A good idea is born from Andreas Gal. What a natural progression indeed– HTML5 as a platform for delivering the precision page layout only found in a PDF. Yes, with all the progress the web has made over the years, it’s capabilities for controlling layout and typography are unmatched in comparison to the PDF format.

If the recent update to Notational Velocity isn’t enough for you, this new icon is sure to impress.

This is my favorite note taking app for the Mac but their original icon was just plain awful. The new icon design is quite nice! Thank you Taylor Carrigan.

I’m not an expert on typography but I like to think I have an eye for detail. I continually try to enhance my understanding of web typography and apply it to my freelance web design projects. Given the limitations in current techniques for making web fonts and the evolving nature of HTML5 and CSS 3, understanding font rendering can be a moving target.

This excellent article by Typekit sheds some light on the subtleties of font rendering on the web.

Most consumer electronics products are too derivative of Apple. Designers should find their own unique design language and pursue it with dedication. Most new smartphones and tablet computers that I read about lack originality and seem forced, simply emulating existing designs. Ever since the smashing success of the iPod every major consumer electronics company has stood up to say “me too!” First their was the Zune from Microsoft, then the Palm Pre, and Android. Then the iPad inspired a whole new wave of imitation: The Samsung Galaxy Tab, the rumored HP tablet, the Android tablet and finally the BlackBerry PlayBook. Some of these are excellent products and contribute something valuable but I think the overall trend is to put out cheap products that are not well designed.

Yves Béhar of Fuseproject:

The reason Apple is so successful is because they found a way to fundamentally apply design principles in a way that is uniquely Apple and is very compelling in every way. The wrong attitude is to say Apple did it that way, we’re going to do it that way — you need to keep that as a top layer, a level of importance, and find design principles that are uniquely yours.

Does an environment free of distractions help writers achieve their best creative potential? Perhaps the right elixir is required, a good glass of wine, or a perfect cappaccino from Blue Bottle cafe? Some software designers would have you believe that their products hold the key to unleashing your talent.

I can’t decide which of these is best.

Writer for iPad

Information Architects:

The key to good writing is not that magical glass of Bordeaux, the right kind of tobacco or that groovy background music. The key is focus. What you need to write well is a spartan setting that allows you to fully concentrate on your text and nothing but your text.

‘ū—’: A Distraction-Free Writing Environment

Merlin Mann:

While some so-called environments that are less free of distraction may display one, three, or even more lines of text — all at the same time — we understand that if you could only achieve the theoretical removal of all theoretical distractions, you would finally be able to write something. And we want ‘ū—’ to help you almost do that