5 Things That Inspire Us Lately – And 1 That Doesn’t
Every once in a while, we like to share things we find that inspire us. Sometimes they’re design and technology related things, but other times they’re completely random. Here’s a list of 5 things that have inspired us lately..and one that doesn’t.
This is probably the coolest thing that’s happened to Apple’s iOS user interface since the iPhone debuted back in 2007. We love the idea of being able to simply and quickly get to commonly used functions without delving into the app first. We also love the ever so subtle haptic feedback that you get when you use it, giving you instantaneous confirmation. I wonder how long it will be until we can take advantage of 3D touch in web applications?
This is a new mobile app that Adobe showed off at Apple’s iPhone/iPad event last month. It allows designers to quickly sketch out design layout ideas with very little effort. We think this could be great for creating wireframe diagrams, or for just doodling a new design idea on the go. To really understand the power of it, you really 
Designers in the UK recently created a Lexus IS completely from cardboard. And, you can actually drive it. Yep, no joke. Take a few moments and 
With the recent release of the new Bolt DVR, Tivo refreshed their website with a bold new look. For some reason, we really like the large pops of color and the simple, light typeface used for the headlines. We also like the slide-down menu when you click on the Shop navigation element in the header. It also doesn’t hurt that the new Bolt box has a really eye-catching asymmetric design.
We can’t deny that we’re suckers for anything space related. And when NASA recently uploaded 8,400 high quality images to their Flickr account, we were elated. It’s neat to see all of these images (many have never been seen by the public before) in such (relatively) great quality. If you haven’t seen them yet, 
The trend of websites putting a pop-up window prompting you to provide your email in return for something free has become an epidemic. Granted, I will admit that this tactic for harvesting email addresses for a mailing list is very effective. However, from a user standpoint, it has become incredibly annoying. Especially when it seems that every site is now doing it. Surely, we as the digital design community can come up with an equally effective, but less intrusive method to capture website user’s information?About the author:
Jeff Pollard
Partner, Director of Technology
Jeff is one of Torx's founding partners and serves as the agency's Director of Technology. He built his first website back in 1996 and has never looked back. Jeff wears many hats at Torx: front-end designer and developer, server administrator, and resident Apple enthusiast.