Behold, two warriors enter the plane of contest.
At their feet, a grid stretches to the vanishing point.
Around them, like the softest snow, Tetris blocks fall.
At their sides, Light Cycles hum, awaiting their summons.
Behind their eyes, every moving shape is measured, measured, weighed, and considered--distilled to its elements & built up again.
Dimension X: One Khoi Vinh, design director for the New York Times web site, champion of the grid layout system, co-creator of the sharply minimal Basic Maths WordPress theme. His bike's tail reads, "For Thuy, with love and squalor..." Canine co-pilot/old media monetization strategist Mister President sits expectantly in the sidecar.
Dimension Y: One Nicholas Felton, globetrotting design ronin, life-chronicler of the Feltron Annual Reports, co-founder of personal data visualizer Daytum. With his Terminator's-eye view, he sees the falling numbers spell "blonde, brunette, redhead..."
The Paper of Record meets Life's Recorder.
Quantums meet Quantifier.
Dimension Z: Yours truly, one-time middling Web designer, purveyor of match-grade toddlers, and one who somehow talked himself into being a "guy with name on the Photoshop splash screen." I'll layer commentary on their layers, possibly without adding depth. (Also, I'll brutalize analogies.)
Happily, this exhibition match is a "friendly":
- Egos & pixels to be harmed: 0.
- Exact years of Photoshop's existence to be celebrated: 20.
- Number of volleys to be played: 10.
- Minutes per volley: 15.
- My facility with this quantification schtick: "Ask Again Later."
Nicholas has won the coin flip and will go first, playing the odd-numbered layers. Khoi will play the evens and will have the last word.
So now, world, with an open heart and an empty layer stack, I say unto you in the words of my pretend uncle: Allez Pixels!
John Nack writes about Photoshop, Adobe and things related (and cool things not so related) at his influential blog. His perspective on design software in general and Photoshop in particular seems like just the right angle to take for today's match which coincides with the ubiquitous image editing softwares 20th Anniversary.
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Hello, friends, please note we've compiled the 2010 preseason into one easy-to-watch video along the lines of our Season Two video. When will Season Three start? What surprises await? Season Ticket Holders will find out first, and tickets don't cost a dime!
Oliver Reichenstein of Information Architects in Tokyo submits the final volley (Oops I just accidentally typed "vinyl folly!") Our humble document has clocked over 21,000 miles today, and almost that many layers. Thanks for joining us for this and all our preseason matches. Sign up for free Season Tickets to be the first to find out about our regular season!
Here's a list of the players for today's Around the World in Ten Layers match. There is no coin-flip for today but that doesn't mean The Ref isn't busy.
Don't forget to sign up for Free Layer Tennis Season Tickets to get the scoop on the regular season, which starts later this year. Plus who knows? Maybe you'll get a chance to show your stuff in a Qualifying Match.
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