This is the archive page for the category [Design]; below you should see headlines and summaries of all entries found here on the subject. Click the appropriate link at each to read the entire entry.

Gwendolyn Glover's "TwitLit" poster is now available | March 12, 2010
Thanks again to everyone at Twitter this week who got to follow along in real time with CCLaP's latest "TwitLit" story, "Cat" by Gwendolyn Glover; here as promised is the downloadable PDF poster version for those who didn't get to do so. | Read entire entry

Breaking news: Ben Tanzer's book no longer sucks! | March 1, 2010
Good news! The EPUB version of Ben Tanzer's story collection for CCLaP, "Repetition Patterns," has been enhanced for better reading on e-ink devices! And better news -- it's available for purchase at Amazon too! Click through for the details and links! | Read entire entry

New! Leave an audio comment for the CCLaP Podcast! | January 7, 2010
Happy day! You can now call CCLaP's voicemail anonymously and leave audio comments for the center's podcast! Click through for all the details, and a chance to try it out right this second. | Read entire entry

Product review: Sony Reader PRS-600 "Touch Edition" | January 1, 2010
Today, my review of the Sony PRS-600 eBook reader, which I recently received for Christmas, including lots and lots of photos of the device in action. | Read entire entry

New Chicago lit journal's first release party is tomorrow | December 7, 2009
The first release party of a new Chicago literary journal, "Two With Water," is tomorrow at indie-rock hangout the Empty Bottle. Click through for all the details. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: David Eric Tomlinson | October 23, 2009
Today's obsession: Dallas author David Eric Tomlinson, whose clean yet text-heavy website is worth studying by all those other blogging, Twittering, self-publishing writers out there. | Read entire entry

Guess who just got his invite to Google Wave? | October 14, 2009
That's right, it's me! But I'm having trouble finding other members who are actually creative and want to try out artistic experiments with the new interactive service, which is why I'm posting this open call for new "friends" there. Click through for all the details. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: TheMobileGarden.org | October 5, 2009
Today's obsession: "The Mobile Garden," an attempt to convert the back car of a Chicago "el" train into a flatbed full of local plants, chugging along throughout the city and reminding citizens of local green issues. Click through for all the details. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 39: Gapers Block's Andrew Huff | May 11, 2009
Today on the podcast: It's my talk with next-wave journalist and serial entrepreneur Andrew Huff, best known as the founder of popular local arts-and-entertainment website GapersBlock.com. | Read entire entry

Metapost: Goodbye, never-used CCLaP community microblog! | March 30, 2009
Sad but expected site news today: I'm shutting down the community microblog that's been up and running for the last four months, due to a complete and utter lack of community interest in it. Click through for all the details. | Read entire entry

"Repetition Patterns" now available for iPhones and Kindles | February 24, 2009
Great news to announce today: Ben Tanzer's "Repetition Patterns," the first original book by CCLaP Publishing, is now available not only for the Amazon Kindle 2 but in two different versions for Apple iPhones. Click through for all the details. | Read entire entry

Personal essay: First thoughts on CCLaP's coming "wikicloud" experiment | February 19, 2009
Today, I present my first thoughts on CCLaP's newest bizarre weekend creative project idea for smartypants middle-agers; I'm reading a thousand Wikipedia entries on the subject of the 19th Century, and tracking the results in a dynamic "mind-map" graphic format. Here, an essay on why that is, and what I've already learned just a few weeks into the process. | Read entire entry

Announcing CCLaP's new microblog -- the "CCLAPocracy" | January 6, 2009
Announcing the latest online experiment from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography: The center's own Twitter-style microblog, in which readers debate recent reviews, announce local artistic events, post goofy personal updates and more. Today, all the details. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Orange Alert Holiday Guide 2008 | December 12, 2008
Today's obsession: The fantastic little downloadable holiday guide from cultural website "What To Wear During an Orange Alert," even cooler because of it being made in a way that almost anyone could, but that only OA thought of and actually executed. | Read entire entry

Oh, and could any Sony Reader downloaders please send some photos? | October 27, 2008
Oh, and yet another note about CCLaP's new book, "Repetition Patterns" by Ben Tanzer: that if any of you end up downloading and installing the Sony Reader version, I'm hoping you'll take some photos of the experience and share them with us. Here, the reasons why, and also the reasons why this book is not available for the Amazon Kindle. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Hulu | October 24, 2008
Today's obsession: The surprisingly perfect online video site Hulu.com, the high-profile joint venture from such corporate giants as NBC, PBS, Fox, Comedy Central, the Sci Fi Channel and more. Yeah, you'd think it'd suck, just like all other online experiments from corporate groups, right? Surprise! | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Authonomy | September 11, 2008
Remember HBO's "Project Greenlight?" Where a bunch of unpublished screenwriters all uploaded their scripts to a website, then argued and argued until one finally won and was produced? Ever wonder why a publishing company has never tried that for unpublished novels? Wonder no more. | Read entire entry

Personal essay: Gadzooks! I added 600 new book ratings at Goodreads this weekend! | August 10, 2008
Some interesting news for my fellow book nerds: I've decided to start profoundly expanding my personal library listed at social network Goodreads, and started by rating 600 old books this weekend while watching the Olympics. Click through for the reasons why. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: EveryBlock at the Chicago Tribune | July 24, 2008
The city-data smart-aggregation service EveryBlock.com is at it again; they just announced this week, in fact, a new experimental gadget at the Chicago Tribune website, which tracks all the articles there in the last 48 hours and plots them on a map. Click through for all the details. | Read entire entry

CCLaP's virtual headquarters starts coming together | June 1, 2008
CCLaP's virtual photography gallery opens in two weeks (er, maybe)! And as part of that, I'm getting CCLaP's virtual headquarters finished as well, within the pervasive 3D online environment known as Second Life. Click through for many nerdy screenshots! | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: "The Reprover/Le Réprobateur" | March 27, 2008
Today's obsession: The witty, experimental hyperfiction project "The Reprover/Le Réprobateur," by French artist and CCLaP reader François Coulon. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: FriendFeed.com | March 25, 2008
Today's obsession: The free "super aggregation" service FriendFeed.com, in which you type in all the accounts where you do little updates (Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, etc) and it spits out a "master feed" to all this information. Click through for more. | Read entire entry

If CCLaP laid out a new classic book, which would you rather see? | March 23, 2008
I'm thinking of doing a new layout of an obscure "classic" book, one of the titles I'll be reviewing later this year as part of the CCLaP 100 essays, in a variety of formats for free download and hopefully a little publicity for the center. But which book should I do? Click through for the choices and to vote in CCLaP's online poll. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Google Docs as mobile eText reader | March 17, 2008
Today, a simple "lifehack" to share -- how I use the free online webapp "Google Docs" as a surprisingly good eBook reader for my mobile device. | Read entire entry

Personal essay: Regarding the "magic middle" of the independent arts. | March 5, 2008
For those who don't know, creative guru Kevin Kelly published a fascinating article this week, positing that it's easier than ever for independent artists to make a working living. Today, my thoughts on the essay, and what it has to do with Dave Sifry's theory of the blogosphere's "magic middle." | Read entire entry

Holy crap, the new Chicago Public Library website looks great! | March 5, 2008
Wow, the Chicago Public Library system overhauled its website this week -- and it's freaking great! Click through for all the details, as well as copious links. | Read entire entry

CCLaP Podcast 20: 37signals' Jason Fried | February 19, 2008
Today on the CCLaP Podcast: An interview with tech guru and gentleman philosopher Jason Fried, one of the founders of highly popular Chicago software company 37signals. | Read entire entry

Gridhopping: Dr Muglerstein Island opening party | February 9, 2008
Today, one of my rare reports from the virtual world of Second Life; in particular, the opening party for the new space "Dr. Muglerstein Island," created by infamous '80s fashion designer Thierry Mugler. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Drop.io Voice | February 8, 2008
Today's obsession: The new voice option for media-management system Drop.io, which lets you call a phone number and leave a message like normal, but then converts it into an MP3 for mobile podcasting. | Read entire entry

Movies for Grown-Ups: Helvetica | January 30, 2008
Today's movie: The sharp, smart, fascinating 2007 documentary "Helvetica," a two-hour movie about a typeface that has become the biggest money-maker in the history of Chicago's Gene Siskel Film Center. Click through to find out why. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: LEGO Moonbase | January 30, 2008
Today's obsession: The shared standard "Moonbase" for the LEGO building-block toy company, created by a passionate builder so that other passionate builders can hook their unrelated creations together at weekend conventions. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: EveryBlock.com | January 29, 2008
Today's obsession: The new info-rich neighborhood-news aggregation site EveryBlock.com, now working for the cities of Chicago, New York and San Francisco. | Read entire entry

Useless site update of the week: Apple iPhone icon | January 26, 2008
Silly small news about the CCLaP website to report this weekend: I have created a customized icon for Apple iPhone users, whenever they save a shortcut to the CCLaP site on their "home" page. Rejoice, middle-class nerds, rejoice! | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Protagonize.com | January 10, 2008
Today's obsession: The collaborative "Choose Your Own Adventure" style literary website, Protagonize.com. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: The Open Architecture Network | January 3, 2008
Today's obsession: The non-profit Open Architecture Network, in which a series of smart builders around the world openly share plans for affordable sustainable constructions, from third-world villages to disaster camps and more. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Afterworld | December 21, 2007
Today's obsession: The new online "vertical science-fiction project" Afterworld, which not only uses multiple media to tell its story but also to distribute its content. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Toghaus | December 14, 2007
Today's obsession: Chicago t-shirt company Toghaus, which among other things sells shirts representing each and every one of the 144 train stations of the city's transit system. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Movable Type 4 | December 3, 2007
Today's obsession: The newest version of content management system Movable Type, the "engine" behind many popular blogs, including CCLaP's. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: IWantSandy.com | November 29, 2007
Today's obsession: The new cutting-edge "Sandy," personal-assistant software that works through plain-language messages, sent through email or SMS or Twitter notes to a central AI database. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: LostAtEMinor.com | November 16, 2007
Today's obsession: The highly addictive pop-culture journal LostAtEMinor.com. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: MoleskineCity.com | November 14, 2007
Today's obsession: The new notebook/guidebook hybrid experiment "City Notebook" from Moleskine, and the information-packed website supporting the project. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Rsizr | October 15, 2007
Today's obsession: The free online image resizer application "Rsizr..." which, by the way, also has an intriguing cutting-edge resizing algorithm you can play with too. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Layer Tennis | September 27, 2007
Today's obsession: The new live design competition "Layer Tennis," produced and sponsored by Chicago-based design firm Coudal Partners. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Metaplace | September 25, 2007
Today's obsession: The new virtual-reality interface "Metaplace," by revered industry veteran Raph Koster; if it works like he claims, it could very well forever change the way we look at persistent distributed virtual realities online. | Read entire entry

Personal essay: Where to start when you know no one and nothing. | September 17, 2007
A reader email this weekend gets me thinking on my past; specifically, what advice I have to artists just starting out, and who have just moved to big cities where they know no one and nothing about how that "scene" works. Today, I share that advice. | Read entire entry

Gridhopping: Yona Friedman's "Spatial City" | September 14, 2007
Today in Second Life: A faithful 3D recreation of the infamous 1950s cutting-edge architectural project "Spatial City," by noted futurist Yona Friedman, constructed in this case by real-life architect Stephan Lorenz, owner of the experiment DEsign Island. | Read entire entry

Gridhopping: Jon Brouchoud's "Reflexive Architecture" | August 31, 2007
Today, the first in a new series of reports here, concerning cutting-edge artistic experiments going on within the virtual world of Second Life. Here, real-life architect Jon Brouchoud, who has been creating what he calls "reflexive architecture" in the Grid -- buildings that change based on interaction from its visitors. Click through for a lot more. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: "Duchess" chess rival | June 20, 2007
Today's obsession: "Duchess," a board game from Australian computer professor Alan Blair, which both simplifies and makes more complex the original game of chess, so that groups of people can play together at once. Free download! | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: Helvetica (the movie) | June 14, 2007
Today's obsession: The new documentary "Helvetica," examining both the history of "the world's most perfect font," and the various ways it's been used over the decades. Opening tomorrow in Chicago, with the filmmaker on hand too! | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: moleskinerie | June 9, 2007
Since I mentioned my Moleskine blank notebook in a previous entry today, I thought I'd also take the time to mention moleskinerie, a fantastic blog maintained by the company that manufactures the notebooks. It is in fact one of... | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: City Creator | June 6, 2007
Today's Obsession of the Moment is the online game/design challenge "City Creator," kind of like SimCity but just the fun "actually creating the city" part, designed as a fun diversion by designers and programmers Denise Wilton and Cal Henderson. | Read entire entry

Obsession of the moment: kuler | June 5, 2007
Today's obsession -- the free online color-scheme application "kuler," created and maintained by Adobe, makers of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and others. | Read entire entry