Linked List: July 3, 2013

Wednesday, 3 July 2013

Why iOS 7’s Design Is Bold but Flawed ★

Christa Mrgan, writing for Macworld:

The use of Helvetica Ultralight as the system font is a mistake. I can say this more confidently than my other gripes, as I have my own 20/15 vision and the opinion of revered typography expert Erik Spiekermann to back me up on it. He calls the choice a “youthful folly,” saying that in large swaths at 13-point, the text looks like a lovely, smooth carpet — and is also completely unreadable. While iOS does let users adjust font sizes throughout the system, it may be a bad sign if many or most people choose to increase them by default.

Really good critique.

Initial 1978 Boba Fett Costume Screentest ★

Never noticed the spur-jangling before. So great.

Minnesota Twins Give Mariano Rivera a Chair Made of Broken Bats ★

Best gift yet on the Rivera farewell tour.

The Top F2P Monetization Tricks ★

Ramin Shokrizade, writing at Gamasutra, on the “coercive monetization” tricks that game designers use to get you to make in-game purchases. Interesting, but depressing. (Via The Brief.)

‘We’re Trying Lots of Stuff; Some of It Might Stick.’ ★

Nice piece by Sarah Darville for Nieman Journalism Lab on Mule Design’s Evening Edition. Still a daily read for me.

Just the Tip ★

As promised on stage during the live WWDC episode of The Talk Show, my gal pal Amy Jane Gruber and regular pal Paul Kafasis have launched a new podcast, Just the Tip. It’s funny and it’s brief — 30 minutes or less, every episode, or your money back.