Michael Rill

Einfach machen

Year: 2016

  • Susan Kare on her history with Apple and icon design

    If you want to see an example of software with a truly long-lasting impact, go watch a talk by Susan Kare. She talks about her work at Apple where she designed “iconic” pieces like the original fonts and the original set of icons. You learn so many things like why the Apple-key’s icon is not an apple, how icons that were designed more than 30 years ago are still in use in applications like Photoshop today and the difference work ethic can make.

    What makes this video great in particular is also the second half where John Gruber interviews her. (a) it’s great to see somebody like John being all giddy and excited about meeting one of his heroes and (b) it is in this part that you begin to understand how meaningful Susan Kare’s work is, because she was too humble to brag about it in the first half.

    Go, have a look. With an hour, it’s fairly long, but excellent entertainment and a lesson in modern history.

  • The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck

    Mark Manson wrote a nice piece about what it means to take ownership and when to say no. It’s a nice long-read with good lessons for leadership. Two pieces I liked in particular.

    A quote by Eric Hoffer:

    A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.

    And his three subtleties on what it means to not giving a fuck:

     #1: Not Giving A Fuck Does Not Mean Being Indifferent; It Means Being Comfortable With Being Different

    #2: To Not Give A Fuck About Adversity, You Must First Give A Fuck About Something More Important Than Adversity

    #3: We All Have A Limited Number Of Fucks To Give; Pay Attention To Where And Who You Give Them To

    It’s well worth the read even if it’s just for the images and this wonderful pearls of wisdom: “Fucks don’t grow on trees”. It fits quite well with a story on Obama from last November:

    President Obama genuinely gives no fucks at this point. He is fuck devoid. Fuck deficient. Fuck deprived. Fuck destitute. His cupboard of fucks is barren; his tank of fucks has been depleted. You know how, on cloudy nights, you might look up into the vast and endless sky and not find any stars? The same thing would happen if you looked at Obama and searched for fucks.

  • The creative power of no

    Over at Medium is Kevin Ashton wrote about Creative People Say No. It’s a great reminder of the trade-off everybody needs to make when doing others a favour. It’s coming more from a time management perspective.

    Saying “no” has more creative power than ideas, insights and talent combined. No guards time, the thread from which we weave our creations. The math of time is simple: you have less than you think and need more than you know. We are not taught to say “no.” We are taught not to say “no.” “No” is rude. “No” is a rebuff, a rebuttal, a minor act of verbal violence. “No” is for drugs and strangers with candy.

    It’s a pretty extreme position. In the end, as with so many things in life, it’s about getting the balance right.

    In that context, there is always the Apple clip from a few years ago about their product strategy: there are a thousand no’s for every yes.