Introducing Slack.design and Opentable.design

Introducing Slack.design and Opentable.design

I’ve previously written about major brands combining .design domains with their Medium publications to create stand alone sites focused on their internal design processes. This is perhaps the easiest and most professional way to create a design blog that builds the breadth and personality of a brand rather than just glom on an existing .com site.

We’ve already seen this on npr.design, booking.design and medium.design itself. These sites function as designer recruiting and content channels much like uber.design and facebook.design but are not built with the same intensive web design and presentation work. All they require is a Medium publication, a .design domain name, and a onetime fee to Medium to connect the two.

The new sites we’ve recently come across are opentable.design and slack.design.

Dropbox Unveils Its New Brand Design On Dropbox.design

Dropbox Unveils Its New Brand Design On Dropbox.design

Yesterday, Dropbox unveiled its new brand design on dropbox.design. It’s the biggest change to the Dropbox brand in its 10-year history, and the shift is dramatic. The accompanying .design site gave them a platform to fully present the change and explain the strategic reasons and aesthetic choices behind the relaunch.

Instead of their flagship blue box logo, Dropbox is trying out a whole new range of colors which change depending on which part of the page the user has scrolled to. They explain how this array of color options allows them to keep the normal, recognized blue dropbox logo for when people are using their product, and employ other colors for other occasions.

Uber.design Site, Personalizing Their Design Department

Uber.design Site, Personalizing Their Design Department

We might as well start with the elephant in the ride-share, Uber has had no shortage of PR issues recently. I do not know exactly when Uber launched the site uber.design to showcase various aspects of its design work and team but I found it during the last bout of negative headlines.

Maybe it was launched to personalize a team that has felt under siege, to showcase the things they’re doing right and the diverse group of people that contribute to their enviable and unmatched growth! If it wasn’t launched for this purpose, it’s hard to not see it in this light now.

Looking Back, SND Charlotte

Looking Back, SND Charlotte

It’s hard to believe that the Society of News Design’s annual workshop ran nearly a month ago. I’ve attended two other design exhibitions since then and am about to embark on another two city tour.

For all the design conferences, exhibitions and events that I attend, SND Charlotte: UNITE + REBEL struck me as very special, some quick thoughts:

  • SND is a tight-knit community unlike any I had ever been welcomed into. This was not a ‘conference’ or an ‘expo’ or anything too big to be navigable and useful. This was an intimate workshop to advance the profession and individual careers of news designers. Their focus on inviting and sponsoring the participation of students is admirable. The level of work put in by its volunteers is astounding. I heard from many leaders of the conference that they owe their careers and passion to SND. Wow. The participation and enthusiasm of this group is such a powerful endorsement of SND as an association.