So much to see! I wanted to pick one speaker to focus on, but I couldn’t decide, so browse and enjoy. (Definitely check out Zacahry Lieberman! at http://www.thesystemis.com/ and check out the lasertag video on YouTube. ).
This week’s site of the week (thanks to Jenilee for bringing it to my attention) is Andy Foulds. Some interesting Flash tricks here. Make sure to check out the “Bouncing Browser” under “Amusements”. For those of you interested in code, there are some open source files there as well. Have fun!
I love it when I get to brag about my students. I love it so much that I’ve dedicated this blog to doing just that. In fact, I chose a student website as the SOW (site of week) for the first time in history. Take a look at Edwin Acevedo’s “Eight things” site. Why did I chose it? It’s fun and rewarding, for one thing. There is a lot to explore there, so it keeps me moving throughout the site. The assignment was (and I promise, I’ll show you more of them) to use spatial illusion as navigation. Edwin’s solution works elegantly and simply. Sure, some things could be improved: needs something other than a white background on the html Edwin! But otherwise, this is a wonderful , smart interface with a lot of humor. Let me know what you think!
I chose Ben Fry’s site for the site of the week. Fry is one of the co-creators of the (FREE!) open-source Processing Application. This uses a language based on Java (some will say it IS Java) that allows artists to relatively easily manipulate code for creative means. Fry (along with Casey Reas) initiated this project. They , and a myriad of other artists, are a hybrid of a designer/artist/programmer/whatever you want to call them. Make sure to check out “Tendril”- “a web broswer that constructs typographic sculptures from the content of web pages” and Zipdecode as well as the other projects to the left of the page.
Ok web class and whoever else is listening. This week’s SOW (site of the week) goes to darkskymagazine. Which is my way of saying, “it is possible to have good typography on the web”. So look and learn. And think about your upcoming project which has a large writing/typography component. And send me good examples you find as well. And spring break is just around the corner.
Oh, and by popular demand:
Dear blog: I can’t believe I threw out all my old journals. Who knew they were a potential gold mine? Stupid stupid Cara! Oh well. At least I have some super groovy pictures of me still. Continuing in the vein of social networking, this week I chose getmortified.com as the site of the week. (and that explains the disturbing dreams I had last night about high school!). My favorite, both Read more this entry »
Ok. Site of the week this week is http://www.oscar.com/. Why? Do I love this site? Do I love the Oscars? Umm. No. Not really. But it is what is happening now: not just the Oscars, but the merger of TV, film and radio. A few years ago I mentioned to a friend that it was only a matter of time until we would be able to download movies instead of going to Blockbuster. He laughed and said it would never happen. (Who’s having the last laugh now???… well, actually, Netflix I suppose). I think this is a good thing???????? (????) Why so many question marks , you ask. Well- first - I can’t deny that I love being able to chose what I want to watch when. Absolutely. But the question marks are there because now there are so many things I DON’T choose to watch. What I mean by that is, when I was younger, I worked in restaurants and didn’t get home until maybe 3 am or so. The choices as to what to watch when I got home were very limited. So I watched whatever was on the 3am movie slot. That was my movie education. I watched things I never would have given a chance otherwise: Little Big Man, Sunset Boulevard, Bonnie and Clyde, Philadelphia Story. ETC! So now, this weekend, I was home sick (ALL YOUR FAULT) and all I could do was surf and surf and surf and try to make a decision on what to lay there and watch from all these unlimited choices. So I watched nothing. So my question , along with the site this week, is– is all this choice a good thing?
ahhhh. This is better. Definitely a cleaner, more legible template, although perhaps not so exciting. This weeks’ site of the week is Arcade Fire for a reasons too numerous to mention them all here. What I love the most about this site is it’s innovative use of media. I highly recommend checking out the interactive “Black Mirror” video under Neon Bible. What I find interesting about this is that it acknowledges that their target audience doesn’t watch traditional video anymore. (interesting note that MTV RARELY shows them anymore). (I mean, who cares… I always found that BORING anyway). But they (marketing, interaction designers) realize that their audience wants and indeed expects interaction. Great site. Very fun. Let me know what you think.
