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 visit BrainWaves.

December, 2000

BrainWaves

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's my pleasure to give 'BrainWaves' website -- designed, created and maintained by Amy Stanton, my award for December.

Amy's site doesn't come at you and knock you down with a screaming Flash presentation, but like each of my award winners, BrainWaves has it's own personality, feel, and collection of elements that make me want to return to see what is new.

BrainWaves has an artistically rich feel, and that is due to the fact that the webmistress is an artist, herself. She is a writer and creates digital art.

One of the best words I can use to describe Amy's website is, "cozy." It's like a fire in the library fireplace, a cup of mulled cider, a chenille blanket on a cold night. The site seems deceptively small (which probably lends to the cozy feel), but when you look around, you find that there is a ton of stuff in there; from ecards to linkware to fabulous stories about her kitties to a quality page of links -- way more than I can list, here.

When informed that she and her website had won my award for December, and when asked what her motivation and inspiration in regards to her BrainWaves site has been, Amy said:

"Thank you so much for the award. I am deeply honored that someone with such a discerning eye for elegant websites should have bestowed an award upon mine.

"BrainWaves was conceived without any grand scheme behind it. I harbored no ambition of improving the WWW. I didn't have a cause to promote or a message to communicate. All I wanted to do was to enjoy the process of creation. Unlike many other sites which shared equally unpromising beginnings, BrainWaves developed into something of substance...something of which I am very proud.

"What I discovered along the way is that creating a personal website is a powerful way to discover a lot about oneself. Through writing I clarified issues I was grappling with. Through choosing colors and designing images, I gained a surer sense of what my tastes were...what I found attractive. These things bolstered my self-confidence.

"But best of all, I found that having a website was a wonderful vehicle for meeting interesting people and forming lasting friendships. I am delighted to find messages in my guestbook, e-mails in my inbox and completed forms from my Bookworm Survey. These shy, but friendly communications motivate me to keep creating, to make my site more interesting, a place with enough power to draw people back time and time again. And because this goal is so elusive, BrainWaves will never be "finished." It will continue to grow and evolve. "

So, on some cold, lonely evening, surf over to Amy's BrainWaves site and start reading; before long, you'll be warmed by the words in her Blog and entertained by her Bookworm Survey. It doesn't take much interaction with Amy to see that the very thing in Amy's site that provides the warmth is Amy, herself.

Please check out Amy's BrainWaves website at: http://www.brain-waves.ws/index.html.

Click to be transported to  'The GrafxEmporium.'

November, 2000

The GrafxEmporium

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's my pleasure to give 'The GrafxEmporium' website, designed, created and maintained by Ida M. (AKA: The GrafxDiva), my award for November.

When I first saw Ida's site I fell in love with it, for several reasons. First, I am enamored of black and white with touches of red when used as graphic elements; it's bold, classy, and will never go out of style -- it's the Chanel of website colors.

Secondly, her use of texture is subtle but texturally rich and lovely. Also, the torn page-look is a favorite of mine; I almost used it for this site.

Then, when I got into the rest of her site, I was just very impressed with her standard of excellence and creativity. Hands down a winning site deserving of praise -- and the site that scored highest in all categories.

When asked what her motivation and inspiration has been for her GrafxEmporium site, Ida said:

"GrafxEmporium evolved as a result of my frustrations on my initial attempts in creating a personal website. Scouring the web for free clipart & web graphics, I was utterly amazed at the poor quality of graphics available. Not only were they lacking in quality and originality, but they were copied on just about on every website one can possibly imagine. So then, my new venture began. Picking up PaintShop Pro & progressing to Photoshop, I spent 1000's of hours learning to create my own original graphics. The venture became a passion. I named the passion GrafxEmporium. I had amassed such a collection that I decided to share it with the world & help the web community become a nicer place to visit.

"Our visitors feedback, as well as numerous awards & accolades have encouraged & motivated me to work diligently in providing & adding quality content to GrafxEmporium, and continue to extend its services in designing & creating quality graphics and websites for the online community. The Emporium is filled with graphics galore, resources, tools & utilities that will enable anyone to build a better quality website! It's gratifying to know that visitors enjoy the visual experience as well as the content provided at GrafxEmporium.

"Thank you for granting your 'T.C. Design - Eye on Design Award of Excellence' to GrafxEmporium!! I am deeply appreciative & humbled by this accolade & will wear it with great pride! Thank You Tina for your visit."

The GraphxEmporium website is a great place for those looking for linkware (if you haven't found what you're looking for, here *wink*), and various graphic elements. It's an inspiration to any budding or current web designer and a wonderful example of website excellence.

Please check out The GrafxEmporium website at: http://www.grafxemporium.com/index.html.

Click here to visit Maestro Awards.

October, 2000

The Maestro Awards

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's my pleasure to give the Maestro Awards website , designed by Richard Berends and his team, my award for October.

What you will find at Richard Berends' website, 'The Maestro Awards,' is a thoroughly well-designed, planned, and executed website.

When I asked Mr. Berends what his purpose and motivation in building his superior site was, he said:

"Maestro Awards originated as a result of the need to improve the quality and standard of the Internet. Since it became possible to transfer files on the web, building your own homepage has grown out to one of the most popular hobbies worldwide!

This trend was fueled by low cost, even free of charge web hosting services and easy-to-use web building tools and software, making it possible for individuals to create and publish their own websites with little resources or knowledge. This growth also marks its negative side. The Internet's overall quality dropped as a result due to poor quality websites and over-commercialization.

As the need for recognition and site improvement became more evident, various award programs and tools were developed. Maestro Awards not only give webmasters the recognition they deserve, but helps improve the quality of the Internet and give new web designers and graphic artist a fair chance on the Internet.

Finally, to ensure that we correctly recognize website excellence and quality, we have developed one of the most sophisticated evaluation procedures in the world, evaluating websites on a variety of categories and critiques. We invite all webmasters to put their websites to the test (available on-site) and apply for one of the most recognized website awards in the world -- The Maestro Awards of Excellence!"

The Maestro Awards site is rather an exception to the websites I've awarded heretofore: you won't find paintings, photography, jewelry, or digital art. But, if you are a webmaster looking to win awards, you will find information, and lots of it.

Mr. Berends' artistry is in his, coding; his creative use of what seem to be impeccable organizational skills, and the minimalist, streamlined interface.

Please check out The Maestro Awards website at: http://www.maestroawards.com/.

September, 2000

Ubiquity Records

T.C. Design - Eye on Design has recinded this award for non-compliance of the award criteria.

Click to visit Salvy's website.

August, 2000

Salvy Nigro

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's my pleasure to award Salvy Nigro my award for August. Salvy is a talented, friendly man originally from Italy, now living in Germany. I've always been fascinated by 3D work, and find his work and website worthy of the Award of Excellence.

Salvy's obvious talent is also evident in the design and navigation plan of his website. It's easy on the eyes and intuitive in it's navigation.

I say that I like to strive for and reward excellence as there can never be too many well-designed websites on the net. Salvy's site is a wonderful example of superior design, planning, and talent.

Please check out Salvy's website at: http://essenne.de/eng/default.htm. And for those of you who take a peek and still want more, take a gander at more of Salvy's work in the Gallery of Nudes that will be coming soon.

Les Toil's Big, Geautiful Pin-Up Gallery

July, 2000

Les Toil, of Les Toil's Big, Beautiful Pin-Up Gallery

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.

His moniker is Les Toil and he is a professional artist/illustrator from the Bay area. The short list of a few of his gigs include CD covers, celebrity portraits for magazines, and artistic parodies. This month's award winner has created a beautiful website replete with lovely graphics and an intuitive navigational plan. But it's the purpose of Mr. Toil's site that is near and dear to my heart: promoting the desirability and lovliness of big girls. His commercial stuff may pay the bills but, he paints large and lovelies because it's his passion.

When notified that he is the awardee for July, 2000, Les said:

"It's my pleasure and, more so it's my honor, to receive an award that concentrates so strongly on the visual aspects of my online gallery, mainly because the creator of the Eye on Design award is an accomplished artist, herself.

"My intent is that my gallery patrons be entertained by the featured work as well as the words that describe how that art came to be. Within those words I hope that people can sense my fanatical enthusiasm for the subject matter of the art." That we can, Les, that we can.

He goes on to say, "The many positive emails I've received praising my pin-up portraits only confirm that our society is committing a crime of the grandest scale by choosing to depict beauty solely in the guise of a starving war orphan. Such rigid standards can encourage hostility, discrimination, and self-hatred by those who don't 'measure up.'"

"Thanks much for recognizing the fruits of my labor, T.C. Design. You've thrown a heavy log on my motivation fires."

Thank you, Les, for a website that is interesting enough to return to time and time again.

I say that I like to strive for and reward excellence as there can never be too many well-designed websites on the net. Les' site harks back to a day when voluptuous women were the most desirable of all -- and if the rising demand for his talents portraying such women is any indication, those days are returning.

Please check out Les' website at: http://www.lestoil.net/bbpg/. And for those of you who take a peek and still want more, take a gander at more of Les' work, and his banners, on my Resources page.

Berty's Wallpapers

June, 2000

Dean Bertoncelj (Berty), of Berty's Wallpapers

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.

The name of Berty's site is really misleading, as this man is a multi-talented and multi-faceted individual; wallpapers are only one of the things he creates.

I received so many wonderful, quality, site submissions this month, but Berty's site scored the highest in almost all categories; and when you visit his site, check out the ease of navigation, nice yet understated graphics that really show off his work to best advantage, and the preponderance of superior work he's done in the area of 3-D rendering, photographic manipulation, and photography -- he is a professional photographer from Croatia and has done many magazine covers for his country.

Berty says: "As a kid, I have never thought I would become a photographer. I have chosen the High School for Applied Arts because I wanted to study painting and graphics. But then I have tried for the first time to shoot a sort of art photo and I liked it immediately. The development of computer software over the years has enabled me to combine photography with computer art or graphics."

I say that I like to strive for and reward excellence as there can never be too many well-designed websites on the net. Berty's site shows that he is a capable web designer as well as a gifted artist. Please check out Berty's website at: www.zyworld.com/bertys30/main.htm.

Fine Line Jewelry is no longer online.

May, 2000

Linda Comeau, of Fine Line Jewelry

(no longer online)

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.

Linda says, "I have always loved making handcrafted items all of my life. My mom was an artist and always encouraged me to be creative. I can remember having an interest in jewelry when I was 10, stringing beads and making beaded rings for my friends. Little did I know that I would choose jewelry as my career.

Linda also does pretty darn well with website design, too. Her website garnered top numbers in all categories -- including the fact that it's just plain pretty, too.

I say that I like to strive for and reward excellence as there can never be too many well-designed websites on the net. Linda's site has definitely increased the pool of well-designed sites by one. Please check out Linda's website at: www.finelinejewelry.com.

Queenie Grafx

April, 2000

Queenie, of Queenie Grafx

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 say that our winner this month, Queenie, has a site that definitely fits the guidelines, and beyond.

Queenie has been designing websites for about five years now, and has a style that I would describe as a hip, funky retro/goth look. The site's designer obviously has a wonderful eye for design, and is very adept at creating a space that is unmistakably all her own.

I say that I like to strive for and reward excellence, as there can never be too many well-designed websites on the net. Queenie's site personifies that goal. Please check out her website at: www.queenie-grafix.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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