Post from: Michael Doig

How To Dispose of a Sign After a Protest

Post from: Michael Doig

Abandonded Warehouse in Montreal Canada 2005

Post from: Michael Doig

The Patterns of Fairway Market Brooklyn, NY

Post from: Michael Doig

My New Van

Over at barcodeart.com you can create a personal barcode using information about yourself. Here is mine.

Enter personal information about yourself to be bar coded. All of the calculations in Barcode Yourself are based on real world facts, gathered from the Internet. Data like the Gross Domestic Product of each country. Lichtenstein is #1, USA #2, and Sierra Leone is last. From the Center for Disease control, I used the Body Mass Index to figure out how…barcodeart.com

Post from: Michael Doig

Barcode Yourself

1) Magazine News v1.0 from ArtCulture.com

Magazine News v1.0 is a news / magazine-styled WordPress theme created for sites with a lot of content, and looking to maximize there Google adsense revenue. It is a three-column, widget ready, adsense ready theme that is sure to give your blog that unique look that will garner some extra attention. This theme requires WordPress 2.3.

Cost: $49.00 (Single) or $129 (Developer)

2) Revolution Magazine Theme from BrianGardner.com

Revolution Magazine is a customizable theme ideal for online magazines and has a new enhanced featured video location on the theme.

Cost: $79.95 (Single) or $199.95 (Developer)

3) Gridline Magazine Theme from GraphPaperPress.com

Gridline Magazine is a theme for WordPress 2.3 and up that makes extensive use of custom queries and custom fields to create an unique blogging format. Gridline can transform your blog into a full-blown Magazine or news Web site.

Cost: $24.99 (Single) or $99 (Developer)

4) Premium News Theme from Adii.co.za

This theme is not for the average Joe blogger however – it is a high-end theme and CMS solution that has just been made affordable and accessible to everyone. This theme is perfectly suited for ambitious bloggers looking to earn an income from their blogs / websites.

Cost: $99.95 (Single) or $249.95 (Developer)

5) Magazine Theme from Solostream.com

Okay, so the name is not that original, but WP-Magazine Theme 1.0 is by far one of the the best WordPress Themes I’ve ever created. WP-Magazine Theme is a fixed-width, professional WordPress theme with multiple layout options and multiple features.

Cost: $79 (Single) or $279 (Developer)

6) Cornerstone Theme by Charity Ondriezek

The Cornerstone premium theme for WordPress is a flexible, feature-rich alternative to contracting custom design work for your blog. Not a bad way to go if you’re on a budget!

Cost: $99.95 (Single) or $249.95 (Developer)

7) Bedrock Grid Theme from ArmenThomassian.com

Due to the fact this was created with the hope of winning money for charity, I’m now going to be releasing it as a Premium WordPress Theme. However, as all the proceeds are going to charity, I’m not sure if it’s right to say it’s premium.

Cost: $20 Charitable Donation

8) NewsPixel Theme from RockinThemes.com

NewsPixel is the first premium WordPress theme produced by RockinThemes. This theme is designed to be easy to use. The features below can be tweaked by using WordPress categories.

Cost: $97 (Single) or $199 (Developer)

9) BlackMaster Theme from BlackMasterTheme.com

BlackMaster is a powerful premium wordpress theme designed by Jesse Lee. It’s Javascript/Ajax-based and will bring you many cool effects and features. The main goals of this design are to utilize Js/Ajax effects, consctruct a nice layout and reduce the page size.

Cost: $41.20 (Single) or $278.60 (Developer)

10) WP Remix Theme from WPRemix.com

WP Remix a WordPress powered master theme, is completely customizable, quality coded & comes bundled with many layout options that helps everyone create custom websites in minutes, saves weeks of time, maintaining top notch standards-compliant quality.

Cost: $55 (Single) or $155 (Developer)

11) Thesis Theme from DIYThemes

The Thesis Theme for WordPress is a high-quality template system that you can use to improve your site immediately. Thesis boasts the strongest SEO of any theme on the market today thanks to its expertly-coded HTML + CSS + PHP framework. The days of worrying about your in-site SEO are over—with Thesis, your strategy is “just add links.”

Cost: $87 (Single) or $164 (Developer)

Post from: Michael Doig

10 Beautiful Premium WordPress Themes

You might also consider this my unofficial Christmas list.

1. DNA Portrait from DNA 11

Our DNA Portrait shook the art world with its novelty, scientific ingenuity and arresting beauty. Now it’s time for you to enter the world of unique, personal art. We’ll send you a collection kit with everything you need to capture a sample of your DNA. (Trust us, it’s painless and effortless: nothing more than swabbing the inside of your cheek.) The tough part is choosing the style, color, size and frame from an almost limitless range of possibilities. Take all the time you need. Your DNA Portrait will be as unique as you are.


Price: starting at $390
Uniqueness: 10 – DNA is as unique as it gets.
Available at: DNA11



2. Baby Foot Print

Don’t miss baby’s first step with these two hinged half-boxes filled with impression foam for capturing an infant’s footprint. An ideal gift for relatives, friends, and parents alike. Made of phenolic foam and cardboard. Included in Destination: Berlin, our limited-time product collection celebrating the city’s young and dynamic design scene.


Price: $35
Uniqueness: 10 – A timeless tradition in a new format.
Available at: MoMA Store


3. Digital Camera Accessories

Digital cameras are going to be hot this year, because prices on them have fallen so much. Be different and pick up some cool accessories from the Photojojo store. I can personally recommend the magnetic photo rope, Fotoclips and Gorillapod SLR Zoom tripod. For a real cool gift check out the Eye-fi sd card.

Never scrounge around for a USB cable again! Eye-fi is a magical orange SD memory card that will not only store 2GB worth of pictures, it’ll upload them to your computer, and to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa (or 14 others) wirelessly, invisibly, automatically!


Price: $99
Uniqueness: 8 – The products might not be that unique, but your photos will be.
Available at: Photojojo


4. The Original AppleSac

This stylish and functional sleeve is made of burlap and 100% polyester sherpa fleece. Its rugged surface is engineered to handle the rough world while its inside provides gentle, scratch-free protection for your Apple’s surface. It also fits perfectly snugly around your MacBook. This unique sleeve is discrete and acts as a theft deterrent (no one associates burlap with a notebook). But maybe more important is that it is the coolest looking sleeve out there.


Price: $29.99
Uniqueness: 7 – Cool way to blend nature and technology, it’s made of sherpa fleece it has to be good.
Available at: Applesac.com


5. Ambient Forecasting Umbrella

This umbrella has been injected with some wonderful technology in the handle. A built-in wireless receiver gets a daily weather forecast from Accuweather.com, and blue LEDs will flash to let you know if the forecast is rain or snow. The LEDs located at the bottom of the handle will flash in proportion to the chance of precipitation for your area


Price: $99.99
Uniqueness: 9 – It tells you if it’s going to rain!
Available at: ThinkGeek


6. Alexander Girard Alphabet Blocks

These functionally playful alphabet blocks bring an unobtrusively quiet distinctiveness to any well-appointed living room while affording hours of educational and aesthetic pleasure for young design sophisticates. Created by House Industries in a collaboration with the estate of reknowned mid-century designer Alexander Girard, the 28 wood blocks feature alphabets based on the forthcoming Alexander Girard font collection and a cleverly-adapted House Industries factory logo puzzle.


Price: $100 On Sale for $75 or $85 w/poster
Uniqueness: 8 – No other kid on the “block” will get these for Christmas.
Available at: House Industries


7. Voltaic Solar Backpack

The Voltaic solar bags are mobile power generators, designed to charge your devices without tying you to a power outlet, which makes them ideal for traveling. Just plug a standard car charger into the bag using the included CLA (car lighter adaptor) and recharge most small electronic devices including: cell phones, cameras, two way radios, PDA’s, and MP3s. Note: it is not designed to charge laptops. If you don’t have a car charger, the bags come with a set of 11 standard adaptors for common cell phones and other devices.


Price: $218
Uniqueness: 8 – It charges your electronics while you hike, how cool is that.
Available at: Earth Tech Products


8. Heavy-Weight Tape Dispenser

When London-based designers Daniel Black and Martin Blum couldn’t find a tape dispenser that worked the way they wanted it to, they created their own. The Heavy-Weight Tape Dispenser (2006) has a three-pound cast zinc body that’s heavy enough to permit single-handed use. The forged stainless steel blade cuts effectively over years of use. The Tape Dispenser’s shape echoes the lines of industrial design icons, combining modern materials with a slightly retro sensibility.


Price: $60
Uniqueness: 7 – Imagine the confusion when they pick it up feel that weight, open it and find out it is the world’s most expensive tape dispenser.
Available at: Design Within Reach


9. SNL D*ck in a Box

Christmas…D*ck in a Box, Hanukkah…D*ck in a Box, Kwanzaa…D*ck in a Box. Uncensored D*ck in a Box video.

SNL D*ck in a Box. “We supply the box. You supply the rest.” Attaches to your belt.


Price: $15
Uniqueness: 5 – You put your junk in that box…good for a laugh.
Available at: NBC Universal Store


10. Threadless 12 Month Club

A new limited edition tee sent to you EVERY MONTH for an entire year, you also get a free $30 gift certificate towards more tees!


Price: $272 (US Customers)
Uniqueness: 8 – Only people in the club will have these awesome Tee’s.
Available at: Threadless


11. Sumo Omni Beanbag

This super-sized pillow by Sumo is the ultimate solution for all your relaxing needs. We’ve come up with 10 ways to use it, but some people say we lack imagination! It’s a crash mat, lounge chair, loveseat or floor pillow to name a few, but the possibilities really do go on.Sumo Beanbags are made from space age rip-proof nylon and come filled with top quality Sumo Beads.


Price: $129
Uniqueness: 6 – These were popular last year, but they are still just as comfortable.
Available at: Sumolounge


12. The Sun Doesn’t Know Why It’s A Star

The International Star Registry gift package includes a beautiful 16″ x 12″ parchment certificate, available framed or unframed, with the name of your choice, dedication date, and telescopic coordinates of the star. You’ll also receive an informative booklet with charts of the constellations plus a larger, more detailed chart with the star you name encircled in red.


Price: $139
Uniqueness: 10 – Despite how long this gift has been around…You get to name a star after someone!
Available at: International Star Registry


13. Twist Together Lamp

reate your own geometric light installation with glowing building blocks that can be assembled into dozens of fun and different combinations. Designed by Stephen Feuerborn and David Liatti, this playful and modern light sculpture comes in bright candy colors. The modular blocks use long lasting, low voltage LED lights. These low energy lights emit a soft, subtle glow – perfect for creating atmosphere or as a funky nightlight.


Price: $100
Uniqueness: 8 – These shape changing lights are sure to light up your relatives faces.
Available at: Uncommon Goods


14. Fisher Space Pen & Moleskine Notebook

These classics would make a great stocking stuffer or low priced gift for that third cousin. This combo is like peanut butter and jelly, pretzels and chocolate, or Sonny and Cher. You can’t go wrong.


Price: $19.99 and $7.50
Uniqueness: 5 – Despite not being the most unique gifts on the list they are still classic and inexpensive.
Available at: Fisher Space Pen
Moleskine Notebook

15. Meade mySKY

The Meade mySKY is your personal guide to the night sky. Just point and shoot for audio, video, images and text that teach you all about the universe. Using GPS technology, mySKY™ lets users simply point and shoot to identify planets, stars, constellations and more.


Price: $399
Uniqueness: 9 – This “toy” is freakin’ awesome, I might buy one for my Dad and then accidentally pack it on my way home.
Available at: REI

Post from: Michael Doig

15 Unique Christmas Gifts for 2007

Well the Gods have spoken.

While I was browsing the swap meat over at Coudal Partners I came across a great pair of posters from moimoi designs showing how rare white squirrels really are.

From Coudal Partners:

This pair of prints features a punnet square and network diagram examining the albino squirrel. One poster features explanatory text and a family tree, while the second poster illustrates 20,000 squirrels, one of which is white, a bold depiction of the odds of seeing a white squirrel in nature. The odds of a Biology-Graphic Design double major are just about the same.

I love the mash-up between design and science. Visualizing data is the way of the future, it makes plain data more interesting and digestible. I’m trying to figure out where I can put these posters in my living room to show off my inner science geek.

Post from: Michael Doig

Did I Find The Luckiest Squirrel?

Hey John,
Your site is nothing more than a Cutline/Copyblogger Theme mashup. Where’s my link?

Here is a screenshot of the theme in question

(Click to enlarge)

John Wesley’s reply

Chris,
I’ll readily admit that I built off the structure of the Cutline Theme because I had no previous design experience, but I took the link out after tweaking nearly every aspect of the style and customizing it with all my own graphics. I’ve also borrowed aspects from other sites as well. I think that makes it more than a mashup and I don’t think anyone but yourself would even recognize the influence. Honestly I’m flattered that you noticed.

This is starting to remind me of the Vanilla Ice sample fiasco…

From Wikipedia: Vanilla Ice drew controversy by claiming that he owed no royalties for sampling “Under Pressure”, citing one minor alteration to the bass line. Although no lawsuit was ever filed, the rapper supposedly settled out of court, and songwriting credit was retroactively given to Bowie and the members of Queen.

When is something altered enough that you no longer need to pay tribute to the original?

I’ve finally come to the conclusion that smart guys like Chris make it possible for the rest of us to focus on what is important, producing great content. I don’t want to think about browser compatibility or why my floats aren’t lining up anymore. That is why I hired Chris to think about that stuff for me.

There is some ego involved in taking footer links out, but as a thank you to all of the people who spend hours working for free on quality software – leave them intact. If you didn’t start from scratch, it is the least you can do.

Technorati Tags: Chris Pearson, design, John Wesley, WordPress

Post from: Michael Doig

When Is It Different Enough?

(click to enlarge)

Post from: Michael Doig

Updated Look For Bear Pit BBQ