Beth Elzer's position at the Imperial College London, a science-based institution in the UK, has allowed her to blend her interest in creative/visual arts with her love of science and technology—without actually having to become a scientist.
11.14.07
Choosing A Way to Travel
What site is your current favorite? Transport for London.
What's the subject/topic of it? Travel related information for ways to get around in London using the various public transport systems. As London is a complete maze of crooked streets and hidden alleys, anything that helps you figure out how to get from one place to another is a big help.
What's so great about it? Living in London means using public transport on a daily basis. In general, I take the Tube most places since it's quick and convenient, but it's also famous for unforeseen delays, closures and suspensions.
As a result, I frequently use the TfL site for service updates and the journey planner. The service updates tell me about any travel delays or closures, an unfortunate reality of the world's oldest underground system. The journey planner helps me figure out the reality of how long it will take to travel from one place to the next and compare transportation options: rail, DLR [light railway], Tube, tram, bus, coach, river and bicycling.
What makes it useful? It's very easy to use and intuitive in its layout and features. I love the advanced options on the travel planner and that whatever path I end up choosing, it will create a map for me to print out with marked streets to show where I will be riding, biking, or walking and the time that each leg of the journey will take.
How would you improve it? It was recently redesigned and the new version is a great improvement.
What's your job? I'm the art director at the Imperial College London, a science-based institution in the UK. It was rated the ninth best university in the world in the 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement.
If you have a degree in what field is it? I received a bachelor's degree from Purdue University with a triple major in visual communications design, art history, and interdisciplinary film.
How did you get involved in this industry? I've always gravitated toward jobs that were designing in-house for academic and non-profit science organizations. It's been great since it allows me to blend my interests in creative and visual areas with my love of science and technology, all without actually having to be a scientist.
What's your biggest Web (design) turn-off? Flash for Flash's sake. I can't stand for pages to load to only discover that the Flash is purely decorative and wasn't even used to add functionality.
Who, in this industry (or not), has been your biggest inspiration? The general public. I love that any ordinary person can sit down and make a blog, design their own site, post an opinion, etc. I think it's incredible that I can find a picture of an obscure aquatic insect because some guy in North Dakota finds them interesting enough to devote an entire Web page to it. I'm never so interested in the design of the page as I am in the content and or the decision to bring it online to share it with the world.
What's the weirdest thing you've bought online? Broken rusty water gauges for an art project. It's true: You can buy anything on eBay.
What do you do in your spare time? I read a lot of non-fiction, which is why riding the Tube everyday is great (I can read for about an hour instead of fighting traffic). I'm also a massive movie buff; so going to the cinema is high on my list.
What music are you listening to right now? NPR's "This American Life." It's my favourite radio show from the States. As for music, Over the Rhine, a Cincinnati-based band that reminds me of the Midwest, where I grew up.
What product/gadget can you not live without? My X-Acto knife. No matter how far technology progresses, you still need a perfectly sharp knife. Took me ages to track them down in the UK.
What's your dream computer set-up? Something that weighs less than a can of soda, is the size of a National Geographic, is water- and shock-proof and has a week-long battery life. Someday.... Someday...