Looking back at 2011
Another year is gone, and it’s time to review what has happened on this blog over the last twelve months.
2011 has been a busy year for the Android Market client that has undergone a complete redesign to bring it into the world of browsing, searching and purchasing digital media. The “Designing for the mobile form factor” presentation at AnDevCon conference in March was followed by a series of detailed entries about the design and implementation aspects of the new client. I took a deeper look at synchronized scrolling, swipey tabs and carousel animations, also talking about the reasons not to provide full source code for those areas. I also highlighted the importance of pixel-level details, and proper collaboration between developers and designers.
As we worked on bringing a unified experience to a variety of form factors, we started to define and refine principles of responsive mobile design. After making the presentation at AnDevCon II conference in November, I followed up with the four-part series that answered three underlying questions: what are we designing, why are we designing it in a certain way and how are we implementing the target design (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4). As we continue refining and polishing the application across the entire gamut of supported devices, this blog will be updated with more details on both the planning and implementation aspects of responsive mobile design. And on a related note, I’ve finally collected my thoughts about vector icons and put them in words.
A look at the colors of Tron: Legacy was just a beginning of a much bigger part of Pushing Pixels. A deeper look at the art of Tangled and the transition to 3D shooting and projecting has started a new chapter. Over the last nine months I’ve interviewed a number of creative artists working on various aspects of motion productions that I’ve found particularly impressive in the recent years. I’ve talked to Martin Ruhe about the cinematography of “The American”, Drew Boughton about the art direction of “Unstoppable”, Phillip Baker about the production design of “Chloe”, Claire Keane about the art of “Tangled”, Bradley GMUNK Munkowitz about the visual effects of “Tron: Legacy”, Luke Dunkley about the editing of “The Crimson Petal and the White”, Rosalina Da Silva about the make-up of “Tron: Legacy”, Mark Scruton about the art direction of “Easy Virtue”, Sarah Horton about the art direction of “The International”, John Greaves about the storyboarding of “Edge of Love”, Jonathan Freeman ASC about the cinematography of “Edge of Love” and Anne Seibel about the production design of “Midnight in Paris”. I’ve also talked with Kyle Westphal about the craft of film projection, and with music director David McClister. You should definitely expect more interviews in 2012.
I also looked at the costume design of “The Tourist“, the rainbow colors of “Burlesque“, the colors of “How Do You Know“, the colors of “Emma“, the set design of “Mr and Mrs Smith“, the art of “Cracks“, the colors of “No Strings Attached” and the colors of “Twilight“. Finally, a smaller series looked at the iconic images of “North By Northwest“, “To Catch a Thief” and “Key Largo“.
The Retro:Active series started in October 2010 saw the total of 368 posts in 2011. This series showcases the fusion of modern and vintage in visual and industrial design, fashion, photography, typography, illustration, animation and other related areas. This is one of my main sources of inspiration, and expect it to continue well into 2012.
Pushing Pixels is here to stay, and it will only get better. If you still have not subscribed, click on the icon below to stay tuned in 2012!