Sometimes I get jealous about all the fun tech people seem to have, what will their creatin' stuff and problem solvin'. The latest object of my jealousy is a project run by Yahoo called the Design Pattern Library, which houses design patterns intended to "describe[] an optimal solution to a common problem within a specific context." I'm finding myself wondering if it doesn't have some lessons to teach about knowledge sharing in the political world. With the warning that my thoughts on this are still in the formation process, let me suggest why.

The purpose of the Design Pattern Library is simple: to offer up models for good ways of solving user interface challenges on the web. For example, one of the more popular patterns is called Vote to Promote, which is more or less the Digg model. For every pattern in the library, four elements are detailed: title, problem, context, and solutions. When it comes to this voting model, the pattern notes why a developer might want to use the tool and some design considerations, such as the need to build a sizable enough community to make the differences between vote totals meaningful. The pattern also provides notes on how to indicate popularity and to make sure that users have actually read/watched/listened to what they're rating. There's also a discussion of how users might try to game the system, and how to foil those attempts.

Why would Yahoo! give away for free what they've learned about pattern design? To get feedback on their own products from the development community. To improve the web user experience across the board. To establish the company as a great corporate citizen in the online development world. Because working together is more enjoyable than working alone, and the tech world sees value in having fun.

It's not difficult to see that there are "design patterns" when it comes to both campaigns and governing that would be invaluable if shared. But the way things stand now, we're all left to reinvent the wheel time and again. For example, it would help a new candidate a great deal to have access to a pattern on how to approach engaging with the local blogosphere. Every small advocacy group is left to learn on their own how to get access to legislative information. Why don't some of us in the political world take a leadership role in packaging that knowledge for reuse? I think there's arguably no real need for those chunks of know-how to even be restricted along partisan lines. Google developers are free to make use of Yahoo's patterns, and starting to think in terms of shared "design patterns for politics" could raise the level of the game for everyone. (Photo thx xian)

The other night, American Idol -- yes, I watch, and religiously -- featured a short segment on the Beatles that seemed designed to introduce the band to the AI audience who would otherwise have no idea who the Fab Four were. And judging from the fact that one of the twenty-something contestants actually did a cover of White Snake's version of "Day Tripper," the primer was probably pretty prudent. Anyway, the gist of the clip was that boys from Liverpool weren't just a mere band. They were gamechangers who opened up our minds to new ways that music could be made.

Fast Company has a strong piece up on Barack Obama as a corporate brand. Perhaps not too surprising a spin for a business mag, but I think it's somewhat off. Obama '08 may have all the snazzy logos and consistent typography of a corporate outfit. But I think what's different about his campaign has really been a question of style -- a style that you see in the way his team engages in social networking to the way he debates. His approach to doing a presidential race is different than we've ever seen before. And it's probably safe to say that the way he's demonstrating new ways of playing the game is downright Beatlesque. (Photo thx Dunechaser)

When my aunt-outlaw* was cleaning out her basement last summer she offered me the pick of old books she didn't want anymore. She's an artist and had a number of design books, and I picked out a big, slightly water-stained copy of When Advertising Tried Harder. It was the early 60's, when the rough-around-the-edges new breed of copywriters and designers crashed the gates of Madison Avenue advertising firms. The gray flannel suits were aghast to find non-Ivy League 'ethnics' like Italians, Jews, and Irish in their design meetings. But the advertising that these men and women produced were just obviously better than the old grandiose 50s style ads. It was brash, direct, and tried to say something meaningful. Compare this Oldsmobile "futuramic" ad from 1948 to the Volkswagon "Think Small" campaign of 1959:

If you can find a used copy of When Advertising Tried Harder anywhere, buy it. It's simply excellent.

(*"Outlaws" are the equivalent of inlaws for people who the state doesn't let marry.)

On the same day (yesterday) I went to the Jane Jacob's exhibit at MAS, I read The End of Print about graphic designer David Carson. Carson's known for using typography in innovative ways and mixing type with photographs, illustrations to create gritty and messy work that isn't always entirely legible but still generally manages to convey the meaning of the content. I was inspired. I own several design programs. See above.

The Jane Jacobs' exhibit at the Municipal Arts Society is excellent, both educational and remarkably well designed. In one particularly neat feature, there's a Lucite overlay in front of a window looking out onto the corner of 51st Street and Madison Avenue. They've put up markings on the overlay pointing out practical examples of Jacobs' four principles -- mixed uses, varied buildings, concentration, and frequent streets. I'd put up a picture of it, but all of my photos are stuck on my Mac Book whose AirPort has decided to take this Monday off.

Other highlights include snippy anti-Jacobs letters from Robert Moses and historian Louis Mumford, and a model of LOMEX (Lower Manhattan Expressway) that Jacobs fought against in the 60's.

In 1986, King County, Washington changed its namesake from William Rufus deVane King, former American Vice President and slave owner, to Martin Luther King, Jr. To reflect the county's new focus on diversity, inclusiveness, and progress, they recently hired a design team to come up with a new logo. A fascinating project, and a demonstration of how graphic design is used to create identity as much as it is to reflect it. Much more on it here.

Simple and spare text-only book covers are the new black, people. The cover of Matt Bai's The Argument that we talked about the other day was one example, but I just quickly spotted three more while checking out the front tables of the Chelsea Barnes & Noble. It's a good clean look that puts the focus on the words, where it belongs.

Yep, I'm very into book covers. I'm cool clear down to my bones. Could I possibly be more of a dork? What if I were to, say, be so excited about going to see a documentary about a font tonight that I can hardly stand it?

Our latest adventures in book design brings us to Matt Bai's "The Argument: Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics." I think that the tracking -- the space between the letters -- might be set too high, and that the cerulean blue of the subtitle is somewhat dated. But otherwise it looks just how it should, like the cross between a text book and a manual. "The Argument" is meant to be your essential guide to modern Democratic politics, and that's just what it looks like. Nice job, Matt et al.

With we're on the topic, John Maeda, the associate director of MIT's media lab, explains here his process for designing the most recent cover of Key, the New York Times's guide to real estate you will never, ever be able to afford. (Via J. Kottke.)

Design has been a hobby of mine for a long while. In fact, there was a time in my life, pre-Capitol Hill, where I supported myself by whipping up website mock-ups for a variety of small clients. It was great work (except for the clients). My latest design obsession is book covers. There's a small neighborhood book shop in Park Slope that features an array of books in their front window that I'm pretty sure are picked on the basis of how awesome the covers look. I love to walk over to the shop and study them. I love the colors, the variety of styles, and the way that the designer is forced to work within the four bounded corners of the cover.

Anyway, my very good friend Lindsey (who recently surprised me by saying that she reads the blog so, um, hey Lindsey! You rock.) gave me a book on the cultural history of absinthe for my birthday yesterday. Since I'm not completely sure about the legality of that drink in the U.S., lettttt's just say that we have two very good friends, named Schmancy and Schmindsey, who may or may not be pursuing the importation and subsequent consumption of absinthe. I loved the book, and in particular loved the simple yet striking cover design, which isn't conveyed all that well here, but still looks pretty great.

I admit that the clean and fairly beautiful design of these Trader Joe's herbal shampoo and conditioner is a large part of the reason I bought them, but it turns out that the simple design makes them less useful. The only way to tell them apart is to wipe the suds away from your eyes and attempt to actually read the words on the label. This is minimalism gone too far! The need at least to have some sort of color ring, like the one on the new Target pill bottles. Less attractive, maybe, but also far less annoying.

Opening a fridge seems like a harmless action without consequence. But every time you open that door, you let warm air in and cold air out, changing the temperature inside. So the compressor switches on to compensate, and you've effectively turned on the appliance and engaged in work. Mechalel shabbos - you've desecrated the Sabbath.

The original Toronto subway tile colour scheme was generated by combining a number of background colours with four trim colours...The colours were chosen to discourage rowdy behaviour and loitering rather than for aesthetic reasons. Consequently, they have the institutional quality of hospital or penitentiary walls. For many years, Torontonians grumbled that their subway stations looked like public washrooms. But now, decades later, the remaining designs have become Modernist classics.

A community project called Ninth Avenue Renaissance...proposes the use of on-street parking spaces on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan for barbecues and the like, adding a dose of intrigue to the street scene that will lead motorists to become curious, and slow down. "New York has these sorts of mental speed bumps," said Mr. Kent, of the Project for Public Spaces, "but we've slowly degraded them by designing a more and more frictionless city for fast walkers and fast drivers." But street-level friction, he said, is actually good.

The Nationals and the D.C. Sports & Entertainment Commission wanted a ballpark that was aesthetically "of the city." So for the sides facing the Capitol, the designers chose buff-colored stone typical of Washington's monumental architecture.

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The site's design includes circles (the shape of the stadium) and triangles (the footprint of the Nationals' adjacent admin building) to echo the D.C. street grid created in 1791 by planner Pierre L'Enfant. The good food of Ben's Chili Bowl will also be served on site.

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The cherry trees, a special request by Nationals owner Mark Lerner, are a Washington icon. They'll bloom in early spring, just when baseball season gets under way.

WOW sails to the countries where abortion is illegal. Once docked in harbour, the organisation provides information on family planning, safe sex and abortion. Women who want to have a safe abortion can board the ship and be treated in international waters under Dutch law.