The Egg Safety Center has the most comprehensive rundown of all the brands and lot numbers affected by this recall – find it here.

Having purchased eggs recently at our local Safeway, I figured it was important to check out which of their product lines were impacted by the recall. In comparing the eggs in our fridge with those on the Egg Safety Center’s list, I wasn’t entirely clear whether we were impacted. So I figured I’d check out Safeway’s own website for more information. Given that their products in a number of states were included in the recall, they’d surely have some helpful guide for customers to figure out whether or not their recently purchased products were impacted.

Makes sense, right? Seems like a good use of a corporation’s online presence — disseminating important safety related information? Well, apparently not.

Reviewing the Safeway homepage this morning, I couldn’t find a single link or mention of this recall (which, incidentally, was a big enough deal that I could find it linked on the homepage of our local newspapers’ websites).

Now, the Safeway homepage was quite helpful in informing me of special bargains for Hawaii residents (even though I was visiting the site from an IP address in the Seattle area), their ongoing MDA fundraiser (definitely a good thing, and an effort to which we recently contributed), along with a Chicken Piccata recipe, links to their home delivery services and more. Recalls? What recalls?

But… I did notice they were promoting their Twitter account from the website’s homepage. Ah… corporate tweeting… seems like a great place to rapidly deploy information to users on fast changing issues impacting the company, like, say, an egg recall. Surely I’d find what I was looking for there.

Um… no.

I mean, it’s good to know that they share their customers’ affinity for fresh, warm bread, but that doesn’t really help me to figure out whether my kid can eat their eggs. So back to the website I go, only to notice that they’ve got a blog linked from their main navigation menu. Bingo! A prominently based, active avenue of engagement with the customer base! Surely this is where I’ll find what I’m looking for.

Wrong again. Not a word mentioned about the recall, but there is apparently a discussion going on about tips for easy weeknight dinners for families with kids! I don’t mean to come off as a cynic, and quite frankly, our family could probably use some of those tips, but in light of why many folks are probably coming to their website and their blog this morning, the lack of any mention of the recall is just plain dropping the ball.

I did spend a bit more time poking around the Safeway website, and did ultimately notice a link to an information page on product recalls, which can be found down in the expanded footer at the bottom of most of the site’s pages (see the highlighted link below).

Sadly, even this proved to be another dead end, as the most recent information posted on the page was two-week-old details on a beef recall.

What Have We Learned?
So kids, what’s the take-home lesson here? If your company has taken the initiative to setup a corporate blog, to venture out into the social media wilds of Twitter and Facebook, or made other in-roads in reaching out and interacting with your customers, bravo. That’s to be commended. But remember, these avenues are two-way streets, not merely another path for just shilling product.

It’s about the interaction. These days, Twitter is the de facto news source for millions of users; updates on the breaking stories are disseminated much more quickly via tweets than traditional media or websites. The same goes for Facebook. If there’s a story developing that involves your brand, you need to be using these tools to inform your customers and share with them what they need to know.

So, what about the eggs? Well, I couldn’t definitively figure out where or not their were in the affected Lucerne lots, so, in the interest of “better safe than sorry”, they’re out of the fridge and into the trash.

Update: It looks like Safeway has now tweeted some information on the recall, in response to a customer’s inquiry. Of course, it took them sixteen hours to respond to that customer’s original question. This is clearly something that should have been done much more proactively, and sooner.

On issues like this, a social media presence should be used proactively to get information into your customer’s hands — don’t make your customers do the work on dragging the information out of you.

Missed Opportunities: Safeway and the Latest Egg Recall is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Ask ten designers about their favorite tool(s) for wireframing, and you’ll likely get nine different answers; the tenth won’t have any idea what you’re talking about. Don’t hire him. Many folks use OmniGraffle, others swear by Photoshop or Illustrator. Everyone has a preference, and whatever your preference, it can be a huge timesaver to have a collection of graphics or “stencils” for various common UI elements (scrollbars, form fields, buttons, navigation, etc.).

Speckyboy (yes, that’s REALLY the name of the blog) has posted a great round-up of 20 different free wireframe stencil kits, for all of the major wireframing tools. The post includes a quick overview and download links for each.

If you’re a web designer and haven’t yet incorporated wireframing into the initial stages of your design process, here’s a great opportunity to start.

20 Free Web UI Element Kits and Stencils (via Speckboy) »

Comprehensive Round-Up of Free Wireframe Tool Kits is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

We were lucky enough to grab an early beta of this via Twitter a couple weeks back, but Portland’s finest Mac software publishers Panic have officially released their Coda Notes extension for Safari.

So what exactly does Coda Notes do?

Coda Notes lets you annotate web pages. Right in your browser. Add sticky notes, draw right on the screen, even edit text live on the page. Then, once you’ve finished marking up a page, you can quickly and easily email a screenshot of your work to one or recipients.

This has the makings of a great feedback tool for web designers. Best of all, it’s free.

Grab it here »
(Safari Extension link – requires Safari 5.0.1)

Panic Releases Coda Notes Extension for Safari is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Apple’s latest round of product announcements included a range of updates to existing lines such as the iMac, the MacPro and LED Cinema Displays. But mixed in amongst those heavy hitters was the introduction of a new desktop-based input peripheral, the Magic Trackpad.

Yes. We’ve got yet another “magical” Apple gadget.

Following the Magic Mouse and the magical experience of the iPhone 4 (am I missing anything else?), the Magic Trackpad brings the multi-touch capabilities of Apple’s current notebook computers to the desktop. This new trackpad is reportedly 80% larger (seems about right) than the trackpad on the MacBook Pro, and offers all of the same multi-touch functionality as Apple’s portable devices. From the comfort of your desk.

So is the experience truly magical? That’s probably a bit much. Will Mac users be abandoning their mice in droves? Some most certainly will. Is this a sign of things to come? Absolutely.

Look, from performance and functionality standpoint, anyone who has used a recent MacBook or MacBook Pro (all of which incorporate at least some degree of multi-touch via their trackpads) knows what you’re getting here. The Magic Trackpad works as advertised. Paired with the recent Safari 5.0.1 update and the multi-touch software update that Apple pushed out yesterday, it brings some fun new touches (pun intended) to the desktop computing experience. The inclusion of inertia scrolling (vertical scrolling that slows down at the tail-end of a scroll, mimicking natural momentum), is a particularly nice feature.

I picked one up at our local Apple Store Wednesday evening (the last one on the shelves) and have been playing with it throughout the evening. I can definitely see using the device for the majority of my non-keyboard input, but not exclusively. Despite it’s strengths, a multi-touch trackpad simply can’t replicate the degree of precision capable with a high-end laser mouse. As a designer, there are tasks that require this level of precision, and for those, out comes the Magic Mouse. But for day-to-day use (email, web browsing, most app functionality), the Magic Trackpad will work like a charm.

The key takeaway here is all about forward thinking. The Magic Trackpad is another step in Apple’s slow and steady transition of our computing experience to touch. The touch experience began with the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007, followed since by the iPod Touch, multi-touch trackpads on the MacBooks and MacBook Pros, the (multi-touch) Magic Mouse, the introduction of the iPad, and now the Magic Trackpad. Steve Job, Apple and its design team are slowly but surely evolving the everyday computing experience of the typical consumer away from the 25-year-old keyboard/mouse combination and toward a multi-touch based input environment.

Does that mean the mouse’s days are numbered? No. There will always be markets for the precision control provided by a mouse. Designers, visual artists and gamers need that level of precision. For them, there will probably always be some iteration of a mouse input device marketed by someone (however niche that product may become).

But for the general consumer? Five years from now, the typical consumer’s computing experience will be almost entirely touch-based. And Apple is leading the way.

Magic? Meh… But It Is A Nice Desktop Trackpad, and It Is The Future is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Our pal Dan Benjamin, who continues to cement himself as a “Dick Cavett for the Internet Age” with his engaging Pipeline interviews, has a gem in his latest episode, talking shop with Adam Lisagor. Many people may know Adam from the hilarious You Look Nice Today podcast, but he’s now making a name for himself crafting memorable, one-of-a-time promotional videos for products such as Square and Flipboard.

Adam discusses his dissatisfaction with his previous work (doing graphics and visual effects for television and film) and what it was like for him to take the leap of quitting his job and venturing out on his own commercially. It’s absolutely worth a listen for anyone having done (or planning to do) the same.

Hear Adam Lisagor on The Pipeline »

Cheap plug masked as full disclosure: We designed the 5by5 Studios website.

UPDATE: Merlin Mann hits the nail on the head in his post about Adam’s interview:

“I don’t know how you could listen to Dan’s swell interview with Adam without feeling at least a teeny bit inspired. Inspired to pick your new projects more carefully, to dump the less gratifying old ones more buoyantly, to give your latest draft just one more line edit, to start noticing the well-disguised opportunities that are lurking in the shadows of inconvenience and loss—to at least briefly double-check that the trendline for whatever stuff you’re making that theoretically matters to you is moving in a sustainable direction you can be proud of.”

Seriously. Check it out. Now.

Adam Lisagor on The Pipeline is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Why is there a fish in the header of this blog? And, come to think of it, why is it called “Running The Ladder”? I mean, seriously, it’s not smart to try to run up (or God forbid) run down a ladder. It just doesn’t make any sense, right?

It’s all about the metaphor.

This most recent redesign of the Bainbridge Studios website has been in the works for more than a year now, as we’ve circled back to work on various bits and pieces as time allowed. With our move from Seattle to Tacoma back in January of this year, we also wanted to make a concerted effort to play up a bit more of a local connection in the style of the site, giving a nod where we can to characteristics of the Pacific Northwest.

In revisiting our on-again, off-again, back-on-again company blog, we wanted to bring some of that regional flavor here as well. While past versions of the blog tended to focus a bit more of tech-related topics, this time around, we want the overall theme to focus on small business – specifically, sharing some of our trials and tribulations (as well as successes!) in navigating the waters as a tiny, two-person design practice.

Navigating the waters… there I go. With the metaphor.

Surviving as a small business is an uphill battle… a struggle. Much like (cue the horns!) a salmon struggling to return home to mate. As soon as the notion of writing about small business experiences (along with the obvious nods to design and our day-to-day minutiae), the vision of the spawning salmon came to mind.

For those unfamiliar with the path that the salmon takes, salmon are born in freshwater streams and rivers (including many throughout the coastal Pacific Northwest – Washington, Oregon and Alaska). As they develop, they migrate from their freshwater birthplaces to the ocean, where they continue to grow and reach maturity. Once ready to breed/spawn, they return to their freshwater birthplaces (sometimes traveling hundreds of miles to do so). They literally swim upstream, battling the current the entire way to reach their home, spawn and then die.

This return for spawning is known as the “salmon run”, and in certain areas, there are structures and other apparatus in place to facilitate their migration. These are known as “fish ladders“. The salmon literally move from “step to step” up these ladders to aid in their return.

Thus, the concept of “running the ladder”, battling against the current to reach a goal (in our case, the ability to sustain our business and become/remain profitable), seemed like the perfect fit for the types of experiences we hope to share as one aspect of this blog.

Hat Tip: The lovely salmon illustration above is courtesy of Canadian illustrator J. Derry and can licensed via iStockPhoto.

So What’s The Deal With The Fish? is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Campaign Monitor Downloads, Plugins & Extensions
A wide-range of useful apps and plugins that allow you to tie your current CMS, online store and more into an existing Campaign Monitor mailing list account.

Using Dropbox to Sync Things to Multiple Macs
Sharing the same database for the Things task management applications between multiple Macs.

Eventbrite – Online Event Registration
Sell tickets online and manage RSVPs and user registrations. Integrates with The Event Calendar WordPress plugin.

PatternWall
Free seamless pattern graphics.

10 Tips for Designing Mobile Websites | These Days Labs
Not a lot to add here; a great primer on important factors to keep in mind when designing for mobile devices.

You can find all of our recommended links (past and present) on Delicious.

Links of the Week: July 23rd is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Carsonified’s Think Vitamin blog has a great rundown of some of the most useful plugins for the WordPress content management system. Some of these are well-known, others are more obscure, but every one is worth checking out.

20 Must Have WordPress Plugins For Every Website »

20 Must Have WordPress Plugins For Every Website is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

The queasy blend of friends and “friends” is central to the Facebook experience. People who might get some sane use out of Facebook are advertising something, a business or a service or something. Facebook might have originated as a means of personal connection, but now it seems like strictly business disguised as personal connection, and the rhetoric of it is just as horrible as that sounds. Everybody writes in ad-sized bits, everybody “likes” a million products and services, everybody affirms things and exclaims over things like TV pitchmen. It’s as if everyone you know is turning into those horrible shills who blog about things they pretend to like for company kickbacks.

Eileen Jones nails it (via jimray)

The Reality That Is Facebook is a post from: Bainbridge Studios

Wired’s new iPad version (iTunes Link) of the magazine has finally hit the iTunes Store, beginning with the current June issue. Macworld has a good rundown of the basics here. As a subscriber to the print edition, I was particularly curious to see how the content was translated to the new tablet medium.

To date, most magazine-to-iPad transitions have been pretty underwhelming. Popular Science made a splash at launch with their highly interactive edition, and Time magazine’s effort has been generally well received (save for the annoyance of each issue being packaged as an individual app — particularly egregious for a weekly publication). Most other attempts at iPad magazine publication has honestly been nothing more than PDF viewers. Dwell (iTunes Link), Zinio, and other apps are fine as simple direct ports of the publications, but they bring absolutely nothing new to the table. It’s akin to watching a VHS tape on a HDTV.

Overall, I really like what Wired’s done here with the iPad edition. Their format seems to share a lot in common with Time’s, in that both strike a nice balance of some of the best aspects of what print offers for copy and image presentation, while slickly working in expanded multimedia content for many of the featured pieces, including audio, video, image galleries, and more.

The current issue features a great (albeit too brief) piece on Pixar, focusing on their design/development process for each film, and includes a neat walkthrough of the work involved in developing a single scene. This is well done, even in the print edition, but the iPad version is able to offer the added feature of actually showing you the finished scene. Yes, it’s a bit of a no-brainer, but it’s still a new feature for a new medium very much in its infancy. And it’s really well integrated.

Some of the advertisers are getting in on the interactivity as well. While this first issue features plenty of static display ads (ported over directly from the print version), a few others do stand out. Cameron Moll mentioned one in particular, and posted a quick video of the ad in action.

I’d gladly jettison the print edition (and feel better about the environmental benefits of utilizing less print) if it wasn’t for one factor — price. When I can get the print edition sent to my door for $20 (or often less, depending on special subscription offers), there’s just no way I’m going to pay 3x that ($5 per issue) for each month’s Wired. I understand $5 as a single issue price (comparable to the existing newsstand price for the print version), but publishers need to move quickly toward a subscription model for this content.

Whether that’s achieved via the iTunes Season Pass model, or through in-app purchases, I don’t really know or particularly care. But my hunch is that there will be few people who are going to buy more than an occasional issue at this price. Sure, the first issue will probably do well, as folks check out the new format and buy it for the shear novelty of it (it is a great demo for folks new to the iPad).

But that novelty won’t last for long at $60 per year.

Wired Magazine iPad App (iTunes Link)

First Impressions of Wired’s iPad App is a post from: Bainbridge Studios