9 ms·
Microsoft hires designer behind "The Next Microsoft", Andrew Kim
- jongold 14y agoBeen following Andrew for years; this is great news. For those of you who only know him for the Microsoft branding I highly recommend you read the rest of his blog. I think he's the most promising industrial designer of our generation; the next Ive/Rams.
- jkat 14y agoLink to "The Next Microsoft": http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/2012/7/3/the-next-microsoft.html http://www.minimallyminimal.com/blog/2012/7/3/the-next-micro... And its HN comments: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4195208 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4195208
- mynameishere 14y agoBleh. Something inherently unappealing about rhomboids, especially when they're framing photographs.
- Luyt 14y agoAlso, the dot on the 'i' is missing.
- tripzilch 14y agoThanks! I wonder why he didn't just link it in the blog article. Your comment should be more towards the top, I just had to spend a few minutes clicking around his site to get to that article. To Mr.Minimal: The archive link only shows last month, so I had to hover the subtly-bolded numbers in the calendar box to be able to browse older titles and hope for the best ... I feel like I must have missed some completely obvious way to navigate your blog? (edit: the above remark is intended as constructive criticism--I tried my best wording it as such, but reading it back, that maybe didn't quite come out right)
- bbx 14y agoDesigners often come up with such kinds of "unsolicited advice", hoping to get noticed by the big companies, and it's actually the first time I see someone succeeding in this approach (which is a good thing I guess). What strikes me is that he will be working in the Xbox division, which I already consider Microsoft's most coherent and elegant division, marketing-wise. Andrew Kim has come up with a branding concept, but I wish Microsoft would have also considered approaching the guy behind this Windows UI concept: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui-concept http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui... Apart from the fact that it looks gorgeous, I believe it embraced the "flat design"concept in ways that Windows 8 has failed to elaborate.
- dangrossman 14y agoThat's basically a direct rip of the Zune desktop software [1] applied to other apps. Windows Phone distinctly reminds me of the Zune HD UI once you're past the live tiles home screen. If they wanted to do more like that, they would only need to turn to their own people that made it. While Zune failed as a product, its team seemingly inspired everything Microsoft's designed since. 1: http://i.imgur.com/gb2DhNt.jpg http://i.imgur.com/gb2DhNt.jpg
- Tyrant505 14y agoI disagree completely. That looks like an old and dated website and still has loads of unflat.
- dangrossman 14y agoThe Zune software is from 7 years ago, and you can see every element of its design in that blog post (sans-serif typography as UI hierarchy, no title bars, flat minimize/maximize/close buttons, back arrows, neon color bars). It stuck out like a sore thumb against Windows XP and the recently released Windows Vista, yet fits right in with Windows 8 where the exact same elements are used throughout Metro.
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- bstar77 14y agoI thought the best part of his "The next Microsoft" was choice of font for the logo- it has a softness that fits the name perfectly but stands out boldly. I always felt MS' sharp, italicized font was inappropriate. Besides, any move away from italics is a good move, imo. Old font: http://static.squarespace.com/static/50271a61c4aab6c54f9af5ee/5028140ee4b0195d2ee37559/5028140ee4b0195d2ee37f6e/1341178784035/1000w http://static.squarespace.com/static/50271a61c4aab6c54f9af5e... New font: http://static.squarespace.com/static/50271a61c4aab6c54f9af5ee/5028140ee4b0195d2ee37559/5028140ee4b0195d2ee37f70/1341178799513/1000w http://static.squarespace.com/static/50271a61c4aab6c54f9af5e...
- bbx 14y agoMicrosoft actually did update its logo recently: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Microsoft.svg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Microsoft.svg It's not italicized anymore but I prefer the old one, though Andrew's choice of font is nice as well.
- tcdowney 14y agoFor what it's worth, Microsoft has already changed the font of their logo recently: http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2012/08/23/microsoft-unveils-a-new-look.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2012/08/23...
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- huhtenberg 14y agoI think that one thing that Microsoft shouldn't have touched was their wordmark. The symbol - sure, it was a PoS and needed to be replaced, but all these fragile sans-serifs in bleak "friendly" shades of gray really can't hold a candle to this - http://i.imgur.com/Ctu9Aht.jpg http://i.imgur.com/Ctu9Aht.jpg
- forrestthewoods 14y agoPoor kid. I bet he even believes he can make a difference. He's gonna get eaten up and spit out by the behemoth. In a few years he'll be as bitter and jaded as the rest of us. http://www.bonkersworld.net/images/2011.06.27_organizational_charts.png http://www.bonkersworld.net/images/2011.06.27_organizational... When this image came out I saw it posted by over a dozen MS friends (in xbox no less) laughing/crying over how true it was.
- Tyrant505 14y agoOrganizational chart metaphor is priceless.
- untog 14y agoThis is supposedly an MS-produced parody of it's marketing efforts. It's very old now (I think it uses a 1st gen iPod?) but is still worth a laugh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3k Thankfully MS have learnt a lot of lessons since.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- Tyrant505 14y agoHah, as a designer I enjoyed that more than I was expecting... It does raise a lot of questions of methodology and bureaucracy.
- andraconda 14y agoThe Microsoft you speak of is the one that existed a decade ago. It has changed significantly in recent years. Its the one leading the design with skeumorphic layouts. Has some of the coolest products out there. They may not be financial success, but very well designed.
- Centigonal 14y ago
- mtgx 14y agoOh, so this is that marketing guy? I wasn't too impressed the first time around. I didn't think his changes would make that much of a difference or actually turn Windows 8 into a big success. When I first read this headline, I thought they hired that guy who remade how their desktop should actually look with the "Metro" design thinking, which was far better than what Microsoft has now. What they have now is basically the Windows 7 Basic theme. They didn't really metrofy anything in it. That's just one of the reasons why Windows 8 looks so incomplete and so disconnected from with its other parts.
- lionspaw 14y agoWhatever you want to say about Microsoft, they have a pretty solid recruiting pitch. The kid is in for a rude awakening once he starts there though.
- pixie_ 14y agoIt's funny how it's so plain to us.
- huhtenberg 14y agoPerhaps he realizes this and goes there not to save the world, but just for a free Xbox :)
- kaze 14y agoMarket a product whichever way you like. If the core engineering is flaky, the product will always be despised.
- doktrin 14y agoI disagree. Take Facebook, Twitter or Wordpress. All succeeded despite their original engineering - not because of it.
- onlyup 14y agoI've always thought Facebook has been awesome. In my experience of the web, they were one of the first websites I used daily that pushed that much ajax.. and I loved it.
- rednukleus 14y agoWhat do you think is wrong with the xbox core engineering (the division he is going into), and why do you think it's despised? Or is this just blind MS hate?
- Zuider 14y agoThe xbox hardware is notoriously flaky - both the console and the controllers break regularly and have to be replaced. Unlike the PC, it is not easy to open up and fix - you need a veritable constellation of star keys and various other tools and special training. If the xbox hardware was as robust as the casing there would be no problem at all.
- ricardobeat 14y agoDoes he mean to say Apple has also approached him (products I like, fanboy)? That could be Google too, would make much more sense.
- ameen 14y agoHe interned a summer at Google, so it's quite possible that he had been approached by them.
- ameen 14y agoI've been following Andrew Kim since 2010 (since his HTC Concept). Andrew's designs and general design sense has always inspired me. Looking forward to great things from Andrew.
- Roybatty 14y agoWhy is this dude important? Because he's asian or something? Crytek 4, Frostbite 3 is what we want for next gen?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- woah 14y agoWow, new ads.
- dakimov 14y agoI am surprised that his concept totally sucks. Both the font work and the logo. They are so utterly bad, that even I, being just an amateur designer, clearly see how it is bad and where it is bad, and even I could probably make something much better. Apparently, this is the reason why he was hired, as Microsoft is firmly set on the course of sucking. (By the way, a note for the straightforward thinking folks: the fact that this particular design sucks does not mean the guy is not talented or promising, especially given his young age.)
- runn1ng 14y agoYou suck! And so does your family! Yes, this is not a useful post. Neither is yours.
- dakimov 14y agoIs life hard for you, a retarded guy? What's so beautiful about this... "community" is that a nonconforming opinion is downvoted, while a direct rude offense is OK.
- runn1ng 14y agoBecause that what your comment sounded like. "Microsoft sucks and this guy sucks and I can tell it because I can." (I personally know nothing about you, of course.)
- dakimov 14y agoI did not say the guy sucked, I said his design sucked, and it does indeed. And Microsoft's recent approach to design sucks as well, the new Windows logo is a 90 degrees rotated trash can. That was my personal opinion, I just write what I see and how I feel, I wouldn't downvote the folks who greeted the design, because it's their opinion (probably based on the lack of taste, but that's their own business). All of that weren't personal offenses to anyone, but your comment was. I can say 'Dude, your design sucks' to my best friend, and it doesn't concern my respect to them in any way. Even geniuses sometimes make crap, especially when they learn. What's so special about this? Are you a bunch of fanatics here to go beat and burn anyone who's got opinion different from yours?
- chucknelson 14y agoInspirational. While I don't always like Kim's work, I admire how he kept putting his work out there, and it paid off.
- kmfrk 14y agoAndrew Kim was going to get hired by one of the big companies sooner or later. He's just so ridiculously talented that it had to happen eventualy.
- chris_wot 14y agoI hope that he shows how to do design without skeumorphics. Worst thing Steve Jobs ever gave us.
- argimenes 14y agoThe guy talks about himself in the same breathless manner as Apple's marketing. Hubris comes to mind ...