Matt Gemmell gives a very good overview of design ideas that should be used for iPad applications. I love how these come together to create interfaces that seem natural to use and not overwhelming. These to me are what makes the iPad itself compelling. When it is released, I hope it will live up to my expectations in this area.

I have always loved the idea of modelling real buildings, but this is really exciting. The easier it is to model individual buildings, the more scalable it is to model all of the more populated areas in the world.

Clever little website. Does one thing simple and well.

So yesterday afternoon was the season finale of Layer Tennis which is a design contest put on by Coudal Partners. The concept is that two artists take turns editing an image, volleying it back and forth. Meanwhile, a commentator writes some thoughts about each volley. The results are usually interesting.

Yesterday was no exception, in part because there were two matches happening simultaneously. There was Glass vs. Inman with commentary by John Gruber and Koxvold vs. Hutchinson with commentary by Rosecrans Baldwin.

I loved that both matches played off of each other, borrowing material and themes. But I’d have to say that my favorite match of the whole season was Glass vs. Inman. Each volley had strength on its own. It both started and finished strong. And the commentary by John Gruber was most excellent. I especially loved his comparison of the juice glass with R2-D2. Spot on.