An Interview with Tim Van Damme of Instagram If you’re reading this, you probably know who Tim Van Damme is – he’s one of those rare designers who needs no introduction. Even if you don’t know who he is, you’ve probably seen and interacted with his work. Tim’s behind the interfaces of both Instagram and the now-defunct Gowalla, both of which have been acquired by Facebook. Not only that, but he blogs as MaxVoltar, and squeals about retina Macs on Twitter under the same name. Tim was kind enough to take a few hours out of his busy schedule to answer my questions, and provided some fascinating answers, and some great food for thought. Hey Tim, thanks so much for joining us on The Industry. Hey Conor! So how did you get into the design industry? I got into it through making websites. If you hadn’t become a designer, what do you think you’d be doing now? I honestly have no idea. What does a typical day in the life of Tim Van Damme look like? Before you got on board with Gowalla and now Instagram, you worked as a freelance designer.
How Instagram Took America by Storm [INFOGRAPHIC] Have you caught Instagram fever? The flaming hot mobile app and recent $1 billion Facebook acquisition now has more than 40 million users. This Online Colleges infographic shares some impressive stats behind the viral mobile photography app. Instagram gains one new user every second. Instagram’s on track to hit 100 million users — joining the ranks of LinkedIn, Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook — two years after its initial iOS launch in October 2010. The infographic, created by an online university database, focuses on college students’ adoption of the app. How have you seen colleges use Instagram? BONUS: 15 LOL-Worthy Instagram Pics Come to the Dark Side Courtesy @wildchild1182 Click here to view this gallery.
Snap! 10 'Picture Perfect' Instagram Web Apps Instagram has had a huge month or so. First, it released its much anticipated Android app to rave reviews. Then, Facebook bought it for $1 billion. And just this week, Instagram passed the 50 million user mark. En fuego, no? Even though it is a mobile-based platform, there are occasions when you want to access Instagram content in different ways, especially via your PC / laptop. The slickest of the slick The three options that follow are perfect if you’d like to experience your own Instagram account on the web, complete with vanity URLs and follow functionality. 1. 2. 3. Blending business with pleasure 4. For some great examples of brand pages, visit followgram.me/ikeaitalia and followgram.me/fiatontheweb Bells and whistles 5. 6. Feeding the masses 7. 8. 9. 10. There you have it. Related links: Five awesome apps for Instagram and The complete list of Instagram apps leungchopan via shutterstock
Instagram Now what the hell is you lookin' for?Can't a young man get money anymore?Let my pants sag down to the floorReally do it matter as long as I score? Two years ago we invested $250,000 in Instagram. Despite Instagram’s awesome performance and our monstrous return, a number of articles have come out criticizing us for not making even more money on our investment. When we invested in Instagram, it wasn’t actually Instagram. Subsequently, Kevin noticed that while Burbn wasn’t taking off, the photo-sharing component of it was doing quite well. Still, we needed to make a decision. Here’s how it looked then: We liked both entrepreneurs very much, so there was no issue there—we would gladly back either.Instagram’s numbers were much better at the time as it had already begun its rocket run.From the perspective of the entrepreneurs, we’d invested in Dalton when he planned to build a photo sharing service, but we’d invested in a different initial product from Kevin.
I Love The Smell Of Sepia Tone In The Morning In three short weeks it will be 2013. Someone may want to send a fax to Flickr and Twitter to let them know. Over the past couple of days, both of these services have pulled a move straight out of 2010: they launched new versions of their mobile apps with — get this — filters. Filters! These guys have millions of dollars and thousands of employees at their disposal and this is the kind of innovation they’re dicking around with. Look, I love filters just as much as the next San Franciscan that is currently rocking a beard and drinking a soy latte. But let’s not beat around the bush: both Flickr and Twitter have rolled out these updates thinking filters will somehow make them more competitive with Instagram. Hint: it has basically nothing to do with filters. Twitter and Flickr are making the same mistake that a dozen other photo apps that I can’t even be bothered to remember made in years past. Again, these guys think the Instagram phenomenon can be explained away by filters.
Instagram + Facebook When Mike and I started Instagram nearly two years ago, we set out to change and improve the way the world communicates and shares. We’ve had an amazing time watching Instagram grow into a vibrant community of people from all around the globe. Today, we couldn’t be happier to announce that Instagram has agreed to be acquired by Facebook. Every day that passes, we see more experiences being shared through Instagram in ways that we never thought possible. It’s because of our dedicated and talented team that we’ve gotten this far, and with the support and cross-pollination of ideas and talent at a place like Facebook, we hope to create an even more exciting future for Instagram and Facebook alike.
Ryan Block: Why I'm Quitting Instagram Ryan Block, co-founder of gdgt.com. The flap over Instagram’s changing its terms of service has not died down even weeks after its announcement and subsequent partial reversal. People are still arguing whether Instagram’s users will stay loyal to the service. Ryan Block, former editor in chief of AOL’s Engadget and the co-founder of the popular tech community site Gdgt, writes in a guest post for Bits about his reasons for quitting the Facebook-owned service. This month, surely to the chagrin of family members and friends with whom I haven’t spoken face to face for over a decade, I quit Facebook. I also suspended posting photos to Instagram, the photo sharing service that Facebook recently acquired for $715 million and where I have almost 9,000 followers. I also suspect that most Instagram users won’t go to the mat over the company’s proposed terms of service changes, which provided Facebook the ability to sell users’ photos. There are other costs to letting accounts go dormant, too.
App Scours Instagram To See What’s Going On Nearby, Right Now Yelp is a great way to find a reliable bar, but how’s the band tonight? Are people having fun? What’s their drink special look like? These are the questions that Now--a free iOS app--wants to answer. Recently released in its 2.0 form, Now scours Instagram’s API for trends going on around you and assembles these trends into Instagram collages. “I think people are very visual, and most discovery apps have tried their best to explain to you with a lot of text why you would love a place based on old information. Interestingly enough, Now isn’t just some algorithm-automated service. “Algorithms are great for detecting stuff that humans could not do. Their approach can work in delightfully unpredictable ways. But generally testing Now in downtown Chicago, it honestly feels a bit more like a tourism app than an event discovery tool. I don’t blame Now for highlighting popular destinations. No doubt, I’m being a bit hard on the bootstrapping team of curators behind Now’s events.
App Scours Instagram To See What’s Going On Nearby, Right Now Yelp is a great way to find a reliable bar, but how’s the band tonight? Are people having fun? What’s their drink special look like? These are the questions that Now--a free iOS app--wants to answer. Recently released in its 2.0 form, Now scours Instagram’s API for trends going on around you and assembles these trends into Instagram collages. “I think people are very visual, and most discovery apps have tried their best to explain to you with a lot of text why you would love a place based on old information. Interestingly enough, Now isn’t just some algorithm-automated service. “Algorithms are great for detecting stuff that humans could not do. Their approach can work in delightfully unpredictable ways. But generally testing Now in downtown Chicago, it honestly feels a bit more like a tourism app than an event discovery tool. I don’t blame Now for highlighting popular destinations. No doubt, I’m being a bit hard on the bootstrapping team of curators behind Now’s events.
Startup opportunity: The Zynga of Pinterest