Matt Cohen

Category: Design

Graphic and web design, interesting visual innovations, visual inspiration and conceptual theories from the weird and wonderful world of design.

  • Magic: The Gathering and how to kill product innovation

    Magic: The Gathering and how to kill product innovation

    I’ve been a Magic: The Gathering player for some 25 years and counting. While I don’t currently play actively in competitive Magic tournaments and the like, the game still holds a strong place in my heart, as does the feeling and smell of opening a fresh booster pack of cards (if you know, you know). Over the years I’ve regularly listened to Mark Rosewater’s “Drive to Work” podcast, both for the Magic nostalgia and for the incredible insights this gentleman has into product design and product thinking. When I choose to recognise it, Magic has been a part of what shapes my thinking in my professional career in so many ways.

    I’m also a long-time comic book nerd, not in the collecting sense but in the sense of having a deep love for the characters and their incredible back stories.

    So what on earth are Spongebob and Spider-man doing on Magic cards? I mean, you’d think I’d love this, right? Well, not quite.

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  • GROW Academy Bootcamp 2012

    This week, Jeff and I will be presenting at our second GROW Academy Bootcamp session. We’ll be discussing “Website Design & Development” with the recruits, running through WordPress and how to setup a website using WordPress.com or WordPress.org.

    The GROW Academy is an initiative to educate and empower the youth of today through technology. The Bootcamp session covers everything from social media and setting up e-mail, all the way through to search engine optimisation and an internet super-user course, for those who wish to continue on with more advanced studies. The GROW website’s “About” page (built on Canvas and Canvas BuddyPress by WooThemes) has a detailed explanation of the initiative and it’s founding partners.

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  • What a blog redesign means to me

    Today’s question, folks, is; “What does a blog redesign mean to you?”. Lets dive right in, shall we?

    For me, a blog redesign means quite a lot. It means the opportunity to hone my skills, experiment with new ideas and techniques and put a fresh coat of paint and a new engine behind my blog. Let me elaborate on the paint and engine for a moment.

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  • Obox launches the Obox Theme Store

    Well, guys, launch day is here. The Obox Theme Store is online! After weeks of watching Dave, Marc and Nat at Obox working late nights and early mornings, weekends, public holidays and all other kinds of days imaginable, the launch has happened, the first sale has come and gone and I must say, it’s looking AWESOME!

    For those who haven’t been following the hype marketing campaign for Obox Themes over the past few weeks, Obox Themes is a premium WordPress theme store set up by the team at Obox Design, selling WordPress themes of a premium grade, with extensive additional functionality and keen attention to design detail. The Obox website has had an overhaul as well and now boasts an integrated theme store and support forums for customers.
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  • If content is king, design is queen

    The phrase “content is king” is splashed around so much these days. Content is the “meat and potatoes” of your website, and can be the reason why users return, as well as being one of the core aspects of successfully optimising your website for search engines.

    What about the design then? Does having “good content” render the design of your website unimportant and “obsolete”?

    My answer is “no”.
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  • A quick word on inspiration

    This afternoon, while thinking of what I could write about today, I got to thinking about the concept of inspiration. Where does it come from? How do we channel it? What is it, really?

    I find inspiration to be an enigma. It can come from anything (a walk in the park, your favourite band, a smell in the air) and can be channeled into anything. For me, I’ve discovered that inspiration usually stems from things where I appreciate the quality of the end result; for example, a really slick looking design, really neat and streamlined code that serves an amazing function or a song that makes every vein in my body jump for joy.
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