We've been working hard and I've had little time to update ye'ole blog. I'm also in the process of moving to a different publishing system and redesigning the whole thing so bear with me. We've been working on some very cool projects. The first of which is the redesign of the Cancer Rising site. We've added a ton of functionality and it has been a blast working through design and usability issues. Take a look at the new cancerrising.com site and leave a comment!

These are a few drawings in my note pad from last month. I did most of them on a flight from Seattle to Missoula. We were visiting family.

Recently Khoi Vinh wrote a post about “transportation narcolepsy”. Described as the affliction of a vehicle lulling the innocent driver or passenger to sleep, is caused by vibration and a general boredom without something demanding your attention other than the road. This single task called driving sits in stark contrast to being behind a computer where the supply and demand for attention and information, request and feedback can from from almost infinite sources. He overcame his affliction by renting a car with built in GPS. Making the point, that if we have multiple things to pay attention to—driving and GPS navigating—we are more likely to stay awake. Being behind a computer with multiple demands for my attention keep me alert but unrelaxed. Another post written recently by Nathan Borror on Playground Blues briefly describes different states of brain frequencies. Noting that the Alpha—a state of relaxation without the loss of awareness—is where we, as creatives, want to live.

A sketch from last week. Yes that is a coffee stain. I've also taken to the habit of sketching in a moleskin notebook and will be posting those images here as well. This site has been undergoing minor tweaks, iterations if you will. I'm going to set aside some time to discuss these in the future. For now, take a look at a great design process write-up from D. Keith Robinson on his new site. Keith has been designing and writing about websites for quite a while and is one of the founders of Blue Flavor.

• Redesign - Part 1: Content and IA
• Redesign - Part 2: Design and Markup

His description is much more in-depth than my own and well worth the read. I find it fascinating to learn how designers get from nothing to something.

My wife was sick yesterday—nagging sinus infection—so we went to a new Doc in the Box called Minute Clinic. Staffed by nurse practitioners and physician assistants, these amazing little places can diagnose most basic afflictions and prescribe the needed meds. This particular one was located inside a QFC next to the pharmacy. How convenient.

It was hard not to notice their flat screen TV presentation detailing services, hours and contact information. Nice motion graphics. The things that really stood out to me were the small but thoughtfully executed collateral materials. Each had a purpose and was designed for its environment and use.