Pretty Sweet Inside.
I had all the Ninja Turtles.
Apple Watch Review.
…or “I’m Now One Of Those Tech-Assholes Who Own An Apple Watch.”
Ever since my favorite Nooka watch broke, I was in the market to buy a pretty cool, design-forward watch. I was about to buy another Zub Zot Nooka watch, just because I loved the design, and it’s an alternative way to read time (ie: LCD dots for hours and a bar that fills up as each minute passes). However, just as the irreplaceable band snapped in half, the new Apple Watch was released. I figured I had some money to spoil myself, and I bought one.
Now despite all the Mac products I own, I consider myself far from an Apple fanboy: I’m not going to wait in line for hours or days when the new iPhone comes out, and to be honest the energy and chaos of any packed Apple Store gives me a mild panic attack. Still, I appreciate the design aesthetic of nearly all Apple products, and as someone whose career and hobbies fall within the creative and technological sphere, I have no choice but to rely on Macs.
So during my lunch break, I bought the 38mm Apple Watch Sport with a black band — primarily because it was affordable, it resembled closely to my old Nooka, and the smaller face size looked more like a regular watch than a typical, standard Apple Watch (it’s more conspicuous and doesn’t shout, “HEY, MUG ME!”).
After wearing it for a few weeks, here’s my quick review…
Pros:
- It’s a very expensive organizer for $300+, but it’s nonetheless a great organizer. I’ve synced up my personal and work calendars, and it’s nice to get alerts on a smaller device that’s constantly on me than in my phone alone.
- The interface is beautiful, and despite the menu icons being so small for my fat, stubby fingers, the touch sensitivity is pretty accurate.
- Speaking of accuracy, the voice dictation is spot on. When sending a message on my watch by speaking into it, it’s almost exact. It even records swears.
- The battery life of my phone lasts a lot longer, despite having my Bluetooth on. I think it’s because I’m not constantly checking my phone for the time, emails, or messages. During the course of the day, before the watch, my iPhone would drain out completely by 5pm if on a full charge. With the watch, however, my phone is at about 50% if I left it uncharged.
- You can mute any sounds on your watch by covering it with your palm.
- Instead of looking at your phone during meetings, I can check messages just on my watch and no one is any wiser.
- The ability to send drawings and your heartbeat to other Apple Watch users is cool, despite the fact I only know one other person who has it.
Cons:
- No one else has an Apple Watch, so that last “pro” point is moot.
- One of the main reasons I wanted the watch is to control Spotify from my wrist during my subway commute, rather than pulling out my phone all the time (I tend to carry a coffee in one hand and my phone in the other). Unfortunately, because of Apple Music and Spotify’s apparent feud, Spotify has yet to create an Apple Watch-specific app and I don’t see them doing it in the near future. Of course, when I asked the sales reps at the Apple Store if I can control Spotify through the watch’s native player, they said yes. Liars.
- Also, as many of you were aware when the new iOS was released a few months back, the iTunes library on the Apple Watch comes pre-loaded with U2’s “Age of Innocence” — despite the fact I deleted that goddamn album when I updated awhile ago.
- Although the mirrored, camera feature of “what your iPhone’s sees, the Apple Watch sees” is pretty cool, it does not support video. Still, I like how I can capture photos on my phone using my watch.
- You can’t view webpages, but I’m sure that will change.
- The watch faces are pretty limited at this point. I would have loved to customize it with my personal photos, but I don’t think that feature is available yet. Mickey Mouse dancing is kinda sweet, though.
All in all, I’m pretty satisfied with the Apple Watch, but it’s up to you if you think you’re going to buy it. That’s my two cents if it’s worth anything, which is probably less than two actual cents.
Stu-Stu-Studio.
Before (Morgan’s old room) and after (studio space)
Ever since my friend Brian moved in, my other roommate (and Brian’s girlfriend) Morgan and I converted the middle room of our railroad apartment into a studio. Because Morgan and I are artists and have both longed for a personal workspace without spending an ungodly amount of money to rent an actual studio, Brian moving in has been quite beneficial for all parties involved — including my dog Nico, because she has another caring individual to look up to as well spend some quality time with another living organism equally as furry.
So let me explain the set up: I hung the old shelves that our old roommate Patrick left behind, bought a steel workbench, and covered one side of the room entirely in cork for us to hang drawings, paintings, etc. I bought some clamp studio lamps for adequate lighting (and offset the disgusting yellow glow of the ceiling lights), and for my photography and video shoots, I bought a backdrop support system including a bunch of muslin black, white, and green screen backgrounds. Furthermore, I added a floating rack so the three of us can display our zine collections and a locket/closest combo to store supplies.
All in all, with my own personal space to work on projects, I’ve felt more productive and more comfortable in my creative endeavors. Confident, even.
Attached are some pictures:
Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs, Reimagined For Design And Usability.
A few days ago, one of the design companies we hired gave a presentation to the heads of the university regarding the new website we’re planning to launch. One of the slides, presented by the creative director, perfectly explained the UX and visual process using Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a model: a site, an app, a print poster, or even a simple map needs to be first and foremost functional, with aestheticism being the finishing, superficial touch needed to complete the product. However, in most cases, clients and other people see design as this:
Womp womp.
Anyway, I found an article online that details the philosophy and psychology of design here.
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