  Donnie
Darko ( )
A seminal interactive adventure from the masters of
the medium. "Pay close attention" to discover
secret passwords, faux pages, subliminal messages as
you immerse yourself in the unfolding experience and
explore several new methods of navigation. Brought to
us through the eyes of the Hi-res!
designers who unveil their unique perspective on interactive
design for this independent movie.
 The
Royal Tenenbaums ()
A fabulously bourgeois site for the coming movie that
has a rich seasoning of still photos, line work, colorful
flourishes and typography. Royal Tenenbaums, the site,
introduces us to the WASPish family with a slightly
dark design that also reveals a sense of humor and introspection.
It also features some really detailed pages enhanced
with the kind of Flash interactivity that money just
cannot buy. Overall, the site is artistic, fun
and just brilliantly rendered.
Sculpted by: 65Media.
 Flash
deConstruction ( )
A tight typographic work for the upcoming
book shipping in November. The overall site uses
a sharp simplicity of font choice with a clean white
background, contrasted by a juxtaposition of unique
shapes and colorful photographic masks. Inside, the
Flash site offers sound clips and samples to serve as
a brief taste of the books' flavors.
Designed by: Todd Purgason of Juxt
Interactive.
 Fuse
: Industrial Design ()
This small site for a hybrid industrial and product
design company features some nice gratuitous 3-D Flash
movement and good overall cohesion and 'sense of space'.
The highlight of this very crisp design is the green,
living, modular and sometimes gooey nav system found
positioned at the bottom left which guides you through
the six basic pages of the site.
Built by: opus:creative.
 Tongsville
()
A miniature, but deeply detailed world is now complete
in this slightly bizarre site for a video production
company, Hammer & Tongs. In Tongsville visitors explore
a number of unique city attractions & metaphors
- try the bank on the boardwalk or visit the theater
- where each is a refined interactive destination. Tongsville
uses a menage of pixel styles that are best compared
to famed digitally designed experiences like Netbabyworld
and eBoy's eCity.
Interact and enjoy the surroundings, but hang in there,
as there's lots hidden away to be found... (psst, try
to find God Mode!).
Handmade by the design robots at: preloaded.
UK
 ecko.complex
()
Writing yet another page in the book of branding, ecko,
one of our favorite sites, again stitches together
fashion, typography, bold color and innovative Flash
navigations into an overall great redesign. But even
if you understand that commercial fashion demands a
complete overhaul for each season, we still feel an
archive section for the past designs is sorely missing.
We're also aware that this new area is slightly thinner
than versions of the past and we wonder if the quality
can be sustained for versions of the future. We certainly
hope so, because we're already looking forward to the
next one. Designed in house by ecko mindlabs.
 Simian
6 - Revolt ()
A new imaginative creation from Simian - Simian Volume
6 - "Revolt" - now online with a new URL. This version
features some of the same slow-motion-load Flash scenes
and navigation seen in previous Simian advents from
Ross Mawdsley. We did find links between sections a
bit confusing at first, until we realized it's an underlying
theme and an exploration path to the various 'hot-spots'
across the globe. Fear not - the new ideas and multimedia
editorials are imaginative and original and overall
and Simian6 is another great, timely, 'bound' work of
interaction and discovery.
Seeds of revolt sown by: IKDA.
 Notts
Art ()
UK
A sweet and clean little Flash delection for a local
arts project, 'notts' provides info on contemporary
artworks situated across Nottinghamshire, England. We
liked the colors and overhead location maps especially,
but found readability slightly impaired - probably due
to the use of Vag Rounded as copy text. Overall, notts
art is a tasty, informative treat. If you liked Notts
Art, also try Large
Design.
Both designed by: twelve:ten.
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In
this column: Oustanding Firms & 'Folios
For this advent we present a number
of indy (portfolio) sites and Design Firm sites that
we found interesting. Many of these will eventually
will be filtered into the Designhaus
area.
 Digit1
()
UK
The new Digit site redefines the nature of a typical
agency site with this breakthrough interactive accomplishment.
Lightly framed on white, the mesmerizing design erases
the line between 'folio' and 'lab' by introducing a
host of organic experiences and tools that you uncover
as you embark upon several varied explorations. In a
sentence, Digit has taken the next step and integrated
its experiences with a functional design.
 Appetite
Engineers ()
Appetite Engineers is an energetic, award-winning -
mainly print - design firm based in San Francisco. You
will really enjoy their unusual and thorough approach
to design and process, which you can view in great step-by-step
case studies and get a feel for their embracing philosophy.
These guys are super fine typographers and you really
have to check out recent print work they've created
for clients such as the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
Very inspirational.
 The
Skyscraper
A very fine Swedish company site that actually acts
more like a unique community area. Geared towards the
web design student or professional, you can tour the
skyscraper and unveil several layers of community based
virtual spaces like the lovemates area, or you can try
to get a Paregos scholarship by submitting your work.
Also learn Flash from a small group or tutorials. Very
cool Flash site. Need a fast computer.
 Modern
Living
For funny, artistic, and brilliant inspirations, this
animator from Germany rocks. Modern Living, as part
of his Neurotica Series was retired in September 2001
at #100, and these 100 inspirational elements, animated
in Flash, are always worth a second look. Realized
by: Hoogerbrugge.
 Agent
Noordeman ()
Bliss comes in many forms, and for us it takes the form
of illustration, rigid typography and graphic design
merged on the screen. These classic deco-influenced
illustrations and designs burst from the screen in bold,
burning swaths of color. But this designer with a strong
typographic design background from Holland, was only
introduced to the web in 2000 when working with The
Chopping Block and he's never done an illustration
heavy project before this new version of his site. Could
have fooled us. Look inside for a wide range of
work - from book jackets to web sites - that captures
a wide array of different styles. Ultimately, Arjen
Noordeman's work is very heavy in the type department,
and that's how we like it here. You may recognize some
the Agent's font styles from Cranbrook
Design, a previous feature on this page.
 Jeremy
Otis ()
Jeremy is a great illustrator with a human touch. Throughout
his work, he demonstrates an attuned sense of typographic
style as he crafts highly personable designs. His portfolio
is loaded with very pure, clean identity and branding
designs and he has also created some very meaningful
poster and advertising work. Some of his strongest work
includes identity systems for organic and the design
of the Target
ecommerce web site. A very clean, personable, and
tightly organized site.
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