Soulellis Studio: May 2009 Archives

Death-defying.

Remember that post about 25 dead people on Twitter? Coming soon: a new way to talk to the dead. Stay tuned.

Tags in progress tweeji web | Posted on May 11, 2009 6:28 PM | Permalink

A few months ago I noticed that some Twitter users were establishing accounts in the names of famous historical writers, philosophers and other "dead celebrities." Some remained in-character as a kind of online performance art, while others were using Twitter as a place to deposit quotes or news. I decided to join them, and created two accounts myself.

I made a post about it back in March: 25 dead people on Twitter. And in three months that post grew into a website. As a joint venture with Krate, Soulellis Studio designed and built a robust Twitter engine that compiles the historical tweets of 78 more than 80 celebrities of the past into a real-time feed. But it doesn't just aggregate. Users can log-in to their Twitter accounts and reply, follow and retweet without leaving. It's called Tweeji, and it launched yesterday.

In our first day we heard from Sigmund Freud, George Washington, Jesus Christ, Sammy Davis Jr., Jacques Derrida, Janis Joplin, Eva "Brawn," Andy Warhol, NotoriousBIG, Ian Curtis, William Shakespeare, Bettie Page, William S. Burroughs, Charles Darwin, Dr. Samuel Johnson, Emily Dickinson, Buddha, President Chester Arthur, Pablo Neruda, Percival Lowell, Walt Whitman, Elvis Presley and Walt Disney, among others.

Within Tweeji's first 24 hours, Pete Cashmore of Mashable wrote that the technology and design are "really, really good" and that it's an awesome piece of software, "a kind of self-contained 'mini Twitter' of its own." (He also takes offense to the dark humor, but whatever.) We're really enjoying the response and feedback.

Visit Tweeji, have fun with it, and spread it around. And be on the lookout for more Tweeji projects launching soon.

Tags tweeji web work | Posted on May 14, 2009 11:45 PM | Permalink

Innovation ecotones.

An ecotone is a transition area between two adjacent ecological communities, and it's a concept that Ann Pendleton-Jullian (Director, Knowlton School of Architecture, Ohio State University) uses to propose a new way to approach education in the 21st century. Design Education and Innovation Ecotones is circulating now and we're proud to have been involved.

Erik designed a beautiful document, and we worked closely with Ann to make sure the diagrams translated her concepts accurately and elegantly. The full paper is available here (PDF).

Tags Ohio State University print work | Posted on May 16, 2009 4:12 PM | Permalink

Design blogs and self-publishing on the Kindle.

We've got a long way to go before the Kindle is a productive place for designers or anyone publishing an image-heavy blog. The graphics and typography are not great (terrible, even). Could be worse, but still — this is not yet a designer's tool. But I believe it's really important — critical, perhaps — to get on, and establish a presence. This isn't about making money (maybe, someday), but about a new ease in publishing. And understanding how technology is breaking down barriers, connecting us to our audiences and amplifying our stories.

For anyone interested in publishing your blog on Amazon's Kindle platform, go here. It's easy, it takes about 2 minutes and it's free.

If anyone is actually inspired enough to subscribe to Soulellis.com for $1.99 / month, here you go.

More shots of Soulellis, Kindle Edition (and some of Antonio's AisleOne).

A nice discussion about typography and design on e-books going on here at Wired Magazine.

Tags inspiration Kindle news | Posted on May 22, 2009 10:50 AM | Permalink