On the Floor

Last October I subscribed to Rdio, a music streaming service that's available for iPhone.  For some reason or another, after syncing my contacts and calendars and mail accounts, I decided not to spend time syncing my music.  Instead, I opted to look for an alternative.

The service is $9.99 per month and after three months of using it I'm still very pleased with collection of music it has to offer.  What's more is that it provides recommendations based on my listening history - allowing me to discover new music at no additional cost.

This inspired me to look at design-related services I use that offer resources in a similar way:

Google Web Fonts
Historically, web designers have been relegated to use standard display fonts (Arial, Verdana, Times, etc.) because they were commonly owned. Services like Cufon an Sifr offer ways to embed fonts into websites but still require the designer to own them.

Google Web Fonts is a directory of fonts that is free to use and can be easily accessed.  You can pick a font and choose an embed method or download the file to use in a mock-up.  The library is constantly growing and the service allows (and encourages) designers to contribute.

iStock Photo
Has anyone hired a professional to photograph an attractive girl in a headset for a company's contact page?  What about to illustrate a yellow stick-man walking up a bar graph?  Probably not.

Even though I do support and advocate the use of professional photographers and illustrators, it's hard to deny the low-cost accessibility of stock photography websites - especially when working on tight budgets.

However, because the images are so accessible, you may find that same girl waiting to take your call on a number of different websites.

jQuery
This open-source JavaScript platform provides developers a way to quickly and easily write plugins (or modify exiting ones) that perform a variety of functions.  As a basic example, consider the commonly used image rotator.

There's no longer a need to write a custom script to achieve such a simple effect.  You can access the base script through download or Google API and customize it by using plugins or changing settings.

As a designer, I appreciate the accessibility of libraries like this because it gives me something to design for.  Looking through tutorials and demos, I'm able to create a design that suggests not only the layout, but also an effect that is triggered once an element is clicked or hovered upon.

There are many more examples than the ones I've cited above and I'm excited to see how media and software will continue to evolve to accommodate the way people use it.  I'm not the first one to suggest that access will trump ownership, but I feel that it will become much more apparent in 2012.