Blogs I'm Glad to Have Discovered in 2009
Saturday, January 2, 2010
One more looking-back post, my third annual round-up of the new-to-me blogs that inspired me most in 2009. (2008 Edition, 2007 Edition)
Most of my best ideas and inspiration come from other people and sites around the web. If it wasn't for these sites...
Mag.ma - Must Watch
Mag.ma is a new video aggregating and tracking tool. The site is monitoring all of the most popular video sites and bubbling up the hottest clips. This is my new favorite source for staying on top of the videos that everyone across the internet is talking about and sharing.
LiveJournal - Oh No They Didn't and All Things Amazing
As we spend so much time looking for the next new site and following each other from one buzz-site of the week to another, it's easy to forget about a platform and community like LiveJournal. LJ turned 10 years old in 2009, and is still going as strong as ever. These are two of LJ's most successful blogs.
Oh No They Didn't is a celebrity gossip blog. It gets as much traffic as Perez Hilton. But, instead of being an oozing pool of bile and schadenfreude, it's kinda sweet and a lot nerdy. It's the celebrity gossip blog for people who identify more with geek fandom and the Comic-Con crowd than with the TMZ crowd.
All Things Amazing is the site where all my favorite Tumblr photo blogs find their most bizzarre and beautiful vintage photos. Often verging on the NSFW, the blog has an incredible abundance of vintage photography and other art images. This blog never fails to amaze me with the breadth and strangeness of the images posted (it's almost like a sophisticated art-y version of 4Chan).
The Selvedge Yard
This is my other favorite new photography blog. The Selvedge Yard combines carefully curated collections of classic photography organized around a particular slice of historic culture. Some of my favorites: Kiss Fans, Dorothea Lange: The Great Depression, Nashville Portraits Part 1 and Part 2, The Bird, The Finger, The Legend, and Sinatra.
The Whoa
This is a dude site that occasionally posts NSFW pictures of sexy women with bikes. But it also brings the LOLs with a healthy dose of funny images and videos, e.g.:
I spent the last year paring down the number of industry/digital marketing blogs that I was reading, because I felt like I was getting a little lost in the echo chamber. But, 3 new blogs made the cut and consistently challenged me with provocative discussions and insightful commentary on how digital technology is changing our world.
BBH Labs: The innovative underbelly of a global advertising superpower, responsible for some of the great new work you've seen for Google Chrome. Some of the brightest minds in the industry, together on one blog.
Made By Many: A small digital agency based in London with a heavy focus on designing for communities and social interactions. I felt like they're one of the few groups of people out there who are asking the tough questions about the social space.
and
Rick Liebling: Someone who's earned a great following and reputation over the past year by being generous with both his link love and his own smart thinking. Rick's blog is a consistant source for some of the most comprehensive and eye-opening discussions about the most complex aspects of how things are changing.
Flowing Data
Lastly, I spent more time than ever this year mired in data. We have so much data, and it's hard to make sense of it all. Flowing Data is an excellent source for both data design inspiration and very well informed critique. It's more than just a great author, but an entire community of people who take data very seriously and hold other people's work to a very high standard. If you want to step up your information design skills, then start reading this blog religiously.
What were your favorite new-to-you blogs of 2009? Link 'em up in the comments.
Most of my best ideas and inspiration come from other people and sites around the web. If it wasn't for these sites...
Mag.ma - Must Watch
Mag.ma is a new video aggregating and tracking tool. The site is monitoring all of the most popular video sites and bubbling up the hottest clips. This is my new favorite source for staying on top of the videos that everyone across the internet is talking about and sharing.
LiveJournal - Oh No They Didn't and All Things Amazing
As we spend so much time looking for the next new site and following each other from one buzz-site of the week to another, it's easy to forget about a platform and community like LiveJournal. LJ turned 10 years old in 2009, and is still going as strong as ever. These are two of LJ's most successful blogs.
Oh No They Didn't is a celebrity gossip blog. It gets as much traffic as Perez Hilton. But, instead of being an oozing pool of bile and schadenfreude, it's kinda sweet and a lot nerdy. It's the celebrity gossip blog for people who identify more with geek fandom and the Comic-Con crowd than with the TMZ crowd.
All Things Amazing is the site where all my favorite Tumblr photo blogs find their most bizzarre and beautiful vintage photos. Often verging on the NSFW, the blog has an incredible abundance of vintage photography and other art images. This blog never fails to amaze me with the breadth and strangeness of the images posted (it's almost like a sophisticated art-y version of 4Chan).
The Selvedge Yard
This is my other favorite new photography blog. The Selvedge Yard combines carefully curated collections of classic photography organized around a particular slice of historic culture. Some of my favorites: Kiss Fans, Dorothea Lange: The Great Depression, Nashville Portraits Part 1 and Part 2, The Bird, The Finger, The Legend, and Sinatra.
The Whoa
This is a dude site that occasionally posts NSFW pictures of sexy women with bikes. But it also brings the LOLs with a healthy dose of funny images and videos, e.g.:
I spent the last year paring down the number of industry/digital marketing blogs that I was reading, because I felt like I was getting a little lost in the echo chamber. But, 3 new blogs made the cut and consistently challenged me with provocative discussions and insightful commentary on how digital technology is changing our world.
BBH Labs: The innovative underbelly of a global advertising superpower, responsible for some of the great new work you've seen for Google Chrome. Some of the brightest minds in the industry, together on one blog.
Made By Many: A small digital agency based in London with a heavy focus on designing for communities and social interactions. I felt like they're one of the few groups of people out there who are asking the tough questions about the social space.
and
Rick Liebling: Someone who's earned a great following and reputation over the past year by being generous with both his link love and his own smart thinking. Rick's blog is a consistant source for some of the most comprehensive and eye-opening discussions about the most complex aspects of how things are changing.
Flowing Data
Lastly, I spent more time than ever this year mired in data. We have so much data, and it's hard to make sense of it all. Flowing Data is an excellent source for both data design inspiration and very well informed critique. It's more than just a great author, but an entire community of people who take data very seriously and hold other people's work to a very high standard. If you want to step up your information design skills, then start reading this blog religiously.
What were your favorite new-to-you blogs of 2009? Link 'em up in the comments.
1 Comments:
Hey Mike,
Nice list. Ditto on BBH Labs. I would add:
* Ben Casnocha (travelogue, politics, books reviews, etc.)
* Lefsetz Letter (music)
* The Ad Contrarian (no B.S. advertising critique)
* The Frontal Cortex (psychology + pop culture)
* The Last Psychiatrist (psychology + pop culture)
* Umair Haque (economics made interesting)
* Matt Daniels (mostly online marketing)
Also, I just discovered Bitly.TV. Check it out as an alternative to Mag.ma
-- Dennis Demori
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