#design

Apple has unveiled the second edition of its Designers of Tomorrow showcase, an exhibition built around the theme of "presence" that opened today at the Hôtel de Maisons in Paris. According to Apple's newsroom post, the program is organized in collaboration with Design Miami and curated by Rodman Primack, the former longtime creative director of Design Miami.

Apple says the theme grew out of a recognition of how busy modern life has become, and asks what still holds people's attention. Four designers and design studios each created an original piece in response, using furniture and lighting to invite reflection and engage the senses.

The original Macintosh of 1984 placed a menu bar along the top of the screen, with an Apple menu on the far left. Unlike Windows, where menus live inside each window, the Mac bar belongs to whichever app is active and always sits at the screen edge.

There is a practical reasoning behind that. A target at the edge of a screen is easy to hit, because the cursor stops there, so users can fling the pointer upward without careful aiming. Interface designers often cite this principle, known as Fitts's law, as a reason the top-edge menu is efficient.