Designers that helped create Medium are joining Facebook

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Facebook is bringing on some of the key interface designers behind Medium, the strikingly minimalist blogging platform. The designers come from the firm Teehan+Lax, which is responsible for much of Medium's interface, layout, and branding. That's a big score for Facebook given how well Medium's design has worked — it's made the platform easy to use and easy to recognize, even across branded pages. That isn't all to the credit of Teehan+Lax, but the firm certainly played a significant role, as it describes in some detail here. The firm also worked on Readability.

Facebook has had a mixed history as far as design goes. While it's made a lot of gorgeous and impressive products, those have generally become bogged down bit by bit with new features, ads, and additional information. In other instances, Facebook has had to trash nice design simply because it resulted in less engagement. So the network very much has to figure out how to find a balance, and that's an area Teehan+Lax's designers may well be able to help. There's no word about what specifically they'll be working on, however.

Teehan+Lax also doesn't say how many of its designers will be heading over to Facebook. Even though it's a small company, TechCrunch reports that many of its employees won't be coming along. That's because Facebook isn't actually buying Teehan+Lax, it's just hiring some of its biggest names, who will then shut down their old firm. Even so, Facebook is still bringing on a number of experienced designers that have credits in some big products that you've probably used, and that's always a good thing for the site's future.

This is Google’s latest Project Ara prototype

Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone project is arriving soon, at least if you’re in Puerto Rico. At its Project Ara Module Developers Conference today, Google said that it plans to launch a pilot in Puerto Rico in the second half of this year, selling phone chassis and modules through local carrier partners, as well as through a fleet of small trucks.

Google today said there’s still lots of work to be done before you find it at stores in the US and elsewhere. The multi-phase project is currently in phase 2, or what Google calls “Spiral 2.” It’s gone from something that can connect only to Wi-Fi to one that supports 3G wireless, with Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group saying that it’s working on carrier deals to help get this on store shelves at some point. Still ahead are things like adding support for 4G LTE, as well as a way for developers to make and sell modules that will work with these devices. Google also still needs to figure out how much all this will cost, and whether consumers will grok the idea of buying a bunch of tiny parts that can dramatically change the way their phone operates.

This is our most comprehensive, up close look at Ara so far. Here’s where Google’s at right now.

The sequel to 2009 hit Avatar has been delayed a year and will not be released until 2017, James Cameron has revealed.

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