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PIXMAVEN – The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator

By Ari Salomon | Published: March 5, 2010

I agree/disagree with some of the things that have just been said, but the optical suggestions of the purity of line visually and conceptually activates the essentially transitional quality.

…click “Create,” and enjoy your ready-made Critical Response to the Art Product (or CRAP).

via PIXMAVEN – The Instant Art Critique Phrase Generator.

Posted in San Francisco Art | Leave a comment

Kala Art Institute: Groundswell: a call for entries

By Ari Salomon | Published: March 5, 2010

Groundswell: a call for entries Exhibition Opportunity at the Kala Gallery

Groundswell: a broad undulation of the open ocean, often as the result of a distant disturbance, a broadly-based shifting of public opinion.

Kala Art Institute announces a call for entries exhibition, Groundswell open to California resident artists. This juried group exhibition seeks works in all media that explores a variety of far-reaching issues impacting the global environment. Topical areas include, but not exclusively limited to:

via Kala Art Institute.

Posted in Photo grants and awards | Leave a comment

News ways to take online payments: Square and iPhone

By Ari Salomon | Published: March 2, 2010

There is a lotof buzz about the “new money” online. A classic Web 2.0 story of new technology taking on established giants – in this case the credit card and banking industries.

In February 2009, Jim McKelvey wasn’t able to sell a piece of his glass art because he couldn’t accept a credit card as payment.

Even though a majority of payments has moved to plastic cards, accepting payments from cards is still difficult, requiring long applications, expensive hardware, and an overly complex experience.

Square was born a few days later right next to the old San Francisco US Mint.

via About Square

SEE ALSO:

Posted in Inventions, Web Design | Leave a comment

Screen Sharing Without Flash Using Black Tonic

By Ari Salomon | Published: March 1, 2010

I’ve been happy using GoToMeeting, iChat and Skype but this looks like an interesting new option and I appreciate their use of open web standards.

Using only HTML5 and Javascript, the service syncs your browser window with the browsers of viewers whether they’re using IE6, Chrome, an iPhone or almost anything else. Transitions between images are super-fast and the service is a joy to use. It doesn’t include things like markup or native voice support (you’ll have to get on the phone) but for $15 per month, we think it looks like a great deal.

via Designers: Show Your Work Fast, Cross-Browser & Without Flash Using Black Tonic.

UPDATE: their broadcasting tech doesn’t use html5 (rww got it wrong…), which means Black Tonic works on more browsers now.

Posted in Web Design | Leave a comment

The Dan Golden Museum

By Ari Salomon | Published: March 1, 2010

From an old friend… a great artist… and a great designer…

NOT ONE, BUT TWO PORTRAITS OF HUEY LEWIS, APPROXIMATELY 1983/1984

via DAN GOLDEN DESIGNS – THE DAN GOLDEN MUSEUM.

Posted in Web Design | Leave a comment

Yelp negative reviews: Take a Deep Breath

By Ari Salomon | Published: February 27, 2010

people hate us on yelp

I often hear from clients who are unhappy with negative reviews or missing reviews on Yelp. More often I hear small businesses that rave about what a boon Yelp has been to their bottom line. Here’s some advice for small business owners on what to do with those pesky negative reviews:

The site removes reviews in cases where there is a conflict of interest (for instance, if the review has been written by a competitor). Other grounds for removal include hearsay, hate speech, and attacks that are unrelated to the customer experience.

via Take a Deep Breath (inc.com)

And the Times wrote about a new suit against Yelp just this week.

Posted in Product Reviews, Web Design | Leave a comment

Exhibition: Synthetic Environment

By Ari Salomon | Published: February 25, 2010


I’ll have 3 large panoramas in this group show next month:

Synthetic Environment

April 10 – 29
Reception: April 10, 6-8 pm

Mina Dresden Gallery
312 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 3-7pm

more info soon…

Posted in Fine Art Photography | Leave a comment

Who Else Wants to Discover The Secrets To Welcome Home?

By Ari Salomon | Published: February 25, 2010

I suggest avoiding the word “welcome” on any Web site homepage. It’s a cliché and a missed opportunity to convey useful information about your firm. Spend time writing some brief copy — something slightly different to the about page would be appropriate to the home page. Also, “welcome” is an appropriate greeting upon first greeting someone but visitors to your homepage might come back again and again on one visit/day.

The first content anyone sees on your home page is the most critically valuable, for usability as well as SEO. Don’t ever bother welcoming anyone to your web site. That goes without saying. If I wasn’t welcome on your site, you wouldn’t have put it on the world wide web!

via The Top 5 Web Site Home Page Mistakes – Web Designers London.

7. Does your website have a strong headline?
Does your website simply say… “Welcome” in big letters at the top of your websites home page or does it say… “Who Else Wants to Discover The Secrets To ___?”

via http://bigsellingwebsitedesign.com

Posted in Web Design | Leave a comment

CoTweet™ – How business does Twitter

By Ari Salomon | Published: February 24, 2010

If there is more than one person tweeting for your company you might want to consider using this new software that adds many features to a company’s twitter-based branding efforts:

Multiple Accounts and Multiple Users

Manage up to five Twitter accounts through a single CoTweet login. Invite colleagues to join your accounts to work as a team representing your company on the front-line of your Twitter presence. Add your personal Twitter account and manage all your updating through one interface.

via CoTweet™ – How business does Twitter.

Posted in Web Design | Leave a comment

Five Steps to Quirky Success

By Ari Salomon | Published: February 19, 2010

I would add to this summary that quirky is not the place for complex electronics. i have seen some submissions that are clearly more complex that what they want to produce. they say anything that can be sold for under $150 is fair game but i think there should be more guidelines for what they are looking for. And I’d like to see a site that has a similar community-based approach but to larger projects – know of anything like that?

Five Tips for Quirky Success:

1) Find a good problem to solve: People don’t buy products, they buy solutions.

2) Do your homework: Google is you first step.

3) Keep it Simple:The best ideas are the ones that are so simple that they are elegant.

4) Carefully craft your pitch: Picture = 1K words and a good video is priceless. as long as its under 2 minutes.

5) Make it like a bikini…

via Five Steps to Quirky Success « Invention Addict.

see also: quirky.com

Posted in Inventions | Leave a comment
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