designer

News Byte

Zynga Lead Game Designer Departs for Idle Games

Lauren Goode in News on March 2 at 9:57 am PT

Michael McCormick, a 20-year game industry veteran and Zynga’s lead game designer on CityVille, is leaving the company to become director of game design at San Francisco-based start-up Idle Games, creators of upcoming Facebook game Idle Worship. The move comes on the heels of the departure of Zynga ad exec Manny Anekal to join Kiip, a mobile games rewards company, as chief operating officer.

Fab.com Acquires FashionStake After Seven Months of Rapid Growth

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 13 at 6:00 am PT

Fab.com, a New York-based flash sales site known for selling home decor, apparel and other items from independent designers, has acquired FashionStake.

Fast Company Pops Onto the Flash Sales Scene for Designer Edition

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on September 14, 2011 at 6:02 am PT

Fast Company is not just writing about the U.S.-designed items featured in next month’s edition of the magazine. It’s selling them.

Quoi? France's Big Flash Sales Site Vente-Privee Signs Joint Venture With American Express to Enter U.S.

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on May 12, 2011 at 7:00 am PT

Vente-privee.com, a French-owned flash sales site with about 13 million members and more than $1 billion in European sales, is forming a joint venture with American Express to enter the U.S. market.

Finding the Scale of the Rest of the World Lacking, Early Designer Rejoins Facebook

Liz Gannes in Social on February 14, 2011 at 5:00 am PT

Aaron Sittig, who left Facebook after being the company’s lead designer for five years, is now back at the mother ship, having rejoined in January with the title “product architect.”

Custom Shoe Site Milk & Honey Gets Tripped Up After TV Spot

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on February 2, 2011 at 11:20 am PT

Milk & Honey, a Web site started by two sisters that lets women design their own shoes, is back online today after its business came to a screeching halt after making a rare appearance on E! News.

QOTD: Sculley on Steve Jobs and Success by Design

“The thing that separated Steve Jobs from other people like Bill Gates–Bill was brilliant too, but Bill was never interested in great taste. He was always interested in being able to dominate a market. He would put out whatever he had to put out there to own that space. Steve would never do that. Steve believed in perfection….When I think about different kinds of CEOs–CEOs who are great leaders, CEOs who are great turnaround artists, great deal negotiators, great people motivators–but the great skill that Steve has is he’s a great designer. Everything at Apple can be best understood through the lens of designing.”

– John Sculley, one-time CEO of Apple, offers his insights into the secrets of Steve Jobs’s success in a long interview with “Cult of Mac” author Leander Kahney.

News Byte

A New Role at Google for Marissa Mayer: Location, Local Services

Beth Callaghan in News on October 12, 2010 at 11:00 am PT

Marissa Mayer, designer and developer of Google’s iconic search product–and, as its first female engineer, an icon herself–will be taking a new role overseeing location and local services for the company, according to an email statement. As vice president of search products, Mayer introduced more than 100 products and features, and expanded the site to over 100 languages.

Voices

Almost Famous: Ben Zotto of Cocoa Box Design

Drake Martinet, Intern, All Things Digital in News on May 28, 2010 at 12:05 pm PT

This week, we coffee’d at Coupa Cafe on the Stanford University campus to interview Ben Zotto. He’s the mind behind Cocoa Box Design, the app company responsible for Penultimate, a sleeper hit at the iPad App Store. Ben is developing popular software that is just a little outside of Apple CEO Steve Jobs’s vision for his “magical” device. That doesn’t seem to bother Zotto though.

More Stuff You Won’t See on Tablet Day: Condé Nast Magazines

Peter Kafka in Media on January 25, 2010 at 10:22 am PT

I got a great glimpse of the future of magazines last week. It’s the March issue of Wired, transformed into a digital edition that takes full advantage of the Apple tablet we’re going to see on Wednesday. But you’re not going to be able to buy a tabletized Wired for some time: Condé Nast, like most would-be Apple media partners, simply doesn’t know that much about the device yet.