Words Going Green, via Dictionary.com

St. Patrick's Day is passing by, and in time for that Dictionary.com published a list of words used to describe hues of the colour Green. As fascinating as that was, I wanted to see the colours side by side, and for that I started Google searches and used ColorZilla, a colour picker I use with Firefox to aid in website design. I switched to the image search tab on Google, and a lot of the words produced close matching colours, as you might also see from the shades picked out below.

Click on the colour names below to see the interesting history dictionary.com has dug up!

Emerald

Chartreuse

Kelly Green

Olive

Hunter

Paris

Harlequin

Hooker's

Celadon

Jade

Mint

Myrtle

Citron

Brunswick

Shamrock

Taking Notes is Important, Even if from the Social Media!

We have one dangerous trait. We don't mind mediocrity, and make excuses (some may call it providing logic) to let it pass and persist. It is not a trait that we encourage in schools, where getting better grades is of supreme interest to parents, and most teachers do their best in that regard as well. Somehow, its a very visible phenomenon around us.

The author of What Would Google Do?, tells how his bad experience with a Dell laptop led him to vent on his blog, and how that subsequently led to a large following of people with similar experiences. Though that led to highlighting how Google searches for Dell's laptops used to bring out his blog post, its also an indication of the nature of 'social' interactions that the Internet makes possible. In this case, the customers became social on the issue of how Dell laptops were under-performing and it led to serious loss of value for the manufacturers. Almost all good companies now have extensive support channels on the Internet to receive customers' issues and follow up on them. Its what builds a strong brand.

Internet users in Bangladesh are also seeing a rise in the number of services/products that are accessible to them online. More than that, they are also seeing the rising number of advertisements from neighboring India on satellite television, and they are in a position to realize how long a way there is to go. When and how the private web organizations will spring up, probably depends on how soon we can ensure a solid, secure payment/delivery mechanism for products and services here. As far as public services go, the much drummed about 'Digital Bangladesh' is still sluggish and seems misguided.

Not going into the issue what kind of companies were given the projects, and if that is the cause of the 'mediocrity' in this area, I would like to highlight how the involved organizations could take notes on what is happening there from the web itself.

We can all feel that a taskforce might be scanning our social media for anti-government material, or anti-patriotic materials, which might incite violence and other forms of undesirable events. But are they scouring the materials to understand where improvements might be made. That sort of thing, probably falls low on agendas now, and there lies the pity.

I wrote a post down myself on the failures of our 'Digital Bangladesh' to make something that really elevated the quality of a service. Meanwhile, I found my friend pointing out that the Digital Bangladesh website, was actually a screenshot! Well, isn't that a shame! Its been that way for months, since my previous post was made in February of this year.

One point from my post above was to broaden the activities of the post office in carrying paper around to reduce massive amounts of people doing so individually. I found another blogger that pointed out Bangladesh Post Office also has a website, and that its been hacked! Meanwhile, another blog reveals (or confirms) that having computers doesn't necessarily make our lives better, and also reports on an actual expansion of services there.

Recently I went to the website of the National ID project and saw "Nick name" being spelt as 'Nike name". Nothing is more mediocre than a spelling mistake on such a website. The purpose of my visit was to find out how to change my address on the card, and that page had links to two missing forms I should fill out! However, today the files were available for download.

Some of us dearly want our government offices to change the culture of go-slow, or illegal costs, and most people don't know who will really hear their stories and make those changes. Some of us haplessly keep writing on our Facebook, and our blogs about what we're suffering from. All we need now, is someone to take note of them.

Best of the Web: Distorted Designers – Digital Community of Digital Artists

http://www.distortedesigners.com

Kind words are often spoken out of the urge to not hurt someone’s feelings when judging the works of others in any field. However, holding back proper, constructive criticism can lead to cultivating mediocrity. An end product has to be criticized just enough to make one feel inspired or pushed to elevate himself to a higher level or genius or perfection. I can hear you laughing, yes, its easier said than done. You can find this kind of honesty is harbored in a community of online digital artists that is called Distorted Designers.

Distorted Designers is an inspiring place for both its visitors and its members. Even people outside the realm of digital design will find themselves surrounded by intriguing mix of colors, swaying lines and imagery that pleases the senses. The membership is open to everyone, just find the Register link and fill up the form to get full access to their forum which is a treasure chest of information. It’s a community devised to increase the interaction between all the people involved in this field or preparing to do so. Non-designers can still get a very satisfying experience from all the content that is open to all.

Digital design is not a well established field here in Bangladesh yet. There is a lot of demand for it due to the appearance of multiple satellite tv channels, software companies, the increase in the use of the internet, and special needs for industries like real estate and architect firms for animated visualization of their projects, etc. Make no mistake; this demand is being met very well, but mostly by self-taught, maverick designers, most of them with almost no institutional training. In this scenario, a community site for designers provides a much needed platform for exchange of ideas, and know-how.

At the heart of the community is its forum where the designers share their work, knowledge and also their processes. That shows through in the face of the site, its homepage, as the forum is mentioned in some detail. The layout of content in the homepage is also done with taste, showcasing some of the samples of its members’ works in a large banner. Also noticeable are its efforts to display some advertisements from companies looking to hire designers. Looking around the center of the page is the Designers and Top Rated section of the page, where the more involved members are highlighted. To appear listed as a designer on the homepage, one must show 5 completed works inside the forum. This simple condition ensure that exposure is given to the more experienced and more active designers. And the administrators of the site go through the works in the forum to select and present some of the convincingly well done pieces of work in the Top Rated section.



A non-member faces some restrictions in the forum, with not all sections being open to them, but outside that, the content viewable without membership is highly commendable. The Done section is possibly one that you wouldn’t want to miss, since it’s the section where the members actively submit their finished works. Works range from caricatures, to cover design of music CDs of recording artists, from eid cards to 3D graphics, and even logos. A lot of the members are working graphics professionals and have a lot to offer in terms of quality of work and obviously industry knowledge, a lot of them are working also for self-satisfaction but equally knowledgeable. There is also a good amount of conceptual artworks here also, the kind of projects that a designer might not be able to necessarily do on a job at the office. So expect to see some things out of the ordinary, some things going out towards the imaginative genres of traditional art like abstract or surrealism, and some things that might be designs of products from the future. All this has been put under the title ‘concept art’ usually in the world of design, and you can get a taste it right here.

Probably even more interesting, at least to me personally, is the section – Sketches & Works in Progress. Here you can take a look at works in different stages of completion. Its members are abound with comments, both praises and suggestions for their fellow members, be it a completed piece of work or something in its earlier stages. The Critique Center section of the forum exists especially for those who are really eager to get opinions of the other members of the forum for a particular project. As it says on the description of the section: “Be Honest, be helpful, be straight-up, be true, and share your ideas about how to make better art/design”.

I mentioned many times the sharing of knowledge as a major advantage of this community. Its not achieved, however, through just one section. Its spread all over the Done section, Critique Center, Sketches & Works in Progress and many others. So, to browse or search through the site would be an enlightening experience.

Under the heading Tricks, Tweaks and Tutorials, there are a lot of help to be found for those looking for it. The members had proactively contributed a lot of articles on different techniques, and as it says on the title of that part – tricks and tweaks. This is also the part where the members can post their questions, and the other members dive in to provide assistance. This part has three sections – Design which deal with the design issues people have, especially on the usage of software like Illustrator and Photoshop which are the most popular worldwide in this arena; Animation – which is now a popular way of decorating websites, for promotional videos of products, and even training games and demos; and Web Development – for the website designers who work with code like HTML, PHP etc.

I hope you had visited this site, and had a great time looking through all the activities that go on there, and enjoyed the artwork from the Distorted Designers.

Quotes:

When the true colors cover the true Sky…that’s named Rainbow; which come from true haven. Like this way…A true design comes out from a true heart; which based on true feelings…isn’t it true? We the DD pupil appreciate the sentiment of true heart; which is the base of our creative work…so a smart designer can make a smart design...

Iqram Ahmed
CEO
CreativeGeek


A great place to communicate with other designers

K. Zahidur Rahman
Senior Graphic Designer
KAZ Software

It’s really an exceptional designer community for all Bangladeshi creative designers. It’s nice, well organized, new concept in web community. I wish all the very best to the DD and congratulate for its great initiative.

S.M. Shabbir Hossain
Senior Creative Engineer
KAZ Software


First of it's kind here in BD...and finally too! What a great way to showcase your talent, hard work and learn from people working in the same field and best of all bringing all the creative think-tank under one roof !!! :)

Dhanad Islam
Web Designer
Therap Services, LLC.