http://www.twoxfour.net
This site is a "multidisciplinary studio focusing on design for art, architecture, fashion and cultural clients worldwide", or so they say. It seems the main focus of this site is very portfolio driven. The work itself is the focus as the website itself is quite simple and barren given its structure and black and white color scheme. However when expanded it gets hard to distinguish between sections because of that lack of color. Perhaps color coding the sections would improve it and the overal aesthetic of the page? Navigation is very simple as everything is layed out before you from the beginning. Main categories of the site are in list form and the viewer has a choice to expand and contract aspects of each category to obtain the information they want and hide the stuff they don't. It keeps everything very well organized. And even when someone expands a brand new category it automatically closes the previous one to prevent someone from opening every category and creating a very messy, mega-long page. It gets the job done.
Since www.futurefarmers.com was quite fresh in my mind when working on my site, I took the aspects I found worked well into consideration when designing my own site. I wanted to keep it clean and simple with tight typography. And I was also interesting in creating a nice visual environment like Future farmer did. So I included interactive images and animated GIF files. That alone, being able to finally make an animated GIF, was fun in and of itself.
This is a example of a "moment to moment"
transition. Wherein, one moment the yo yo is
undone, and in the next, it is wound.
www.futurefarmers.com
Futurefarmers.com is essentially a web portfolio for the company of the same name. Showcasing previous work (web, public space, illustration, print, animation, etc.) and current projects, one can really investigate their very slick and stylized creations. Three elements of the site really contribute to its modernized feel:
One, their typography is kept simple using either pixel or sans serif typefaces. Second, vectorized illustrations and fields keep the page clean and aligned within an obvious grid. Third, various 3D models and characters coupled with flash animation keeps the outlying area around the main text "occupied" and alive, for lack of a better term. Even little details were thought about, such as, when positioning your mouse over the owl on the upper-right corner of the homepage, the time is displayed. And even the leaves adorning the future farmers name on the homepage fall off and drift to the bottom when passed over by the mouse.
The links and display are easily deciphered. Navigation is easy, while at times being a bit annoying with all the sound effects. But that is just a small price to pay, to be able to play their "anti-war" game. While insightful, it was also pointless. I played throught three times and lost all three. hmmm.....check it out.
Question of the Week (2/6)
Find an example of folksonomy. I didn't have to look any farther then one of my favorite sites: www.digitalwebbing.net. The forums section is a thing of beauty. It brings together thousands of comic geeks a day and houses a complete archival database of comic art. With members everywhere throughout the web, it acts as a hub for illustrators, colorists, inkers, or even writers to come, meet and collaborate in one convenient location. Updated daily, those professionals and amateurs of any age can show off skills by submitting new work in the "Talent Engine", get crits for their projects, and talk with each other about what's new in the world of comics.
www.typorganism.com
I had forgotten how slick this website is. Crisp and interactive flash animations play a central role in order to bring the type to life. Promising to create "kinetic typography that responds to user's stimulus", the creator Gicheol Lee, does just that. Mobility within this colorful site is very fluid and very understandable. And the home page sets up that idea very well. As you enter the site you are welcomed by a microscopic view of a "typorganism" and are given the choice of several secondary pages, either by clicking the links on the side or trying to catch the corresponding molecule within the animation. Each area allows the user to play with type in regards to motion, sound, color, weight, and even image. They all offer a new spin on an old art. So while the site may seem relatively contentless, it provides the user with new versatile ways to use, think, and create type.
