➕ The Conditions 176
In praise of buttons, the origins of the world’s most hated font, Figma's dev-mode licensing play...
+Issue 176
Product Design & UX
In Praise of Buttons – Part One
Form is Function in Graphical User Interfaces
In graphical user interfaces, we have seen an increase in buttons recently that consist merely of text or icons, without a clear, visible button shape being present. This insipid, uninspired mediocrity, exemplified by Google’s “Material Design” or – even worse – IBM’s “Carbon Design System”, was popularised by Apple’s iOS 7 and its equally miserable “Flat Design” aesthetics. This lazy minimalism is often considered modern and streamlined, but we must ask: Is it also user-friendly?
Apple Vision Pro Review: Tomorrow's Ideas – Marques Brownlee’s full review
The coming Figma Apocalypse nobody is talking about
Figma is being extremely coy about this. They know damn well this is going to rock non-enterprise teams out of nowhere when the switch is flipped, and they don’t care.
Suddenly requiring a new $144 license per engineer that companies didn’t budget for is begging your users to start looking elsewhere. Figma is ready to let teams dangle in the wind for a few days after they realize they either need to come up with a new process, or go ask finance for a lot of extra $$$ just so that way your engineers can do with Figma what they’ve always been doing with Figma.
Design
Barbara Kruger’s exhibition at The Serpentine brings the artist’s legacy right up to date
Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. gathers together the artist’s work across multiple mediums and moments from her career, but the message remains just as powerful.
A Mammoth Book Catalogs a Vibrant Spectrum of Color Charts Spanning 600 Years
Branding
Hawx United
BAFTA and Emmy nominated BBC children’s drama Jamie Johnson is back, bigger and better than ever before with their latest team and academy: Hawx United. A fictional team with an identity that gives them all the heart of a real one.
(Note – this identity is wasted on a fictional children’s tv team!)
Typography
Thomas Steeles unearths the origins of the world’s most hated font, Comic Sans
An extract from the designer’s recent publication Comic Sans, Is it Really That Bad? delves into the history of the contentious font, uncovering the story of its creation and early uses.