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prior listings

 

• MONO*crafts 7/30/01 
  Description: exploring new expression (Flash and Shockwave)
  Comments: Japanese designer Yugo Nakamura is the guy behind today's pick and from what I can see, he's a true master at Flash and Shockwave.  "Surface" is version 3 of his site and the collection of studies is as good it gets, in my humble (but consistent) opinion.  The opening screen will probably make you turn your speakers down at first, but it won't be long before you'll want to turn 'em up again after you've had a chance to play with the recording mode.  The interface to the assortment of goodies is cool as well — great color changes and radio controls.  You may want to check out version 2 (there's a link to it when you click on "archive") — you'll probably agree that it's great, considering it was done in 1999 — in fact, I think all of Yugo's work would still be great if it was done in 2002.  "Cant touch this!" is probably the best description I can offer.  Highly interactive and enjoyable — Yugo gets a big dose of well-deserved respect...
   
• Quarlo.com 7/23/01 
  Description: digital pics nyc...and some tunes too
  Comments: Todd Gross is probably somewhere in New York, right this minute, taking photos of the early morning sky or, perhaps, capturing the expression of a lady looking out the window of a train.  If he's lucky, there's someone sitting at a bus stop wearing unique shoes that would make that perfect picture.  Buildings, crowds, sleeping dogs, skylines, expressive people — whatever — Todd is on the case, sharing his unique perspective on the web.  It looks like it started back in the middle March with his "Walk to Brooklyn" and he's been doing it regularly since then.  I love the minimal design and thoughtful navigation (on most of the pages) and the content is rich.  In addition to the snapshots organized by date, there's a selection of 20 featured photos that must be Todd's "bestof" — great stuff.  Some of the dated pages also have some tunes you can listen to (.mp3) and I'm wondering if those might be what Todd was listening to as he took the photos on those days.  If I'm not mistaken, the day that includes a Colin Hay tune (which happens to be today's entry) also has a picture of Colin singing — did Todd go to a concert over the weekend, hmm?  (To be honest, I wonder if recording artists like Colin or the Rolling Stones might have issues with their music being made available through websites like this, but that's a whole separate discussion.)  Big kudos to Todd for his digital pursuits and a thanks for sharing...
   
• jeffsdigital 7/22/01 
  Description: Digital artwork submissions and special projects.
  Comments: Jeff Ocheltree's recent redesign is intended for higher resolution settings — I like it best at 12x10, though it's pretty good at 10x7.  The big montage of retro graphics on the main page (which shows Jeff's savvy at manipulating images) provides an interesting backdrop to the content presented in popup windows.  There's an excellent collection of Jeff's original digital artwork showcased here, but the site seems more focused on showcasing the visual art of others.  A number of people have already contributed cool content and my guess is that the "Art Showcase" will continue to grow.  "Who knows who might notice your work of raw genius!... Creativity and originality are what matter."  Here's to a certain "spirit of the web" and people like Jeff who appear to get it...
   
• RINZEN 7/20/01 
  Description: exists somewhere over the rainbow, bending reality into shapes pleasing to the eye and the ear (Flash)
  Comments: So — the path to today's pick goes something like this:  coolstop > robocore. > robocore.archive > robocore.archive.5th page > RMXXX > Today's Pick.  Robocore, picked earlier this week, was promptly added to the sidebar as an excellent place from which to explore the web in search of inspiration, and I guess today's pick sorta proves the point.  Okay, so I actually could have picked RMXXX for today — it's produced by some of the same folks who are behind today's pick and features the work of over 30 designers from around the world, all participating in a big "visual remix" — "golden goodness" is what Rilla calls it.  But as cool as that site is, it wasn't exactly what I was seeking at the moment — it wasn't exactly what I had in mind.  So, that link to the final spot on the path, today's pick, was really appreciated.  I ended up on a page with a simple, somewhat mysterious interface and started playing around.  Stickers, posters, characters, CD covers, themed stuff — all kinds of tasty visuals in a backdrop of odd sounds.  This very artisitic portfolio appears to include personal and work samples, but it's all presented simply and unembellished.  Though Rilla and her group are obviously in the design biz, a "mailto" contact link is the only thing you'll find here besides all of the cool stuff in the portfolio.  Wonderful, inspiring diversions (without commercial distractions) are what I was seeking on this particular excursion, and it was at the end of the path where I hit paydirt (everything along the way was really good, too).  Respect goin' out to Rilla and her "collective" for their cool art and designs...
   
• designdamage 7/18/01 
  Description: project based site features photography, cover archive, design news, and other works
  Comments: Eric Tsai states that the intention of his site is "propelling all of us to see and view the meanings behind designs and art, and not merely just pointing out differing visually aesthetic pieces."  He expresses a concern for reaching more than just designers with his digital art, saying it "needs a better language and newer ways of thinking" to appeal to the wider audience.  I find his thoughts intriguing.  "How do we engage our designs and make people think that it's more than just visual fetish or eye-candy?"  That's a challenge, indeed, but can we really make people think something other than they're actually thinking?  Is it possibly true that visual art is just visual fetish or eye-candy and that the deeper meaning is something that comes from deep within each viewer's perception of any given piece?  As I go through Eric's graphically intensive site, which I do appreciate greatly on a visual level, I can't help but wonder what the meaning behind any particular piece is for the designer/artist, though I am stuck with my own interpretation of it.  That, in my mind, is the way visual art works.  The language IS visual but newer ways of thinking may depend more on the viewer of the art than the artist — it may be futile to attempt to maneuver it otherwise.  Oh well, that was just my two-bit response to Eric's thought-provoking piece on "Conceptual Art/Design."  Today's pick is a great design with really tasty visuals (whatever they mean) and an outstanding collection of photography projects...
   
• Images by an animator 7/17/01 
  Description: Artistic black and white web site made by a Japanese animator. Unique moving icons with Flash are used. Also many drawing works are included.
  Comments: According to its "What is new" page, today's pick was last updated back in April.  So, I guess it might be a while before Japanese animator Maki Hosoi actually gets his "Animation" section up and running.  Though that seems ironic at first, the name of the site implies that it's images you'll be seeing from this animator and in that regard, he certainly does deliver the goods in the "Gallery."  To be accurate, I should say that you DO get plenty of animation here despite the mentioned section that's under construction — the navigation icons throughout the site are all very cool Flash animations!  It's those simple black and white icons with their tasty rollovers, the Gallery, and the simplicity of the design that really impressed me...
   
• terrorpilot|dot|com 7/16/01 
  Description: v 2.0 — "kill all web designers" — experimental flash portfolio. pain in the neck for the new economy. (mature content)
  Comments: The Italian designer who calls himself "swampthing" is one strange dude.  I'd seen the previous version of his site and wasn't sure what to make of it.  This new version, launched earlier this month, has made it all much clearer to me — this kickass designer is one strange dude (not necessarily a bad thing).  When one pulls out all the stops and lets it all out like this guy is doing, you've got to take notice and I'm sure that's what he's been thinking all along.  With a Flash intro that's a cross between Hitchcock, Scream, and Troma (definitely not for the faint-hearted) and a stated mission to "kill all web designers", swampthing is apparently going for the throat here and whether you like or not, you have got to take notice.  The "collective" weblog is an excellent addition to the site, balancing out the madness a bit, and the "covers" are good stuff.  What this site provides is a radical experience — a work of web art that's one of a kind.  What remains to be seen, I guess, is how people will respond to it...
   
• singlecell 7/13/01 
  Description: an online bestiary of interactive life-forms
  Comments: It's true.  These little creatures came into being as the new medium evolved.  New life forms, some raised on Java and others fed on various Macromedia nutrients, squirm around the screen waiting for user input.  Input.  We need input to complete our existence.  Wasn't it Paul Simon who said something like "it's all happening at the zoo?"  He was right.  Seems that one of these new beings has come into existence every month since January of this year, and each of the parents also has some other cool things to show ya.  In some cases, the user actually creates the creature "on the fly" or is that creates the fly "on the creature?"  A most interesting site.  Real web art.  Did I tell ya I love the web?
   
• zefrank 7/11/01 
  Description: "making a fool of myself"
  Comments: Very seldom does someone submit a site to the portal cool zone that is not their own work but on rare occasions, one of my loyal visitors will submit a site that they thought was cool, though not their own.  I have to give weight to such a submission because if someone liked it enough to submit it without having anything to gain personally, they must have really liked it.  With that said, I want to thank a nice guy named Jeff for submitting this unique site, which provides some rather amusing content.  I would say more — in fact, I did say considerably more in the original posting of this review earlier this morning — unfortunately, it wasn't taken as intended, so I decided to "sanitize" it...
   
• design for chunks™ 7/10/01 
  Description: a selection of designers illustrate a sickbag in their own style
  Comments: Back in November, 2000, when I picked "the personal space of oz dean", I mentioned in the review that a certain "concept is one of the strangest ideas I've seen for a collaborative feature and I've got to wonder if it will fly - if it does, we're in for some amusing visuals."  Well, my friends, the concept DID fly and the submissions came flying in at a rate sufficient to create a separate domain for all those "amusing visuals."  Today's pick is the spin-off site based on Oz Dean's original concept and I think it's superb — the visuals are actually beyond amusing — there's some great ideas from a whole bunch of excellent designers.  I'm not sure when Oz created the separate site, but if you get a little whoozy when you fly, this one was made for you, baby...
   
• zoorex.com 7/3/01 
  Description: Holographik display of noise and distortion by Zylonzoo. Also serves as your daily inspiration site.
  Comments: "If you are noticing that there is a scrollbar in this news, i'm still working on it. he-he."  Rex Advincula decided to go ahead and launch the "B4CKTO5K00L" edition now, though his plan was to release it in August.  So, the news window is a little funky at the moment but I'm sure Rex will resize the div and set the "overflow" to "auto" and it'll end up looking good.  Today's pick is extraordinary and I could hardly do it justice by commenting too much on it.  Spectacular backgrounds, a knock-out collection of visuals and sweet design should cover it.  Rex aka Zylonzoo has been doin' it good for some time now — he's also one of the people behind The Half Project.  This major force in Filipino design is becoming quite well known everywhere.  Keep up your great work, Rex — we love it!