Moreover, it’s about the new packaging of the OS. This will mark the first time that Apple has actually used a picture of the corresponding animal for box art. Place your peepers on this:

And I’m not really feeling it. In the past, it was the focus on the “X” for the version of OS X (10). In version 10.2 (aka Jaguar), Apple had Pixar created a spotted version of the “X”. Complete with fur textures and patterns of the big kitty. And while granted, this is not a full revamped OS, like previous .1+ upgrades, I do find it strange for them to be focusing on imagery like this. Even box art that uses images (iPods, iPhones, iMacs, etc), they seem to use the images in a more elegant way. I really enjoy the simple and more dynamic layouts that Apple has produced, and I hope this is simply a one-off since this OS is just a retooling and not a revamp, and not the future of Apple’ OS packaging.

So that’s ORANGEHAT’s thoughts. What’s your personally or professional design opinion?

What happens is some websites (even some URL shorteners) take the link you’re sharing, and puts the site in their own (sometimes short) URL in place of the actual URL. Digg is the biggest and newest culprit to this deal, and since everyone else is upset with them, let’s use them as an example. Say something you’ve posted on your site it’s a hit, and someone posts it to Digg.com. If someone from Digg wants to view it, Digg provides them a short URL link like: www.digg.com/1234. The site then has a top header (or frame) and loads the site underneath of that, so you can view what you wanted. You’ve just viewed a framed site.

Here’s the rub though. And there’s two biggies. One: Site traffic is not making it to your site. People finding your article through digg’s short URL, aren’t actually going to your page, but Digg’s. Because of the frame, Digg gets the hits you should be getting. The second thing plays off the first. If you don’t get the hits, you don’t get the ad money from google (if you’re setup) – they do. The other sites are actually the ones making money because their site traffic has increased and then they call sell more ad space. That hurts businesses like us, because we’re trying to drum up traffic, and they get all the credit. It’s turning the internet into a big business: the workers bust ass, but the bosses get and take all the credit. And that’s just not right.

Now this is not to say all URL shorteners are bad – because they’re not. Any Short URL service that serves as a URL redirect (and that’s the key part) is fine. Granted these kind of services still need some work, and services like Twitter should provide their own solutions, but all-in-all, the idea is decent.

This new epidemic is getting out of hand and hurting the places that are serving up the content for these larger sites to share. Daring Fireball has a lot of methods to help let you block sites from using framework (mostly Diggbar, unsure if they work for all).

Fight the Frames. If you see a frame when you click a link – click out of it and get redirected, like you should be, and make sure your traffic counts and gets where it should be. Avoid services that use it whenever possible. Make the internet a safe and speedy place to find information, and let everyone get their share of the pie.

Repeat after me: Frames are bad. Frames are bad.

All together now!: Frames are bad. Frames are….

“Papa” Nike must be watching his “son” closely – “Don’t be late for practice, home by 10, and no talking to strange wildlife creatures!” With that much prominence in a spot, it makes us wonder if Tiger’s name hasn’t been changed to Tiger Nike Woods.

I couldn’t help my but laugh at the way Dodge made the graphic to show the use of this handle. I think the designers had a tad bit of fun with this. Well, let’s just let the picture speak for itself.

I had seen tentative designs for the new Tropicana package design (which the link actually looks better than the end result), and while we were out grocery shopping last weekend, I saw my first batch of them in person. Seen above, you can see the new design compared to the old. There is little merit in the more simplistic layout and look. It does distinguish it slightly from the other packaging around, but it doesn’t do it in the “we’re the best OJ”, but more in the “We look inexpensive”. The new logo is pretty nice – it’s simple and to the point – a cleaned up variation of the old that gets to the core of the logo’s soul. But that’s all the good I could squeeze out… I couldn’t resist the pun.

The focal point of the design is the new cropped glass of orange juice – which you can barely make out. The balance between that, and the rotation of the name of the juice is just…. off. I read “100% orange” before I read the brand of juice, which is a no-no. I’m going to assume that in time people will just recognize the package to be Tropicana, but I feel that’s a bit too far of an assumption. On top of that, the negative space below the logo does little in directing me to the remaining copy at the bottom and is really just a waste. Lastly, and this is the big one, the type of orange juice has become almost an afterthought. Above you saw the old “Light ‘N Healthy” bottle, below you see the “Some Pulp” in comparison to the new bottle. Take a peek, and I’ll meet you under the image.

Ok, now that you’ve seen both images – what do you see in the previous layouts? A very large color bar with easily readable text to help at a very quick glance distinguish which juice variant is which. Now, take a look below and see the difference between the new “Pulp Free” and “High Pulp” bottles… I’m warning you now, it may take a second…

The type is buried in the glass of juice and the only difference is the color of the text. It’s a much smaller font size and almost impossible to notice at a glance. I fear that there will be many little kids (heck even a big kid like me) upset because mom (or dad) made a quick glance and grabbed the wrong pulp’d OJ. What a way to start your morning, with a swig full of the wrong OJ! And as with my grocery store, the bottles easily mixed up, so you could have a “Pulp Free” in a “High-Pulp” area, and now it’s going to be much harder to tell. The old worked so well – you saw a big orange with a straw, and your appropriately colored bar and cap, and you were on your way – no reading needed – the design spoke and worked so well. It’s truly a shame that Pepsi has gone and done this to my beloved OJ.

But I shouldn’t be too surprised. This comes right off the heels of Pepsi doing a basically rebrand of every beverage they own. From the new Pepsi “pirate eye” logo, to the new Gatorade “G” bottles, they’re trying to be more hip and distinguish themselves from Coke I guess. Will we stop buying Tropicana, not likely. We are brand loyal like that, and we do feel it’s the best OJ out there. But a new layout without substance and meaning is just something that, like the drinks inside them, will go bad quickly.