New CGI of How Titanic Sank

A video excerpt of National Geographic’s upcoming two-day featurette about the sinking of the Titanic, a disaster that happened almost exactly 100 years ago (April 15th 1912, to be exact).

As a child, I was fascinated with the Titanic, from its construction and design to the eventual sinking of the ship. The notion that something designed to be ‘perfectly invincible’ to all reasonably preconceived hazards could still sink on its maiden voyage was, I think, what really moved me. Growing up and eventually becoming a designer, you learn to respect events like these even more.

Similarly, I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed shows like Air Crash Investigation, because they show you that even the most elaborately safe systems and products will at some point encounter strange edge cases in which every one of its design principle is tested to its extremes.

Focus with Photoshop CS6

I’m a huge fan of apps like iA Writer and Taskpaper: they let you truly focus on what you’re doing, and everything else just goes away. I like to employ a similar approach to design: eliminate all distractions and immerse yourself in what you’re working on. Here’s what it looks like:

With Photoshop CS6, it’s easier to create a ‘focus mode’ than it has ever been. I use a 27″ iMac and (LED / Thunderbolt) Cinema Displays for work, so with its darkest UI color, dock auto-hiding (don’t forget to eliminate that annoying pop-up delay) and Nocturne (a utility that darkens your menubar and even dims / hides it if your mouse isn’t over it) you can completely focus on your design process, unhindered by any distractions. The UI that’s there simply blends into the black bezel of your hardware.

It’s perfect.

You can also keep your reference windows (say, your browser or editor) open on a secondary screen. Voilà: true focus. Good music mandatory.

Propellerhead Figure

Figure is an absolutely fantastic app by the geniuses that brought you Reason. I suck at music, and I can actually do fun things with this.

Also, a superb example of ‘if you design an entirely custom UI, go all the way’.

The best mouse

I’ve written about the Razer Mamba previously — it’s an excellent mouse. The best one out right now, in my opinion. Today, it’s $23 off on Amazon, so grab it while it’s discounted.

* full disclosure: link is Amazon Associates link: I make a bit of cash if you buy it through me.