For a while, humans have been inching to redesign books, newspapers and print media. Alas, with little success. Most of the online publications, similar to traditional print, are black text on white background. However, recently I have noticed the more intensive emergence of article design with the integration of simulations, newsgames and scrollytelling. Interactive articles offer unique capabilities to help people to learn and engage with complex ideas that traditional media lacks. As we move kids to more self-directed online learning, interactive explanatory communication offers incredible potential enhancing monotonous video lectures. In addition, humans of all ages can benefit from more engaging explanations of complex phenomena without the need to “google” while reading.
My personal favorites:
The Financial Times’s/ “Uber Game”
Cutthroat Capitalism: The Game | WIRED
Different languages: How cultures around the world draw shapes differently — Quartz
Further Reading: Communicating with Interactive Articles
I have finally finished the project “Fleeting Opulence” about Long Island mansions that leverages the “scrollytelling” aspect of letting users leverage maps
Meret Oppenheim’s fur-lined teacup is perhaps the single most notorious Surrealist object. Its subtle perversity was inspired by a conversation between Oppenheim, Pablo Picasso, and the photographer Dora Maar at a Paris café. Admiring Oppenheim’s fur-trimmed bracelets, Picasso remarked that one could cover just about anything with fur. “Even this cup and saucer,” Oppenheim replied.
The hedonic treadmill, also known as hedonic adaptation, is the observed tendency of humans to quickly return to a relatively stable level of happiness despite major positive or negative events or life changes.
Further Reading: The Hedonic Treadmill - Are We Forever Chasing Rainbows?
In my opinion, on-demand streaming has devalued the art of cinematography. This week I have stumbled on “Playtime” made by Jacques Tati about confusion in an age of high technology. Today, the movie is acknowledged as a radically innovative marvel, as no other film uses space, architecture and crowds quite like this. As I am hearing my friends gush about the latest Netflix drama, I crave more mesmerizing visual strangeness mixed with the delicate jokes about modernism and technology.
Trailer: [Jacques Tati Playtime - Trailer - YouTube]
Further reading: [Jacques Tati’s Playtime: life-affirming comedy | Film | The Guardian]