TAKA DESIGNS

Here’s a look at some interesting things that have happened in the past week. The SXSW conference was obviously the talk of the town, and of course every year a new app or service breaks through as “the one” to watch. Past years have included notable launches by Twitter and Foursquare. This year it was all about social discovery, which uses your social media networks to alert you when friends are nearby who share similar interests. Two apps took the spotlight: Highlight and Glancee.

• Highlight and Glancee: Why So-Mo Is The Talk of SXSW
• A Brief History of the Complete Redesign of Google - An interesting look at how each of the product teams at Google (Maps, Search, Gmail, etc.) were able to work together to launch a unified look and feel with the new Google redesign.
• Guy Kawasaki’s Fireside Chat with Vic Gundotra, Google’s senior vice president for engineering, on Google+ - Guy Kawasaki asks questions that many people have been wanting to know such as pseudonyms and why there still isn’t an API.

In other news:

• Pinterest’s New Problem: Brand Squatters Are Screwing Over Big Companies
  – Brands such as McDonald’s, Dell and Microsoft have come into the game late, and as a result, their names have already been taken on Pinterest.
• How Gap’s social media policy keep 134,000 workers in line - Gap takes a casual and fun approach to their social media policy.
• Spring break gets tamer for students by a fear of unflattering appearances in social media – Students are being a lot more conscious about how they act during spring break now that anything can be shared easily through social media.

Check out some interesting links from the past week:

• Team Coco Head Talks Conan O’Brien, Social Media, Crowdsourcing His First Guest – (Fast Company) The head of Conan O’Brien’s digital team talks about their innovative use of social media that has made Conan so successful online.
• A Smart Investment: Mobile Banking and Wells Fargo – (The Brand Show) Wells Fargo’s mobile design manager talks about their mobile site, keeping their brand consistent across multiple platforms, and more.
• For Myspace, a Redesign to Entice Generation Y – (NY Times) Myspace concedes that it is no longer competing with Facebook. Instead they are focusing on a complete overhaul of their site and targeting a new audience.
• Interview with the co-founder of Yelp – (Mashable) CEO Jeremy Stoppelman recently spoke with Mashable about recovering from legal controversy, growing an evolving company and the future of local search.

Check out some interesting links from the past week:

• Photoshop Scripts: Hidden Magic – (Viget) Custom Photoshop scripts that can do things like remove the word “Copy” from all the layers you create or close without having to click on the save pop up window for every item.
• Buyer beware: Misleading HDMI cable labels suggest needless upgrades – (MSNBC) “Cable makers and dealers make money exploiting the ignorance of TV buyers.” Is this unethical marketing, or pure genius?
• Fast Food Advertising vs Reality – Love this comparison of fast food chains products that are advertised vs what they really look like when you buy them.
• United and Continental airlines designing brand as they prepare for wedding – (LA Times) – How the merger of United and Continental is affecting their brand and loyal customers.
• 15 Logos With Hidden Messages – (Web Design Ledger) Some famous logos with hidden messages you may not have even noticed.
• Nordstrom Links Online Inventory to Real World – (New York Times) A look at how Nordstrom is using the power of the web to push sales in its stores.

Check out some interesting links from the past week:

• The Real-Time Web Is A Big Problem For The Web – Are our expectations quickly changing with real-time news?
• jQuery Image Scroller Plugin – Love this solution to tackle a design related problem with large image layouts!
• Google, Verizon and net neutrality: what does it mean? – A nice summary of what net neutrality is and what all the talk is about with Google and Verizon.

Check out some interesting links from the past week:

• Gilty Secrets: 10 Marketing Techniques From Today’s Hottest eCommerce Site Gilt.com – There’s a reason why this site is becoming so popular.
• Twitter is changing how we interact with the world – How heavy use affects both our behavior and defines, in one way, our identity.
• Five Guys converts In-N-Out Burger fans -  If you haven’t tried Five Guys yet, what are you waiting for?
• Why people still use BlackBerrys – You may be surprised at why…
• Surreal Looking Beach House Within a Dramatic Environment – If you love design, this is truly breathtaking.