Part of being a designer, and part of this class, is keeping tabs on the industry and current trends. One of the best ways to do this is via a RSS news aggregator (RSS reader). One of your first assignments will be to get yourself a RSS reader and fill it with some feeds that I have pre-selected.

Online RSS readers
Online RSS readers have the advantage of allowing you to check your feeds from any machine that has internet access. Think of this as the equivalent to web-based email (gmail, Hotmail, etc.). Some great free services are listed below:

Google Reader
Bloglines (and handy write-up on Bloglines)

Standalone RSS apps
If you use primarily one computer day in and day out, a standalone RSS reader might fit the bill. Think of this like your desktop email application (Mail.app or Outlook).

Windows:
RSS Bandit (requires the .NET framework -whatever that means)
RSSOwl

Mac:
Vienna (my app of choice)
NetNewsWire Lite (don’t bother with the paid version)

Don’t like these options? There are many more so feel free to go find the one the fits your needs. Long story short: you’re adults, so go figure this stuff out.

Step one is to add this site so you can keep up with things I post for you during the week. Step two is to add at least the following sites to your feed reader and keep track of them:

• hicksdesign.co.uk - Jon Hicks, new media designer from England
• Authentic Boredom - Utah’s own (and best damn designer) Cameron Moll
• Jason Santa Maria - Graphic Designer living in Philadelphia, PA
• Veerle - Graphic Designer from Belgium
• Andy Budd - co-owner of Clearleft, a web design consultancy founded in Brighton, England

I’ll add other people and sites as the semester moves on.

You will be responsible for keeping tabs on the sites and their articles during the week. Anything relevant postings to these sites (this site included) is fair game for class discussion/quizes/tests/etc. Be prepared.