According to Wikipedia: Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality, in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality. By contrast, virtual reality replaces the real world with a simulated one.

Augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally manipulable. Artificial information about the environment and its objects can be overlaid on the real world. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, working at Boeing.

Research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to enhance the perception of the real world. AR technology includes head-mounted displays and virtual retinal displays for visualization purposes, and construction of controlled environments containing sensors and actuators.

What are people doing with AR?

There are many examples you can or have seen. Here’s a recent one made by Disney and displayed in Times Square:

Of course, with Pixar tucked neatly into their back pockets, Disney’s AR piece is the top of technology. Appshaker, London did a really impressive AR piece for National Geographic:

There are some demos from smaller companies and individuals that show the capabilities of AR. Check out these cool applications:

Why just buy a product when you can see what it will look like out of the box?

Your face as your business card

Not all of the AR applications are fun and games. Recognition and information are also possible. This video was posted to YouTube two years ago:

In fact, stalking will be a breeze with facial recognition software on smart phones:

When I first ran across Augmented Reality almost nine years ago, it was phone-sized tablets that identified places and directions. This phone app is an example:

The future of business cards

While the QR Code may take you to YouTube or a web site, imagine what it can do for your business card! It’s a bit like Emperor Palpatine popping up to give order 66 (ask a local Star Wars nerd what that means) but why make people read something about you when you can tell them yourself:

Try one for yourself HERE.

While most AR recognition needs a code, very much like the QR Code or, apparently despised Snaptag, this experiment by innovative campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky uses a simple dollar bill for a Burger King AR piece:

There are numerous tutorials on how to create AR pieces. Check them out.

Are you ready to jump into Augmented Reality?

So, I’m guessing by now you are saying to yourself, “I’ve got to get into this!” and my family and I are safe from comments on different inappropriate things we can do…unlike my exploration of Snaptags.

AR is not just about learning some new software. There is obviously video, writing, graphic design, and type skills needed but any creative should be able to handle it. I’ve yet to see anyone at any networking event or cross paths with anyone who has an AR business card to date. That seems odd, considering the explosion of the technology. Perhaps the technology hasn’t quite exploded as of yet, so why not be the first kid on the block to have one?

Suggested reading on Augmented Reality

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-08-sony-augmented-reality-tv-buyers.html

http://mashable.com/2009/12/05/augmented-reality-iphone/

http://technabob.com/blog/2008/12/17/mini-augmented-reality-ads-hit-newstands/

http://boingboing.net/2011/11/21/layar-augmented-reality-for-ma.html

*There are many sources for AR software but I cannot suggest or recommend any in this forum. All of the examples used in this article were solely for the purpose of inspiration and information on AR technology and is not an advertisement for or an endorsement of any of the firms that created the videos included.

Speider Schneider is a former member of The Usual Gang of Idiots at MAD Magazine and has designed products for Disney/Pixar, Warner Bros., Harley-Davidson, ESPN, Mattel, DC and Marvel Comics, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon among other notable companies. Speider is a former member of the board for the Graphic Artists Guild, co-chair of the GAG Professional Practices Committee and a former board member of the Society of Illustrators. Follow him on Twitter @speider

Do you use Augmented Reality for your work? Give us a link to your video or post your AR code for people to print out and try.

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The first argument I had heard on the subject was at a new media group in New York where the speaker insisted that, with web sites and the ubiquitous “about me” section, why would anyone need a printed business card? Being the curious sort I am—some may say the pain-in-the-rear—I had to raise my hand and ask, “but how do people remember our URL without that little slip of paper?”

There was no answer as I remember—just some mumbling and hurt feelings. Several people commented to me later that I was right. People weren’t about to remember names and URLs, so what was the answer to raging technology and a paperless society?

Business cards are an art form

There’s nothing as fun as seeing how far people can push the innovation of the standard-sized business card. Die cuts, process foils, and thermography, folds, pop-ups, and other great ideas lead to collections by individuals and printed collections of the “best business cards.”

Here’s some links to blogs showcasing numerous innovative business cards:

100 (really) creative business cards

30 creative QR business cards

You the designer

Business Insider

Inspirationfeed

Artatm

Naldz Graphics

Toxel

Letterpress has been very hot for business cards for the past few years. Pixelclouds.com has recently posted a collection of Letterpress cards on their blog.

More examples can be found on carddsgn.com as well as exquisiteletterpress.com.

A great business card is sometimes just in the name, too! When I was first hired onto the staff of MAD Magazine, my cards were much sought-after by people. Luckily, I had several boxes printed before leaving that job and still get requests for my card. At one Phoenix restaurant, known for snipping off the ties of those who dare dress too formally, then attaching the person’s business card before tacking the tie stub to the wall or ceiling – giving the illusion of waves of a wheat field from slight breezes – I decided to wear a tie with my T-shirt, just so I could join the collection. When the waiter snipped off my tie, he asked for my business card. Upon handing him my MAD card, he ran off and returned with the owner who shook my hand and told me my tie and card were going into his personal collection of celebrity’s ties. Try that with a web site!

I recently sold one of my William M. Gaines business cards on Ebay. When I was a young teenager, I visited the offices of MAD and got to meet the legendary publisher of the beloved magazine (or is that the other way around?) and while sitting at his desk with him, he used a couple of his business cards to pick the pastrami from between his teeth (I assume he had a pastrami sandwich for lunch that day but one never knows) and said, “here, kid…my card!”

That DNA-stained card went for quite a bit on Ebay. Again—the power of the printed card…and toothpick.

The card as a selling tool

Handing someone a business card is the first marketing effort you take with them, aside from looking them in the eye and a firm handshake. The Japanese, for example, put great reverence into their business cards. It is their personality and must be treated with the utmost respect. Many years ago, when I was to meet with the largest conglomerate in Japan, I received some cautionary advice from my sister, who had studied international relations, about my first few moments in my meeting. It wasn’t just bowing but also how to accept a card with both hands, holding it with reverence at the corners, which pocket to place it in (never the back pocket!) and how to give out my business card. It was, it seems, very beneficial to know the proper card etiquette as well as just good manners and business acumen.

In another situation, I was quite embarrassed when at a design event, a well-known nutcase and dilettante made a point of shoving her card into the hands of everyone at the event. When she arrived at the small group with which I was standing, I took her card, wiped my rear end and threw it on the floor, thinking she didn’t see what I was doing. After the laughter from others in the group died down, I was told that the crazy-lady had seen me do it and I was embarrassed by my callousness. I should have waited until she had left the room to do it.

In another article on creatives in social situations, I wrote that a business card didn’t necessarily have to be a standard size. While I advise against a full letterhead-sized printed piece, because people will need to carry the damn thing in their hand all night, wiping with it later, there is no reason that a piece cannot be large enough to show a sample of your work and still fit into a pocket or purse. I had also suggested that one could create a set of “flash cards” that showed several pieces. Many years ago I had a set of business cards that had fifty different images on them. Even though I attended the same networking groups repeatedly, my cards were known as the “collect ‘em all” cards and were always welcomed when I would hand my card out, even to those who had received one numerous times before.

The key is to have a card people will keep and perhaps show to others. Having a card that sits on someone’s desk of tacked to a bulletin board in plain sight is the biggest compliment since not wiping a rear end with one.

The digital answer

Giving credit where credit is due, a nice collection of digital apps appears on a recent post on webdistortion.com—“6 apps that are killing the business card.” The list is short and doesn’t cover ALL of the  sites that can be used for further information about you and truthfully, they may not be the best but here they are for your information and inspiration.

Aboutme

Flavors.me

Identyme.com

Bu.mp

Shhmooze

Missing from the Web Distortion blog entry are sites like LinkedIn, which is for business networking and allows you not only to post your résumé, recommendations from others, join groups, and network but the ever increasing amount of widgets allows you to insert Behance portfolios, slide shows, videos, Twitter and blog feeds, and much more.

Another interesting site that was about to go under but was bought by another company at the last minute is visualcv.com. This site allows you to post your résumé and portfolio samples, then share the profile with others or download the whole thing as a PDF for emailing.

Twtbizcard has a unique Twitter app for sharing information. Check out the video on their site.

Poken, for those who aren’t embarrassed to carry cute little plastic creatures to networking events and business meetings, is another bump technology gadget. It hasn’t caught on in the United States…and probably won’t but why not click the link and check it out, if for nothing else, a laugh.

Of course, using a QR Code on a printed card can take people to any of these sites or a video such as this one:

Whatever you use, printed or digital, the most important thing to keep in mind, is to make people remember you, connect and become a valued client. The best way to do that is to make sure your information is clear, concise and easy to find.

Speider Schneider is a former member of The Usual Gang of Idiots at MAD Magazine and has designed products for Disney/Pixar, Warner Bros., Harley-Davidson, ESPN, Mattel, DC and Marvel Comics, Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon among other notable companies. Speider is a former member of the board for the Graphic Artists Guild, co-chair of the GAG Professional Practices Committee and a former board member of the Society of Illustrators. Follow him on Twitter @speider

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Is design losing its humanity? No one would suggest that computers are as adept as talented humans at creating innovative designs — yet — but technology has been making a significant impact on design-related professions in the last few years.

In some cases, technology has lessened the amount of contact designers have with clients, colleagues and professional development organizations, causing a shift in the way the public relates to the profession.

But when used judiciously and with some forethought, technology can reintroduce a strain of much-needed humanity into these essentially creative disciplines.

Technology’s impact on the design process

I never design a building before I’ve seen the site and met the people who will be using it.

– Frank Lloyd Wright

When undertaking to design something, one has in mind the intended function of the product one is creating. One of the biggest challenges a graphic designer will face is to work with the client to triangulate the visual elements, ergonomic concerns and brand qualities that will result in the most efficient realization of the product’s intended function.

In product design, this could mean creating the most elegant and ergonomic computer mouse. In graphic design, it often means creating a logo. Web designers need to understand the quickest and most effective ways to translate their clients’ business ideas into functional and marketable websites.

In the past, the process of turning a client’s brief into a product was conducted by face-to-face meetings. Now, many clients prefer to submit briefs electronically and get work back the same way.

Without these face-to-face meetings, which were the cornerstone of the client-designer relationship, designers who lack writing or technical skill might find themselves unable to accurately convey their technical and creative prowess. And without the face-to-face experience of discussing a project, can a designer ever be sure they know what the client wants?

Increase speed, decreased efficiency

Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose.

– Charles Eames

While working long distance may seem like an efficient change to the industry’s business model, on closer inspection and experience, one realizes that without human contact, communicating ideas effectively is harder and less precise. Without clear communication between client and designer, the process is prolonged, thus reducing the designer’s efficiency.

Some of the risk can be minimized by bringing multiple ideas to a client. But basic misunderstandings can still creep in, requiring additional rounds of design and feedback, and taking time away from the designer’s other projects.

Such situations can be avoided if the designer slows down the pace and makes an effort to truly understand the client’s need. Hiding behind a screen might bring in clients quickly, but you won’t get far if you don’t get to know them personally.

How humans interact with the products of design

People ignore design that ignores people.

– Frank Chimero

Humans are increasingly influenced by their interactions with technology. When designers forget to consider humanity in the design of their products, then they are serving an ideal instead of a practical use, thus undercutting the very definition of design.

Human interaction with a design is required if the designer wants to create a product that elevates and serves humanity, rather than frustrates it.

Tapping into feedback on how humans are using a design can’t be done long distance or over the web. Designers must connect with end users and others in their industry, and that must be done in person. Whether this takes place in informal weekly gatherings in your home town or at industry-wide conferences and seminars, the opportunity to network and connect with others in the field enables the designer to continue improving their craft over the span of their career.

Designers making a difference

Every designer’s dirty little secret is that they copy other designers’ work. They see work they like, and they imitate it. Rather cheekily, they call this inspiration.

– Aaron Russell

Designers influence each other’s work; that’s partly why it’s so important for designers to take part in networking events, conferences and other experiences with colleagues in their field. More importantly, when designers commit to keeping humanity in mind in their work, they often contribute to worthy social and charitable movements.

An example of this is the Designers Support Japan effort, in which design professionals and celebrities contributed designs and then donated the proceeds to help disaster relief efforts in Japan. Some got involved by gathering talented illustrators to create some amazing designs for a charity sale.

Some organizations, including the Department of Design and Construction in New York City, encourage the use of good design in public works. And national awards exist for design disciplines: in the US, national awards are given in architecture, interior design, fashion, product design and more, thereby recognizing the role that design plays in improving the quality of life of citizens.

In an environment where many consumers and clients show a commitment to social causes, designers who demonstrate their own commitment through their work could gain a competitive edge.

Using technology to rediscover the humanity in design

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.

– Albert Einstein

Designers clearly must bring humanity into their practice. So, what are some ways to do this? Reliable video conferencing is now available via a number of free Internet services; this helps to cut down on the miscues from missed body language that might happen on the phone or in email. Being accessible by email on a smartphone helps, too, because messages can be replied to quickly, allowing some form of dialogue to take place.

If a designer wants to share inspiration with their clients, they can create a public notebook on a cloud storage service like Evernote. The designer can store and catalogue ideas from the web or their own mind, making them keyword-searchable and inviting clients to access these digital “mood books.”

Another way designers can show clients that they value a connection to humanity is by bringing a “human touch” into their portfolios. During a recent hiring round at a prestigious New York City design firm, one candidate got an interview based on an exquisitely crafted hand-bound book that contained her portfolio images. The spirit of this applicant’s portfolio — a unique, artistic and functional piece that demonstrated her ability to create something that served its purpose — should infuse the work of designers everywhere.

Instead of using strict technical drawings to represent your ideas, try broader representations of your early thinking, such as in the form of informal sketches. This can help the client understand the thought process that a fellow human being — i.e. you, the designer — followed to arrive at that point. Designers can go the extra mile by educating their clients. Also, images can be drawn out by hand using a simple desktop publishing program, such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice, and then scanned to share with clients.

While it may seem a bit passé in today’s digital world, designers shouldn’t overlook the benefit of giving clients a physical address where they can be reached. And a phone number is a must. Both will remind the client that another human being is at the other end of the line — someone who wants to help them create effective, functional and elegant designs.

Nor should designers ever discount an actual physical meeting with the client — not to mention the underestimated impact of a good handshake. These things bind people together.

Conclusion

Ethics and humanity work hand in hand, and designers should work within their own code of conduct, using empathy and compassion.

Bringing a human touch might not come naturally to younger designers. Still, designers who rediscover the humanity in their profession will find their work and business significantly enriched by the process.

Written exclusively for Webdesigner Depot by Aidan Huang, a freelance developer, designer and ingenious blogger. He is one of the editors-in-chief at Onextrapixel. Follow him on Twitter @AidanOXP

What are some ways designers have been affected by a sense of humanity — or lack thereof — in the field of design? What can you as a designer do to increase that sense in your profession?

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It’s a brand new and amazing technology blog that focuses on tech stuff that’s always fresh and never boring.

You may have already come across it, or seen a few of the ads floating around the web. But now, it’s official, TECHi.com is out of beta and ready for prime time.

I’m super proud and excited today to shine the spotlight on the site that we’ve been working on so much for the past few months. And now, I’ll be taking you on a little tour of the new website, discussing the content and design and how it all came together.

As always, your feedback will be greatly appreciated and it will help us make the site even better…

What is TECHi?

Putting it simply, it’s a technology blog. But we don’t like the ‘boring’ tech stuff that we often find on the web (stuff like acquisitions, mergers, stocks going up/down, start-ups that nobody cares about, etc), so we avoid those topics for the most part, unless they’re truly relevant, and we try to make them as much fun to read as possible.

You’ll find in depth articles, like on WDD, as well as the latest tech news and the coolest/weirdest gadgets, along with some fun posts. Our tagline is ‘fresh and never boring’ and I think it really describes Techi to a tee.

While on WDD we usually post only one article per day, on Techi you can sometimes find more than 20 posts on a day. The daily content usually includes a couple of editorials with the rest being short posts for news and cool stuff. Don’t worry, we won’t overwhelm you, and you can have as much or as little as you want. Even our RSS feeds are customized so that you can choose to either get the whole ‘enchilada’ or just eat the bytes that you’re most interested in.

Here’s a full preview of our homepage. Click anywhere on the image to go to the live site:

The TECHi name

I love the name of this site! And at only 5 letters, it’s even shorter than Google! We played with many different names and we originally decided on one that I liked but wasn’t quite perfect. As usual we went through the frustrating process of going through dozens of domain name options only to find that most of them were already taken.

We registered a few domains that contained the word ‘tech’, which is something that I really wanted. Eventually, we ended up buying Techi.com from a domain name reseller and I couldn’t be happier. It was a bit pricey, but it was worth every penny. I love the domain name and it couldn’t be simpler or easier to remember or type.

Oh, and by the way, it’s pronounced Tech-ee, not Tech-eye.

Where did the idea come from?

I know this sounds funny, but it seems that most of my good ideas come to me while taking a hot bath and that’s precisely where the idea for Techi came up.

I basically looked at my personal browsing patterns and noticed that while I love to browse and read design blogs, I also like to keep up to date with the latest technology stuff. I think that many WDD readers will relate to this and be in the same boat with me on this one.

So that’s where Techi.com fills the gap between design and all the other cool stuff happening on the web right now.

The Content

At the top of the latest posts on our homepage, we have a menu which acts as a filter for the content. You can choose to view ALL content or select just EDITORIALS, COOL, NEWS or BREAKING. We made sure to have a good mix of things for everyone, whether you’re looking for a quick read or something more in-depth.

EDITORIALS

These are in-depth articles, similar in style to what we have on WDD and 100% original. We do analysis pieces about technology, make sense of the latest tech news as well as fun posts, or interesting round ups about tech related stuff. Here are some examples of our latest editorials:

• The RIAA and MPAA Have Failed To Understand A Cultural Shift
• CAPTCHA Advertising Coming Soon To A Website Near You
• The Changes at Facebook: The Good, The Bad and The Very Ugly
• Six Back to the Future Innovations We’re Still Waiting For
• How the Blackberry Can Get Its Mojo Back
• The (Potentially Grim) Future Of Firefox
• How I Learned to Love 3D… I Think
• 3D: Half-Baked Tech Not Ready For Prime Time
• Identity: The Twitter Killer We Never Expected
• Rules of Engagement: Six Things Not To Do on Twitter

COOL

The cool section features new, cool (and sometimes really weird) gadgets, fun things and anything else that we feel is ‘cool’. Here are just some examples to get you going, but there are tons more:

• Revolutionary Watch Designs That Blow Traditional Timepieces Away
• 3D views of New York City using Google Earth
• We Might Have Underestimated How Big Google Really Is
• Did You Honestly Think the Kindle Was Your Best Bet for Mobile Books?
• Vintage Postcards Invaded by Star Wars
• New Headphones Will “Light Up” Your Day
• Glowing USB Stick Changes Color According to Contents
• The Straight Poop on Texting Underwear
• The Toe Mouse: Browsing Porn Just Got Really, Really Convenient
• Too Cheap to Buy an iPad? Join the Club and Get a PixelPad!
• Lightsaber Bookends Support Those Paper Thingies You Don’t Read

NEWS / BREAKING NEWS

The news section is pretty straightforward, we feature the news items of the day that we feel are most relevant and interesting to our readers.

On several occasions, we have broken stories even before they hit the big news and social media sites, so check back often to see what’s happening –  we’re sure to have you covered as far as tech news goes, at least the stuff most people care about. Here are some of the news topics that we recently covered:

The Design

I hired my good friend, the very talented Matt Dempsey (whom I’ve worked with in the past), to put together my vision for Techi.

For my own projects, I like to work together with other designers as a joint collaboration gets me the best results. The fact that we’re both designers allows us to bounce ideas back and forth until we get the best possible solution. An external designer will also see things more objectively and call things as they see them. And Matt got it perfectly right.

Good design is transparent, they say, and this is what we tried to achieve here. There’s so much great content on Techi that the design had to be kept to a minimum so as not to interfere. We wanted to let our readers focus on the content of the site and not on the design. That being said, you will notice beautiful details and a truly excellent layout that makes the site design the perfect platform for Techi’s content.

Here are some of Matt’s insights about the design:

My aim for Techi was to really highlight the content and let the design blend into the background. For a tech site with constantly updating news, big pictures and big videos, you really don’t want the design to get in the way, especially if your visitors come back every day. Consequently most of the design is grayscale, with occasional bright colours being given to highlight categories and social media.

Also, for a new technology site which will undoubtedly get a large portion of its initial traffic from occasional articles performing well on social media, it was important to make the logo as prominent as possible to increase the likelihood of a first time visitor remembering the brand. Walter also wanted the featured articles to be prominent and detached from the latest articles.

Bearing both of these in mind, instead of predictably having the logo on the top left, I’ve decided to place it between the featured and latest content, acting as a separator whilst increasing the chances of still being in view if the user does choose to scroll straight to the latest post.

TYPOGRAPHY
The logo is set in Trade Gothic Bold Condensed No. 20 with the tagline being in Aller Light. The font used for the headers, as well as for the text under the thumbnails in the cool and latest news sections, is Droid Sans which is being displaying using @font-face. The body text uses Helvetica.

FEATURED POSTS
There are a total of 9 posts being featured in a slideshow format at the top of the site. Check out the cool custom pagination buttons in the top right corner. They each have their own timer which resets when you mouse over the content so that the page doesn’t slide out of view when you’re focusing on it.

The featured content includes some of our latest editorials, breaking news and other pieces that we feel are worth highlighting. The section is updated several times a day, so that there’s always something fresh to read when you come back to the site.

SIDEBAR: Widgets, Popular Posts, Latest Videos
Besides the section navigation menu, a site this big has a lot of content and instead of having a massive horizontal menu at the top, or drop down menus, I decided to ignore this traditional way of organizing content by creating a right sidebar that allows you to drill deeper into the site’s content. Remember that my goal with Techi is to keep it ‘fresh and never boring’ and I felt that this should relate to the content’s organization as well as how you interact with it.

• Widgets: Categories 
  This is a really neat way to find content of interest by clicking on the main categories of the site. We designed some neat icons for each category. Try it out on the live site: simply click on any icon and a new page will slide in to view the latest posts on any given category. At the top right corner you’ll find a link to see all posts in the selected category. Click on the back link to return to the category list. I drew inspiration from the navigation style of the iPhone and we implemented these sliding panels using Ajax.



• Widgets: Popular Tags
  This custom widget was based on the iPhone once again and is one of the most original ways to browse through tags that I’ve ever seen. Try it out, it’s really fun to play with. Simply click on a tag to see all posts related to that tag. Originally we put all the tags that we had there, but there were too many and that was slowing the widget down and became too difficult to navigate, so now we’re only showing the most popular tags.



• Popular Posts
  Plain and simple, this area displays the current most popular posts using a special algorithm.



• Latest Videos
  This area highlights the latest posts that contain videos.

FOOTER
I  wanted something original and unobtrusive for the footer. With so many posts displayed vertically, I didn’t want a tall footer that’s loaded with information as it would extend the page unnecessarily. That’s why we used the sidebar as a way to display content and navigation. Matt designed a really cool and original footer with just the basics that you’d expect to find there. It works very well and I really like it.

PAGE DOES NOT EXIST / NO SEARCH RESULTS
You gotta have them! And I had some some fun creating these two pages: 404 and no search results

Hosting

Techi.com is hosted by the good folks at VPS.net which are also the hosts for Webdesigner Depot. The site is running and responding really well even on days of massive traffic. VPS  uses the Akamai Content Delivery Network which allows for higher speeds thanks to object caching and delivery of images based on the servers closest to each visitor’s location.

You and Techi

I had great success with WDD thanks to an awesome team of very dedicated writers, and the same is true for Techi. There’s an amazing group of people working together behind the scenes to create a truly awesome site with great content. But that of course is only one part of the equation.

Ultimately, your support and input will make this site really better and better every day, just like you did for WDD. So today, I’d like to ask you for your support. If you enjoy what we’re doing on Techi, please help us out by spreading the word to your friends, colleagues, etc. It can be a quick email, a retweet, or sharing one of our stories on Facebook, or even word of mouth. A comment on the site means a lot to me and to the authors writing the content as it shows us that you care about the effort that we put into this and it help us become better at what we do.

Of course, if you have ideas or suggestions for improvement, I’m all ears, please do let me know about it. I love constructive criticism and although we’re still tweaking a few things, and I’m always happy to listen to your feedback! Thanks in advance for your support!

Banner ads

If you wish to promote Techi through your own site or blog, that’d be truly awesome and deeply appreciated. I made some really cool banners that you can download to display on your own sites. Here are some examples, but there are a lot more in this file: banners.zip

That’s all folks!

So there you have it, the entire Techi story in a nutshell! I hope you enjoyed reading this and most importantly that you enjoy reading and visiting Techi.com

It’s a really great site with potential for a lot more, go ahead and try it out, there’s tons of great stuff there that most of you will enjoy and hey, there’s even have a design section, so I’m sure you’ll feel at home right away. Thank you for Techi-ing!

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You need only go to the home page of any new Internet-based startup, and you’ll see an embedded video with a very large call to action beckoning you to play its two- or three-minute video introduction.

Videos that demonstrate web applications or web-based services are often called screencasts because they usually capture events on the company’s website. These screencasts can sum up in just two minutes what might otherwise take up many pages to explain, so they make for powerful additions to websites.

Is it easy to make a screencast? How much does it cost, and what tools are required? Let’s answer these questions.

Making Your Own Screencast

Let’s assume that you have a web application or web-based service to promote. You want to create a screencast to demonstrate what it does. Below are some tips to get you started.

Planning

As with anything, planning is essential. So, before you do anything else, plan your screencast very carefully. Consider the following questions:

• What overall message do you want the video to convey?
• How long should the video be?
• Should the video be a quick, “punchy” overview of your product or a longer, detailed, informal screencast?
• Do you want the video to be personal, with a friendly voiceover, or would you rather stick to music and titles?

Tutorials often take the form of an informal screencast. The screencasts are usually unscripted but follow a basic storyboard. The advantages of this are that your product will be presented in a friendly manner and these screencasts can be quick to produce. They are also more informative and instructional in showing how a product works.

The disadvantages are that they can appear unprofessional and can be quite lengthy and less engaging for visitors. So again, planning the location of your video (e.g. the help section or the front page) and the message you want to convey will help you decide the approach to take.

Let’s assume you want to make a short, scripted, well-edited screencast.

The Storyboard

After you’ve put some thought into the overall feel of the video, get out your trusty notepad and pen and sketch a storyboard. A storyboard is a rough representation of the screencast and can be used as a general timeline of scenes. Each scene would address a different aspect of your product. For example:

• Introduction and summary of your service;
• Key features or unique selling points;
• Testimonials from customers;
• Comparison of pricing plans or even a comparison against competing products;
• Final summary, with logo and slogan.

If you have a lot to cover in your screencast, breaking each scene into sub-scenes might be worthwhile, to allow for more detail. The more detail in your storyboards, the easier the editing stage will be.

Plan each scene and sub-scene of the video, and below that write out bullet points of what you will cover. The bullet points could include examples of parts of the web application that you want users to click on, particular phrases that you might use in the voiceover and any video effects or transitions that you require.

Your storyboard will help you stay organized throughout the whole process, and if you ever get lost while producing the video, the storyboard will get you back on track.

The Voiceover Script

If you do not plan to have a voiceover (though one would certainly help), you can skip this step.

Once you have sketched your storyboard, you can start writing your voiceover script. On another piece of paper, write out headings for each scene, and then script each scene based on the bullet points you wrote earlier.

Make sure to leave space for changes, because you will probably want to adjust the script when you get to recording the voiceover.

The Right Software

The next step is to actually record and produce the video. You will need the following tools.

Screen-Capture Software

Many screen-capture applications exist, some of which are free and open source, others you have to pay for.

Screenium, available from Synium, is a Mac OS X-based application that is easy to use and contains many features. The software costs $29.00 and can be downloaded online.

Jing is a free web-based tool that allows you to capture screen events and share them on the web. A fully featured PC or Mac version is available for $14.95 per year.

Other applications include open-source CamStudio, iShowU for Mac and Adobe’s Captivate.

Movie-Editing Software

You don’t need a huge number of features to edit screencasts. The simple editing packages that come bundled in your OS usually suffice.

If you have a Mac, then look no further than iMovie. Otherwise, you could use any digital video-editing application such as Premier Pro, Final Cut or even Windows Movie Maker.

Some useful editing features are:

• Transitions (or “wipes”) between scenes;
• Exporting to web formats;
• Changing the speed of clips;
• Recording voiceovers in the application.

Recent versions of iMovie (version 8+) have the above features.

Background Music

Your screencast needs a high level of user engagement. Music can help deliver that, particularly if it is relevant to the screencast. You will know the style of music to use based on your audience.

Make sure you have the legal right to use the music you choose. Some useful online resources offer rights-free background music (usually classical), and some sell CDs of background music that might be appropriate; check out Unique Tracks and Royalty Free Music.

Music is, of course, entirely optional, because you can engage users in other ways.

Armed with your overall plan, storyboard, voiceover script and software, you can now begin to record the video.

Recording the Video

For the purpose of this article, we’ll assume you’re using a desktop capture application such as Screenium, and iMovie for editing.

Start by capturing the scenes in the order of your storyboard. Because you will be editing the video later, you can continue recording until you get the perfect take.

• Capture part of your screen, not the whole screen. This will keep the video from being cluttered (by the Dock or taskbar, for example), and you won’t have to crop the video later on.
• You want smooth, clear, precise actions when recording. Keep mouse movement to a minimum, and make sure your mouse clicks are obvious. Your recording application might have a feature where your mouse clicks trigger a visual aid, which can be useful.
• Keep the voiceover script in front of you, and imagine the script being spoken as you record the mouse actions. This will help with timing when you get to editing later.
• Match the file name for each clip to the name of the corresponding scene, so that you know where the clip goes when you’re editing (for example 1. Intro).
• Allow a gap at the beginning and end of your recorded actions. This will help when you trim the clips and with the transitions (e.g. fading one clip into the next).

Editing the Video

Once you have all the clips recorded for each scene, you can move on to the fun bit, which is the editing.

Using your movie editing application, import all of the clips into your library and put them in the right order (if you saved the clips with sequential file names, then they should be in the right order already).

The next step is to trim your videos so that the timing is right for the voiceover, and then drop them into the timeline.

The best way to get the timing right is to begin playback and read out the script for that scene; then you will know whether to add one or two seconds to the beginning or end of the clip. Don’t leave too much empty space because the video will run long and lose user engagement.

Keep the video flowing, and make sure there is always something to look at or listen to. For more complicated scenes, you may want to leave a slightly longer gap at the end before moving on, to allow users to absorb what they’ve just seen.

Another trick is to add transitions between scenes, which accomplish two things. First, they just plain look cool. Secondly, they blend together scenes that you hadn’t planned on joining. For example, you may have two adjoining scenes that show the same page of your website, but the location of the mouse jumps abruptly from one clip to the other.

A transition would blur the movement and make the cut look seamless.

Finally, show your company branding at the beginning and end of the screencast. Simply import a high-resolution JPG of your logo into the movie. Some movie editors (such as iMovie) have an automatic image effect called “Ken Burns,” which subtly zooms in or out on an image. It makes your movie look more professional than it would with a static logo just sitting there in the middle of the frame. “Subtle” is the keyword, though: make sure all of your effects are subtle; overdo it and you risk looking unprofessional.

The Voiceover

A voiceover is not essential. Some videos get away with using only title overlays to highlight key features. But a human voice better engages users and makes them feel that they are dealing with a real product made by a real company. Also, a voiceover allows you to communicate a lot more information about your product or service, because users will be using both their ears and eyes.

To do a voiceover, simply plug in a good-quality microphone, and record someone who has a good voice reading your script over each scene. Recording each scene individually is better because then you can move the audio clip to the right place after each take and get the timing perfect. Make sure your voiceover is read clearly, slowly and with a smile so that it sounds friendly.

Exporting and Uploading the Video

Once you have finished, export the video and grab a cup of coffee. A lot of video editing applications, including iMovie, have an “Export to Web” function; so you can simply choose the format to export to (e.g. iPhone or YouTube). Choose medium to high quality, with a width no smaller than 600 pixels.

When you upload your video to the web host, it will undergo further compression: and what you put in is what you get out. If you put in a large-size, high-quality file, then the resulting video on the website will look a lot better than if you had uploaded a highly compressed video at a lower size.

After you have uploaded the video, the hosting company should email you a notification when it has finished encoding. At this point, you’re pretty much ready to put the embedding code on your website. You may want to customize the player first; for example, by matching the color of the “Play” button to your brand and adjusting the size of the player.

Save the updated HTML of the embed code and you’re good to go!

Tracking Goal Conversions

Make sure an analytics package (such as Google Analytics) is set up on your website so that you can see where visitors are coming from and track goal conversions.

If your website already runs analytics software and you have existing goal conversions, then this is an ideal chance to see how your new video affects those conversions. If your website is brand new, then seeing what difference the video makes will be difficult, but you can still track goal conversions and use the data later.

Set up a goal that follows the user from the home page through to the video page (if it is on a separate page), all the way to the sign-up page. After a few weeks, review the statistics and analyze your goal conversion or sign-up rate.

And if you ever make changes to the video or the page—for example, moving the video elsewhere in the information architecture—then you can see if your goal conversion is affected by these changes.

Examples of Good Uses of Screencasts

Thounds

Thounds calls you to click on its “promo video” link, which takes you to a pop-up containing the video.

The video clearly describes Thounds’ service in a scripted, edited and well-produced two-minute video.

Bidsketch

Bidsketch embeds its YouTube video halfway down the page after a brief explanation of its product.

Wistia

Wistia has a large and obvious call to watch its 30-second video. The video is above the fold and prominent.

Concept Feedback

Concept Feedback has a video on the right side that clearly demonstrates its product. The call to action, though, isn’t terribly clear.

FileShareHQ

FileShareHQ clearly demonstrates its product in four minutes. The video resides on its “Tour” page.

MakeSomeTime

MakeSomeTime has a video that demonstrates its product in three minutes. The call to action is below the fold.

Project Bubble

Under its product features, Project Bubble has a call to action that opens as a pop-up video. Its three-minute video is hosted on Vzaar, so the player is unbranded.

CushyCMS

CushyCMS is a great example because its video is above the fold, has a clear call to action and opens in a large pop-up that demonstrates the product in three minutes.

Notable

Notable provides a clear call to action on the right of the app description. The video is hosted by Vimeo.

Tips on Using Video on Your Website

• The videos above keep visitors engaged by rarely exceeding four minutes. A good length for a demonstration video is two to three minutes, and ideally not longer than five. Some websites keep their videos as short as 30 seconds, as you saw with Wistia.
• Be careful where you host your video. Some providers explicitly state that any videos uploaded to their service must be for non-commercial use; so, if your video demonstrates a business product, then you would be violating their terms of service. Also, some hosting providers take a long time to encode clips, and some display videos at very low quality. So, if you want fast, high-quality service, you might want to consider paying for a premium host.
• Make sure the video opens in a decent size, especially if you have a detailed demonstration of a product. A good solution is a Lightbox application such as Facebox: the user clicks a button that triggers a pop-up in which the large video is presented. A good size for the video is 600 pixels or wider.
• A clear call to action above the fold increases the chances of visitors clicking on it. Some designers prefer to explain the product first and then show the video below. A good information architecture is critical, especially on the home page, so think through your placement carefully.
• Make sure a “Play” button is shown clearly on the embedded video in its non-play state, so that visitors recognize it as a video. If the video is in a pop-up, play it automatically once the pop-up is activated.

Video Hosting Providers

Below are just a few of the many video hosting providers:

• YouTube – The obvious choice. The pros are that it is free and well known. The cons are that the quality is not exceptional, and videos sometimes take a while to encode. Another con is its ubiquity: if you are trying to project a slick, professional image, showcasing a YouTube video might reflect poorly on that aesthetic.
• Vimeo – Vimeo became very popular last year. The pros are that it has a great community and a very nice player. The cons are that its terms of service are quite strict, so read them before uploading any videos.
• Vzaar – A new company that provides premium video hosting. The pros are that videos encode quickly, the player is good and you are allowed to upload commercial videos. Another pro is that Vzaar doesn’t put its branding on videos. The cons are that it is a paid service; and because the company is quite new, its uploading process is slightly buggy.
• Wistia – As featured above. The pros are a non-branded player, fast encoding and marketing tools such as statistics and heat maps. The con is the steep premium to use the service.

You could always host the video on your own server and use a player such as the JW Player from Long Tail Video. If you do this, you may need to encode the video in FLV format.

Written exclusively for WDD by Stu Green. He is a web designer from the UK and manages Haloweb, a web application design company.

Do you have a screencast on your website that has increased goal conversions? If so, let us know, and explain the process behind building it. Also, if you have any tips on producing or embedding videos, please share with the community.

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Advances in their design have occurred in tandem with the advances in technology in this digital era, with many large products being redesigned and miniaturized into amazingly small sizes.

While we may laugh at the fact that anyone ever found this technology to be cutting-edge, we can’t discount its place in history as a forerunner for all of the technology that wouldn’t exist today without its dinosaur ancestry.

Here is a quick look through history at vintage technologies that we no longer use.

1. “Super 8/8mm” Handheld Video Cameras

Kodak invented the Super 8/8mm film format in 1965. Soon after, handheld film cameras flooded the market and the living rooms of people everywhere were filled with families watching the hi-jinks at Freddie’s sixth birthday party.

2. Betamax

Betamax was developed by Sony in 1975, a year before the ultimately more popular VHS format was invented as a response to Sony’s attempt to control the format of the industry.

3. VHS Format

Invented by JVC, VHS was the predominant video format by the 1980′s, despite what some argued was the technical superiority of the Betamax format.

4. Laser Disc Players

Initially marketed as “Discovision”, laser discs were the format choice of tech enthusiasts who had the money to put together a collection until the DVD format came out.

5. Phonograph

The phonograph, or gramophone, was invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and was on the mass market by the turn of the century. The gramophone was replaced by the considerably less bulky record player in the latter half of the twentieth century.

6. Turntables

Record players are still in use in DJ booths, recording studios, and radio stations all over the world.

7. HAM Radio

An estimated six million people are still involved with this hobby that began at the start of the 20th century. HAM radio operators communicate with each other over short wave radio. HAM radios have been featured in many popular movies, including The Shining and Contact.

8. Reel to Reel

The first tape recorders were reel to reel and were the preferred technology for professional sound designers until digital formats rendered them obsolete.

9. Cassette Tape Recorders

These devices were considerably less bulky then their reel to reel ancestors, and were used mostly for transcription.

10. Transistor Radios

Transistor radios typically only picked up on the AM band and were a ubiquitous sight in schools and businesses in the seventies.

11. Cassette Tapes

The compact cassette was originally developed for transcription purposes, and its users quickly realized that they could use it to record music and make “mixed tapes”.

12. Boom Boxes

Associated with hip hop, break-dancing, and other aspects of eighties culture, the boom box was introduced in the late 1970′s as portable, all-in-one music devices. Earlier models took huge quantities of batteries and were very heavy.

13. Telegraph

The telegraph was the precursor to telex and fax machines. Used by shipping operators and for military uses, the telegraph required a skilled operator to transmit and receive messages.

14. Telex Machines

These machines used radio and/or microwaves to transmit information over the airwaves. Variations of them are still in use today for communications by the hearing impaired.

15. Wang Calculators

No, we didn’t pick that just for the headline. In the seventies, Wang manufactured mini-computers that were a cut above your standard accounting computer, with exciting features like a FORTRAN IV compiler.

16. Analog Telephones

While exactly who invented the phone is a topic of debate, the first patent was awarded to Alexander Graham Bell in 1876. They have evolved from rotary dial models to smart phones that we can use today to surf the internet.

17. PDA’s

Considered one of the biggest tech flops of all time, the Apple Newton was sold at a huge price point compared to other Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) that were on the market. Personal digital assistants were electronic timekeepers for the times when you couldn’t fit a computer in your pocket. The Newton’s development laid the groundwork for Apple’s hugely successful iPod and iPhone. Who’s laughing now?

18. Portable Televisions

Portable televisions, such as Sony’s Watchman, were an idea that came a little before the ability of the media to catch up to it. With a limited selection of channels, they never really caught on.

19. Walkman

The Walkman was invented for the co-chairman of Sony, Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to his favorite operas on plane trips. It was initially marketed as the Soundabout in North America, but the “Walkman” name was used for the product up until the present day.

20. Discman

Two years after the mass production of the Compact Disc, Sony released its portable player for it. While they were popular with audiophiles, who appreciated the quality of recording, earlier Discmans would skip and didn’t allow for the popular “mix tapes” until it became possible for computers to “burn” CD’s.

21. Pagers

Pagers were commonly used from the seventies to the nineties, when widespread adoption of cell phones rendered them obsolete for mass market use. They are still used by emergency responders as they are not subject to network outages or similar disruptions in communication.

22. LED Watch

The watch pictured is the Pulsar, the first LED watch. The watch’s designer was inspired by the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, having worked on the timepiece props for the movie.

23. TV Watch

While the concept of this watch was attractive, it faced the same lack of channel availability issues as the Watchman.

24. Seiko Wrist Computer

The smartphone of 1984: this took the idea of the “computer watch” to a whole new level. Think this is too much? Consider the nuclear watch, whose invention was rumoured in this Time magazine article. Be very glad that never happened.

25. Calculator Watches

The eighties saw watches infused with more gizmos than ever before. The most ubiquitous watch in geek culture was the calculator watch. Since most of us now have computers attached to our hips, it is no longer necessary. Unless you’re Dwight Schrute.

26. CRT Monitor

Just when you thought you were done with vacuum tubes in your computers, they put them in your monitors in the form of cathode ray tubes (CRT).

27. Massive Mainframes

While mainframes still exist, they generally don’t take up entire rooms or store information on magnetic tape.

28. Typewriters

While some writers still swear by them, most writers remember when they swore at them and have happily moved on.

29. Dial-Up Modems

The dial-up modem was used everywhere until cable internet and DSL became available to the masses. While they are still in widespread use, everyone who has one wants to upgrade.

30. Zip Drive

This short-lived technology was the bridge between 3.5″ Floppy Disc and CD storage.

31. Slide Projectors

These were classroom and office standbys for years, and were replaced by digital projectors and smartboards.

32. 8″ Floppy Disc

If you wanted to save one or two word processing documents, you could do it on these. Their smaller relatives are still in widespread use.

33. 3.5″ Floppy Disc

The 3.5″ Floppy took over from its bulkier cousin with larger storage and a less destructible design. It had largely been replaced by the late nineties by CD’s, DVD’s, USB drives and other more convenient computer storage methods.

34. Polaroid Cameras

While these cameras were largely replaced by digital cameras, the trademark has recently been purchased and the buyers are trying to breathe new life into the brand by hiring Lady Gaga as a spokesperson.

35. Home Movie Projectors

Super 8 home movies and educational films were shown on these simple projectors. While they are still used in some schools, they have been largely replaced by digital projectors and the fact that you can now burn most home movies to a DVD.

36. Vinyl Records

Vinyl was the dominant music format for the 20th Century. From your grandmother’s old 78′s to the single 45 format, vinyl was perfected over the years to be as acoustically correct and cheap to press as possible. While they are still in use by DJ’s and radio stations, records have for the most part been relegated to the garage sale heap.

37. CRT Television

The first widespread use of television was in Germany beginning in 1929, and the German Olympic Games of 1936 were the first to be broadcast on television. Televisions remained out of the reach of the middle class until the 1950′s, when their ownership boomed globally and television shows became more popular. Cathode ray tubes gave way to the technologies that we use for television now, making sets less bulky and furniture-like.

38. Tape Drives

Remember when backing up the computer meant changing the tape in the tape drive and letting it back up overnight? We’re so glad those days are gone too. The clunky old tape drives of the past didn’t store a lot of data and it would often take multiple tapes to back up important data. Old-school programmers started out as “tape-apes” doing backups as junior programmers.

39. 8 Track

Stereo 8 was more commonly known as the eight track tape. It was the portable format of choice for a brief period in the 70′s before cassette tapes took over.

Disclaimer: This is not a complete list. Among others, we have purposely omitted featuring vintage computers, game consoles and others as some of these would merit their own post and we may cover them in future posts.

Compiled exclusively for WDD by Angela West.

Have we missed your favorite piece of vintage technology? Feel free to post it in the comments section below.

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This desire for increased efficiency and productivity leads many designers to look to technology for methods that will improve their work flow.

One common approach for designers (and others who want to improve productivity) is to use multiple monitors. Using two or more monitors can bring a number of significant advantages to designers.

In this article we’ll present some basic pros and cons of using multiple monitors, general instructions for setting them up, as well as a showcase of workstations that feature multiple monitors.

Advantages of Having Multiple Screens:

With so many designers using multiple screens, there must be some pretty significant advantages. Of course, everyone works differently, so the key is finding the setup that works best for you.

1. Increased Productivity

The biggest advantage for anyone, designers and those in other professions, is an increase in productivity.

There have been a number of studies performed over the years that have attempted to calculate the change in productivity from using multiple monitors. According to a study done by the Jon Peddie Research, productivity increases an average of 42% when using multiple displays.

The Pfeiffer Report from 2005 (testing the impact of large monitors and/or multiple monitors) found that improved productivity could result in an ROI of several thousand dollars per year.

Likewise, a study conducted by the University of Utah and NEC found 10% increases in productivity and 20% reduction in errors (plus reduced stress) for test workers that were using multiple monitors.

Their test company also experienced over 600% ROI. From the report, “Both the 24-inch widescreen and the 20-inch dual screens were significantly more productive than the 20 inch single monitor… Overall in spreadsheet task, the dual 20-inch monitors performed the best with a slight lead over the 24-inch widescreeen” (see this slide show of the results). This study has been reported by the Wall Street Journal and many others. However, the report also found that productivity gains max out and eventually decline when size becomes too big.

2. Designers Often Use Multiple Programs Simultaneously

Most designers have some type of workflow that involves using multiple programs at any given time.

Maybe you’re flipping back and forth between Photoshop and Illustrator, or maybe it’s an HTML editor, Internet browser and FTP applicati0n.

Whatever the case may be, it’s very rare that a designer would only have one program open and would not be moving around at least periodically. Since using multiple programs is such a frequent occurrence for designers, having a second screen can make this juggling act much less painful and more productive.

3. Keep Email or Twitter Up on One Screen

If you’re interested in being more connected and accessible to clients or to other professionals in your network, you may find that a second screen can make this much more feasible.

While you may be using the primary screen for the bulk of your work, you could have your email or Twitter open all the time in a second browser. While this practice is normally associated with reduced productivity, using a second screen for this purpose can help you to still stay focused on your work while allowing you to quickly scan what is coming through (and respond promptly) with a minor impact on your work.

4. Works Well with Laptops and Allows for Flexibility

Many designers are working from laptops and not staying at one desk all day every day. Setting up an additional monitor is easy with most laptops now.

This allows the designer to have a home office with a dual screen set up, but still allows for flexibly as it is easy to disconnect the second monitor and take the laptop wherever you need to go. Setting it up is simple, and taking the laptop somewhere else only takes a minute.

5. Sharing Data Between Applications Can Be Easier

Not only do most designers work with multiple programs at once, but sharing data is also very common, for example copying code from one application to another, or opening an image in Dreamweaver that was created in Photoshop. All these things can be streamlined with the help of a second screen. Moving from one screen to the next is often easier than using multiple applications on one screen.

6. Using Skype While Still Having Access to Other Data

Some designers use Skype for video conferencing with clients or colleagues.

If this is the case for you, a second screen can make it easier to have a video conference and still have normal access to your screen to look at other things during the conference.

Most video conferences will involve looking at websites, mockups, or something else that will need to be seen at some point during the conference.

7. For Easier Comparison

There are a lot of aspects of a designer’s job that involve attention to detail.

Some of these areas require comparison, such as comparing different versions of a design, testing in multiple browsers, and working from one image or design to another.

In these situations it’s easier, quicker, and generally more effective to compare side-by-side using two screens rather than flipping back and forth constantly.

8. It’s Very Easy

Extending your computer to a second screen is actually very easy, although to many people it sounds like it would be more difficult or involved than it really is. If you’ve been wanting to try a dual screen set up but have been putting it off, there’s really no reason not to give it a shot.

More advanced set ups can obviously get more complicated, but a second screen is not difficult in most situations.

Disadvantages of Having Multiple Screens:

With all the advantages of having multiple screens, it’s only fair to also look at the potential disadvantages of having more than one screen. Although there are not many of them, they should be considered.

1. More Potential for Distractions

Probably the biggest disadvantage to having more than one screen is the added risk of distractions.

It’s easy enough to get distracted when you’re working with just one screen, and even more so when you add to it. I mentioned the possibility of using the second screen to keep your email or Twitter open all the time.

While this is potentially a good thing for communication purposes, without some resistance to distraction it could also be a productivity killer. It really depends on your workflow and your own personal preferences.

2. Potential Lack of Resources

From a technical perspective, a disadvantage is that the resources of the video card are divided between each display. Depending on your system and what programs you are running, you may notice a difference in performance.

3. Lack of Desk Space

Unfortunately, the amount of available space of a desk can easily be a hindrance when it comes to getting set up for maximum efficiency.

Fortunately, flat panel and LCD monitors take up only a fraction of the space required by monitors of the past. If space is your primary concern, see if you can rearrange your desk to make it feasible, or you could even purchase a larger desk if that is within your control.

4. Cost

If you currently only have a traditional set up, you’ll need to get an additional monitor.

While the cost has come down considerably, it is still a barrier in some situations, especially for those who are uncertain if they would even prefer working with a second screen.

5. Too Much Space

Jeff Atwood of Coding Horor calls it The Large Display Paradox. When using very large monitors you may wind up spending too much time resizing and arranging windows.

This is an issue that you won’t encounter on smaller displays where you tend to work with one maximized window at a time.

What You’ll Need:

Adding a second monitor is pretty straightforward, and we’ll provide some instructions here.

Adding a third (and more) gets a little more tricky and will depend on your setup (see the resources section towards the end of this post).

For adding a second monitor, if you’re working from a desktop computer, you will need a video card that provides ports for two monitors (or you’ll need to buy a second video card). For laptops you will need one port for a monitor (and the laptop screen is the other), which is included on almost all laptops from the past several years. iMacs have a port for a second monitor built-in.

How to Set Up a Second Monitor on Windows Vista:

1 – Connect a second monitor.

2 – Right click on the Desktop.

3 – Click on “Personalize”.

4 – Click on “Display Settings”.

5 – Line up your monitors. In the image below, my primary monitor is on the right. If you want to switch that just click and drag one of the monitors to the other side.

6 – Set the resolution.

7 – Check “Extend the desktop onto this monitor” for the second monitor.

8 – Click “OK”.

Your desktop background should now be duplicated on your second screen and you’ll be able to drag programs to the second screen.

How to Set Up a Second Monitor on a Mac:

1 – Connect a second monitor.

2 – Go to the Apple menu.

3 – Select “System Preferences”.

4 – Select “Displays”.

5 – Select “Arrangement”.

6 – Make sure that “Mirror Displays” is un-checked.

7 – Align your monitors properly by dragging one, or leave them as they are shown (you can also drag them up and down to match the height relative to the actual position).

Showcase of Multi Screen Work Stations:

Now let’s take a look at some multi screen work stations in a real world setting. (For more, please see The Workstations of Popular Websites.) Most of these are examples of very typical multi screen workstations that could by achieved relatively easily. Hopefully this gives you some ideas that may be useful for your own office.

Photo from Aaronage.

Photo from Josh McConnell

Photo from Basajaun

Photo from Feras Hare

Photo from Gubatron

Photo from mloskot

Photo from Paris Apostolopoulos

Photo from nechbi

Ricardo Meza

Photo from Andrew

Photo from Archigeek

Photo from Travis Isaacs

Photo from JacobS

Photo from Tom Borowski

Photo from Enrique T

Photo from Fun with Fred

Photo from Rob ‘n’ Rae

Photo from Graphix Guru

Photo from elliottcable

Photo from XiXiDu

Multi Screen Resources:

While you don’t necessarily need anything extra to get a multi screen set up working (besides an extra monitor of course), there are a number of available resources that can be helpful in one way or another.

UltraMon (Windows)
UltraMon helps to improve efficiency for users of multiple monitors by adding additional options for maximizing screens to the desktop and moving windows. It also adds an additional task bar for each secondary monitor, which only shows tasks from the monitor it is on. There are also a number of other features. A single license costs $39.95.

Matrox Graphics eXpansion Modules
DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go are small devices that help you to connect two or three monitors to a laptop or desktop. They connect to the VGA or DVI output and use your system’s GPU to provide high-quality 2D, 3D and video across all monitors.

PowerStrip
PowerStrip provides advanced, multi-monitor, programmable hardware support to a wide range of graphics cards. PowerStrip is try-before-you-buy shareware. You can download it and try it for free, and pay $29.95 for a single-user license.

Multiplicity
Multiplicity lets you control multiple computers with a single mouse and keyboard. You can easily move files from one computer to another, or even copy and paste. The cost of a license starts at $29.95.

Synergy
Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems, each with its own display, without special hardware. It’s intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own monitor(s). It is open source and available as a free download.

Hack Attack: Control Multiple Computers with a Single Keyboard and Mouse
An article from Lifehacker about using Synergy.

Teleport (Mac)
Teleport lets you control several Macs with a single keyboard and mouse. It works basically the same as a typical dual screen set up, except that it uses two (or more) computers instead of one.

Multi-Monitor FAQ
If you have questions about the topic, or if you’re having trouble getting set up, this FAQ can prove to be a helpful resource.

For Further Reading and Research:

• Virtues of a Second Screen
• Multi-Monitor on Wikipedia
• How Do I Set Up Dual Monitors in Windows Vista
• How to Set Up a Multi Monitor Display on a Mac
• How to Set Up Two Monitors
• Does More Than One Monitor Improve Productivity?

Written exclusively for WDD by Steven Snell, a web designer and freelance blogger. You can find more of his writing at the Vandelay Design blog and DesignM.ag.

Do you use multiple screens in your work? What are the major advantages for you? Please share with us in the comments’ area below…

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