A forward-thinking digital design and development studio, making experiences for many.
We’d been working on a project since late last year that debuted in September (more on that in the future). We built it using Google Maps as its introductory hook, and while the project didn’t need nor have the scope for it at the time, Scott and I discussed various ways it could be better (something you should always be doing with your work) if time/money/scope allowed for it.
Earlier this week we made the decision to close the doors on both Interhoods and SitBy.Us. The notes on both sites says it all:
Hi. (insert site title here) has been a great and satisfying endeavour, but like some labours of love, we neglected it a little, didn’t nurture it enough and really needed time on our side. Which we didn’t have enough of. Rather than let it sit out here and languish, we’ve decided to close the doors for now. Maybe the doors will open again someday.
That’s all for now. As we said above, maybe one or both will return in the future. But for now, they’re taking a bit of a rest.
Scott launched a small little venture with his dad, Minuteframe — a way to painlessly order a 4×6 framed photo in a minute. It’s dead simple. You drag or upload a photo, pick a frame colour, fill in your shipping and billing details and boom, done. All for $20. So easy. So impulsively easy.
When Laurel and I were in Brooklyn recently, I wanted to eat at Diner, located in Williamsburg, in the shadow of the bridge. Part of the Marlow & Sons empire, I’d heard things and had a very good direct recommendation earlier in the trip. We found our way down there on a Sunday as the late afternoon turned to evening and Diner was just opening.
The food is perhaps a tale for another time (it’s excellent) but what impressed us was the menu. Or, the lack of.
Ryan and Tina Essmaker of Designing Monsters launched The Great Discontent a little while ago but I’ve been savouring it a bit at a time over the past few weeks.
It’s been great seeing a good many friends and acquaintances and people I’d love to know get profiled and interviewed. The design is rich (and responsive) and lets the content shine. Have a read.
Erin Sparling brings a simple way to push your Flickr photos in a chronological form, one-at-a-time to your Flickrstream. I’ve long wanted a way to clear the batch of photos that sit in my Quick Collection in Lightroom out to Flickr without having to manually publish daily. FlickrQueue will post a photo every day, at midnight. Done.
Craft isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding, and art elevates craft. You can see this everywhere in our industry: navigable information architecture, elegant interfaces, poetic code. Here’s another example from the analog world: Joel Bukiewicz making world-class knives in his New York workshop, Cut Brooklyn. (Keep an eye on Made by Hand for more).
(Hat tip: Ivan Lee)
Brooklyn Beta was a barrage of interestingness so making a highlight list is difficult, especially when one was too enamored of the present to take notes. (Ahem.) In any case, what follows is one thing that floored me, another to which I’ve become addicted and one final bit that was a surprise.
I was invited to attend Brooklyn Beta in 2010, but due to other obligations, I couldn’t make it. What I heard in snippets, blog posts and tweets afterward only intrigued me further, and this year I was able to attend. The things I’d heard? They were barely an indication of what I experienced.
charity: water is a nonprofit organization with a unique donations model that works to get 100% of all donated funds directly into water projects in developing nations. (Also, Laurel is a year older.)
Closing the doors on two little ventures.
Scott launches Minuteframe, a dead easy way to order up a framed photograph in a minute. Duh!
We create, design and build experiences for people far and wide — our clients, ourselves and you.
At the intersection of craft and usability, we believe in making things that impact our world in meaningful ways.
