When I first glimpsed an animated GIF on a Web site (Apple.com circa 1996), I felt like Galileo: “It moves!” Now I’m the cranky old man who says, “In my day, I could compose a whole trip to England [for British Airways] in 9.9kb! I was an LZW poet, I tell you!” And so, of course, Moving The Still is right up my posterized alley.

I don’t know whether looping ads for The Clapper, deodorant, and more produces that “in sound,” but it’s certainly way out. You’re… welcome?

[Via]

Merry Christmas, everyone. Wherever you are, and whatever holidays you may celebrate this time of year, I wish you great peace and happiness.

I’m not quite sure when I’ll get back to regular posting. I’m visiting my folks in snowy northern Illinois, aka “The Land That Connectivity Forgot.” (Margot says AT&T’s EDGE network represents “The Edge of Civilization.”) As soon as I can push enough content through a cocktail straw, I’ll get back in business.

Thanks for reading & for making it possible for me to do this job.

All the best to you and yours, now and in 2013,
J. (+M & the Micronaxx)

I’m thrilled that Adobe & Behance announced today that Behance (a million-member creative community, in case you’ve been living under a rock) is becoming part of Adobe.

Adobe thrives only when our customers do, and it’s not enough just to build—or to use—great tools. Making a living as a designer involves much more than making designs: it of course demands making connections, finding jobs, promoting your work, and getting paid. There’s a big world before “File->Open” and a big one after “File->Export.” Adobe’s bet is that if we can help you more effectively engage with your clients & your peers, your business will improve—and thus so will ours.

As with every acquisition/merger, people will say “I love [Behance]. Please don’t ruin it.” That’s totally understandable, but I wouldn’t worry. Behance co-founder Scott Belsky writes,

Adobe deeply respects the sanctity of the Behance community, and will preserve the philosophy and values that drive it. Adobe’s acquisition of Typekit is a recent example; the service has remained intact while also being incorporated into Adobe’s Creative Cloud offering for better accessibility and value for users.

Adobe’s tech will make Behance better. Scott says,

We’ve got a long-term vision for serving the creative community that is greatly advanced by Adobe’s reach, and what we have planned will also improve Adobe’s services in the process… There are so many things we’ve always dreamed of doing but lacked the resources, data scientists, and PhD’s to figure it out.

Creative Cloud has just started rolling, and it’ll only get more valuable. (Just last week, we added new digital publishing services and training features, and launched file sync and sharing.) Now, Adobe VP David Wadhwani writes,

All Creative Cloud members will soon gain access to the base Behance capabilities (like portfolio creation and community features) while paid Creative Cloud members will also have access to premium capabilities (like Behance ProSite).

I’m just incredibly excited about this, and when you see what we already have cooking, I think you will be, too. Stay tuned!

Check out this rather brilliant (pun intended) Kickstarter project:

BLAZE is a front light with super-bright LEDs, but it also projects the symbol of a bike down onto the road ahead of the cyclist. It’s adjustable, but ideally about 5m in front. It alerts road users ahead of the cyclist of their presence, helping to prevent them turning across their path (especially the big ones like buses and trucks!).  Making the cyclist more visible and increasing their footprint on the road.

[Via]

Ah, handy. I do the bulk of my local adjustments in Lightroom (where they’re inherently non-destructive), but sometimes I need a little more granular control.

Starts at 10am Pacific time: The event was recorded & is available for viewing below:

Sneak peek at Photoshop features to be unveiled:

At Create Now Live, you’ll:

• Be one of the first to hear what’s next in Adobe® Creative Cloud™.
• See what’s next in Adobe Photoshop®.
• Explore ways to take your design skills from print to online and mobile.
• Learn how teams can work better together with Creative Cloud.
• Learn from creative innovators.
• Iconic design agency Karlssonwilker talks about taking their unique design sensibility to the web.
• Go behind the scenes of “A Liars Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman” with Animation Director Justin Weyers.
• Scott Kelby shows off hidden gems in Photoshop CS6.

I’ve been enjoying David Friedman’s series of short interviews with inventors (e.g. this one with video game pioneer Ralph Baer). Now he’s creating a new PBS “Inventors” series, kicking off with the screw-in coffin*:

And I’m pleased to say that he’s now switched from Final Cut Pro X to Premiere Pro. This bittersweet piece on Batter Blasters is the first result:

*”What’s that, Death? Screw me? No, *screw you*!! (No, wait, you were right the first time.)” I will be here all week.

“Yo dawg, I heard you like using design tools to make design tools, so…”

Ever wish you could make Photoshop work exactly the way you want? Ever wish Adobe designers would walk a mile in your shoes? Ever wanted to stand up & champion the needs of the millions of creative people whose livelihoods depend on these tools?

I know I did; that’s exactly why I came to work here. And now there are two openings for designers to shape Photoshop & the next generation of imaging tools.

These are not easy gigs, but you’d be bored if they were, right? You have to want to learn (and learn, and learn) what a crazy-diverse range of customers needs, then combine your transformative vision with fortitude & exacting attention to detail. You don’t change an industry standard overnight, but keep sweating the details & you’ll be amazed at what’s possible.

Now then, the listings (the first applies specifically to Photoshop; the second to “bold new iOS multi-device applications”):

• Senior User Experience Designer, Photoshop (18722): Adobe’s Photoshop team is looking for a motivated, creative, senior-level User Experience Designer who shares our passion for design and the urge to make better creative tools for real people. In this role you will be tasked with generating the design of new product features, interactions, and visuals, for Adobe Photoshop.

• Senior User Experience Designer (18723): Adobe’s Experience Design team is looking for a motivated, creative, senior-level User Experience Designer who shares our passion for design and the urge to make forward-looking creative tools for real people. In this role you will be tasked with driving the design of new products as well as new features, interactions, and visuals for bold new iOS multi-device applications.

Click through on either for more details. The team looks forward to meeting you soon.