Over the past few months we’ve had to create a few iPhone mock ups for presentations. The problem we’ve encountered is the lack of resources to help us design something efficiently. Up until now we’ve used a nice PSD from 320480.com but we still found ourselves having to build out additional assets or heavily modifying bitmap based buttons and widgets.

Since we know we’ll be doing more of this, we created our own Photoshop file that has a fairly comprehensive library of assets – all fully editable.

Download it here: iPhone_GUI.zip (6.6MB)

Version 1.2 now available

• Changes to layer names to better reflect names from Interface Builder
• Added progress view
• Added activity indicator
• Added page control
• Added smoked glass menu
• Added phone keypad
• Added on call menu

Industrial product design can be a frustrating thing. Tens of years and millions of dollars can go to waste in a failed concept or prototype. The risk however is shadowed by the reward when you start thinking about the possible outcomes – saving lives, energy or time for starters.

A side benefit of product design is that its successes (and failures) can be used to heavily influence what we do as designers in the digital realm. (And, of course, our R&D costs are usually much, much lower.)

Here’s three innovative product designs that have caught our eye over the last couple of weeks.

Athletic Innovation

No surprise that with the Olympics going on Nike, a company we championed in our UX Fund, has been unveiling a slew of products that are aimed at improving comfort, speed, durability and material reduction. The Nike Lunar Racer, weighing a little more than a new iPhone, is a perfect example of product innovation. It’s a light, comfortable, stylish shoe made for marathon runners. It doesn’t seem like much but perhaps that’s because we’ve become so accustomed to Nike making strides in shoe design like this so frequently. (Note: Resident designer/sneaker freak/shutterbug Greg Washington will be in New York for the 21 Mercer St. Nike Sportswear Store launch, so hopefully we’ll find out more about the Lunar Racers in a later post.)

Electronic Innovation

OLED-based screens are paving the way for a world where the surface is the light (think a screen without a projector). Currently even our most powerful LCD screens are backlit. A luminous surface promises to be brighter and use less energy than any lighting technology we currently use in displays.

Transportation Innovation

Bombardier is in the process of constructing newly designed subway cars for the TTC that have improvements in everything from ergonomics to way-finding to accessibility (not all unrelated of course). They won’t save lives but they’ll certainly improve the quality of life for all commuters.

I know these examples are just a drop in the bucket. If you’ve been inspired by industrial product design lately, post a comment below.

Update: I can’t believe I didn’t link up to the Objectified site. Objectified – the new film from Helvetica’s Gary Huswit – focuses on industrial design and inspiration from a product designers perspective. The site includes a great ‘Objectify Me’ category that features designers discussing a favorite object of theirs, like Marian Bantjes and her toothbrush.

22 year-old (!) Ian Wharton is certainly a talent to admire/inspire. His slick portfolio contains clean, imaginative, award-winning designs that have definitely caught our eye.

Our friend, Peter Rivera at AOL, nails it in this post about getting the details right.

We are currently seeking a motivated, hands-on web developer to help our front-end development group on a 3 month contract to full time permanent employment. Developers are involved throughout our process and are encouraged to work through ideas and solutions with the entire design team.

Required experience:

• 5+ years development experience
• Expert hands-on knowledge of XHTML,CSS, Javascript, AJAX, XML
• Experience translating comps and wireframes into flexible and usable code templates
• Knowledge of developing cross platform/browser compatibility for dynamic web applications
• Adherence to web standards and object oriented programming
• Experience with source/version control software is a plus
• Self-motivated, and able to multi-task
• Build a technology practice to support the work being done in both the programs and platforms sides of the business
• Work with T+L processes and methodologies that deliver quality work
• Work with clients and third party technology groups to deliver great work
• Work with Dev team internally to create and deliver great work
• Must be available to work/commute to downtown Toronto

Desirable:

• Experience with Flash
• Experience with Javascript frameworks
• Experience with server technologies bonus (PHP, MySQL)

What’s different about working at Teehan+Lax

We focus exclusively on front end user experience design for the digital channel. There are no technical build teams, no offline divisions. Everyone you’ll be working with desires to create best in breed online user experiences. In fact, 90% of the staff here hold creative positions. That means no Account Managers, no Managing Directors, no Business Analysts. We maintain very little hierarchy. There are two roles at Teehan+Lax: Partners and Associates. The people with the right skills are put on the right projects. We’re small and nimble. There are no pitch teams, no “B” teams. All of our staff work directly with our clients, so if a client has a question that relates to IA they’ll speak to the Associate or Partner who worked on it – not an account manager.

How to apply
If you’re talented, smart, hard-working and dedicated, we’ll enable you to do the best work of your career.

Send us a resume and portfolio of your work to “jobs [at] teehanlax [dot] com”. Suitable candidates will be contacted promptly.