Notes

Scrollbars Through History

Three decades of scrollbars in one handy PNG. What’s interesting to note are how similar (though differently handled) the beginning and end points are.

Beginning with Xerox Star’s flat, utterly two-dimensional abstraction, the journey of scrollbars through history is a parabola of progressive extension into three dimensionality, reaching an apogee of 2001’s candy bar Mac OS X with its shiny, blue depth, before returning to the flatness of Mac OS X Lion’s restrained, once again monochromatic approach.

A fascinating journey and one which, in a microcosm, shows the evolution of UI thinking over the years.

[Via Mr Gruber.]

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The Periodical

The most recent entries in the Periodical and Reviews sections:

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The Authors

In addition to their role as lecturers in interactive design at the University of Ulster at Belfast, where they have been active in promoting a web standards-based curriculum, Christopher Murphy and Nicklas Persson are practicing designers and digital artists. Their work has featured in a variety of design books and magazines alongside numerous internationally respected designers and they are regular speakers at design conferences and workshops worldwide.

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