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  Beautiful Illustrator Artworks By Artists Around The World

  http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/04/100-beautiful-illustrator-artworks-by-artists-around-the-world/

    Adobe Illustrator is a powerful software for illustrating that allows users to produce beautiful artwork, technical illustrations, and even graphics for both print and the web. Adobe Illustrator is a multipurpose vector illustration tool and its versatility makes it the most preferred choice among many professional artists and designers.In the past, we’ve published a collection of Beautiful Photoshop Illustrations By Artists Around The World, and this is the latest post that will showcase the power of Adobe Illustrator. We present here hundreds of brilliant illustrations by artists from around the world that will surely mesmerize you and stir your imagination. Have a look, and feel the power of Illustrator!We recognize that there are many more highly-talented illustrators that may not be mentioned here. We can’t cover them all, but with your help we can try to showcase them in future posts. Please feel free to comment on this article and mention the name of your favorite artist.[By the way, did you know we have a brand new free Smashing Email Newsletter? Subscribe now and get fresh short tips and tricks on Tuesdays!]Tom WhalenTom Whalen lives in McAdoo, a town in northeastern Pennsylvania, USA. He is a gifted and zealous designer come illustrator and he has skillfully amalgamated his passion in his idiosyncratically-designed posters.Robot Earth 3009 PosterVoltron CommissionRaiders of the lost ark posterDarkstalkers: Lord RaptorChristopher LeeChristopher Lee is a multi-disciplinary designer and illustrator of sorts, born in Sacramento, California. He is a graduate from Sacramento State University and his formal education is in graphic design. His entire life, however, has revolved around drawing since he was old enough to hold a pencil.I Am MedicThe Impossible CircusCandy Culture MagazineMusimalsThe Birdman from GargantuaJulian DoradoJulian Dorado is an Argentina based illustrator and graphic designer who creates unique characters, cute animals, wild monsters, and various other font-inspired characters.Type Apple ChanceryType Plantagenet CherokeeType Meta CapsChris LeavensChris Leavens was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He breezed through school and spent a good deal of time doodling, drawing robots, spaceships, and bizarre creatures. Currently, Chris is focusing on creating vector art using Adobe Illustrator. He produces most of his artwork — from start to finish — entirely in Illustrator, including textural elements. His work incorporates absurdity, anthropomorphisms, and a healthy dose of humor.In a ClearingWe’re Up HereBehind Our HouseMystical BitsAt the Break of DayThe Bowl EscapesAdvice from a CaterpillarZuttoZutto is a Russian-based digital illustrator, artist and character designer, with a very unique style. Her illustrations are dreamy and full of vibrant colors and fantasy characters.TundraThe magic springBlackberry cushionTrue loveWhite GhostHey, don’t be so evilMatthew SkiffMatthew Skiff is a vector illustrator living in Colorado. He is a well-known and trained graphic designer who has the ability to combine his graphic and illustration skills to create wonderful artwork. He makes illustrations for bands and creates professional t-shirt designs.Zombie LiquoriceThe Shadow ConspiracyI Wrestled A Bear OnceI See Stars/Sumerian RecordsYiying LuYiying Lu is one of the most promising designers of Sydney, Australia. She was born in Shanghai, China, and is a confident artist with many attractive designs and illustrations in her portfolio. She runs her own design studio & teaches design at the University of Technology, Sydney. Her dream job is to furnish visual refreshment to the current Google logo.Fail WhaleSerendipityFoul OwlBirdsYukio MiyamotoYukio Miyamoto has been using and abusing Adobe Illustrator since the beginning of time (well, since the late ’80s at least). His artwork is showcased and sampled in a number of design books and he has trained thousands of people in all areas of graphics for both Mac and Windows. You won’t believe your eyes when you see Yukio’s work.Musical InstrumentCameraCarNick LaNick La is a freelance illustrator and web designer from Toronto. He is a well-known designer who has founded a number of projects including N.Design Studio, the popular blog Web Designer Wall, Design Jobs on the Wall, and Best Web Gallery. He has recently launched a new website called IconDock that’s completely dedicated to icons.Abstract PeacockAbstract PhoenixFlowKoi FishWeb Designer Magazine CoverSakuraPOGO IllustrationHelen HuangHelen Huang is an illustrator born and raised in China and currently living in Los Angeles. She has a passion for illustration and is currently working as a full-time designer for an interactive ad agency.IcecreamPrincess FSun FlowerLegend of DragonDreamcatcherMichael HealdMicheal Heald is a passionate designer and diverse creative professional from the UK. His true passion and innovative outlet is his award-winning design studio Fully Illustrated where he offers creative services that include designing, branding, illustration, and 3-D motion graphics.Orekol MinersStone SkipperStats EnvyThe Creative Unity BookThe MonsterBondage DuckPuffrSusanne PaschkeSusanne Paschke is a German freelance designer and illustrator. Her passion is to accept the challenge of making something emotional out of digital vectors. She uses path tools and simple color selections to create photo-realistic illustrations.Berlin CosmeticsUnicoVectorbeautiesJonathan BallJonathan Ball is an illustrator and designer from Cardiff, UK who has immersed himself in a number of creative fields. He is well-known for creating idiosyncratic and skillful artwork that’s regularly infused with original characters.Computer Arts MonsterThe Great Panda ExtinctionBear vs ManJay is Games PosterMushroom GraveyardRyan Putnam, aka RypeRyan Putnam is an illustrative designer living in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He runs Vectips, a blog dedicated to vector illustrations and he does client work under Rype Arts. He is an outstanding illustrator who has been drawing and doodling his whole life and received a graduation degree in fine arts with a concentration on graphic design from Colorado State University.Water Works ParkWiggle WormCosmic CityStock CharactersRubens CantuniRubens Cantuni is an Italian designer with a degree in industrial design currently working as an art director and supplementing his income with freelance illustration. He is truly passionate about his creative work and wants to make a full-time living from illustration in the future.Urban AttitudeLe Desordre, c’est moiHeistEconomy is a robberyI Love LDNMasksSascha PreußSascha Preuß is a German Illustrator who is working as a freelance Illustrator under the name Bubblefriends. He is known for creating cute characters and colorful vector illustrations.RainbowfriendUnexpectedVectorguruWeihnachtenIcecreamfriendsX MasPopcorn CinemaJeff FinleyJeff Finley is an illustrator based in Cleveland, Ohio. He is co-owner of Go Media, a creative agency headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and is an entrepreneur that specializes in illustration, graphic design, and 3-D.CalibanPts CandyFest7Halim GhodbaneHalim Ghodbane is an amazing illustrator based in Algeria. You won’t believe your eyes when you see his work.LoshaCitroen C6BB3XRod HuntRod Hunt is a London-based Illustrator and artist who has built a reputation for retro-tinged Illustrations and detailed character-filled landscapes for UK and international clients spanning publishing, design, advertising, and new media, and covering everything from book covers to advertising campaigns, theme park maps, and even the odd large-scale installation too! Rod is also the artist behind the best selling Top Gear book “Where’s Stig?” published by BBC Books.Fishy SubTokyoHot Ice CreamsZombie Apocalypse!© Aquil Akhter for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: illustrator, Inspiration

  

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  March 4 2010, 3:10am | Comments »

• I posted to smashingmagazine.com

  Finding Inspiration in Uncommon Sources: 12 Places to Look

  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/UHxOOuIcqb8/

    Inspiration can be a fickle thing. Most designers, when lacking ideas, turn to design galleries to find ideas. But there are a few problems with that approach. The most obvious is that when taking inspiration from similar mediums, there’s a fine line between “inspired by” and “copied”. To some extent, looking at established website designs can also be somewhat limiting, especially if you’re looking for a fresh solution to a problem.There are so many things designers could be turning to for inspiration outside of design galleries. We’ve featured a dozen of those places below, along with where you can find inspiration for each of them. Share any other inspirational sources you might have in the comments.[Offtopic: by the way, did you already get your copy of the brand new Smashing Book?]FashionThe world of fashion has a long and varied artistic history. Trends change on a seasonal basis and often reflect the overall sentiment of culture at any given time. For example, in times of war or turmoil, feminine designs tend to become more popular to counterbalance all the perceived negativity. When there’s international financial trouble, designs tend to be less over-the-top and many designers focus on more realistic designs. By contrast, in economic boom times, designs tend to be very avant-garde and are more art pieces than functional clothing.Taking inspiration from both modern and historical fashion can be a great way to infuse something new and fresh in your website designs. A few ideas on how to adapt fashion designs to your next project:Look at the overall scale of an outfit and mimic it.Color schemes are one of the easiest areas to adapt.Look at the lines of a garment and emulate them in your designs.Fabric textures and patterns are another easy-to-mimic area.Where to Find InspirationMagazines: Take a look at the magazine rack of your local bookstore, grocery store, or drugstore for a wealth of fashion magazine choices. Some of the more popular ones (in the U.S., anyway) are Bazaar, Vogue, Glamour, and Nylon.Style.com: Style.com is the online home of Vogue magazine and has up-to-the-minute coverage of designers, parties, and anything else going on in the world of fashion.Style Blogs: There are a ton of style blogs out there. A few excellent ones to check out include The Cut (New York Magazine’s fashion blog), The Sartorialist, and fashiontoast. For even more, check out Signature9’s list of the 99 Most Influential Style Blogs.The Street: Check out fashion in the city or town in which you live. There are likely plenty of fashion-forward residents in or around your home town.Architecture and Interior DesignThe world of architecture and interior design holds a huge variety of potential sources of inspiration, and there’s likely an aesthetic style out there for every taste and every project. From vernacular architecture to modern minimalism to art deco and everything in between, there’s almost certainly an architectural style out there that can be adapted to your project.The number of architectural styles is really astounding, but here are some of the more prominent and interesting recent ones to get you started:Art Nouveau: A popular style around the turn of the 20th century (roughly 1890 to 1905) that fell out of style as the modernist movement took hold. The style is defined by violent curves (often called “whiplash” motifs), and dynamic, undulating, flowing lines. It was one of the inspirations for the psychedelic art movement of the 1960s. A great example of Art Nouveau architecture is the Museum of Applied Arts in Budapest.American Craftsman: Also known as American Arts & Crafts, it was popular in the late 19th century through the beginning of the 20th century, and still enjoys revivals to the current day. It emphasized locally crafted wood, glass, and metal work, and combined simplicity with elegance. Great examples can be in numerous Craftsman-style bungalows across the United States.Prairie School: Prairie School designs, which were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, generally include a lot of horizontal lines, a desire to blend with the surrounding landscape, and discipline in the use of ornamentation. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Oak Park, Illinois home is a great example, as is the Woodbury County Courthouse in Iowa.Art Deco: A popular design movement between 1925 through the 1940s. It was seen as glamorous, elegant, modern and functional at the time. The City Hall of Buffalo New York and the spire of the Chrysler Building in New York City are both prime examples.International Style: A major style in the 1920s and 1930s, at the beginning of the modernist movement. A strict set of design rules is one of the key components of international style. Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier and The Glass Palace (in Heerlen, The Netherlands) are both great examples.Mid-Century Modern: A design style developed between roughly 1933 and 1965, and is a further development of both Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles and Bauhaus architecture. More organic and less formal than international style. Prominent proponents included Joseph Eichler and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco and the Concourse building in Singapore are both good examples.Postmodern: An international style movement that started in the 1970s (with roots as far back as the 1950s). It’s not as formal as international style and has more ornamentation. The Bank of America Center in Houston, TX is a good example of postmodern architecture.Where to Find InspirationThere are a wealth of places to find inspiration from architecture and interior design, both online and off.The Real World: There are likely a number of architectural gems not too far from where you currently live or work. Look up at the buildings that surround you on a daily basis and take in their forms, shapes, details, and other defining characteristics.Magazines: Magazines like Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Veranda, and a number of others can be picked up on almost any newsstand in the U.S. Other countries are likely to have either international versions of these or their own variations.Design Blogs: There are tons of design blogs that cover architecture, including Inhabitat (which focuses on green design), A Daily Dose of Architecture, and Eye Candy.Architecture Books: Most major bookstores have tons of architecture books (usually coffee table books) in their bargain section. You can often get excellent volumes with tons of photos for less than $20.PhotographyThere are billions of photos online you can peruse whenever you need a bit of inspiration. Look at composition, color, and balance within an image to get ideas. Also keep in mind what the story behind the image is, and think about how something similar could be applied to your design project.Where to Find InspirationThere are thousands of photo sites online. But that’s not the only place you can find photographic inspiration.Flickr: Flickr has billions of photos. Some are fantastic, and some are far from it. Use groups and pools, as well as galleries and their explore feature to find the best images.DeviantArt: DeviantArt has a fantastic photography section to browse. You’re likely to find a higher proportion of “artsy” images here than on Flickr, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your particular project.Coffee Table Books: Major bookstores tend to have tons of large-format, “coffee table” books in their discount section. These are often full of images of all kinds, and can be picked up for next to nothing. Used bookstores are another good source of this kind of book.Flea Markets: Check vendors at flea markets for unique, vintage photographs.Packaging DesignPackaging design is far enough removed from web design that it’s often possible to find inspiring pieces you can easily adapt without copying. The change in format can lead to surprising adaptations that extend far beyond the original inspiration. The best part about packaging design is that it’s so accessible. Packaging surrounds us, making it easy to find examples in the real world.Where to Find InspirationYou can find inspiring packaging all over the place, from your own kitchen to the grocery store down the street.Stores: This is the most obvious place to go for packaging design examples. Every store you go into will have some kind of packaging, from boxes and bags to hang tags and labels.TheDieline: TheDieline is one of the best package design blogs out there. Their archives are inspiring and they’re updated daily.Packaged Group on Flickr: The Packaged group on Flickr and their pool has more than 4,000 product packaging images for you to peruse.Board GamesThere are hundreds of board games out there. And the thing about a lot of them is that they have fantastic color schemes and graphic elements. Sometimes the layouts of the games themselves can be used as a source of inspiration.Where to Find InspirationBoard games are sometimes a bit harder to come by, especially if you’re not into them for entertainment purposes. But here are a couple of places to check out if you’d like to try them for inspiration:Flickr Pools: There are a number of Flickr pools and groups dedicated to games, but two of the better ones are Games, Board and Otherwise and Board Games.Flea Markets and Thrift Stores: You can often find used board games for next to nothing at flea markets and thrift stores. Often these are vintage games that either have newer versions out or are no longer in production.The Natural WorldThe inspirational opportunities present in the natural world around us could make an entire post all on their own. There are literally thousands, if not millions, of things to be inspired by around the world and in our own backyards. Birds, trees, animals, bugs, the sky, mountains, valleys, deserts, rivers, lakes, the list could go on forever.When you’re lacking inspiration, try taking a walk through a nearby field, park, forest, or other natural space. Look around at the shape and texture of things, the colors, the patterns, and anything else that catches your eye. You’re almost sure to find something you can apply to your projects if you take the time to look.Where to Find InspirationObviously, the natural world is all around us, even if we live in an urban area (just look at grass growing up through cracks in a sidewalk, birds in a park, etc.). But here are some ideas for finding even more inspiration:Flickr Groups: Again, Flickr Groups are a great source to find inspiring nature photography. A few specific groups to try: Spectacular Nature, #1 Nature and Wildlife Photographers Corner, The Worlds Best Nature, Wildlife, and Macro Photography, and Nature, Wildlife, and the Great Outdoors.National Geographic: Whether you look through new or old issues, National Geographic is filled with amazing nature photos and stories. There’s plenty of inspiration on their website, too.TravelTraveling to new places can be a great way to feel inspired again. Whether you take a day trip, go away for a weekend, or go on a weeks-long exotic vacation, a change of scenery can go a long way toward getting your creative juices flowing again.Try going somewhere you’ve never been before, or somewhere you haven’t been to in a very long while. Take the time to experience the place you’re visiting, and stay away from the tourist traps as much as possible.Your mode of travel may be almost as important as your destination. When so many of us go on vacation, we immediately think of flying somewhere. But why not try taking a train or a bus instead? Or drive, if wherever you’re going isn’t too far away. A change in your travel mode may inspire you, too.MusicListening to music can be a fantastic way to get past a creative block. A lot of us listen to music while we work, but other than finding music that’s “motivational”, I’m sure we usually don’t put a whole lot of thought into what we’re listening to while we’re working on a particular project.But if you tailor your music choices to the project at hand, you may find that you’re even more inspired. For example, let’s say you’re designing a site for a shop that sells maternity clothes. Listening to death metal while designing probably isn’t going to put you in the best frame of mind for designing. Something a bit lighter might work a lot better for you. Or let’s say you’re designing a site for a cutting-edge new web app that’s set to revolutionize some industry or other. Listening to Baroque music probably isn’t going to help you very much. So think through what your project is really about, and then try to tailor your music to the feeling you want to create.Try to create a mental image as you’re listening to particular music, and then translate that into your projects. If you’re listening to the right music, it’s likely you’ll come up with some kind of image that can be applied to your design sooner or later.A word of caution, though: If you hate classical music, or jazz, or country, or any other musical genre, don’t force yourself to listen to it just because it fits your current project best. All you’ll do is annoy yourself. Instead, design in silence or pick a more mellow/energetic/whatever version of the music you normally listen to.Where to Find InspirationThere are a few sources for finding music for your current project if you’re not sure exactly what kind of music fits.Pandora: So, you know that a particular song fits the project you’re working on, but you’re not familiar with that particular genre. Just type in the song or artist name and you’ll be fed a playlist of similar music. You can vote songs up or down while you’re listening, so you won’t hear those songs you hate anymore, and will hear more of the stuff you like.20 Fantastic Ways to Find New Music That You Like: A post from Inspired Magazine that can point you in the right direction for finding new music.Music-Map: Just type in the name of an artist, and Music-Map will give you a mind-map like display of similar artists.CraftsThe world of artisan crafts is filled with some incredibly talented people. The world of crafts is no longer just populated with tea cozies and crocheted toilet paper roll covers. Unique designs abound and are an excellent source of creative inspiration. Plus, because craft designs are far removed from web design, there’s very little chance of being accused of copying someone else’s creation, and there’s plenty of room for your own interpretation.Look at the shapes, textures, and patterns as sources of inspiration. Color is also easily adapted.Where to Find InspirationThe world of handcrafts has exploded online, but not every craft site and blog out there is necessarily going to be a wealth of design inspiration (see previous comment about crocheted toilet paper roll covers). Here are some great sources, though:Etsy: Etsy is the premier online handcrafts shop. It’s populated by hundreds of thousands of artisans from all over the world, and has some truly extraordinary talent. Be sure to browse their showcases, treasuries, and The Storque (their blog) for some of the best picks.Craft and Make: Craft and Make Magazines are both great sources for finding handcrafted items. They’re both filled with tutorials and examples. Craft tends to lean a bit more toward traditional arts and crafts (with a twist) while Make is more technical and scientific-focused.Craftster: Craftster is a great blog and community filled with examples, inspiration, and tutorials. It’s aimed at hipsters and has more edge than most traditional crafts blogs.Local Artisans Guilds and Craft Fairs: Many areas have either an artisans guild where you can view crafts from local artisans, or have annual craft fairs (often associated with the holiday season, though others hold them in the summer). These can be a great place to find inspiration. Taking photos can be a great way to capture whatever inspires you, but make sure you ask before shooting pics of anyone else’s creations (crafters can get very possessive of the things they create).FoodThe sensations that go along with eating can be a fantastic way to unleash your creativity. If you’re feeling uninspired, try going out to your favorite restaurant or cooking your favorite meal. But go beyond just eating and really think about your food. If you’re cooking, consider the ingredients you’re putting into the meal and what each one adds to the finished result. The same goes for eating out; think about the different flavors and how they complement or compete with each other in the finished dish.Don’t overlook the presentation of your food, either. Look at the way the food is placed on the plate, whether there is any garnish, how much empty space there is around the food, etc. All of these things add to the dining experience. Consider how you might be able to apply the same concepts to your own projects.Illustrated Picture BooksChildren’s picture books are often filled with wonderful graphics. The illustrations themselves are one source of inspiration, but also the typography and the page layouts beyond the illustrations can be just as valuable.Look at the colors, the fonts used (and their sizes) and how the type is positioned on the page. Also check out how the text is balanced with the graphic elements, and how the amount of information on each page is limited. All of these are valuable lessons that you can apply to your own designs.Where to Find InspirationYou may have some picture books from your own childhood sitting in a box somewhere (or your parents might still have them). Start with those, but also explore these other sources:Google Books: You can search Google Books for both public domain and newer children’s books. While those not in the public domain will be limited in what you can view, older books are often available in full and can be acquired online.Your Local Library: Local libraries often have a huge selection of picture books available. And the best part is that you can borrow them for free.Used Bookstores: Used bookstores also often have a large selection of children’s books, including older ones you might not see elsewhere.Movies and TelevisionTitle sequences in movies and television are the most obvious places to look for inspiration, but set and costume design can also be useful in finding solutions to design problems. Historical films often have fantastic settings and costumes, as do science fiction and fantasy. Contemporary films can also have a wealth of potential design inspirations.Pay attention to the visual aspects of the next movie or television show you watch and try to think of ways they could be applied to your design projects. Also pay attention to secondary products associated with television and movies, such as commercials and promotional posters. These can be a huge source of inspiration as well.ConclusionStepping away from the places we normally seek inspiration can lead to a whole new world of creative sources. Try keeping a file of potential ideas, images, and other materials garnered from these sources, either on your computer or in physical form. Then you can pull from it even when pressed for time.If you have any other unconventional sources for design inspiration, please share them in the comments! What are you inspired by?(vf)© Cameron Chapman for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: Inspiration

  

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  February 26 2010, 12:31am | Comments »

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  Shalom! Showcase Of Web Design In Israel

  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/kqzA0DyPRRc/

    Israel is a young country with an old heart. It has been quickly built up over the last 60 years as an independent democratic Jewish state and is shockingly cutting edge for a country so new.It is a tiny surreal sliver of land smack dab in the middle of the Middle East: a very European, modern civilization… just programmed to Jewish tradition. Israel has great weather, nice beaches along the Mediterranean sea, fresh and tasty food and a warm and friendly culture. It is home to historic holy sites of the world’s three major religions, and buses drive down streets whose stones are older than anything you’ll find in Europe.Israeli design at its best: ILook, an Israeli street-fashion blog. The text on the left side says: “Send me a good picture of a hipster and win 300 bottles of Maccabi beer” (via Tal Sach).It feels as if Israel has one foot in Silicon Valley and the other in ancient Canaan — with an undercurrent of Middle Eastern hospitality and culture in this already multi-cultural society. And yet, English is commonly spoken here because many Jews from all over the world immigrate here regularly (not to mention the thousands of tourists from around the globe who pour in for sun, falafel, nightlife and a dash of biblical archaeology.) In some areas, you hear as much Spanish, French, Russian and English on the streets as Hebrew.Because of its small size and the everyone-knows-everyone effect of being a bunch of Jews, cabin fever (and completion of mandatory army service for the younger generation) drives Israel’s citizens out on frequent travels across the globe, to India, Asia, and South America. As a result, a unique mix of cultural discoveries abroad is woven into Israeli culture.Tel Aviv is Israel’s most urban, chic city: the capital of all things sexy, secular and spiritual (in alternative ways to traditional Judaism.) You can read more on Tel Aviv’s unique soul in this article by Ehud Azriel Meir.Much like many of Israel’s cities — hastily built and functional, yet poorly planned — such is the unfortunate state of most of the country’s websites. Most Israeli websites look unfinished, and they probably are. And Hebrew being a right-to-left language doesn’t help! Being victims of circumstance, Israeli Web designers cannot unleash their creative potential to make modern, usable working websites.agadir, a Hamburger joint.Even though some cutting-edge technologies are being developed right here in Israel — which is home to former hot startups such as ICQ (which became AOL messenger) and Intel (which is inside your machine… have a look!) — most business owners still putter around in IE6. Israel opened its first official Mac store only last year.[Offtopic: By the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has a mobile version? Try it out if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or another capable device.]What’s Unique About Israeli Web Design?Here are some other issues that designers face here (and, I imagine, in most places outside the US, Canada and Western Europe):Websites must work in legacy versions of IE (though IE6 is finally almost out). Israeli business owners emphasize this more than getting their websites to work in Safari or Firefox.There is a strong liking for Flash-based designs… it must be a cultural thing.Little value is given to Web designers (and those in related fields, such as copywriting — although marketers and SEO people seem to being doing okay), and many designers are not taking back their profession.Clients care more about cost than usability and standards.CSS-based designs are not standard, and many of the people responsible for hiring are not aware of it.Big agencies are usually asked to make conventional designs, and although they do quite impressive branding work, the websites they turn out are behind the times. Because they are launched by such big companies, the websites succeed “in spite of themselves,” leading many to believe that this is the formula for wildly successful websites: for Agency X to do our website the way they did for Company Y.The Lionways website.Many entrepreneurs here believe that because they are smart and successful in tech that they know your field as well as their own. They think they can write English better than a US-born copywriter and can design better than a graduate of FIT. Needless to say, this can be frustrating for the person trying to build a new website for them.Despite that, usability is starting to be demanded by many website owners, especially the genuinely intelligent tech companies, Web app providers and social media startups; hundreds of these are in Israel, mostly in English.Israel is always a few years behind American and European trends and standards, and this is no different on the Internet.The State Of AffairsWe spoke to key people in the Web design industry in Israel to get their point of view on the state of affairs.Q: Do you find you have to convince and educate clients a lot to be able turn out the high-end websites that you do?Arie Zonshine (Lionways.com): “Most people calling for a quote don’t really know what they want. It’s as if they are calling to get the price of an air conditioner. It doesn’t matter if they want a new site or a make-over of an existing site: they usually don’t have written specifications, they don’t know what kind of pages they want and they don’t have a visual concept.“So, I have to guide them through a series of questions, maybe looking at a few sites together in order to understand their needs. Sometimes, their lack of knowledge leads them ask for functionality that would work against them in terms of SEO, for example. I usually don’t have to work too hard to convince them to do things the right way.”Eran PalQ: Are clients surprised by how much you quote them? What buzzwords do you hear most from clients?Zonshine: “Always! Naturally, customers want the best price and, unfortunately in most cases, are not aware at all of the time and work invested. It’s even more problematic with issues such as Web standards and browser compatibility, because these aspects of the work have no visual impact on the website and are difficult for the client to appreciate. [I hear] SEO, AdWords and Flash. Very few mention browser compatibility, Web standards, semantic mark-up or CSS-based design”.Q: Approximately what percentage of Israeli businesses are into the new standards of websites written in XHTML and CSS, that are non-Flash and that use minimal JavaScript?Zonshine: “The numbers are unfortunately very low. I would say about 5%. Maybe less.”Alfred Gallery ExhibitionsQ: Why do you think most Israelis are into conceptual Flash designs that are hard to navigate, outdated and slow? Is this a cultural thing? Are more people waking up?Zonshine: “In too many initial conversations with potential clients, I hear requests to make things ‘Move on the screen like in PowerPoint.’ Many Israelis forget that the inside is just as important as the outside, and that foundations are more important than a cool façade (i.e. a flashy home page with clever animation) that has nothing behind it. I do believe it’s a cultural thing: you can see it in many areas. The ‘great façade with no foundation’ combo is very representative of Israeli culture. You see it everywhere. However, I do believe that appreciation of quality grows with time, experience and knowledge. More and more people call in already understanding the disadvantages of a Flash-only website”.Tower of DavidQ: Arie, I notice in your portfolio that you still use Flash, though you seem to have found the middle road between Flash and usability. Please explain.Zonshine: “Exactly. We wanted to make the point that cool and functional can work together seamlessly and are not contradictory. It was indeed an early decision that I took together with my partner Dana Ronen, who is responsible for the Flash programming on the site. We wanted to show creativity and Flash capabilities but also show that it can be done without compromising the accessibility, functionality and SEO of the site.“So, on almost every page, there is a small or big gimmick in Flash, depending on the content of the page and its function. On the home page, the flying business card gets center-stage; similarly, on the ‘About us’ page, the laptop CD tray makes an exciting entrance. On other pages we wanted the client to focus on the content itself, so the gimmicks were demoted to a supporting role and, in most cases, done in Flash (e.g. the credit card terminal, the coffee steam and the compass) and in other cases in jQuery (e.g. the changing color stamp on the contact page)”.Bee Creations Design AgencyQ: How does the fact that Hebrew is written from right to left influence your design work?Zonshine: “If the site will be Hebrew, you just need to flip your way of thinking horizontally. In terms of layout, it means that the logo would be probably placed in the top-right corner of the page rather than the top-left. You also need to mirror the placement of elements on the page, because the visitor’s eye-tracking patterns are mirrored in Hebrew.“The issue becomes more complicated when the site has both Hebrew and English or another left-to-right language. A good example of a dilemma that arises is a design that has a large background image, which I use quite often. When the background image cannot be flipped, it usually results in the logo and other elements being positioned on the “wrong” side of the page for one of the languages (Lionways is a good example of that). If, on the other hand, the image can be flipped, it’s much easier, as the Jerusalem Camerata site shows [see below] — the large violin image is mirrored on the English side of the site”.Waltz with BashirAnother example of this issue is Twitter, which scrambles any right-to-left tweets to an almost ridiculous degree. But again, Israel’s creative minds come to the rescue with Talker, a Twitter API-based… well, Twitter, except in Hebrew and right-to-left. Compare a Twitter Talker right-to-left account with a left-to-right account.Q: How does Hebrew affect other aspects of Web design?Zonshine: “First of all, a much smaller selection of safe fonts can be used for live text. Arial is probably the most common, followed by Times New Roman, Tahoma and Courier. That’s it, more or less. There aren’t any equivalents of Trebuchet, Georgia, Palatino or other fonts.“Also, if the site has both Hebrew and English, choosing a font for titles and logos becomes much trickier, because you usually need to choose two separate fonts — for English and Hebrew — that work well together. The Hiddush logo is a good example of that. I spent hours searching until I found a close-enough English font (Anderson the Secret Service) that worked well with the Hebrew one (AgadaMF), and even then I had to clean it a little to match the other. A few font shops in Israel, such as FontBit, offer quality fonts that are designed to blend well in both Hebrew and English”.“On top of all this, there are many technical problems with dealing with right-to-left texts in graphic elements, especially Flash components. Small and trivial things suddenly become an issue, such as the inability to control the location of punctuation marks, numbers and other symbols. Sometimes the only solution, as silly as it sounds, is simply to avoid certain characters, but this is impossible to control when dealing with dynamic content.“Q: Do clients pay on time. And what is negotiating like?Zonshine: “Negotiating is a part of Israel’s culture. People almost always ask for a discount. I almost always get paid on time”.Uzi Shmilovici (co-CEO at Netcraft) adds: “A lot of the logos that are designed in Israel have English typography. So the question is, where should the logo appear on the site: the left side or the right side?”Examining some of the biggest websites in Israel shows that this dilemma remains unsettled.“The other issue”, Shmilovici continues, “is using English words and phrases (either quotes or special terms) in the middle of Hebrew sentences. They force users to change the direction of their reading, which affects the flow of the article and scanning”.Israeli web design: Confederation House by bigdesignTypographyTypography is one of the most interesting crafts related to Hebrew websites and design. While traditional Hebrew fonts are great for creating an ancient or holy atmosphere, Web designers face a big challenge in finding or creating modern (or even futuristic) fonts from an alphabet that was invented for one thing: Torah books.Typography fans might be interested in the “Torah Scribe,” written by a person who handwrites Torah books and who follows a strict set of rules and guidelines. The slightest mistake makes the book un-kosher, and he has to throw it away and start all over again (which is why Torah books cost so much).Another trend in Hebrew typography is nostalgic fonts from the early days of the state (the British Mandate). A great example is the Palestina font created by Oded Ezer (see image below), which is an effort to fuse an ancient typeface to a modern design.Oded Ezer’s website is a great place to look for modern Israeli fonts and experiments in Hebrew typography. A leading Israeli typographic artist, Ezer also runs the blog Spare Type. If you are into typography (and who isn’t?), you must check out two works by Ezer in particular: Ketubah and Typosperma.Any Israeli knows how hard it is to find beautiful fonts in Hebrew. Lucky we have Oded Ezer, a typographic artist, logo and type designer, lecturer and typographic experimentalist. His studio is located in Israel.Fontef, Israeli font designers.Ha’Gilda: Hebrew fontsInteresting Solutions to Israeli Design ProblemsYotam Hadar redesigned nrg.co.il, Israel’s second-most popular news source and seventh most popular website. The old version had too many boxes, low readability and nowhere to focus the eye, not to mention unconventional and hard-to-use navigation. Since its redesign, the website has continually gained popularity (and the statistics show much longer stays), yielding more income and a smaller team on which to rely for maintenance. (The website was completed while the designer was working at Maariv, in collaboration with NRG’s design team, under chief designer Amir Hadad.)Efficiency Is A Double-Edged SwordIn a 62-year-old country that is in a constant state of war, where every citizen has to join the army at the age of 18, efficiency (not to be mistaken for productivity or effectiveness) is almost sacred. It has been the most important quality in building this country, and it tends to be the most valued quality in any project. One could say, “It doesn’t matter if it’s good, as long is it works…” Sort of… Close enough. Thus usability, aesthetics and trends are ignored quite often, making the job of the designer secondary.Another side effect of this harsh efficiency-driven attitude is the de-emphasis on a proper technological education. Because clients only demand that things “work,” standards, trends and aesthetics are the last thing on a developer’s mind. In turn, clients lack a real understanding of the media, which is why so many Israeli websites use Flash. The lack of variety of supported Hebrew Web fonts is also a factor. But fortunately SEO is creeping in and forcing even the most stubborn clients to ditch Flash for HTML and to replace images with live text as much as possible, which will hopefully push typography awareness to the next level.ha’Sushia has an original navigation menu.Adam Benayoun (CEO and co-founder of Lionite), puts it very well: “It is a technology-oriented market. A lot of Israeli companies don’t focus on the front end, design, UI, experience, because we are all developing and selling technology to the US.”Lea Aharonovitch (a senior product manager at Answers.com and a UI/UX blogger) adds: “I would even go further to blame each and every one of us Israelis as consumers for not demanding higher standards from websites that prefer banner spots to design.”“Just a quick look at some of the 130 Israeli Web 2.0 companies demonstrates how much creative types and services are trying to solve problems and foster new exciting ways to do more on the Web… If we support designers and let them show us what they can really offer, we stand a chance that the next ‘Made in Israel’ design article will boast about how Israel has become the cutting edge of intuitive and excellent user-centered design.”Lea is also a former manager of UPA Israel (Usability Professionals Association), which recently initiated a series of usability reviews published weekly on Israel’s biggest news website Ynet (the equivalent of CNN in terms of traffic and importance), inspecting a different Israeli website every week.Tel Aviv city budgetQ: What other setbacks against designers in Israel can you identify?“Behind every Israeli designer stands a team of managers who just don’t get it,” says Aharonovitch. “Managers don’t think they can afford to offer simple, less monetized interfaces, so designers are required to add as many monetization elements as possible”.Shmilovici: “Strong interactive companies lead clients to invest a lot of money in the media (where they have big commissions), and the result is usually less resources for UX and design (because the development part is a must anyway)”Oded Ezer, whose work was featured earlier in this piece, give us a typographer’s point of view: “Conservativeness. Instead of relying on 3,000 years of documented culture and Jewish heritage, young designers are looking to modern European design for inspiration.”Dinamo-DvashLocal InfluencesIt’s worth mentioning that the second official language of Israel is Arabic, another right-to-left language with amazing appeal to typographers. But a whole other article would be required for that and for the question of why Israel has so few Arabic websites.ShatilMossawa CenterKoloudtof. This website is Hebrew but influenced by local cultures. Remarkably, about 50% of Israelis come from Arab countries.Let’s Turn To The FutureWeb designers in Israel seem to have two choices: find work overseas, or deal with the conditions in Israel, which in most cases mean lower wages and having to dabble in print design and other unrelated design work. This is another reason why finding good examples of Israeli Web design is hard, because most of the work is done for European and American clients or, if done for domestic clients, just doesn’t compare to the quality of design overseas.But as Israelis, we always look at the bright side and seek solutions. “Clients in Israel are just like clients all over the world,” says Adam Benayoun, putting as much of the blame on service providers. “We need to educate clients on the importance of design,” he says, advice that is as true of designers in Israel as it is anywhere else.Baboo, a lighting boutique.Lionite is a great example of Israeli creativity in business model and workflow. The Tel Aviv-based Web shop provides a complete solution for clients in Israel and overseas, combining development, design and even marketing. “Clients overseas prefer us because of our standards, not because of or despite of our being Israeli,” says CEO Adam Benayoun. “We believe you have to be good no matter where you are from, no excuses.”Netcraft’s Uzi Shmilovici seems to agree with that philosophy: “Although Israel is not the cheapest place on earth, it is still cheaper than Europe and the US. That said, professionally, Israeli designers are definitely on par with European and American designers. Take those two facts together and you’ll understand why Israeli design gives you the best value for your money.”Q: So, what do you think we have to offer the world in terms of style, influence, etc.?Shmilovici: “I do think that some of our unique typography issues have led to some nice progress. Because the Israeli font inventory was weak, we had to come up with new fonts quickly. Some of those explorations, done by Oded Ezer for example, ended up in the MoMA.” Oded EzerAharonovitch: “Israel is considered one of most innovative nations in the world when it comes to technology. It’s hard to compete with our sense of creativity, our high level of adaptability and flexibility and our high skill level in problem-solving and other traits.”While at times it may seem that we’re not organized or that our affairs are managed informally or that our processes are not well defined, these are our advantages when considering the Agile or Lean development method that has been gaining popularity recently. The last thing to mention is the emotional strength and maturity that many Israelis develop at an early age — mainly derived from growing up in as challenging an environment as the Middle East and serving in the army at the age of 18.”Showcase of Israeli Web DesignDenis ZilberSchlafstundeRachel TimorElad TayerKeoss Studios (warning: music is turned on automatically!)Anz.co.ilAravaRubin MuseumE-Dologic.co.ilHayehudim, an Israeli music band.Kid.org.ilMoran in the big cityMoran in the big citySegal WinesSiblingOded Babayoff“The Block”Israel TodayIE StudioThe Red Sea Jazz Festival WebsiteZero NineStudiogavriel’s workThe Wall, Jerusalem.Sipholux.co.il3 BearsKitshQuicheria, one of the many Flash-based websites in Israel (via Wix.com)Terry Poison, electro-rock and roll band.Duddi Hasson, Fashion photographer.halas.am, Holon Art Lab Audio Serviceshani bar, Fashion designer.while you were away, Ben Ben-Horin.hello supersize, Matty Marianski (Supersize), Motion graphics and interaction design.The Jerusalem CamerataThe Red Sea Jazz Festival WebsiteHydrosIsraeli Designer ShowcaseThose who are able to rise above the circumstances end up turning out top-notch websites. Some such stars are featured here.Shual (meaning “Fox” in Hebrew) is a two-person team that churns out modern Web-standard websites. Its own portfolio is startlingly green. Aside from this neon-green page complete with fox howl, the team turns out such beautiful websites as the following:Galia OffriArt FocusNetcraft does it right and sets a good standard. It is one of the leading agencies in Israel.It designed this well-known e-commerce website:Lionite is an Israeli agency with a unique approach to business.It also created Octabox…… and Cubicl.Itamar Lerner is an Israeli-born graphic designer. He started working as a designer at 2002. In the following three years, he was employed by several design studios around Tel Aviv.Adam Tal (a collaborator on this article) created this stylish website to make his wish come true and was shocked by the feedback and attention he received.Daina Reed is a freelance Web designer in Tel Aviv.Inbal Pinto and Avshalom Pollak Dance Company created this beautiful, simple and artistic Flash website, which may be impractical for most in the real world.Inkod Hyperanucampaign offers great insight into the real Israel (as opposed to the Israel you know from the news).IllustratorsLiron Tocker is a talented Israeli illustrator and icon designer who lives in Germany.Mikimottes is commendable for his sketching of everyday Israeli scenery.Asaf Hanuka worked on the art for the award-winning animated documentary feature film by director Ari Folman.hoop: this is just about the end of our journey. If you wish to absorb more Israeli design, you should visit hoop.Related PostsYou may be interested in the following related posts:Showcase of Web Design in RussiaShowcase of Web Design in GermanyShowcase of Web Design in MexicoShowcase of Web Design in IrelandAbout the AuthorsDaina Reed is a freelance Web designer and Web project manager in Tel Aviv.Adam Tal is a Web entrepreneur who believes that code is poetry and design is music. Follow him on Twitter @adamtal, or check out his website.Sara Eisen is a freelance writer, editor, journalist and “marcom” and Web content consultant. She blogs at http://the-word-well.com.Also, this article wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of Joey Simhon and Lior Yair of Netcraft, a digital agency in Tel Aviv that specializes in user experience and Web technologies. Special thanks to Avi Joseph, CEO of SmediaC for helping with the research for this article.(al) (dr) (at) (vf)© Smashing Editorial for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 12 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: israel, showcases

  

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  February 23 2010, 5:53am | Comments »

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  Beautiful Motion Graphics Created With Programming: Showcase, Tools and Tutorials

  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/IKv5cDKMxG0/

    When you hear the word “creative”, what type of profession comes to mind? Maybe a graphic designer, painter, sculptor, illustrator, or writer? It’s unlikely that you would consider a “programmer” when thinking of creative fields of work. But programmers have the potential to be creative and come up with ideas or concepts that will impact others in positive ways.We often turn to programmers to solve mathematical-related problems, but the concept of mathematics in programming is what powers programmers to innovate. When you think of mathematics you imagine numbers, expressions, and equations. But what about art, music, or even beautiful visuals? Those numbers and equations that we often view as mundane and overly-formulaic can generate beautiful visuals and music. This article will present dozens of examples of motion graphics and interactive visuals created with computational code, along with some useful references and resources.[Offtopic: By the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has a mobile version? Try it out if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or another capable device.]Beautiful Motion Graphics Created with ProgrammingFirst we’ll look at some examples of beautiful and inspiring motion graphics created by programmers. Some of these are audio-reactive whereas others are data visualization.Metamorphosis by Glenn MarshallSwan Lake – Zeno Music Visualiser by Glenn MarshallBlack Hole by 360anglesFlightpattern by Gwen Vanhee These beautiful motion graphics were created using ActionScript.Disco Maths 1 by Stefan GoodchildMagnetic Sphere by flight404Air Doom by Rui MadeiraAudio Reactive Bubbles by Matthias Dörfelt.Visualization in 7/4 by Eamae MirkinMusic Is Math by Glenn MarshallAudio-generated landscape by flight404okdeluxe XMAS card 2008 by okdeluxeSolar, with lyrics. by flight404Bubbletrouble_2 by Leander HerzogHouse of Cards by Radiohead In Radiohead’s video for “House of Cards”, no cameras or lights were used. Instead, 3D plotting technologies collected information about the shapes and relative distances of objects. The video (directed by James Frost) was created entirely with visualizations of that data.Magnetic Ink by flight404Shifty by Pedro MariAdvanced Beauty 13 of 18 by Universal EverythingI Am David Sparkle – Jaded Afghan by Eduardo OmineRelentless, The REV by flight404Aphex Twin – Rhubarb by Simon GeilfusMagnetosphere Revisited by flight404Vortex by Rui MadeiraThe Nest That Sailed The Sky by Glenn MarshallGoodMorning! by Jer ThorpSunflower by VS*Interpol – Rest My Chemistry Video by Aaron KoblinFree Applications for Creating Visuals with Computational CodeProcessingProcessing is a popular and powerful application for generating visuals using programming. It’s free and open source and uses Java as its coding language. It’s been used in professional, educational, and scientific environments and is available for GNU/Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. It can also be used for web by embedding as Java applets or through the use of Processing.js, which uses JavaScript to draw shapes and manipulate images using the HTML5 Canvas element. Processing is also available for Java-based mobiles (Mobile Processing).Open ProcessingShare your sketches online.Useful Processing Applet Source CodesA collection of free Java applet source codes.Processing with EclipseIf you are an avid Java programmer and have been using Eclipse for your daily routine this would be best way to use Processing, making your workspace comfortable and familiar. Another benefit that Eclipse adds is that you can harness the power of the latest Java IDE.Quartz ComposerPopular among Mac developers and VJs, Quartz Composer is the simplest application for creating still as well interactive motion graphics. It uses a node-based sequencing visual programming language that takes advantage of the Open GL, JavaScript, Core Image and Core Video devices and other technologies built into Mac OS X. It’s intended for non-programmers and is used by developers to construct user interfaces in conjunction with Cocao and other developer tools bundled in Xcode. It’s also used to create iTunes Music Visualizers.Using third-party tools like Effect Builder AE and QC Integration FX you can turn your Quartz compositions into plug-ins for professional video editing / motion graphics applications such as Apple Final Cut, Adobe After Effects, Apple Motion, etc., without writing a single line of code. Many professional applications like Pixelmator use Quartz Composer on Mac to generate graphics and this is one of the reasons why some graphics processing application are available only for Mac OS X. As you probably guessed, Quartz Composer is only available for Mac OS X. Users of Mac OS X 10.6 or later can utilize OpenCL in Quartz Composers.Quartz Composer Programming Guide Guide for Quartz Composer.Quartz Composer Release Notes for Mac OS X v10.6Highlights major changes to Quartz Composer in Snow Leopard.Quartz CompositionsForum dedicated to Quartz Composer users.Quartz Composer TutorialsCollection of some of the best Quartz Composer tutorials.Installing 3rd Party Plug-Ins for Quartz ComposerKinemeKineme offers plug-ins for Quartz Composer, including audio analysis, particle effects, and Kineme3D which can import 3D Models.Futurismo ZugakousakuA great collection of Quartz Composer examples.Sam Kass BlogQuartz Composer examples that use iSight as an input source for creating real-time effects.Free Webcam Audio VisualizerOpenFrameworksOpenFrameworks is a tool for creating interactive visuals, and is widely used among creative programmers. The user interface is simple and similar to that of Processing. Similar to Processing, it uses libraries, but it’s difficult to find third-party libraries and requires knowledge of C++ programming.Start Up GuideOpenFrameworks ForumOpenFrameworks WikiNodeBoxNodeBox is similar to Processing and OpenFrameworks with the only major difference being the programming language used, which is Python. Although NodeBox has a small number of libraries in comparison with Processing, they are of good quality. NodeBox supports PDF, QuickTime movies, fonts and uses the Mac OS X Core Image library for image manipulations (blend modes, color changes, filters etc). NodeBox is available only for Mac OS X.NodeBox LibraryA collection of libraries, add-ons, and extensions.VVVVVVVV is usually used in large media environments like concerts and art installations for real-time motion graphics, video and audio processing and interactive motion graphics. Unlike Quartz Composer, VVVV comes with audio synthesis, 3D Mesh manipulation, and real-time video synthesis built in. It is a powerful application for generating visuals in real-time, even at very high resolution and high frame-rates.Another important feature of VVVV is that it can make use of multiple computers behaving in sync. All programming and editing can be done on one server computer, while all client computers execute their respective tasks. You can easily use the CPU and GPU power of each computer to do some amazing effects at a cheaper cost. Since VVVV uses DirectX, it’s only available for Windows.StruktStrukt has done many projects using VVVV, including this beautiful letter universe installation.eMotioneMotion is a new free application which can generate real-time as well as offset graphics. It has an awesome text and particle engine which is driven by real-world physics. It is available only for Mac OS X.Creating Interactive Visuals with Computational CodeHere are some examples demonstrating adding interactivity into visuals.Sonic Camera by Dmtr.orgGraffiti Analysis 2.0 by Evan RothAmoeba Dance is built using Quartz Composer. Its not a pre-rendered visual but works totally in real-time mode, controlled using VDMX and is reactive to the audio input.The Beauty of Fluid Dynamics by Jens Heinen Beautiful live interactive visual performances. Also watch Lichtfaktor vs Optix and Reincarnation.Interactive Projection at GAGA Gallery | Laser tag This project uses powerful lasers to virtually in-script graffiti on tall buildings. The laser is tracked and the graphics are projected in real time. Also check out the Eyewriter project which uses the same technology for helping physically disabled graffiti artists to once again bring their talent back to life. You can take a look at how-to and source code, too.Digital Graffiti Wall + Stencils by Alex Beim Another similar version, also built with OpenFrameworks.Digital Wallpaper by Gregor Hofbauer Uses VVVV to generate graphics which are then projected and mapped to the wall.Body Navigation by Ole Kristensen Amazing example where interactive visuals are projected on to a wall. To add interactivity, everything is tracked using infrared light and cameras.Hand from Above by Chris O’Shea An amazing installation built with openFrameworks and openCV. Pedestrians are tickled, stretched, flicked or removed virtually in real-time.Quadrature by Griduo The walls of the building are virtually stretched, broken and reconstructed. A similar installation:555 KUBIKCastel Dell’Ovo by Quy & N1ente A stunning audio-visual performance created by mapping an entire building in a virtual world.Body Paint by Memo Akten Beautiful interactive installation which allows performers to paint on a virtual canvas with their body, interpreting gestures and dance into evolving compositions.Lights on by thesystemis Created for the Ars Electronica museum, which has a facade that contains 1085 LED controllable windows. The window colors are changed in real time with music that is broadcast on speakers surrounding the building. Visuals are created using openFrameworks.Vinyl Workout by Theo Watson A giant record is projected on the floor and it can be played by running around its surface in the direction you want it to go. The speed of playing music is in sync with the speed of the moving person.Funky Forest – Interactive Ecosystem by Theo Watson Funky Forest is an interactive installation for children. They can play with the water on floor, grow trees and water it and interact with various creatures. Built using openFrameworks. Also see these other amazing installations: Interactive Mural, Interactive Projection at GAGA Gallery, Guten Touch, Jellyfishes and Interactive Dancers System.Reverse Shadow Theatre by Gabor Papp Amazing example in which the code powers the real-time puppet animation. Uses multiple software – Processing, Eyesweb and Animata. Both Eyesweb and Animata are open source, as is Processing. Here Eyesweb handles the motion tracking while Animata takes in the input data from Eyesweb and does the real-time animation. Also watch Jazz Pub.TutorialsTutorials from the official websiteControlling animata with OSC from Max/MSP and pure data.DIY 3D Scanner by Kyle McDonald Another great application of computational code.DaVinci by Razorfish – Emerging Experiences Apart from producing amazing visual and real-time animations, computational code can give new meaning to human-computer interaction. If you like Microsoft Touch Screen Table then you are sure to like DaVinci. You can interact with a virtual world through a user interface that uses object recognition, real-world physics simulation, and gestural interface design.London Digital Week by seeper Multi-touch music sequencer.Books for ReferenceProgramming Interactivity: A Designer’s Guide to Processing, Arduino, and Openframeworks by Joshua Noble and Noble JoshuaLearning Processing: A Beginner’s Guide to Programming Images, Animation, and Interaction by Daniel ShiffmanProcessing: Creative Coding and Computational Art by Ira GreenbergReal-Time Motion Graphics with Quartz Composer: A Hands-On Guide to Learning Quartz Composer by Graham Robinson and Surya BuchwaldProcessing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists by Casey Reas and Ben FryAlgorithms for Visual Design Using the Processing Language by Kostas TerzidisVisualizing Data by Ben FryResourcesOpenCVOpenCV is a library of programming functions for real-time computer vision. You can use it for human-computer interaction, object identification, segmentation and recognition, face recognition, gesture recognition, camera and motion tracking, ego motion, motion understanding, stereo and multi-camera calibration and depth computation, and mobile robotics.ArduinoOpen-source software to send signals to the i/o board.10 Best Software for Visual Performance ArtistsSome of the best professional software for live audio-visual performanceFlickr Group: Processing.orgCollection of graphics created using ProcessingFlickr Group: Algorithmic AbstractsAbstract art created by writing code.Flickr Group: VVVVCollection of images created with VVVV.Flickr Group: Generative Visuals(ll)© vailrodrigues for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: cg, motion graphics

  

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  February 6 2010, 5:50am | Comments »

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  Showcase Of Web Design In Germany

  http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/SmashingMagazine/~3/TgAbpRfEPgs/

    Germany, which is situated in the heart of Europe and neighbors nine other countries, is not only the motherland of eminent philosophers, poets, composers, world-famous automobiles and great beer, but also a place where some of the most talented and highly ranked Web designers live.German design is certainly worthy of respect and a delight to the eye of anyone who takes the time to observe it. For years, we have accumulated knowledge, upheld eternal principles of style, simplicity and accessibility, adopted best practices and kept up with the latest global trends. I’m proud to present here a showcase and discussion of world-class German Web design.German Web Design: jung von matt[Offtopic: By the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has a mobile version? Try it out if you have an iPhone, Blackberry or another capable device.]State Of ThingsThe creative industry in Germany is extremely competitive and consists of thousands of freelancers, studios and agencies. We have the pleasure here of presenting a brief interview with several German design gurus to lend some insight into the local design scene. As talented creative professionals, blog and book authors and freelancers, they are passionate about sharing their knowledge with others. Our participants are:Prof. Fons Matthias Hickmann, graphic designer, typographer, Professor of communication design at the University of the Arts Berlin, Director of Fons Hickmann m23 design studio, author of “Beyond Graphic Design” and “Touch Me There” books;Mike John Otto, founder and Creative Director of blackbeltmonkey design studio;Kai Becker, Creative Director at Elephant Seven agency;Christian Bartsch, Associate Creative Director at Neue Digitale / Razorfish agency;Dirk Ollmann, freelance Creative Director;Markus Angermeier, design freelancer;Björn Seibert, Web designer, information architect, founder of the Webzeugkoffer blog, and author of the book “Professionelles Webdesign mit (X)HTML und CSS”;Dirk Behlau, graphic designer and photographer.creative style agenturQuestion: Could you please describe the current state of the German design market. What is the life of a freelancer, developer or designer in Germany like? How much do designers earn?Prof. Fons Matthias Hickmann: Working with interesting and open-minded people is not something you can take for granted. And earning money by doing what you love involves luck.Mike John Otto: The current situation for good designers, developers and especially freelancers is surprisingly good. That strange year 2009 wasn’t as bad as many thought it would be, and there was a big demand for good creatives with experience to help realize projects at agencies. As many bigger agencies reduced their team sizes, freelancers were highly welcome, and I honestly think that shrinking in such a “crisis” always benefits the quality of creative projects, because people try harder to prove themselves with good work instead of just doing their job.Kai Becker: I think 2009 has been a hard year for designers. Although we had a lot of work (compared to conventional advertising agencies), many clients cut their budgets, which often meant less time for the design process. I also missed jobs in which the design or idea played a leading role. Briefings were very conservative or half-hearted and often came with a very reduced budget. A screen designer earns around €2000 to 2800; from there on you’d be an Art Director. Most of them earn €2900 to 4000, but a few earn a bit higher. Freelance screen designers earn in the range of €150 to 250 per day, Freelance art directors get from €300 to 500. Because conventional agencies had to sack quite a few designers, a lot more freelancers have been available in 2009, and as far as I know they have had a hard time.Armin MorbachChristian Bartsch: I think we have the perfect market right now for small studios and freelancers. All the big agencies tried to build up knowledge of digital services in the past five years to be more integrated. Those that failed now have to to work with specialists and independent freelance networks to be competitive. Clients want their 360° communication, and you need professionals for that. A lot of these professionals, including myself, can be found on Design made in Germany, a platform for German designers. Money-wise, I would say it is the same as everywhere else. If you are good, you’ll be booked.Dirk Ollmann: The financial crisis had a strong impact on the freelance market. I know a lot of them were starving and sleeping under the bridges in Hamburg. Just joking. Life is not that bad, but agencies tried to manage all of their work with their own staff, and so hiring freelancers was a no-go for the last two years. Now the market is rising again, and the fact that agencies were very cautious and kept their staff counts low will now help freelancers. An art director can earn between €300 and 500 a day, depending on his skills, quality and speed.Björn Seibert: Web designers and developers are working — surprise, surprise — as freelancers and employees. Freelancers work more on interdisciplinary projects and teams. The employees work in small specialized agencies, in bigger full-service agencies and large industry enterprises. I would guess the majority work for small to mid-sized businesses. But overall, I don’t think that this is particular to the German market.Working as a Web designer or developer is rarely a 9:00 to 5:00 job. Your income depends of whether you work as a freelancer or employee. Secondly, it depends on whether you work for a small agency or large enterprise. It may also depend on education. Employees can earn from €35,000 up to 50,000 or even more. As a freelancer, it depends on your market, target groups and customers. As a freelancer, you can and should ask for an hourly rate of at least €50 and up.sven kils – graphic studiosDirk Behlau: Hmm… I have been working as a freelance graphic designer and photographer for ten years now, and I have been lucky enough to develop Pixeleye Interactive (my business) from year to year. I mainly work for international lifestyle, car and custom-bike magazines and top brands. For example, I was in Mexico with the Finnish rock band Leningrad Cowboys in the fall of 2009; we will produce a photo book and DVD documentary together. All I mean to say with this example is that I am not sitting in my office every day from 9:00 to 5:00. I travel a lot, meet cool people and a lot of new things happen. So no day is like another, which keeps me motivated. How much do designers earn? That depends on how “established” you are in the business… I have all I want and can make a good living out of it.Question: Are there any patterns of usability or rules of thumb that are typical of German design? Are the standards of Web design in Germany changing?Prof. Fons Matthias Hickmann: Although the Web is completely different from print or anything else we thought we knew, you can still apply your principles and tastes to Web design. At the moment, almost anything is possible, and that makes it exciting.Mike John Otto: Well historically, German design has always been really clear and straightforward. On the one hand, everything produced in Germany, including the design, is usually very precise and content-driven. On the other hand, I see a new trend of more experimental designs that try to break out of grids and usability patterns. As globalization hits every one of us, and with one click anyone can see what is highly rated in other countries, German designers are trying to develop something new, a new German design language, as happened on the German music scene before.A new German aesthetic language that still hasn’t quite developed but will hopefully soon be as strong as the German music and art scene is today. The most creative areas in Germany currently are Berlin, Hamburg and the Frankfurt am Main area. A lot of smaller German design and digital studios pop up and do remarkable work far away from daily advertising work, even if the big networks still play a bigger role in the German creative scene than they do in, for example, the UK or Sweden.{ths}Kai Becker: I wouldn’t say so. This is a difficult point, but I can’t see anything explicitly “German” in Web design from here. Standards are always changing, but I think that affects Web designers and developers worldwide.Christian Bartsch: The design culture in Germany is still very young. With the rise of Berlin as one of the hot spots in Europe, German design has taken a big step. We had and still have a lot of influence from Spain and France. If we speak of Web design, Germany always has been competitive in the global market. You will find a lot of German projects on The FWA.Dirk Ollmann: For me, as a creative director who has worked on a lot on big brands in the car and consumer goods industries, the financial crisis has had a huge effect on marketing strategy and the process and technology of the Web designer. It turns out that the short-term “return on investment” is more important than long-term brand building.Today, analytics is the driving force in Germany. But what effect has this had on Web design? The trend is “back from Flash to HTML.” This is the technology that works best with Google’s search engine. Actually, the new BMW website design is based on HTML. Last year’s Web designers were expected to have a lot of skill in Flash and inventing new navigation concepts and visualizations. Now, we’re going back to the roots of Internet, keeping it very simple, do everything that Google wants and trying to sell the product with a few clicks. That’s it.bellyshadesBjörn Seibert: First of all, I don’t think there should be a special rule set for a specific national market. We and others are working hard for a common understanding of Web standards, usability and accessibility around the world. There could be derivative or special requirements for special markets or target groups. But there is foremost a strong demand for international and widespread standards by which every designer and developer can build websites and applications of high quality and a high level of user experience.Spurred by the Web standards movement in the US, and led by “General” Zeldman and his combatants, the Web standards movement accelerated very quickly in Germany as well. Many of us in Germany started thinking about those standards and proposed best practices. In 2005, Jens Grochtdreis founded the Webkrauts. The Webkrauts are working hard on doing awareness training for Web standards and best practices in Web design and development. Their publications help to educate others and point to obstacles.colibri – contactlinse & brilleQuestion: How important is professional education in the design industry, and do you feel that the education available in Germany is adequate to develop world-class designers?Prof. Fons Matthias Hickmann: Professional education is very important, and more open-minded and sensible young talents are out there than ever before. I am anxious for them to take over soon.Mike John Otto: I truly believe that all world-class designers have an innate feel for design but have also learned and shaped their skills at art school and by working in agencies. So yes, a professional education is not only important but essential, and a few very good ones not only teach students creative and software techniques but open their eyes to art, design history, common trends and design rules as well as things like film, theater and marketing. Nowadays, design students who are looking for jobs have to know much more than they did a couple of years ago: about film, conceptual thinking, advertising rules, digital trends such as social media and online campaigns, to name just a few.These so-called “digital natives” have a much wider range of techniques and hardware to mix into their daily work than I had when starting out in the business in 2000. This is a big opportunity and a big pain at the same time. Every good school has to prepare to students to meet this wide new range of market needs.figurenschneider puppenbau norman schneider, bielefeldKai Becker: For advertising agencies, your portfolio matters the most. I judge designers by the work they have done already, not if they have studied the right thing. And yet Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, Germany, is the place that develops world-class online designers. If you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere.Christian Bartsch: I think professional education shapes your style and keeps you focused. I experienced big differences in quality at German design schools. After four years, I transferred because I was unsatisfied with the conditions at my school. Design is evolving. Multi-touch and augmented reality offer new ways to approach content. Interfaces are becoming more and more complex. Some schools still think in paper.Dirk Ollmann: Of course, a professional education is essential. It speeds up your talent. But learning your craft is only one aspect. You should also use your university or design school to meet people and network. World-class designers? Of course there is enough room for them in Germany. Have a look at the biggest multi-touch wall made by Sensory Minds!MWP OnlineBjörn Seibert: This topic was the subject of my latest article for the German “Webstandards Magazin” (Issue 4/2009). And yes, I think there is a need for more professionalism in terms of education and orientation for job starters in the field of Web design and development. Indeed, we are seeing a bit of action with apprenticeship; people who study digital media and design have the opportunity to do some specialization. But so far, there is no special degree course or job training that fully concentrates on educating Web designers and developers. In my opinion, there is still a lot of work to do in offering more professional education and better safeguards to hopeful professionals — safeguard that would keep people from thinking that any Web design job could easily be done by their neighbor’s son.Dirk Behlau: Nowadays, getting a good education is becoming more and more important for someone to be successful in the design field. There are a lot of good people out there. I started 15 years ago as a full auto-didact, developing my own style and look. Designers coming from university are often very impractical in normal “office life.” They may have learned how to use programs like Photoshop, but they don’t have the experience to be successful in their business. Self-marketing and self-promotion are very important, and these are not taught very well in universities.Question: Where do you get inspiration from? How do you stay informed about the latest design trends? What books and magazines do you read?Prof. Fons Matthias Hickmann: Like almost everybody I speak to about inspiration, I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information we process every day from the Web. A few websites are clever and thoughtful, giving insight into the creation and process of design, rather than just showing random pictures. Where do I get my inspiration from? From every form of culture. And from daily life. The Web now plays a part in both.Mike John Otto: I get my inspiration from a mixture of influences: Hamburg and Berlin’s night scenes, youth culture and their dress and music codes, travelling, music magazines and my daily work with colleagues and students from my class. Of course, I check out design websites such as The FWA, High Floater and Digital Arts, as well as magazines such as PAGE and IdN, but I don’t get inspired by checking out other design work. True inspiration comes from fields such as music, theatre and story-telling. Sometimes new ideas are born of these influences, and sometimes one kind of recycles all of this stuff and creates something new from it.visualorgasmDirk Ollmann: Before you design, you need an idea. I think this is the most difficult thing. A lot of designers use the Internet to try to come up with a unique idea, but that’s the last place to find it. I try to keep my eyes open for things that happen in real life… keep my eyes open and record. After a while, you have a database of ideas waiting for implementation. Stop working, get inspired! Ideas will come by doing something completely different. Try something! I use to pet my cat, kite-surf, play bass, etc. Nevertheless, there are some websites I check regularly: Behance for random searching (those are some cool guys from Eastern Europe); for style, The Cool Hunter is one of my favourite websites; and The FWA for state-of-the-art Flash design.Björn Seibert: A normal day starts with Google Reader and the Twitter timeline. These are my main sources of information for keeping up to date on Web design trends and issues. Actually, I’m subscribed to about 230 feeds, mostly covering design, Web design and development, usability and user experience topics. Further, I’m subscribed to some Posterous blogs. I love to discover small new unknown blogs with good and relevant copywriting. For me, inspiration is nothing you go out looking for. It starts with good content, smart insight into Web design issues and smart solutions to common problems. I read a lot of Web design-related books. Lately: Sexy Web Design, Designing with Web Standards, Integrierte Informationsarchitektur. At the moment, there is only one magazine I’m willing to pay for, the quarterly Webstandards Magazin.iconwerkDirk Behlau: I travel a lot, meet new artists and exchange ideas with them. And I do read a lot of magazines and check websites, blogs, social network websites, etc. So, I do look everywhere, and I’m interested in a wide range of themes from movies, music, video games, travel, lifestyle, hot-rodding, custom culture, skateboarding, custom bikes, graffiti, tattoos, to name just a few. I do get a lot of magazines from around the world every month, covering everything from cars to tattoos to music. I love the Juxtapoz and IdN magazines.Question: Are there any other issues unique to German Web design? Do you see any remarkable differences in comparing it to creative industries worldwide?Prof. Fons Matthias Hickmann: One obvious difference is the language. English is omnipresent on the Web, German is big as well. How should we deal with that? Is translation a good method, or an alternative? How will our culture change? What can we do as designers?Mike John Otto: Not really. British, US and Swedish influences are big in Germany, and so the product is becoming more and more similar. A German design and Web design language is being formulated more and more but is still not strong enough. Most of the German work seen at award shows and in magazines is still mainstream from a handful of very well-known German agencies. Although German ads and design are winning more and more at award shows: Germany was in the top five in quite a few rankings this year. I hope a remarkable difference will show itself in German design sometime soon.MoarghKai Becker: There may be slight differences between European, Asian and American Web design, but I would not say they are remarkable. Perhaps German Web design is typically straight, clean, simple and tidy. Kind of what you would expect from a German, wouldn’t you? :)Christian Bartsch: Right now, Flash development is particularly good in Germany. Small studios such as blackbeltmonkeys, Less Rain and Artificial Duck are pushing the limits.Dirk Ollmann: Germans are often seen as “number crunchers” — that’s absolutely true. The big brands always want to know what the results will be before we do anything, and we try to avoid any mistakes. The result is that we miss a lot of opportunities that the Internet provides. But maybe this is a worldwide problem as well. Styles and trends? I hope German Web designers will kill glossy 3-D buttons, wet-floor shadows and those ’80s trend next year. Website design will evolve into big clear typography, short copy, only a few themes per page, big easy buttons and a lot of video content.Making videos will become increasingly easy, and we’ll turn away from the high-end glossy advertising grease. Even big brands will host their videos on YouTube or Google Video to allow users to embed. “Sharing” will be the driving force of content and Web design in the coming years. The biggest task of brands will be to conquer social networks like Facebook, MySpace, etc. But most brands have no idea how to achieve this. For me, this is one of the most interesting fields in advertising today.das leben ist wie eine schachtel pralinenBjörn Seibert: I generally have a more global point of view. But what must be emphasized is that a line of German Web design has emerged. There are a bunch of very talented Web designers, and the Web standards movement is upon us, in no small part thanks to the Webkrauts initiative. There is also a highly recommended Web-standards podcast Technikwürze that covers the latest Web design trends and features the best from the Web in Germany. But I think that sometimes we should be more self-confident and share with each other our thoughts about modern Web design and current issues.Dirk Behlau: That’s difficult to answer because I work for international clients that demand my particular style. Sometimes I think European and American clients are more experimental.What’s Going On In Germany?EventsA number of design and tech-related events happen in Germany on regular basis. Some worth mentioning are Forum Mediendesign (7 November 2009 in Cologne); Designers’ Open (23-25 October 2009 in Leipzig); webinale (25-27 May 2009 in Berlin); WebTech (16-18 November 2009 in Karlsruhe), DesignCamp (January 24-25, 2009 in Cologne). A famous international arts festival, “Illustrative,” was held this year in Berlin (16 October to 1 November 2009).Forum MediendesignDesigners’ OpenWebinalewebtech conferencedesigncampIllustrativeVolkssport DesignDesign ZoomAwardsAmong the most prestigious awards in the German design industry are the red dot design award, iF communication design award, Designpreis, Gute Gestaltung, Deutscher Multimedia Award (DMMA), BIENE-Award and LeadAward.DDCred dot awardInternational Forum DesignDesignpreis DeutschlandDeutscher Multimedia AwardBiene AwardLeadAwardsShowcase Of Web Design In GermanyIn this showcase, we bring you a selection of the most inspiring and well-designed websites in Germany, either personal experimental or corporate.friseur hamburg – rolf & berndJunopilotpisto – magazin über web und die welterfolgreiche webseiten und marketing-kampagnen aus hamburgKaiserschnitt Hair-Stylingbieh.detanner + tailoroliver twardowski, addicted to coffeedinge geregelt kriegen – ohne einen funken selbstdisziplinMichael Heinsenartcore-illustrationsflaek footwearBianca Elmerkinderspiele, malvorlagen, kindergeburtstagstefan velthuys – web & frontend-designerstilvolles webdesign, printdesign, illustration und animationnoel nieto – strassenfussballerhigh quality writing instrumentsbauer konzept & gestaltungandreas mühevisionpixel mediendesignNerdFilmsJägermeisterJ. Konrad SchmidtDonate-a-mealKubis WeltJulius Brink & Jonas ReckermannIrrlandLukas Lindemann RosinskiDiet RiotThe Lotus EaterHolsten PilsenerPaulanerAllude CashmereOchs SchmidhuberArthur SchlovskyMarc AurelCarsten MellMichelbergerhotelKubikfotoPritt WorldSupergidKiri SpassNeubauladenTelemazDesignschneiderAndreas HinkelWendt & KuehnSantamaria TourIsabel AbediKultikaQuintezzenseWild Web WoodsMustafas GemüsekebapMy Lanephotocase – kreative stockfotosmisfall – t-shirthabitat seven – very flexiblecape arcona type foundryvier für texas *ideenwerkwm team – showtime for your brandxplicit ffm / grafik – und webdesign aus frankfurtShowcase Of Design AgenciesThe design sector in Germany is dominated by a number of highly professional creative agencies that have earned international public attention and many prestigious awards: among them the red dot design award, iF communication design award and Designpreis.Scholz & VolkmerClients: Mercedes-Benz, Adidas, Samsung, Coca-ColarecomClients: Adidas, American Express, Audi, BASF, BMW, Bosch, Braun, Canon, Chevrolet, Citroen,Douglas, Ehrmann, Fiat, Ford, Gerry WeberMutaborClients: Adidas, Audi, BMW, Breuninger, L’Oreal, Nivea, T-Mobile, VolkswagenTilt Design StudioClients: Audi, BelmondoSaint Elmo’sClients: BWM, Lufthansa, AxelSpringerGNC DesignClients: HTC Deutschland, Ford Deutschland, Renault Nissan DeutschlandToca MeClients: Amway, BMW, Burda, Compaq, Fujitsu Siemens, Henkel, L’Oreal, Mc Donalds, Microsoft, MINI, Müller Milch, Novartis, Red Bull, RitterSport, Sony BMG, Vodafone, Xboxhauser lacourClients: Bayer, Berlin Chemie, Commerzbank, Lufthansaurbn;Clients: McDonalds, Adidas, Sarotti, Hasseröder, hohes-C, L’OrealblackbeltmonkeyClients: Mitsubishi, Edeka, FC Bayern, Chelsea FCTaobotClients: Beck’s, Coca-Cola, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, GfK Group, Jay-Z, Leica Camera, Mercedes Benz, Metro Group, o2 Deutschland, Smirnoff, Swarovski, ThyssenKrupp, TobleroneMoccuClients: L’Oreal, Garnier, Volkswagen, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Dior, Maybelline, WWF, CanonGoldener WestenClients: Axel Springer, Coca-Cola, Edeka, ZKM KarlsruheMetaDesignClients: Volkswagen, OTTO, Conrad, Audi, Klett Verlag, Lufthansa, Nici, eBayApertoClients: Audi, Bayer, BenQ, Coca-Cola, F.A.Z., Siemens, Sony, Triumph, VolkswagenLovedClients: Adidas, Audi, Comdirect, Görtz, s.OliverAntwerpesClients: Aral, BayerAre We DesignerClients: BASF, Burda, Deutsche Telecom, VodafoneMarctropolisClients: ARD, Beate Uhse, Bild, BMG, Burger King, Chupa Chups, Procter & Gamble, Red Bull, RTL, Siemens, Skoda, Universal Music, ZDFParasol IslandClients: MTV, IKEA, Sony EricssonFiftyeightClients: DHL, Mazda, Milka, Lacoste, Jaguar, RTL, Nintendo Deutschland, Disney, Procter & Gamble, Ferrero Deutschland, Karlsberg, Nike, Renault Germany, Warner Music Germany, Sparkasse, Opel, MTVShowcase Of Web Design FreelancersBesides the professional creative agencies, we find a lot of freelancers working in the industry.United States of DesignClients: Adidas, Audi, Bacardi, Berliner Sparkasse, Bertelsmann, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Mini, MTV, Mozilla, Plazes, Sprite, Siemens, Sony, Sony Ericsson, TDK, VolkswagenMartin AnderleClients: Adidas, BMW, Sony Ericcson, Volvo, ZDFkosmarClients: Stiftung Warentest, Daimler, SPD Berlin, PlazesDirk SchützeClients: Leibniz, Konica Minolta, Deutsche PostRadekalClients: Gillette, IKEAmediziehmClients: Peugeot, Ford, JaguarMatthias DittrichSugah DesignpsychosystemsThorsten Konradsieben:nullchez-booHoan Luu DucDavid HellmannC.L.I.T.O.R.I.O.U.SYour Opinion Is Welcome!What is your opinion of the German Web design scene? In case we’ve missed any exceptional websites, please share them, and your thoughts, in the comments section. We always look forward to your feedback and support!Related PostsYou may be interested in the following related posts from our new series on global Web design:Showcase of Web Design in RussiaShowcase of Web Design in IrelandShowcase of Web Design in MexicoStay Tuned And Get In Touch!This article is the fourth in our new Global Web Design series. Over the next months, we’ll be covering various continents, featuring Web developers and designs from different countries and looking closely at what is happening on the Web design scene worldwide.If you”d like to prepare an article for this series, please contact us, and we’ll discuss details.(al)© Aygul Zagidullina for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: germany, showcases

  

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  January 26 2010, 4:36am | Comments »

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  35 Beautiful E-Commerce Websites

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    Despite any financial recession and economic stress, online purchasing continues to grow. Expansion of the market and evolving technology that simplifies our daily lives help to set the pace of e-commerce design. Customers want the shopping process to be quick and easy, and merchants want to increase sales by making their stores attractive and popular. Thus, e-commerce design tends to combine a look and usability that is at once unique and eye-catching. In this post, we showcase 35 attractive online store designs.One of the trends we observed from this collection is a minimalist design style. Small details and accents (e.g. unobtrusive background patterns, icons, pictograms and typography) reflect a brand’s spirit and match the character of its products. Some websites, though, are unconventional, rich in visual effects. Please note that the selection of stores featured in this showcase was based more on design aesthetics than usability. But we made sure that the websites included here provide at least an easy shopping experience, even for foreign visitors.[Offtopic: by the way, have you ever visited Smashing Magazine's List of tags? There might be something interesting for you.]Showcase of Beautiful Online Store DesignsBlikBlik manufactures whimsical removable graphics to spice up the walls of your home. Even though the “About” info gets a bit lost in the large product preview in the center, getting an idea of what Blik is all about doesn’t take longer than a couple of seconds. Aside from the stylish look, the easy shopping experience is what makes this design exquisite: all products are categorized by tags, the thumbnails are big, product descriptions are detailed and supported by decal outlines, and quick tips are placed here and there for maximum assurance. Vintage-looking faded colors and rotating logo add considerably to the elegance.Fred PerryFred Perry’s e-commerce store has a contemporary and elegant look, conveying key features of the brand very well. The stylish grayscale color scheme, along with sparse text in Helvetica font, make an impact. The design naturally combines Flash and JavaScript. The mini-cart window, the readable layout of the shopping cart and checkout pages, the usable navigation and informative product descriptions all up to a slick and friendly shopping experience.NectarThe website for clothing and accessories boutique Nectar was designed by Sunrise Design studio. The website’s structure allows you to browse goods and make purchases with ease. A muted palette and slipshod watercolor strokes in the background give the layout a positive feel. By the way, if you visit the designers’ portfolio page, you’ll see that painted styles must be their passion.Tommy HilfigerAnother giant brand: Tommy Hilfiger. This design relies on simplicity, a comfortable shopping experience and its corporate identity.SeibeiNow, that’s a design you will not forget! The site has a very simple, even minimal navigation combined with a striking “cartoonish” design. Product pages are clean and straightforward. Nice and unique design solution.BellyshadesThe design of German club-wear and accessories store Bellyshades stands out for sure. The vibrant acid colors, insane typography and animals that stand in for shopping carts will leave you anything but cold.Ten Little MonkeysThis design has a very strong visual appeal; vibrant colors work well on the dark background, the navigation is colorful yet intuitive (notice how the section for girls and boys are distinguished). Also, the choice of typography is appropriate for the shop’s main objective: selling branded children’s fashion and gifts.DogCollars.caHere’s another beautiful e-commerce website: DogCollars.ca. It’s a simple HTML website with a neat grid-based layout, a warm chocolate color and big high-quality thumbnails. The design is minimalist but not plain, and it delivers a satisfying shopping experience.’47Premium sports apparel brand ’47 has an interesting history: “This is a classic story. It’s the American dream come to life…” Thus, the company emphasizes the individuality of its brand in its store design and associates that brand with a community. The website combines jQuery and Flash, which slows the loading speed, but given its objective, this is not critical. Creative visualization and a well-implemented shopping mechanism make for a wonderful e-commerce design.Storyville Coffee CompanyCreating an e-commerce Flash platform, let alone a good one, is challenging. In addition to the Converse store profiled above, our showcase includes another fully Flash-based online store: Storyville Coffee Company. This one sports a pleasant coffee theme (appropriately enough), an original table-like product viewing area and an easy shopping process.Narwhal Co.Accessories made from recycled ties? Yes! Narwhal Co. produces original jazzy merchandise from recycled ties, including wallets, wrist wear, covers and cases.  The tie theme in the website’s header and footer, the stylish icons and the inventive product slideshow on the main page give this design a special flavor.The Famous 4th Street CookieBeautiful typography and high-quality images make this a tasty design.Via SnellaThe website of Swedish male fashion brand Via Snella is clean both in design and usability. The store itself is not very big, so the product gallery is not cluttered with the superfluous navigation bars, announcements and slideshows that are typical of large comprehensive online stores. Instead, the background of the fancy product thumbnail grid is made up of a classic black and white scheme, along with austere typography and plenty of white space.Twelve SouthTwelve South creates accessories exclusively for Apple computers. No wonder Apple’s style can be felt both visually and in the functionality, which is a compliment enough to Twelve South’s store design.GodivaHigh-quality food photography against a light minimalist background is quite effective for Godiva Chocolatier’s store design. Seeing those yummies on the main page is all it takes to hook you. Tons of products are available here, but the sophisticated navigation system and clean layout make shopping a comfortable experience. The shopping cart and checkout pages adhere to principal usability standards.Marc Hansen’s Comic BookAn original, striking and beautiful design that perfectly sets the atmosphere and communicate the style of the designer and his main product – a comic book.Vanilla VanityNow, that’s a weird web design. The products offered in the shop are just as weird, by the way. An original, unique design which deserves a spot in this showcase.Atom BicyclesA very simple, clean and stylish design with unusual navigation and good-looking product pages.ConverseOne would expect a great design from top-class brand Converse. Our expectations are met. Despite being entirely Flash-based, Converse’s online store is quick to load and easy to navigate. We see no heavy graphics or fancy Flash transitions here. Converse’s brand is communicated well by means of simple effects, including concrete and jeans textures, hand-drawn product selection frames and grungy graphics. The buying process is similar to the famous sneakers themselves: comfortable and painless.Steve & Co.Aside from its refined and clean appearance, the website for leather accessories store Steve & Co. is remarkably usable. For instance, the whole shopping process requires little jumping around: you can browse and preview products, add them to the cart and review purchases without reloading the page.iWorkwear.nlThis design has plenty of white space, making the black and yellow scheme especially appealing. There is no visual appeal, but the site works very nicely and it is very user-friendly. Even if you don’t speak Dutch, getting your bearings on iWorkwear.nl is easy because of the intuitive placement and highlighting of elements. A transparent table of brands sold in the right sidebar helps us easily find clothing without having to use the main navigation panel, which is in Dutch.Sony Style USASony Style USA is a pearl in our collection. It would be hard to find a more comprehensive, sophisticated and seamlessly designed e-commerce website. If you are looking to buy a laptop, you can read exhaustive product overviews, compare and browse reviews of similar products and even configure the computer you’ve selected, all without leaving the website. Even with the variety of products, the store is well organized and easy to navigate. The dark and light colors, along with the Flash and jQuery, perfectly fit this online store.Abel & ColeThe spirit of a small, environmentally friendly neighborhood grocery store is well reflected in this design by means of charming sketches and hand-drawn typography.Hollister Co.Hollister Co. sells Southern California-inspired casual wear. The store has a cool vintage style. Products are displayed horizontally; hover over an item to see its price and available colors without leaving the page. How usable! Warm sand colors and sepia-toned beach photos reflect the “SoCal” spirit of the brand. And we sure like those “Dudes” and “Bettys” categories!GargyleGargyle online warehouse website is simple yet cute. Blue dotted lines and lovely icons wonderfully reflect the old country-club lifestyle that Gargyle that aspires to.GiraffeA colorful design for young families and children. The design perfectly sets the atmosphere for the shopping experience. Notice how well PayPal-payment is communicated.farfetch.comWell-known fashion boutique farfetch.com has an elegant black-and-white design. Nothing gets in the way of a pleasing shopping experience here. The auto-detection of your location and currency are stylish features.WinestoreEverything here is about elegance, style and creativity. Vibrant pink against a white background makes for a vivid yet clean website. Beautiful typography and the “bar code” header complement the company’s image well. Pictograms with information about the wines’ color, body and flavor are a smart addition.Ork Posters!This one will interest all those who love typography, print design and data visualization. Ork Posters is the brainchild of Jenny Beorkrem, whose original typographic neighborhood posters quickly became a success. The online store is nothing short of a manifesto of typography love.laPatateBelgian t-shirt store laPatate has a creative and funny design (the men’s tee samples enjoy the lion’s share of laughs). The website is available in French only, but clear cart icons and a standard check-out page make for an intuitive shopping environment.SnuppedSnupped is a nice dark-themed store that sells laptop sleeves. You can buy pre-made sleeves or build your own design, configuring the size and choosing from a number of funky patterns. The products are not tagged or grouped into categories, but this is hardly an oversight given the store’s small size.CellarthiefCellarthief is a beautiful online wine store that sells only three wines at a time. The Apple.com-inspired content blocks against the real-looking wood background shows how the classic spirit of the wine industry is fused with modern design values.Harry WinstonA lot of glamour, shine and luxury is in this one. Harry Winston’s jewelry store features an amazing design with images that mix typography and jewelry.Olive & MyrtleOlive & Myrtle produces beautiful sustainably developed goodies. A clear layout, soft natural colors and subtle typography make this website look modern and eco-friendly.Hokey CroquisCuCuuCuCuu is a charming little store that sells bags and accessories made from recycled materials. The design is minimalist and the shopping experience simple.TeezRules and standards are made to be broken from time to time. You don’t have to speak Russian to tell that the design of Ukrainian t-shirt store Teez is far from ordinary. A chaotic mash of text and images is obviously a new trend in Web design. Despite all of this, the shop looks and feels pretty darn awesome. Take a minute to explore the website and you’ll see how easy it is to shop there. Off-the-chart creativity!Kinki MicksThis small store sells exclusive car wheels and vintage riding accessories. The design has a simple retro style that perfectly fits the company’s profile.Red Is WhiteRed Is White’s design is bright, and the shopping process is pretty solid (the power of inspirational Web design in practice!). A carefully arranged grid, unobtrusive colors and a smooth corduroy-looking texture make the website visually eye-catching, yet they do not eclipse the products. The way the t-shirt thumbnails are displayed is quite handy: just roll over an image of a print to see how it looks on a model.Related postsYou may be interested in the following related posts:Showcase Of Modern Navigation Design Trends69 Sexy Portfolio Designs To Inspire YouThe Big Showcase Of Online T-Shirt Stores50 Beautiful and Creative Blog Designs(al)© Julia May for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 50 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: showcases

  

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  January 22 2010, 8:56am | Comments »

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  The Legacy Of Polish Poster Design

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    Before the era of globalized entertainment made movie posters look the same in every country, Polish artists were creating their own versions for the internal market. What resulted was a whole school of artists trained in the art of the poster. This article presents a short historical look at how this movement was born and how it developed, form its art-related beginnings at the end of the 19th Century to the golden era of the film posters throughout the 20th Century.[Offtopic: by the way, did you already get your copy of the brand new Smashing Book?]The BeginningsToward the end of the 19th Century Poland was still absent from the maps. Its territory was split and controlled by Russia, Austria and Prussia. While Warsaw, then under Russian rule, was the biggest economic, trade and industrial center of the non-existent country, Krakow, under the less oppressive Austria, soon established itself as a cradle for artistic, cultural, scientific, political and religious life, becoming the ideal capital of the nation.Krakow was populated by writers, poets and artists who had travelled Europe and had come in contact with the modernist cultural trends of the time. The poster had just been born in France at the hand of Jules Chéret following the invention of color lithography. Influenced by the achievements of the French masters of this new art form, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec above all, these Polish artists chose the poster as the new medium of expression. They were well respected, connected with the Academy Of Fine Arts and members of the Society of Polish Artists “Sztuka” (Art). The poster thus became acceptable as a form of art.The first Polish posters appeared in the 1890’s at the hand of outstanding painters like Jozef Mehoffer, Stanislaw Wyspianski, Karol Frycz, Kazimierz Sichulski and Wojciech Weiss. Influenced by the Jugendstil and the Secessionist movements, understandably they painted posters that were art-related, announcing exhibitions, theater and ballet performances. Their work was vastly popular, which led to the first International Exposition of the Poster being held in Krakow in 1898.Jugendstil, Secession, Japanism and modernist styles like Cubism were mixed with traditional elements of symbolism and national folklore. What set the Polish posters apart from their European counterparts was the emphasis placed on the highly artistic quality of the project, an attitude that will continue to characterize the Polish poster throughout the 20th century.Jozef Mehoffer – Furniture Lottery for Matejko’s House (1899)Edward Trojanowski – Print Exhibition (1904)Jozef Czajkowski – 1st Exhibition of the Polish Company of Applied Art (1902)Karol Frycz – Rolling papers advertisement (1908)Wojciech Jastrzebowski – Swoszowice Health resort near Krakow (1907). A fine example of Japanism.Jozef Mehoffer – Contemporary Art Exhibition (1910)Kazimierz Sichulski – Contemporary Polish Exhibition of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting (1910)Jan Bulas – Symphonic Concert (1910). A poster inspired by Expressionism.Henryk Kunzek – Forward (1910)Jozef Czajkowski – Interior architecture exhibition (1912)Jan Rembowski – First Spring Salon (1914)Jan Wdowiszewski from 1891 to 1904 was the director of the Technical Industrial Museum in Krakow. He was the organizer of the International Poster Exhibition in 1898, for which he wrote two essays, the first of their kind, entirely devoted to the art of the poster. He immediately recognized the power of the poster to act like a mirror for society’s physical and mental way of life. This was especially true of the exhibition posters, which promptly reflected every trend and influence coming from the West. The strong drive to promote the national style, as a means to a true political independence, was also faithfully recorded in the street art.Stefan Norblin and the Touristic PosterThe period between the two World Wars sees Poland finally reappearing on the maps. The twenty years of independence are marked by a stunning growth in all industries. Tourism, especially, is at its height. Stefan Norblin is appointed to create a series of posters with the intent of promoting Poland as a tourist resort.First and foremost a painter rooted in the school of realistic representation, Norblin approaches the poster the way he approaches the canvas. He makes use of obvious imagery to secure immediate reading from the viewer. Although characterized by recognizable forms and silhouettes, his works remain stunning for the stark choice of “neon” colors. They are not of an Expressionist nature but they create an irreal atmosphere around familiar objects. This and the minimalist style confer his posters a timeless quality.Sale for the poor (1916)Polska (Poland), 1925Gdynia, 1925Lwow (Lviv), 1928Wilno (Vilnius), 1928Poland – Divine Service at Lowicz (1925)“Peasants!!! Support the national contemporary exhibition!!!” (1929)Toy (1933)Tadeusz Gronowski: Father of the Polish PosterAfter the First World War Poland finally gained independence (1918). With it came a rapid process of industrialization and development of trade. The market was suddently saturated with different products hence the need for powerful advertising. The poster became its medium of choice. The advertising poster of the 1920’s and 1930’s differs from its highly elaborated artistic predecessors in that it utilises a simpler, more direct visual language to communicate with the viewer.This was a requirement of the market made possible by Cubism, a style that forever freed art from beauty and ugliness, from the necessity to imitate nature. Architects, especially students from Warsaw University, were the most receptive creators of posters during this period. They were not weighed down by the academic ballast as were the painters of the previous generation. They were naturally inclined to apply the rules of geometry to commercial uses. It is among these students that we find the figure of Tadeusz Gronowski.A gifted student, Gronowski was the first to specialize in poster art. Influenced by European art movements (he was well connected in Paris in the Twenties) he singlehandedly created the art of the Polish poster. Catering to the new necessities with which graphic art was confronted, advertising, he took advantage of the full spectrum of techniques available to the artist at the time to create the most striking advertisements of the period. His work shows a transition to the newest tool, the airbrush, resulting in softer lines and backgrounds. His advertising posters remain a milestone in the development of what came to be known as the School of the Polish poster.In contrast to Stefan Norblin, Gronowski, himself an accomplished painter, approaches the poster as a medium unto itself. Instead of merely adapting his painterly style to the poster format, he sees in it the opportunity to create something new, indeed a new form of artistic expression. He is one of the first artists to consciously integrate the typography with the illustration and instead of choosing the obvious he offers the viewer a different look into the subject, often displaying a penchant for the light and the humorous which endeared him to the viewers.The next image portrays one of his earliest works. Even though the text is not incorporated in the image, the composition is clear. The cat and the artist’s faint smile add his trademark touch of humor to the painting.Artistic Lithography (1920)A true master of the advertising poster, Gronowski blends the mundane with the artistic in a seamless composition.Tire (1923)Tire (1923)S.A. Staporkow (1924). The radiator as architecture on a modern industrial background.Ceres Lard “To die for…” (1926)Gronowski founded his own studio in Warsaw and aptly named it Plakat, i.e. Poster.Poster for his own studio “Plakat” (1925)The next poster is particularly important in Gronowski’s production. An advertisement for a washing product named Radion, its slogan reads “It washes by itself.” The artwork is minimalistic and to the point: a black cat enters a bucket full of Radion and jumps out all white. A clear message amplified by the stark chromatic contrast and the essential lines.Radion “It washes by itself” (1926)The next pieces exemplify the evolution towards integrated designs. The typography is part of the composition.Literary News (1925)Oaza Restaurant Dancing (1926)KAGR – Circle of Advertising Graphic Artists (1936)Marine Baths in Gdynia (1938). Gronowski’s rendition of the touristic poster.1st Polish Peace Congress (1950)The Warsaw ArchitectsGronowski’s work was continued into the Thirties by a group of architects educated in Warsaw under professors Zygmunt Kaminski and Edmund Bartlomiejczyk. At the University they learned to master the techniques of applied graphics. Architecture was seen as the Gesamtkunstwerk, the total artwork, the summation of all arts applied to a specific, practical function. Their hands-on approach lent itself beautifully in their transition from architects to graphic artists.Responsible for this transition were economic reasons but also the will to work for contemporary society, which poster art was capable of immortalizing faithfully. Incidentally, these are the same reasons that today drive budding architects to graphic design: creating applied art with fast job turnarounds and satisfying economic turnover.These architects turned graphic artists took Tadeusz Gronowski’s approach forward, combining it with a sense of composition and proportion naturally derived from their architectural background. Not only did they incorporate three-dimensionality in their works, they also adapted their style to the subject of the given poster, for example using a precise linework for posters depicting mechnical parts, humorous figures for posters depicting ballets and festive occasions and striking, dynamic compositions to illustrate sports events. Their work marks the transition of the Polish poster from narrative medium of the 19th century to modern advertising device of the 20th century.Jan Mucharski – Dorm Week (1927)Jerzy Hryniewiecki, Andrzej Stypinski – Eastern Trade Fair (1930)Maciej Nowicki, Stanislawa Sandecka – Everyone Fight Against Tuberculosis (1934)Maciej Nowicki, Stanislawa Sandecka – 2nd Meeting of Polish Youth from Abroad (1935)Stefan Osiecki – The Lopek Dancing(1935)The Propaganda PostersAfter World War II Poland found itself under Communist rule. The new government needed to spread the new aesthetics and make the new institutions acceptable to the public. With that goal in mind the Propaganda Poster Studio was established in the city of Lublin.Wlodzimerz Zakrzewski was a talented landscape painter and active member of the Communist Party who had studied painting in Moscow in 1940 and had designed posters for the Soviet Propaganda. He was therefore the perfect candidate to run the Studio. The military introduced patterns of representation borrowed from the Soviet poster tradition, propaganda graphics connected with the TASS, the Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union. Zakrzewski was given a list of catchphrases assigned to the propaganda. His task was to devise graphical rules to create a working method for propaganda posters.Zakrzewski aimed to introduce a new visual language by basing his colorful images on verified patterns borrowed from the stylizations learned in Russia. He also acted as mentor to a number of what were, in fact, unprofessional poster artists. This experience marks the first time poster art was institutionalized in Poland, giving birth to the proper phenomenon that followed, the “Polish Poster School.”The Propaganda Poster Workshop in Lublin. Wlodzimierz Zakrzewski sitting left. (1944)Mieczyslaw Tomkiewicz – Poster designs for the workshop (1945)Wlodzimierz Zakrzewski – “What the soldier wins by fighting the peasant will plow” (1944)Wlodzimierz Zakrzewski – “Where Hitler sets foot the earth dies…” (1945)Wlodzimierz Zakrzewski – The giant and the disgusting reactionary dwarf (1946)Wlodzimierz Zakrzewski – Party (1955)The 50’s and the 60’s: The Golden AgeThe Fifties and the early Sixties mark the Golden Age of the Polish poster. Like everything else, the film industry was controlled by the state. There were two main institutions responsible for commissioning poster designs: Film Polski (Polish Film) and Centrala Wynajmu Filmow – CWF (Movie Rentals Central). They commissioned not graphic designers but artists and as such each one of them brought an individual voice to the designs.The School of the Polish Poster is therefore not unified but rather diverse in terms of style. It wasn’t until the Mid-Fifities, though, that the school flourished. The fierce Stalinist rule had been lifted, once again leaving room for artistic expression. The classic works were created in the next ten years. Three important remarks must be made. First, at the time the poster was basically the only allowed form of individual artistic expression.Second, the state wasn’t concerned much with how the posters looked. Third, the fact that the industry was state-controlled turned out to be a blessing in disguise: working outside the commercial constraints of a capitalist economy, the artists could fully express their potential. They had no other choice but to become professional poster designers and that’s why they devoted themselves so thoroughly to this art.The Polish film poster is artist-driven, not studio-driven. It is more akin to fine art than commercial art. It is painterly rather than graphic. What sets the Polish poster apart from what we’re used to see in the West is a general disregard for the demands of the big studios. The artists requested and received complete artistic freedom and created powerful imagery inspired by the movies without actually showing them: no star headshots, no movie stills, no necessary direct connection to the title.They are in this regard similar to the work of Saul Bass, a rare example of a Hollywood artist who enjoyed total freedom from the studios. Next to a typical Hollywood film poster with the giant headshots of the latest movie star and the title set in, you guessed it, Trajan Pro, the Polish film poster still looks fresh and inspiring today.Without further analyzing a history that is best told in pictures let’s take a look at some of the many classic works created by the likes of Wiktor Gorka, Eryk Lipinski, Marek Mosinski, Jan Lenica, Jerzy Flisak and others.Witkor Gorka1966 – “Kaidan”, Japan 1964. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi.1967 – “Cat Ballou”, US 1965. Directed by Elliot Silverstein.1968 – “The Professionals”, US 1966. Directed by Richard Brooks.1969 – “Deadlier Than the Male”, UK 1966. Directed by Ralph Thomas.Jerzy Flisak1958 – “Three Men in the Snow”, Austria 1955. Directed by Kurt Hoffmann.1958 – “Pane, amore e..”, Italy 1955. Directed by Dino Risi.1959 – “Rancho Texas”, Poland 1959. Directed by Wadim Berestowski. The first Polish western!1959 – “Roman Holiday”, US 1953. Directed by William Wyler.1962 – “The Hitman”, Italy 1960. Directed by Damiano Damiani.1965 – “Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation”, US 1962. Directed by Henry Koster.1967 – “Zwariowana Noc”, Poland 1967. Directed by Zbigniew Kuzminski.1968 – “The Firemen’s Ball”, Czechoslovakia 1967. Directed by Milos Forman.Jan Lenica1957 – “Kanal”, Poland 1956. Directed by Andrzej Wajda.1957 – “Il Bidone”, Italy 1955. Directed by Federico Fellini.1958 – “The Deadly Invention”, Czechoslovakia 1958. Directed by Karel Zeman.1962 – “Knife in the Water”, Poland. Directed by Roman Polanski.1962 – “L’Avventura”, Italy – France 1960. Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni.1965 – “The Visit”, Germany 1964. Directed by Bernhard Wicki.Eryk Lipinski1948 – “Uliczna Graniczna”, Poland. Directed by Aleksander Ford.1955 – “One Sunday Morning”, Poland 1953. Directed by Andrzej Munk.1958 – “Le Notti di Cabiria”, Italy 1957. Directed by Federico Fellini.1961 – “Me and the Colonel”, US 1958. Directed by Peter Glenville.1966 – “Le Soldatesse”, Italy/Yugoslavia/West Germany 1965. Directed by Valerio Zurlini.Marek Mosinski1968 – “Les Tontons flingueurs”, France 1963. Directed by Georges Lautner.1968 – “King Kong Escapes”, Japan 1967. Directed by Inoshiro Honda.1972 – “Infanzia, vocazione e primo esperienze di Giacomo Casanova, veneziano”, Italy 1969. Directed by Luigi ComenciniOther artistsHubert Hilscher, 1957 – “The Man with the Golden Key”, France 1956. Directed by Leo Joannon.Leszek Holdanowicz, 1966 – “Bariera”, Poland. Directed by Jerzy Skolimowski.Waldemar Swierzy, 1957 – “Sunset Boulevard”, US 1950. Directed by Billy Wilder.Wojciech Wenzel, 1959 – “Shane”, US 1953. Directed by George Stevens.Maciej Hibner, 1962 – “Pickpocket”, France 1959. Directed by Robert Bresson.Maciej Hibner, 1963 – “Two Way Stretch”, US 1960. Directed by Robert Day.Bronislaw Zelek, 1965 – “The Birds”, US 1963. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Franciszek Starowieyski, 1967 – “A Woman Is a Woman”, France 1961. Directed by Jean-Luc Godard.Bohdan Butenko, 1968 – “One Million Years B.C.”, UK 1966. Directed by Don Chaffey.The 70’s and the 80’s: Decadence and DeathThe School had its peak in the Mid-Sixties and during the following decade declined, much like art and advertising in the rest of the world. A few examples of posters from the Seventies follow.Witkor Gorka1973 – “2001 : A Space Odyssey”, US 1968. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.1973 – “Cabaret”, US 1972. Directed by Bob Fosse.1976 – “We Were So in Love”, Italy 1974. Directed by Ettore Scola.1977 – “Marathon Man”, US 1976. Directed by John Schlesinger.Jerzy Flisak1971 – “Playtime”, France 1967. Directed by Jacques Tati.1972 – “Sacco e Vanzetti”, Italy 1971. Directed by Giuliano Montaldo.1973 – “El Dorado”, US 1967. Directed by Howard Hawks.1973 – “Morgiana”, Czechoslovakia 1972. Directed by Juraj Herz.1978 – “Brutti, sporchi e cattivi”, Italy 1976. Directed by Ettore Scola.Eryk Lipinski1970 – “Nie ma powrotu Johnny”, North Vietnam/Poland. Directed by Kaveh Pur Rahnama.1970 – “Az Ido Ablakai”, Hungary 1969. Directed by Tamas Fejer.1972 – “Sea in the fire”, Soviet Union 1971. Directed by Leon Saakow.1975 – “The Day of the Jackal”, UK 1973. Directed by Fred Zinnemann.The Eighties were marked by society’s strong opposition to the increasingly oppressive Communist rule, exemplified by the Solidarnosc movement. Poster art quietly dwindled through the decade. After 1989, when film distribution was privatized, it died.Nowadays alternative film posters are created by numerous artists as exercise and showcase of their abilities. Such posters are typically printed in small runs and viewed and sold exclusively in art galleries.ConclusionPosters are very important in the Polish culture. During the Communist regime they were probably the only colorful things one would see in the streets.A small but dedicated market for Polish posters has emerged over the years. Driven by more than just nostalgia, its aim is the preservation of what is both testament of a cultural heritage largely unknown outside its borders and an immense source of inspiration for today’s young artists. These collectibles are not available in huge numbers but, due to their being relatively unknown, don’t command high prices yet.Further ResourcesHere’s a list of online sources to browse and even buy Polish posters. The stores are not listed for advertising purposes but rather because they provide picture galleries with details for each item.Wilanow Poster MuseumThe first Poster Museum in the world, opened in 1968 as a branch of the National Museum in Warsaw.Krakow Poster GalleryA small gallery located in downtown Krakow. Despite its size it has an impressive collection of originals and reprints.The Art of PosterPoster gallery located in Warsaw.Poster Gallery at Antykwariat Rara AvisPoster gallery from a recent auction. It features some well known and rare pieces.Classic Polish Film PostersProbably the biggest online collection of film posters. The gallery is well organized and includes very detailed information about each artwork. Invaluable resource. Most of the images and film data in the article come from this site.Polish Poster ShopA very thorough catalog with many artists.Cine-Images Gallery – Movie PostersA decent collection of posters, mostly from the ’70s.Film posters typeset in TrajanFor comparison purposes. A collection of movie posters in the Hollywood studio tradition: big star headshots, predictable composition and typography. This type of poster has replaced the artistic output of the past decades.Rene Wanner’s Poster PageThis gallery contains various collections og graphic design artists, among them are also Polish artists and designers.A few bibliographical references.Piotr Rudzinski, curator “Pierwsze polwiecze polskiego plakatu 1900-1950″ (2009) A collection of essays by various authors about the development of the Polish poster. The emphasis is on the first half of the 20th Century. The essays are veru well researched and read like master’s degree papers. Includes many of the posters presented in this article.Anna Agnieszka Szablowska “Tadeusz Gronowski – sztuka plakatu i reklamy” (2005) A monography of the master. Includes 189 eproduction of his works.Krzysztof and Agnieszka Dydo “PL21, The Polish Poster of the 21st Century” (2008) A book about the contemporary poster scene. Created by the owners of the Krakow Poster Gallery.About the authorAndrea Austoni is an Italian freelance designer currently living in Krakow, Poland. He specializes in icon design and illustration. He runs Cute Little Factory, his personal portfolio and blog.© Andrea Austoni for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 80 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags:

  

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  January 17 2010, 1:41am | Comments »

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  Progress Trackers in Web Design: Examples and Best Practices

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     When designing a large website, especially one that contains a store, you may be required to design a system for ordering online, or a multi-step process of another sort. Walking users through this process by making it easy and intuitive is key to helping increase conversion rates. Any frustration along the way may cause them to leave and pursue other options. Progress trackers are designed to help users through a multi-step process and it is vital that such trackers be well designed in order to keep users informed about what section they are currently on, what section they have completed, and what tasks remain.In this article we will look at various uses of progress trackers and see how they’ve been implemented, what they are doing well, and what they are not doing well.[Offtopic: by the way, did you know that Smashing Magazine has one of the most influential and popular Twitter accounts? Join our discussions and get updates about useful tools and resources — follow us on Twitter.]What are Progress Trackers?You may not be familiar with the term ‘progress tracker’, also called a ‘progress indicator’ — but chances are good that you have encountered one at one time or another. They are used in online stores when placing an order, signing up to an online product or service, or even when booking a holiday online. Progress trackers guide the user through a number of steps in order to complete a specified process. An example of a progress tracker at GameThe Difference Between Progress Trackers and BreadcrumbsAs we have detailed previously in Breadcrumbs In Web Design: Examples And Best Practices, breadcrumbs are a way of enhancing navigation by revealing a user’s current location. Initially, breadcrumbs and progress trackers may seem very similar and in many ways they are, however, there are significant differences.Breadcrumbs show you only where you have been (or what sections are above the current section in the application’s hierarchy), whereas progress trackers indicate a set path that a user follows to complete a specific task. Progress trackers show you not only where you are currently located, but also what steps you have previously taken, and what steps you are about to take. Example of breadcrumbs at CoolspottersProgress trackers are best used when there is a specific goal to achieve. They are synonymous with conversion and are used as a way of improving usability — which is key when optimizing conversion rates. Conversion is all about selling online so you will see a progress tracker in some form in almost every online store.Now that we’ve reviewed what a progress tracker is, let’s look at situations that would require or even benefit from the implementation of a well-designed progress tracker.Uses of Progress TrackersAs mentioned previously, progress trackers can be used in a variety of contexts. The following three are the most common.1. Online Ordering By far the most common application of progress trackers is in conjunction with online purchasing, since this usually involves multiple steps. The progress tracker used by HMV. The progress tracker used at Etsy.2. Feature Tour Guides Progress trackers are also used to guide users through the features of online products and services, as demonstrated in the following examples: Progress tracker as used by Search Inside Video. Flickr’s tour page provides a look at the features of their service.3. Multi-Step Forms If a form requires a lot of user input, it may be best to split the form into multiple steps. Livestream’s progress tracker design. The progress tracker used on Buffalo’s Project Planner formBest Practices in Progress Tracker DesignIndicating a Logical Progression Most progress trackers are designed to display the steps from left to right. In most lands, people read from left to right, so it makes sense that progress trackers follow that pattern. That isn’t enough though — there has to be something that informs the user that they are performing a multi-step process. Blockbuster have included both arrows and numbers in their progress tracker, thus clearly communicating a logical progression.Keeping the User Informed of their Location One key aspect of good progress tracker design is keeping the user informed of where the user is in the process. This complements the logical progression because the user will know where they are in relation to where they have been, and what sections are to follow. Mr and Mrs Smith indicates the user’s current location by clearly highlighting the current step and turning the arrow downwards.Positioning Since progress trackers are a form of navigation, it is best to place them below the primary and secondary navigation (such as breadcrumbs) and above the content that the progress tracker relates to. Also, while a progress tracker can act as a page title, it is best to place the title of the current section underneath the progress tracker, to reinforce the current location. Gamestation places their progress tracker clearly below the primary and secondary navigation.Implementations of Progress TrackersPlain Text Below is an example of a plain text progress tracker on Media Temple’s website. One benefit of a plain text progress tracker is that it can be edited easily.Sprite-Based Sovereign uses the popular CSS sprites technique to build their progress tracker and reduce HTTP requests going through the online booking process.Design Mistakes to AvoidIndistinguishable from Breadcrumbs TypePad’s Design Assistant can be very easily confused with a breadcrumb navigation system.Not Enough Information easyJet’s old progress tracker on their booking path was poorly executed. Although it gave you the total number of steps in the process, it didn’t indicate which steps you’ve completed or which were remaining.Their new progress tracker, launched within the last few weeks, is a big improvement, indicating current location, past steps, and steps to come. They now also make good use of the page title which has descriptive wording to complement the current progress tracker label.No Sense of Progression daniblack incorrectly uses a tab system for their progress tracker. The problem with this is that tabs don’t offer any visual representation of progress. The addition of numbers or arrows would give at least some sort of indication of progression in this example.Progress Tracker ShowcaseNow that we know what a progress tracker is, how it is used, and the best approach to its design, let’s look at a number of well-designed progress trackers currently in use.Battle.net uses the method of incrementally filling a bar as you progress through the steps in their sign-up form.IkeaAmazon has a shopping trolley travelling across their progress tracker, leaving an orange line marking where it has been.Organic SupermarketThreadlessUrban OriginalsFireboxAppleVitradirectMouse to MinxCafePressTopshopJohn Lewis uses an image of a truck travelling along their progress tracker.Comet ticks off sections that have already been completed.Boots‘ Progress tracker spans the width of the page.Web MD uses a progress bar and percentage values as a way of tracking progress on their health check questionnaires.ArgosAltrecSurfRideiWorkwearZumiezToys”R”UseBagsFoot LockerThe Ultimate Green StoreCrate and BarrelPistol ClothingAmerican ApparelPC WorldAbel & ColeEcco USADesign PublicGolfsmith uses a combination of numbers and a progress bar with an arrow.PETCOFootball FanaticsThe Habitat CompanyWalton Garden Buildingslookfantastic uses icons to visually enhance their progress tracker.B&QRelated postsYou may be interested in the following related posts:Showcase Of Modern Navigation Design TrendsDesigning “Coming Soon” PagesCall to Action Buttons: Examples and Best PracticesSearch Results Design: Best Practices and Design Patterns© Tom Kenny for Smashing Magazine, 2010. | Permalink | 45 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine Post tags: progress, showcases

  

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  January 15 2010, 2:52am | Comments »

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  Drawing Inspiration From Music

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  Instead of getting into the heads of successful designers, we should be getting into the head of the audience we’re designing for. There are many ways this can be done, one of which is music. Relying on senses other than your vision can evoke a greater comprehension for what feeling must be conveyed through a design. In my early years as a student, I had a difficult time adjusting to the thought process of a designer. I’m a hands-on learner, and developing design ideas is more of an abstract art. Being able to recognize a good design versus a bad design was never the problem, but creating unique designs was for me much like an artist trying to draw purely from memory that doesn’t have that capacity. For a couple of years I treated design as purely an art, simply because I lacked guidance in this area and didn’t know any better, hitting the ground running with a project without methodically seeking out inspiration appropriate for the task at hand. That system didn’t prove to work well in many instances, and my failure caused me to question my skills as a designer. Instead of giving up, I fought to find my own way through the thick fog that clouded my vision of what was truly standing in my way: a lack of a methodical design process. As soon as I had realized where I went wrong, I dug right in to finding out how to do it right. After finding a process that worked for me, I started finding inspiration in ways that I never would have thought to turn to. I quickly got sick of thumbing through the CSS galleries and the like and started trying to look at the world in a different light. One of the most inspirational things for many people is music, designers especially. Elliot Jay Stocks has even released an EP. That’s all good and well, but how can music specifically bring design inspiration? Outside the [Music] Box Music and art seemingly go hand-in-hand. Many different forms of art, design, or creation use music to enhance the experience. Here are just three examples:

  Movies use a soundtrack to enhance the visual experience and the content of the script, to create or develop the mood.

  Ballets use music in combination with visual cues such as movement, make-up, costumes, or props to set the mood. They create a story without words, which breaks out of the box of normal storytelling methods and relies on other senses and tactics to let the story be told for them.

  Car forums often feature a post (or many) posing the question: “what music do you race to?” Music affects everyone differently and there are many variations of answers to this, but it is obvious that almost everyone uses music to somehow set the mood for the task at hand. Making a Melody

  Music tends to thrive on metaphors. One of the most popular examples is that of Peter and the Wolf. Soviet Union composer Sergei Prokofiev created a story using different instruments to depict different characters. This is a great example of how design can adapt methods from other arts.

  Many websites, such as Freelance Switch, use a variety of colors and icons to depict different subjects within the site.

  The above image depicts the metaphor of “Music From the Other Room”. When looking at it without knowing the title of the work, it might be confusing and meaningless to some. I first was annoyed that many elements were not completely legible, such as “music”. Then I re-read the title, “Music From the Other Room”, and realized just how perfectly it fit. The title reminded me of when I was growing up and we had a piano in the living room, which was just below my bedroom. I could hear the general melody of the song, but I couldn’t make out any details. After coming to this realization I again looked at the image and found just how well this metaphor was conveyed in this piece. Using artistic methods to create systematic design concepts can be both liberating and efficiently productive. It can allow your creativity to flow in ways that inspiration from other designs cannot, and having your parameters laid out ahead of time will guide the creativity flow exactly where it needs to be heading. Letting the Music Sing There is a rising mantra between designers: “Design less, think more.” Samantha Warren sums it up rather succinctly while AIGA goes into more detail. Before ever sitting down to sketch or design, you need to know your boundaries and the context which you will be designing within. Many accomplish this through Mood Boards. Finding music that fits the particular mood you’re trying to convey can get you away from recreating a tired idea and push you toward breaking outside of the box and marching to the beat of your own drum. One of the major guidelines that determines the outcome of a project is the audience. Not having much experience with a particular audience can limit your vision of what will appeal to them. If you’re designing a social media site for African-American teens in a particular city or region, this could pose as quite a challenge if your main concentration has been work for large corporations. Obviously looking to those whom have accomplished such a venture successfully is a good idea, but focusing on the past makes it difficult to design a unique and more successful future. Instead of getting into the heads of successful designers, we should be getting into the head of the audience we’re designing for. There are many ways this can be done, one of which is listening to the music that generally appeals to this particular audience–as well as the music that appeals to the minorities of this audience. Relying on senses other than your vision can evoke a greater comprehension for what feeling must be conveyed through a design. Retaliate What music moves you to design? Have you used music to set the mood for a project in the past? About the author Ann Edwards is a freelance designer from Indianapolis, Indiana. She is also an avid car enthusiast, music addict, and self-proclaimed web geek.

  © aedwards for Smashing Magazine, 2009. | Permalink | 19 comments | Add to del.icio.us | Digg this | Stumble on StumbleUpon! | Tweet it! | Submit to Reddit | Forum Smashing Magazine

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