usability (icon-wise) gets.Edited 2007-09-27 21:21 UTC Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:17:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (Thom_Holwerda) Comments RE[4]: bah http://osnews.com/thread?274970 http://osnews.com/thread?274970 he does seem to have a clue regarding icons, yes Thu, 27 Sep 2007 23:39:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (spikeb) Comments RE[2]: OS News? Really? http://osnews.com/thread?275015 http://osnews.com/thread?275015 "Developers developers developers developers. Couldn't resist... :-)"

Love that number by Steve Ballmer. Looks are important to the end user, that where the artist mid is required. Just because a girl is beautiful does not always mean that she is dumb. Fri, 28 Sep 2007 05:07:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (vikramsharma) Comments RE[3]: OS News? Really? http://osnews.com/thread?275109 http://osnews.com/thread?275109

devolve into the Apple-centric argument.

Artists didn't design the Mac/Lisa UI. Programmers did. The sole artist on the staff, Susan Kare, was in charge of designing icon sets and the pixel fonts (she also designed the icon sets for OS/2 Warp). The UI was largely the work of Bill Atkinson.

http://www.kare.com/design_bio.html Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:10:00 GMT donotreply@osnews.com (snozzberry) Comments