Brett Amory

Amory Drums from Shaun Roberts on Vimeo.

Source: Fecalface.com, 'Brett Amory', viewed 31 August 2011,
http://fecalface.com/SF/index.php/features-mainmenu-102/studio-visits-mainmenu-121/3509-brett-amory-studio-visit

IO put this video in because I found it searching through some stuff today. I am still refining my video concepts for my project. This piece is great. Its short snappy and is mostly photos but has a couple of elements of animation when he plays the drum. I think that how they do it but It might be filmed? Interesting effect.

Good lighting and interesting choice of shots. I like it.
I am amazed at the power of photos sometimes, not being a photographer myself.
Very effective in communicating the ideas.

Bjarke Ingles Group, Denmark

Bjarke Ingles Group 2011, BIG, viewed 30 August, 2011,

http://big.dk/

This was a site that my friend and architect Garth Ancher, put me onto. He wanted to know how hard it would be to create a site like this for himself.

I asked a web designer and he told me its quite a big job. The way the website works is that the firm has all of its projects depicted as icons on the home page. You can view them in chronological, alphabetical, scale, programmatic and status. when you click to see them in these different modes the icons rearrange accordingly with the catagory. So if they are arranged in scale small number appear on a scale from smallest to largest and the icons rearrange according to their size on this scale. The icons form shapes that look like a cityscape each time they rearrange, each icon is a symbol of that project and when you roll over each shape it expands to a small photo icon to give you a better idea of the project before you click to the link.

So its info graphics and a modular homepage that is interactive with the viewer. Fun, clever and engaging. Once you click on one of the icons you are taken to a more traditional site, but the site also branches out into similar sub-menus that act in the same way as the home page.

Its a strange thing that not many people will ever visit this site on the greater scale of things. But for the people who do, they will find something that suggests it is as innovative and clever as the work that comes out of this studio. These are the people who are the most important to impress to because they will be BIG's clients. Its important to speak to your target audience. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.

Pula Golf

Source Pula Golf 2010, Pula Golf, visited 30 August, 2011,

http://www.pulagolf.com/en/

This site is for a gold course in Majorca, Spain. The web design team have created a fantasy gold island where each part of the island you scroll over changes as you roll over it. For example: When you roll over the hotel it folds down to reveal a bed and a red line extends out to a pop up window that appears as the link to a specific part of the site. In this case accommodation and bookings.

When you click on the link a second island appears with a closer look at the hotel component of the site. Clicking on a different part of the hotel brings up another menu that has photos and information.

Of course this is all easily bypassed by using the menu at the side. This choice of interaction with the map or just using the side menu is good because it provides people with options on how they use the website. With many rich golfers being old men this is important because they may find the interactive section either hard or frustrating to use, so its good to have the option.

Its good to consider who is going to be looking at your website. In my case I am aiming my site at the arts community in Hobart an further abroad but also at arts industry professionals. Its important to keep in mind that people in this field might not have the time or skill to navigate a site too complex so its important to provide alterantives to interactivity or make them very simple so everyone can use and enjoy them.

Streetwaves

Source: Streetwaves 2010, Streetwaves, viewed 30 August, 2011,

http://www.streetwaves.org/flash

This site is interesting. It looks like a beach-scape that has been made for a 90's CD-ROM game menu. While the aesthetic could do with a little work the ides is good. Each sign nailed to the wall leads to a different part of the website and is the same with many of the other items on the beach.

I have been thinking about making something similar but not quite so computer generated in its appearance. Stu and Aedan makes shaks all the time using various pieces of their and other peoples art. It seems like a great way to incorporate all of the artists from the rage cage on the home page. Making pieces of everyone in the studios work into a shack, stu and aedan style. By clicking on a piece of the shack it will take you to a different part of the website.

Five Impossible Features

Source: Five Impossible Features 2011, Five Impossible Features, Viewed 30 August, 2011,

http://ikt.co.id/#/item-category/everything-you-need-to-know-about-us.html

This is a great example of something that is a bit more advanced than standard web design. This company creates websites so it is important for them to be able to do something that will impress customers. The angled tiles at the right side of the screen react to the mouse being rolled over them. When ou move the mouse left, they move left, when you move right they move right, and so on. The tiles also slightly expand when you roll over each one.

When you click on one of the features in these tiles the tiles flies of the screen only to reappear in the centre as the main focus of the website. The tiles on the side rearrange themselves accordingly to their original order when the tile is replaced.

Its a fairly simple concept but done well. I know from talking to web designers that this type of onscreen movement is simple to the eye but can mean hours of coding.

I like the idea of movement in my website. Its engaging and makes a website more fun and interactive for the user. I will explore further into the web to find more ideas.

Website Research

Given that I only have a few weeks left of my project I am starting to really focus in on the website side of things. I have to say that I have spent so much time on the video side of the project that I haven't considered the website too much yet. I never wanted the project to go too far outside the videos themselves but I realise that to satisfy the criteria of the whole project I must make it into a complete package rather than just some random videos.

So I'm starting to research websites. And not just artist websites but everything. Any website that has great functionality and originality. As I mentioned in the crit, I look at this stuff all the time and yet I take it all for granted. So now its time to start paying attention. I've taken the first step by literally typing in the words cool websites. I'll see where that takes me. If I can look at 50 websites in the next day or so I am bound to find some inspiration.

Source: Scribblesquad 2011, Scribblesquad, viewed 30 August 2011,

http://www.scribblesquad.com/

I looked at this site for a design trio. They have a fun feel to the page and there is a section here where they have combined different fonts with images to tell people what they do. It makes the page more fun to look at. You get a sense of what these guys are about from their homepage alone so its quite successful.

I want to use heavy imagery on my site and combine it with white space to provide that balance.

No crazy html programming going on here. Its a basic site with a fun aesthetic.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU

Source: Youtube 2011, 'Big Bang Big Boom', Blu, 2010, viewed 20 August, 2011,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMoKcsN8wM8