A while back I posted a link to a site that provides a highly detailed view of Paris. Now, along the same lines, is a site devoted to the city of Dubai with even more detail.

This panorama composed of 4,250 individual shots allows the user to zoom in to an amazing degree. There is also a nice description of the method the photographer used to capture the images.

Although I don’t think Dubai is nearly as interesting as Paris I definitely killed a few minutes looking around on this site.

There have been some really amazing photos of the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland. In case you’ve missed them, a few can be found on this site.

I find the ones with lighting particularly beautiful but all of them are pretty spectacular.

If you love Paris or cityscapes, you’ll love the Paris 26 Gigapixels website. The site provides an amazing view of the city, allowing you to pan around and zoom in to many parts of the landscape. A navigation panel on the bottom right links you to the “20 Most Beautiful Paris Monuments.”

Just a warning. I’ve already spent too many minutes of my day drooling over the city and wishing I could go back. I think I could spend hours on this site. Enjoy.

I came across a great website on Twitter today. Where We Design showcases design spaces from studios and agencies around the world.

I’ve been having a lot of fun browsing the photos of where other graphic designers work. Stuff like this really gets me motivated to make my own space more creative (still need to get around to hanging a couple things on the wall).

One of my favorites is this one in Tulsa, OK. I love the way the conference room is placed in the middle of everything and even raised up off of the floor a little.

In my design work, I’ve found that the state of my work area affects both my productivity and my creativity. For creativity I keep a lot of inspirational products, mailers, magazines, etc. around that I can browse when I need inspiration. I’ve also found that keeping my desk free from too much clutter helps me stay calm and productive. The messier my desk is the more stressed out I become.

What’s important to you in your workspace?

I’m on Twitter most every day for a significant portion of the day. My primary reason for being on Twitter is to keep an ear to the design community both so that I can stay up-to-date with design trends and so that I can find inspiration. Much of the inspiration I find on Twitter would probably be interesting to readers of this site so I’ve decided to pass some of it along.

This first post has nothing to do with graphic design but is still pretty awesome. Check out this video of an underwater explosion and just imagine being on that boat. Enjoy.

It seems that Microsoft has found, and is exploiting Apple’s weakness. It’s long been argued that Apple computers are overpriced. I happen to disagree with that opinion, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the perceived imbalance in value and the Laptop Hunter ads exploit that perfectly.

In case you haven’t seen the ads, they show someone looking for a new computer to fit a certain budget. The shopper glances at the Macs but deems them too expensive and settles on a PC. (View Ads) These ads seem to be quite effective. As a recent AdAge article points out, Apple’s value perception has fallen while Microsoft’s has risen.

The funny thing about all of this is that Apple seems to be afraid that the ads are working. Wired recently reported that Microsoft COO Kevin Turner recently said that he got a call from Apple telling them to stop running the ads. For now, Microsoft just seems to be emboldened by the response from Apple and doesn’t plan to stop running the ads anytime soon. And whey should they? The ads seem to be working perfectly.

It seems that Microsoft has found, and is exploiting Apple’s weakness. It’s long been argued that Apple computers are overpriced. I happen to disagree with that opinion, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is the perceived imbalance in value and the Laptop Hunter ads exploit that perfectly.

In case you haven’t seen the ads, they show someone looking for a new computer to fit a certain budget. The shopper glances at the Macs but deems them too expensive and settles on a PC. (View Ads) These ads seem to be quite effective. As a recent AdAge article points out, Apple’s value perception has fallen while Microsoft’s has risen.

The funny thing about all of this is that Apple seems to be afraid that the ads are working. Wired recently reported that Microsoft COO Kevin Turner recently said that he got a call from Apple telling them to stop running the ads. For now, Microsoft just seems to be emboldened by the response from Apple and doesn’t plan to stop running the ads anytime soon. And whey should they? The ads seem to be working perfectly.

After being contacted by a potential new client, and before we meet with them we develop and outline our initial thoughts, impressions and feelings about the new client. We’ll learn all we can from printed collateral, Google and social media searches and word of mouth, the standard ways in which a potential customer might learn about the company. This early process can be as valuable as what we learn from the client because we’re coming at it from the same point of view as most customers.

Before we speak with the new client about their company and goals, we think it’s valuable to learn what we can without that inside information. This lets us think like a customer. This process allows us to form opinions about the client’s product and brand and then later see how those opinions match up with their intended brand and goals. Ideally our initial impression will be similar to what the client is intending but occasionally there can be a disparity. In these cases we’ll work with the client to determine how we can bring the perceived brand more in line with branding goals.

What do you think? Have you spent time evaluating your brand from the point of view of the customer? What value do you think that could bring?

This will be a brief post but I just wanted to mention a tool that I’ve been using for a while and has become invaluable. If you’re like me you would be lost without your to do list. I’ve tried several different methods of keeping track of my projects and by far the best I’ve found is Things from Cultured Code. Things is available for the Mac and the iPhone (sorry Windows users) and is very reasonably priced for such a robust application.

The interface is very simple to use and quick to learn. You can keep things easy with a simple itemized to do list or add further functionality using tags and organizing tasks into projects. Tasks can be scheduled for a future date and will appear at the time you specify. You can set up repeating to dos and even search through all of your tasks.

For me the best part of Things is the way it so easily syncs with my iPhone. Due to limitations from Apple it can’t sync through iTunes and must be synced over a wifi connection but this can actually keep things quick and easy as long as you are on a wireless network.

I recommend taking a look at the Things web site and reading some of the other reviews, you’ll see that I’m not alone in my recommendation.

Please note that I have not been compensated to write this review in any way. I’ve paid full-price for the Things apps, I just wanted to post this review since Things has proven so invaluable to me.