T.C. Design - Eye on Design

The T.C. Design Award ::Award Criteria :: Current Award Winner :: CEM Declaration of Ethics :: Past Winners

Past Award Winners

2001 :: 2000

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Click to go to Bojan's Work.

May, 2001

Bojan's Work

The 'T.C. Design Eye On Design Award of Excellence' is bestowed, monthly, upon those sites which meet a certain high standard of art and design. I look for sites that rise above the commonplace and ordinary, to the level of artistic excellence.

I am very pleased to give Bojan my award for May, as I feel his site is very deserving of attention and praise. When he mentions that his site is eclectic, he's not kidding -- but it's a good thing; it's interesting.

There are a few things I'm a sucker for in a website: great artistry, navigation, and personality. Bojan's site can claim all three.

One of the things I like best about the site is the way he gives his visitors a guided tour through his photography. The photos of Yugoslavia are particularly touching -- and disturbing. I found his website interesting enough to look at every single picture and read all of his words.

When I informed Bojan that he and his website had won my award for May, and when asked what his motivation and inspiration in regards to Bojan's Work has been, Bojan said:

"In the autumn of 1997 I renewed my passion for photography, which I neglected for more than a decade. After one visit to the Budapest Zoo, I got a few quite good photos. The idea of putting them on the web seemed like a nice challenge; at the time my knowledge of web design was literally a big zero.

"As I learned, my site went through lot of changes and became a kind of constantly changing exhibition of not just photos but of all the things I am occupied by at the moment. It is an eclectic exhibition, as my interests are eclectic, but in my opinion the Web permits such diversity.

"Web presence, besides the joy of constant creation, brought me the joy of communication with people all around the globe. Finally, it changed my life completely -- thanks to this site I was found by my, now, wife and I moved from Budapest to Istanbul.

"And it all started as a very modest web page about my visit to the zoo..."

Ahhh, the power of a web page!

So, if you enjoy visiting stylish websites with unique, easy navigation, interesting photography and a good story, go see Bojan at http://www.bojanbb.com/BW01.html, and give yourself some time to look around and read about Bojan's travels.

Click to go to Peapod Design.

April, 2001

Peapod Design

The 'T.C. Design Eye On Design Award of Excellence' is bestowed, monthly, upon those sites which meet a certain high standard of art and design. I look for sites that rise above the commonplace and ordinary, to the level of artistic excellence.

It is my supreme pleasure to give the 'Peapod Design' website, by Mindy Sommers, an artist and web designer from Vermont, my award for April.

At first, I was reticent to award Mindy. I was afraid of a conflict of interest, since she is my dear friend. But, the fact is, I didn't do any of the work on her site, I just encouraged her. She did it all herself, and it is superior work.

The first thing one comes upon when visiting Ms. Sommers' site is a delectable peapod full of pearls as peas -- beautiful in their simplicity and beautifully rendered.

Being a 'color' person, Mindy's use of color on the digital manipulation, Peas, on her main page (and elsewhere), just knocks me out. The translucence, texture, and color on the peapods, simple things that they are, is ethereal and lovely.

Visitors will notice that Ms. Sommers' proficient use of texture, of color, of pattern, and of light, all over the site, is striking and dynamic.

I've always been a sucker for a unique gallery environment and Peapod Design has one. It's in the guise of an old Vermont house -- one with a legend and stories to tell. In Mindy's hands, it becomes a sort of psychedelic Goth palace, where one could easily imagine bats flying about. There you will find various fractals, photograph manipulations, and digital art -- my favorite of which is Pretty Fishy -- a creation that leaves my eyes spinning in their sockets (trust me, it's a good thing).

Elsewhere on the site, you will find linkware that has no peer in style or artistry. Some of the sets are a bit slow to load, but they are worth the wait. Check out her buttons and assorted objects; they are lovely bits of eye candy.

If you are an artist who uses Blade Pro, her presets are also unparalleled and her textures are intricate and colorful. If you're in the mood for a rant, read her 'Soapbox' section.

When informed that she and her website had won my award for April, and when asked what her motivation and inspiration in regards to Peapod Design has been, Mindy said:

"When I was about seven years old, I drew hundreds of pie-faced women in garish dresses and pointy shoes. These women had uneven shoulders, a dot for a nose, and their hands had fingers splayed in the most unnatural way. My mother, a very discerning and talented artist who did not compliment her daughter unless she meant it, always told me I had talent for clothing design and for color. But I stopped doing anything graphically oriented -- competing with my mother was too demoralizing. Writing, my first love, took the place of clothing design. *

"When I became friends with the owner of this site, and looked at her beautiful work, a vague and long forgotten itch woke up after a thirty-three year sleep. But anyone who's seen them knows that Tina's fractals can send anybody over the edge.

"So now I obsess about computer graphics... to me, it's better than basket-weaving or antidepressants. I find myself, four in the morning, frantically filtering and playing and coloring and beveling and the world goes away... just the way it did when I was seven, making those round-faced women (who looked a lot like me), with their fingers in torturous positions. And you know what? Somebody just wrote to me to tell me they want to use one of my web sets for their new domain. Wow! It doesn't get any better than that."

* Note: if you would like to see some of Mindy's writing, go to: http://www.abundancemagazine.com/scribes/mindysommers

There is much to look at on Mindy's website, and it's all very well done. This is a woman who decided she wanted to learn; and so she did -- like a house on fire.

So, if you're a web designer looking for new presets, or a wanna be web designer looking for linkware -- and maybe some inspiration -- or, if you're just surfing around looking for artistic beauty, check out the Peapod Design website at: http://www.peapoddesign.net

Click to visit Art Cluster.

March, 2001

Art Cluster

The 'T.C. Design Eye On Design Award of Excellence' is bestowed, monthly, upon those sites which meet a certain high standard of art and design. I look for sites that rise above the commonplace and ordinary, to the level of artistic excellence.

It is my pleasure to give the 'Art Cluster' website, by Krogius Huss, an artist from Amsterdam, my award for March.

The first thing that grabbed me when I clicked on Mr. Huss' site is the hypnotic Flash animation that makes one feel like they are forever in a wide hallway, heading towards the light.

Additionally, I am taken with the blending of classical tradition with modern materials, e.g.: the use of the column made from an modern-looking brushed aluminum texture.

The site is very easy to navigate through and, with Krogius' adept use of 'place,' it almost 'feels' like a real building to me. A dark and slightly creepy building. I can almost imagine a horror flick being filmed there, in the spaces behind the spaces.

Inside, there are some wonderful gallery environments. It appears as if Krogius has taken photographs of actual galleries and altered them to accomodate the dark, interesting non-objective art he has installed there. There are a few galleries, each one different. Wonderful idea.

Something on Art Cluster completely captivates me: their Whiteboard. The Whiteboard is a javascript that allows visitors to draw their own creations and save them. It reminds me of a color Etch-A-Sketch, only using a mouse to draw with, instead of wheels. They have a Top 20 for the drawings; some of them are incredible. It's just plain fun.

Mr. Huss also has a section where he talks a bit about bandwidth and re-using graphics from page to page, as well as a portion where he shows how he created his column.

When informed that he and his website had won my award for March, and when asked what his motivation and inspiration in regards to Art cluster has been, Krogius said:

"Many years ago two people (Attica Crowther and Krogius Huss), met eachother on the internet.

"They became very good friends and discovered that they shared the same hobby: creating computer graphics. One day the idea was born to create a website and publish their work on the internet.

"When one compares the initial versions of our site with the contemporary version, one cannot help but smile.

"Learning how to design a web site has proven to be a slow and very time consuming process for us. We are very happy and proud to see that it's being appreciated. Tina Coggins, we want to thank you very much for honouring our site with your award."

It is not a huge website, but it's very well done, and it's obvious that Attica and Krogius are completely dedicated to art in its many forms. So, if you're interested in viewing a unique, art-centered website, then check out the Art Cluster website at: http://www.artcluster.com/

If you are interested in applying for next month's award, please send an email to: webmistress@tcdesign.net giving your name, email address, the exact address of your website, and whether or not you created the site graphics and did your own programming. Neither the graphics nor programming need be your own, but there must be an obvious link back to the artist who created them.

Please have your site submission in by the fifteenth of each month, as awards will be given by the end of the month for the next month's award. Those who are late, or those who have not included the address of the site and the required information will not be eligible to be awarded for the next month.

For those who have participated in this month's competition, thank you for your site submission. Your information will be kept on file, so that if you want to reapply for the next month's award, all you have to do is send me an email simply telling me so.

For award guidelines and more information, please check out the Award Criteria.

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