Noun Project

The Noun Project is building a free online collection of downloadable symbols.  Their mission is to collect, organize and add to the highly recognizable  symbols that form the world's visual language.  You can currently browse the symbols and download any of them for free to be used however you want.  The Noun Project is also a Kickstarter project, looking to raise money to improve their website by adding new features such as Search or Collections.  Every pledge of $30 or more gets a customized t-shirt featuring up to 3 noun symbols of your choice.


What would you do for $5?  I'm serious.  You must have at least $5 of skills that other people would want.  If so, take them to Fiverr.  It is a website filled with stuff people would do for a fiver. The creativity behind some of the offerings is priceless (or at least well worth your $5). 

For $5 you could get someone to call your kids and read them a custom bedtime story featuring their friends and pets, OR get someone to write your name on their hand for a week, OR have someone give you an emergency phone call during a bad date. If you have $5 to spend and don't see what you need, just fill out a request and see what happens.

I absolutely adore this site.  It gives me faith in the world. 

Bank Notes

Ken Habarta has just written a book about the notes that people use to rob banks. He has been posting daily examples of the notes on the blog Bank Notes. Each note is accompanied by a picture of the robber and an icon indicating if the robbery was successful or not. The website is searchable, in case you are only interested in robberies involving polite notes (search for the word "thanks" and "please"). From what I can gather, there is not much of an art to writing a robbery note. The website even has a random bank note generator... in case you are in a hurry.

The GOOD 100

I've been thoroughly enjoying The GOOD 100, this month. It is GOOD Magazine's list of the most important, exciting and innovative people, ideas and products making our world better. The 100 cover a wide range of scope and subject from smarter trash cans to same sex marriage advocates. The list is made up of of projects, people and ideas nominated by a combination of the extended GOOD team, and its readers. You can check out the whole list online here.


Incredibox is a interactive website that allows users to mix their own beatboxes using the skilled sounds of The Incredible Polo. The website is fun and super simple to use. You just drag and drop the types of sounds on the the beatboxer's t-shirt to add to the mix. Click on any of the beatboxers to remove their sound. The end effect is really enjoyable to experience.

Question Suggestions

One of the joys of using a search engine that gives auto suggestions based on popular searches, is that it gives you a small glimpse into the collective mind. If you've never tried this, stop what you're doing, go to your favorite search engine (I recommend and start to type a question. With each letter you type, the search engine provides new suggestions based on what everyone else is searching for. The results are almost always both fascinating and funny. Justin Talbot has put together a website called Question Suggestions which features his daily explorations into the human psyche through half formulated search questions.


Hunch is an interesting new website to help you find the right answer, make the right choice, or discover something you would enjoy. It was created and programmed by a bunch of MIT nerds (their words, not mine) that specialize in machine learning. The site asks visitors a series of questions to help make a personalized recommendation based on what other people like you enjoy. Each question is progressive, using your previous answer to determine what is the most useful question to ask next, in order to come to a recommendation. Hunch gets smarter the more people that use it, and the more you teach Hunch about your personality, tastes, and preferences. The types of questions Hunch provides answers to include "What book should I read?" "Am I a real Trekkie?" or "Should I grow my hair out?". Answers are sometimes a simple yes/no, but more often a series of 3 solid and 1 wild card recommendation.

Trapp Family Lodge Website

I've been checking out the website for Trapp Family Lodge, (as in the Sound of Music von Trapp family) created by Tag New Media. It's a nicely designed website, with an emphasis on photos, which I think always reflects positively on a destination.

My favorite part of the website is the My Scrapbook. It allows visitors to the website to create a scrapbook of their visit (yes, their visit to the website) because, as they say, "we wanted our online guests to have the same opportunity to define what the Trapp Family Lodge is for them" as the real visitors. The scrapbook feature allows visitors to collect photos or ideas from the website into one place. User can then save or share the scrapbook with others. If I was trying to convince someone to go here, I would totally make them a customized scrapbook. I think this is such a good idea, and so well integrated into the site. It is also one of those good ideas that always ends up getting cut, so good on the Trapp Family Lodge for seeing the vision through. (Thanks @jstukey).

Dear American Airlines

"Dear American Airlines, I (Dustin Curtis) redesigned your website's front page, and I'd like to get your opinion. I’m a user interface designer. I travel sometimes. Recently, I had the horrific displeasure of booking a flight on your website, The experience was so bad that I vowed never to fly your airline again. But before we part ways, I have a couple questions and three suggestions for you."

Ha! I admire the thinking and motivation behind Dustin's Dear American Airlines website. Designers 1, American Airlines 0.