Jordan Wollman Creative Direction

Alright, anyone who isn’t living under a rock has heard about Adobe Photoshop Express by now. But, the big question is what on earth is Adobe trying to do?

It seems to me that this is basically a “me too!” response to a lot of great online Flash-based apps out there like Aviary.

It also seems to me that Adobe has been on the “me too!” wagon for a while now, with their releases of software that are direct competitors, not innovators. This is sad for me because I still have (somewhere) the Adobe 88 Beta discs my father had - back then Illustrator was just “Adobe 88″.

Adobe was the innovator and leader in computer graphics at the time, and then made the brilliant move to buy Photoshop, which is the single most adopted piece of professional software on the planet and has spun a synonymous brand/function name, kind of like the iPod, or Bandaid.

What strikes me here though, is that a once true innovator and creator of entire industries is now struggling to keep up, and buys more proprietary software than it invents.

Is the key here to stay small and agile? Can a company the size of Adobe allow innovation, critical thought, and truly brilliant ideas slip through the crack? Or is it going to be relegated to the Microsoft camp of buying up everything that poses a threat, and bloating existing software by just integrating anything new that might be a need to someone somewhere?

I hope for Adobe’s sake, and for the sake of the community at large that there will eventually be a bright spot in the future where Adobe’s origins in invention break out and something truly new and exciting is born.

There are some very interesting things happening in the iPhone world. Obviously Steve Jobs’ announcement of the iPhone Roadmap sparked a lot of interest on the blogosphere, but I certainly didn’t expect the 2.0 software to be jailbreaked this quickly. The 2.0 software isn’t even released!

The Official SDK has also been downloaded over 100,000 times in only a few days.

What does this mean for the iPhone? It’s already one of the single best selling portable devices ever, and is so widely adopted that I saw a woman, who had to be in her late 70s, waiting for her car to be ready at the VW dealership watching a video on her iPhone. Ridiculous!

I think it spells hype, which of Steve Jobs is the master of generating. But, for once, I believe the iPhone is worthy of said hype. As I referenced in a previous post, the iPhone is a truly amazing product that delivers on its promise.

I can tell you one thing for certain. If I didn’t already own (and practically run my entire life on) an iPhone, I’d be lusting after one daily. I am excited to see what happens when their reported enterprise features are released, and to see the products of the awesome power of a hyper-devoted development culture at the helm of creativity.

I am currently walking from my house down the street to my parents house typing this post on my iPhone.

I can safely say that this product is every bit what I thought it would be, and has enabled me to do things I thought I never would, like managing my website anywhere I am. In fact, I find myself blogging about the fact that I’m blogging about the fact that I am blogging on my phone. That did make sense in my head.

My point is this though — a great product delivers on its promise.

This is most assuredly the largest of my many pet peeves: the improper usage of the words less and fewer.

Here’s a trick; if it ends in “S”, it’s not less. Or another trick; if you can count it, it’s not less.

Example 1) “I suddenly had less water in my glass than before.” Because the word “water” describes a volume, and cannot be counted, it is less.

Example 2) “When I looked up, there were fewer people than I remembered.” Here I am using a word that describes a collection, which can be counted, and therefore is fewer.

The reason I even bring something like this up so often — and those of you who know me know I do — is that it is a basic grammatical error. The proper usage does not require a degree in language, or the vast study of the Greek etymology of our wordage. It is most importantly the basis for simple eloquence.

It is the most basic adherence to the rules of English that polish your appearance to other intelligent members of the professional world, not the depth of your vocabulary or the speed in which you can recall useless facts.

Here’s the kicker; this is not just about this one rule. This applies to all aspects of your profession. Take the time to educate yourself, and most importantly, if you are ever corrected, make sure you verify the claim, and once you have, imprint this in your brain. Burn it in there so deeply that in your sleep you don’t slip up.

This is the surest path to sounding intelligent.

There is a brilliant post on A List Apart that goes into the philosophy of designing for the details.

Consistency displays sophistication and shows that you fully understood and made sound decisions. Consistency should be transparent.

Article: http://www.alistapart.com/articles/designisinthedetails