As I have moved through my career as a professional graphic designer, I have participated in some very diverse companies. All have required that I design a myriad of projects but would extend or alter the old classic rules of design. My most recent endeavor is working as a website content designer for an engineering company. When speaking about HTML editing, some might wonder how a graphic designer would get picked for such a position. It’s simple for those who know the language – it’s an art form!

I’m sure some of you are scratching your heads, “did you just say language?” Yes! HTML uses many terms and punctuation to decipher how a website should appear on a viewer’s screen. Some elementary schools are actually teaching their young students this programming language to give them a leg up later in life due to the extent of its influence in the modern day work place. Most all companies now have websites that get updated on a daily basis. However, we are talking about art here; how is this relevant?

If you were to open up the back end of one of your favorite websites, you will see a multitude of colors and line lengths as well as punctuation. It almost appears as a random pattern of sorts. Although these colors and indents actually aid the developer in the organization of the sections of code, one could say that it’s similar to graphic design. This type of art focuses on the organization of graphics and text to communicate an idea to a viewer. An HTML editor prefers to group similar code together so it’s easier to alter down the road with multiple users. For instance, one wouldn’t see a table started and not finished in the same area.

In current society, it’s hard not to interact with the World Wide Web on a daily basis. Coders and graphic designers have become our modern Dali and Picasso. We are now more likely to grab a digital rendering of a painting and place it as a desk top background then go to a local museum and purchase a copy to hang in our home.

Design programs are also feeling the shift. Instead of disc installations, everything can be obtained online. The impact of this breaks down the age old question – Mac or PC? The Apple and Microsoft battle has no impact on the designer if everyone is using an internet browser to attain the right tools for the job.

As I continue on my career, the progress is astounding. No longer am I carrying around a sketchbook and ruler, but more of a laptop and eye glasses. It’s now become all tech ­­- all the time.

This new app uses affective computing to gauge the user's emotions based on various aspects of his or her typing, and sharing that information with the message's recipient to reduce misunderstandings, improve customer service, and even aid in mental health treatment. The application, called Keymochi has been developed for both Android and iOS phones.

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The reach of a product manager spans the organization. It's thought that the role got its start back in 1931 when Neil H. McElroy wrote a job description for a new position at Procter & Gamble:

"What he laid out in his 800 word memo was a simple and concise description of “Brand Men” and their absolute responsibility for a brand – from tracking sales to managing the product, advertising and promotions. Uniquely he outlined that the way to do this was through thorough field testing and client interaction." - Mind the Product blog

Product management has evolved over the years and pulls in strategies like kanban and agile methods. The number of products, changes, and introductions can quickly become a tangled web. Luckily there are software solutions to help with management no matter what role you hold in the organization.

Innovation is accelerating and product complexity is surging. The product development process has to evolve alongside the products. Transformation isn't a choice, it's a necessity – and it begins with BOM management, a complete digital product definition and universal data access.

To learn more about adapting product development processes for engineers, join industry experts as they highlight steps they have taken to rapidly realize value for their engineering, manufacturing, and supply management teams.

Register for the webinar to be held on November 3, 2016 at 2:00 PM ET.

As the design and performance of products across industries become more and more complex, companies must enter a new frontier of product innovation to stay competitive. Materials driven product design and engineering is now key in your path to product success. Material information and how it's managed can have a profound effect on a product's lifecycle.

Want to understand more about PLM software? Are you interested in learning to synchronize products and associated materials? Or about the enterprise-wide relationship between design, engineering, simulation, purchasing, and compliance?

Join us for a free webinar covering the importance of managing the lifecycle of materials holistically, and discuss the benefits achieved by embedding materials data, processes and assignments into the product lifecycle process using a PLM foundation.

Webinar details:

Date: Tuesday, November 1

Time: 11 AM EDT - 12 PM EDT

Register here!

With the complexity of software verification growing at an estimated rate of three to four times that of actual design creation, electronic design automation (EDA) vendors are endeavoring to boost verification productivity. Contributing to complexity growth: intellectual property blocks from multiple sources increases the possibility of malicious code. Verification needs "the fastest engines, unified compile, unified debug," notes Aat de Geus CEO of Synopsys. This article explores the growing importance of verification in chip design.

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