Challis Hodge’s UXblog

For those of you who have known me for a while you’ve no doubt heard me on my soapbox lecturing about the distinction between art and design. Simply put, Design is a creative problem solving discipline whereby we solve problems for a particular group of people, more often than not,  in the interest of furthering a business interest.

Andy Rutledge has written a nice piece over on A List Apart titled On Creativity. He does a great job at teasing out some of the same issues as he challenges and defines creativity. Great piece of work Andy!

Speaking of wonderful experiences, take a look at the most beautiful work presented on this Japanese web site.

There are some toys for sale on the site. I don’t read Japanese however I’m guessing the items labeled as craft (such as the ones above) are not for sale. Either way they’re too beautiful to be called crafts!

Launched near the end of 2006 as ArtistsOnline, ArtFlock is an online marketplace for people to buy and sell artwork. ArtFlock offers some interesting community features that make sense.

With ArtFlock, users can display or sell their art, and visitors can browse through collections, artists, and events. ArtFlock can be used to sell craftwork as well, such as jewelry. Visitors can rate art without having to be a registered member. Full members can save others’ artwork to their own galleries, much like a favorites list. ArtFlock offers both free and premium accounts for sellers, which differ mainly in the ways an artist can leverage the ArtFlock community to earn more money.