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prior listings

 

Search results for: icons

• famfamfam 9/8/05 
  Description: personal site and web playground
  Comments: Computer Science major Mark James, who also works part-time as a web developer, decided to launch the site on August 28th. "After spending months playing around on and off with various blogging and content management systems, I eventually took the logical conclusion; it was better to have a simple site online with none of the bells and whistles, than to have an all-singing, all-dancing site in a constant state of being 60% completed." So it's online and though he's still working on the Flash and PHP lab sections, he's sharing 3 big sets of icons well worth bringin' to your attention. Note that Mark's linkware icons are .gif or .png images, intended for website or web application use (as opposed to desktop icons). "I find churning out little web icons fairly relaxing. Other people do icons better, but I love free stuff, and I'm sure you do too." Why, thank you sir! 
   
• duckfarm.net 7/28/05 
  Description: freeware icons and desktops (for private personal use only)
  Comments: If you're looking for colorful desktops and/or unique icon sets (for both PC and Mac), I guess you've stopped by at the right time. They're all freeware for private personal use only, so please don't modify, distribute, or use them in any publications or web projects, thank you – but do enjoy 'em on your own computer...;~)) 
   
• Count Olaf 4/3/05 
  Description: official site of the famous actor (Flash)
  Comments: Actor. Humanitarian. Heartthrob. Ultimate Dad. Now, the site comes from a concern (PPC) you could hardly call independent or non-commercial. In fact, after choking on its Terms Of Use, I decided to take a pass on including a screenshot with today's review (not that it wouldn't be fair use, mind you). So, today's pick isn't exactly the type of site typically found in coolstop's listings, but in the interest of providing a little special entertainment for you loyal souls who actually stop by even on Sunday (I love you guys), I just couldn't resist – it's an amusing website. Where else are you gonna find "the most incredibly brilliant blog in the world?" You'll also find some downloadable gifts – icons and wallpapers – but do be careful how you use 'em...;~))
   
• go photoblog 8/10/04 
  Description: color and black & white photography
  Comments: Go, a/k/a Pixelillusion, relaunched the site less than a month ago with a picture of his fiancé.  Beautiful shot.  Beautiful subject.  There's some other great people pics in the archives too.  The previous version appears to have been taken offline, so it's a fresh start for his photoblog, which already has 27 shots posted.  I like the site design – it's minimal with simple, small icons for navigation and the photos stand out nicely in the open space.  Information on each shot, links to its categories, and occasional commentary by Go appear in the pop-up comments window instead of on the page.  I particularly like his black & white shots, especially this and that...;~))  [Photo Friday]

  Note: Go's old site (no longer updated) is here.
   

• hambot.com 7/16/04 
  Description: biomechanical transgenic nanotechological artwork (Flash)
  Comments: Just imagine!  If you had a couchbot, you could "perform daily tasks without having to leave the convenience and comfort of your couch" while you make some moolah with your very own advertiseplant.  Peter's inventions are just one vehicle for his cool illustration skills.  There's also nanoworld, a work in progress where bots are propagating, plus sections of silkscreens and sketches.  And I wouldn't wanna forget to mention the robo-generator and Mac icons – it's a colorful and fun Friday... ;~)) 
   
• snowcat 7/3/04 
  Description: illustration and animation from Korea
  Comments: Something light and minimal today – and though most of the text is Korean, the illustrations in the snowcat diary and the cartoon section (which includes some Flash animations) are fun to browse.  There's also icons to download, some cool photos, plus something to look forward to – an ecard section is in the works...
   
• everyday icons 7/23/03 
  Description: for your daily life
  Comments: Like virtually every other website out there, today's pick is "open 365 days, 24 hour."  But that's just part of the message on the splash.  Japanese designer Shinya Inamura also tells you to "have a sweet time."  And if downloadable, colorful icons are your thing, "sweet" is probably the right word.  Organized in two categories, disk icons and folder icons, and available for Mac and PC, each set includes an assortment of colors, which (speaking of organization) seems a good way to color-code your desktop a bit.  If the disks and folders seem a little plain to you (though they're not), just have a look at Shinya's "work" section and be astounded.  Love them pixels!   [linkdup]
   
• channelping 6/19/03 
  Description: a mixed bag for higher primates
  Comments: Lower primates are sure to be confused by the dingbat icons.  And the side menu, which mixes together internal and external links, arranged by line length, sure looks cool but just might leave usability experts laughing (and lower primates groaning) in the aisles.  Then there's the question:  "Does this site have a purpose?"  Lower primates thrive on such curiosities, and will probably want to know who created this scattered collection of useless crap.  Higher primates, on the other hand, will want to learn about chairs and they're hungry for data to put on their PDAs.  They won't care about the side menu 'cause they love the little icons, and things like the prose clock and phrases like "all your base are belong us" knock their socks off.  I've run out of hands, but need to mention yet another kind of primate - your average, run-of-the-mill human kind, like me.  I'm scattered and somewhat random and easily amused.  More important than that, I'm curious and like to explore.  That's why I think today's pick is simply golden (sorry, it's an inside joke).  Seriously though, it's the creativity that attracts me the most...
   
• XPAIDER 8/31/02 
  Description: Spanish Design Farmer
  Comments: Today's pick comes as a result of my catching up on administrative things, like revisiting featured cool sites to double check for mistakes – my mistakes, that is.  It's easy to miss something the first time you visit a site.  I think I must have chosen to "skip intro" the first time I visited this one.  So, today I bring a site onto the best of the cool listings that belonged there in the first place.  What intro?  The "Retro Robot Machine" has got to be the coolest Flash creation on the planet!  Okay, so maybe I'm overstating that a bit – it's really just a little (hyperactive) splash page – in that case, I'll just call it the coolest splash page on the planet and leave it at that, since that's not really why I'm picking the site anyway.  There's actually 2 reasons.  First, the design.  Great implementation of the chromeless window idea and a great layout within the 810x316 window, not to mention the vibrant color scheme and graphics.  Second, and what I really mis-evaluated the first time I visited the site, is the content, baby!  Tasty screensavers, fonts, icons, and desktops for your downloading pleasure plus a big section of links (including a "link of the month" and "link of the week") that could keep you occupied the whole weekend (if you let it).  Lemme just call this my link of the day...
   
• funkreich 8/21/02 
  Description: news on design and music related stuff plus downloads and the flyer museum
  Comments: "To be honest my enthusiasm for all those design sites has gone. I'm just tired of looking at them due to the lack of useful content."  Scooba explains that it's been quiet as he and Movel are "tryin' to figure out how to expand..."  Though he feels "news plus a truckload of flyers" is rather limited, I found some interesting links in the news and the "Flyer Museum" is great – the feature is a collection of 15 flyers related to an annual "b-boy" dance contest plus some photos that Movel took at one of the events.  In addition, get this, there's over 1,200 flyers in the database so I don't doubt it's "one of the largest flyer collections on the web."  Hardly limited content, especially when you also consider the "download section" with its walls and icons, plus the "vinyl of the week" feature with short .mp3 samples of some super-tasty music.  And don't forget a tutorial on "the art of pixelling" plus the fact that there's over a dozen members posting to the news.  So, as Scooba and Movel "think positive" about what the "nice new" site will be like, I've got to say I'm thinking pretty positive about what's already there – love the design and its sweet pixel style...
   
• futabita 4/11/02 
  Description: static and motion visuals (Flash)
  Comments: Like Futaba a/k/a Futabita, I also love cats (one of ours is over 20-years-old, believe it or not).  Her motion graphics piece called "i love cats" is one of those I could look at over and over again – great photos of cats, some taken at home in Brooklyn, and others in Barcelona and Tokyo.  There's a cool geographical navigator to the 6 different photos and I guess it also represents places that Futabita has been to.  If I'm not mistaken, she's from Japan.  There's another interesting motion piece, plus a big gallery of static visuals and another section with samples of some of her commercial designs.  The folders/files interface that dims the icons for the pieces you've already viewed is a nice design touch.  I really like viewing portfolio sites, especially when it's one like today's pick – appealing design samples without the hype...
   
• Mr. Wong 2/17/02 
  Description: the pixel grower
  Comments: Born February 6, 2002 – not Mr. Wong, but his site.  The announcement bills it as "another weird, pixelated project!"  And he calls himself "the pixel grower."  We got pixels today, baby – more pixels in the portal cool zone, not to mention all the site reviews where I shared my enthusiam with y'all about how I've been collecting sites with "pixels" in the site's name or description – yeah, I know – I'm silly!  But Mr. Wong really is about pixels, from the naughty little graphic at the top of his main page to all those "new breedings" shown along the bottom – an obvious master of icons.  There's only one piece in the "worx" section, but give Mr. Wong a break 'cause his site is only 11 days old and he is kinda busy at the moment, as the head graphic implies (hehe).  The work is a sign of the times for many designers.  It's hard to have given something your all, only to be left fired and hungry... the short text on the work says it all, plus the visual aspect is, if I may use one of Mr. Wong's special phrases, "pixolutely perfect."  Okay – so the site is a little light on content and I almost didn't choose it.  Then I saw the words "my other site" and realized that Mr. Wong's art is more extensive than I originally thought – even more pixels plus a cool non-Flash animation.  I like today's pick – think I'll go reload the splash page a few more times...
   
• the xanthic eye 2/7/02 
  Description: online gallery containing free wallpapers, icons, skins, and paint shop pro and photoshop tutorials
  Comments: As designers, one of the things we try to avoid is the appearance of horizontal scrollbars... sometimes.  In the case of today's pick, horizontal scrolling is intentional and the sleek interface, inspired by the look of the iMac ("this one is shiiiiiiny oooOooOo") is quite wide on some of the pages – personally, I think it's worth having to scroll left to right – it's such a cool interface!   Today's pick has been listed in the portal cool zone since May, 2000, but after seeing the current version (V6), it was clear to me that it belongs with the best of the cool.  V6 was launched last September.  There's a wealth of great graphics in the "Gallery" as well as in the "Wallpapers" section.  Add some skins and icons for download plus some tutorials – as far as graphics-type sites go, this one has a lot of good, original content.  Raymond's been on the web since 1999 and – get this – he's only 16-years-old...
   
• untitled1.co.uk 1/12/02 
  Description: graphic design explorations, news and links
  Comments: "This product is not suitable for childeren under 36 months as it contains small parts which may cause choking."  They must be referring to their little pixeled action figures – you can change Martin or Mike's clothes with a click and the mouseover will tell you that the yellow icons are Martin's projects and the red ones, Mike's.  Okay – so there's only one yellow icon and one red icon for now – these guys must be pretty busy or something.  "Construction due for completion in late* October 2000" is what it says and the asterick pertains to the note that "we are lame."  Guess I meant to say "lame or something" – the news window was updated one time (that's right, I said one time) in 2001 (in December) – it said the site "probably won't be seeing much action over the next four months [not that it ever did ;) ]" and went on to explain that Martin will be attending a design school in the US and that the site will probably be redesigned in July.  Busy – lame – whatever!  So, you're saying "Joe, the site hasn't been updated in ages – it's just sitting there with two cute little pixel figures you can play with – big whoopie! – are you nuts or something?"  Yes, I am, but that's besides the point.  I picked the site because those two projects that are there for now are very good.  Martin found a camera on the London Underground and posted their images plus his own (11/00), and Mike took a bunch of cool photos in New York when he visited in April, 2000 – excellent design and presentation!  Lame?  No – I don't think so...
   
• Wireframe Studio 8/15/01 
  Description: we like to think of it as a work in progress (Flash)
  Comments: It's kinda amusing.  I've visited today's pick three or four times in the past and each time I did, I left thinking "this is a pretty cool site – sure hope they finish it soon."  What I liked about this Flash site each time before was the interface along the bottom of the main page.  When you mouseover one of those cute little folder icons, the folder pops open and document icons move upward out the folders.  Pretty cool, but three of the four folders contain document icons that all say "coming soon" when you mouseover them.  In the fourth folder, the single document icon is an email link.  So, each of those times I visited the site before, I left frustrated and wondering if they're ever gonna finish it.  Well.  I almost did the same thing this morning after visiting it again.  Same old "coming soon" messages on those cute document icons – "big whoopee" I think to myself, but this time as I'm getting ready to run for the exits, I accidently – yes, accidently! – moved my mouse over the top portion of the page and all of a sudden, a new part of the interface opens up, giving me six cool studies in motion and high-end stuff like avoiding collisions and z-sorting – content – I found content!  Okay, I know I'm being a wiseguy about it.  They even have a note on the splash page that says it's still under construction, a work in progress.  But the fact that I missed the content entirely on the previous visits certainly says something about usability, or, at least, what a dumbass user I can be at any given time(s).  Like I said, I think the interface is cool and if they want to take forever to link those document icons to something, that's just fine with me – it's their site, after all.  Those additional document icons I found this morning did link to some cool diversions and since that's just what I needed at the moment, I'll just say thank you and go on my way now...
   
• Images by an animator 7/17/01 
  Description: Artistic black and white web site made by a Japanese animator. Unique moving icons with Flash are used. Also many drawing works are included.
  Comments: According to its "What is new" page, today's pick was last updated back in April.  So, I guess it might be a while before Japanese animator Maki Hosoi actually gets his "Animation" section up and running.  Though that seems ironic at first, the name of the site implies that it's images you'll be seeing from this animator and in that regard, he certainly does deliver the goods in the "Gallery."  To be accurate, I should say that you DO get plenty of animation here despite the mentioned section that's under construction – the navigation icons throughout the site are all very cool Flash animations!  It's those simple black and white icons with their tasty rollovers, the Gallery, and the simplicity of the design that really impressed me...
   
• experimental magazine 6/12/01 
  Description: design magazine and community
  Comments: Based in Romania, today's pick just released "Issue One: Feed Your Emotions."  This brand new design magazine is starting strong with a slick graphical style (love those little pixel icons) and a pretty good amount of content.  You can probably expect a tastefully done cover girl with each new issue, including information on who took the photo in context.  There's also a featured designer interview, and an interesting concept called "challenge" which will be passed along from issue to issue.  Designers can join the "club" and the community has a forum.  Add a great links section, called the "guide" plus a section where you can submit wallpapers (and get 'em, too), and you've got a full-fledged centerpoint for designers.  Hats off to Rares and Laura for getting this thing together – lookeeeeng good...
   
• pixelHugger 5/9/01 
  Description: pete's pixelated playground
  Comments: To add to my ever-growing list of picks with the word "pixel" in the site name or description, I'm going today with yet another site with a name that fits.  Pete knows pixels for sure and serves up fonts, icons, wallpapers and games for pixel lovers everywhere.  I love the look of the site and Pete's obvious love for the pixel.  You'll need the latest version of Shockwave for the games, but I've gotta tell you that his version of Space Invaders works really great – this review would have been up much sooner if it wasn't for all the fun I was having shooting down those pixelated enemies.  The site is pretty new, but Pete says "it's set to grow fast."  There's some stuff in development that you can look at, too, and he's even got a Shockwave application you can download that converts images to ascii art.  Pixels rock, and so does Pete!
   
• Rakugaki 3/19/01 
  Description: publishing works and web works plus the mind of Nishida Koji
  Comments: At first, the yellow splash page wasn't all that inviting to me but the simple row of little 15x15 icons did grab my attention enough to make me want to check it out.  So, I moused over the second one and the word "mind" appeared – a click carried me through the perfect entrance to today's pick.  The small graphics and ample white space on the page I ended up on told me an artist must live there and the tiny red points were the way to the creator's mind.  The emotions on display include "destroy" and "pleasure" and "happy new century" and the motion graphics are superb.  I'll say nothing more about them as they are meant to be experienced, not described.  Then I moved on to the "works" section which showcases print and web samples.  This is good stuff and the attention to detail in the elegantly framed pieces is quite impressive.  Yep - there's an artist at work here.  Though I can't read Japanese, I came away with a sense of clarity.  Go see Nishida's world... >>>
   
• diesel sweeties 9/20/00 
  Description: pixelated online romance comics with robots and retired pornstars.
  Comments: "You never know if these people are real or not."  They probably are real – even Clango the robot... pixelated comics with a strange sense of humor are what Today's pick serves up and today's episode even contains a guest appearance by a web character you might know (with his permission, of course).  It's an interesting coincidence that after I picked this site, I noticed that he just happened to mention this site yesterday in his daily thing as well.  This type of pixel art is similar to that found on another recent Best of the Cool winner, and like that other pick, today's also offers some tasty icons for download.  This pixel thing is definitely something that came from the web and I like it.  The archive of comics here is fun to explore – titles like "Cutie Pie" and "Fleshy Organs" and "Inhuman" each lead you to (or should I say, mis-lead you to) strange 4-panel comics with a satisfying bit of humor.  That cast of characters is quite real to me – in fact, I've already identified four of them with people I know (but you can bet they're not the same real people that the author identifies with them or that you might).  Web entertainment lives on through little amusements like today's pick, and if it wasn't for that annoying affiliate banner at the bottom of some of the pages, I would say this site is absolutely perfect – but despite that little prejudice of mine, I can still safely say that today's pick is GREAT...
   
• Flip Flop Flyin' 5/27/00 
  Description: A bunch of silly things created scientifically to help make a better tomorrow...
  Comments: It's like stepping into a world where everything has been miniaturized, just barely big enough to recognize - but, it's funny - you really can recognize these little pixel people and things.  Seeing what Al Sharpton and Jimi Hendrix look like in these tiny little pieces of art is an eye opening experience and, I've got to admit, it's kinda fun looking at things scaled down to icon dimensions.  There's more here than that, though - a gallery of 56 Polaroids features a variety of subjects - people - places - clusters of color... and the "Leisure Time" section has some pretty cool animated stuff in it.  Free wallpapers and icons (for Mac only) are also offered and you're guaranteed to leave today's winning site with a smile...it's colorful and fun.
   
• Netbaby 5/23/00 
  Description: An online game community..."The user will feel happy during and after taking part in a Netbaby activity. Consistently no Netbaby product will contain sex or violence.
  Comments: On one hand, today's winner is a shopping site - so if you like to buy dolls and t-shirts on the web, knock yourself out (though they only ship orders in Europe) - but that's not the stuff that wins awards around here.  On the other hand, today's Best of the Cool features some of the coolest Shockwave-based games in a community setting and the little pixel art is just great!  I like how fast the games load and play - this is a virtual funland and the color, design a slick interface all add to the tasty experience.  Besides the games, there's also all types of free downloadables in the "New Media Center" - wallpapers, icons and sounds.  All in all, this is a cool escape...
   
• OndRea BARBE 5/21/00 
  Description: online exhibition of New York photographer Ondrea Barbe (Flash)
  Comments: "Once upon a portaiture, there lived some people who didn't necessarily like to be taken in photo.  But alas, for one reason or another, that reality crossed their path and they found themselves staring into a lens that giggles!"  The end product is some interesting portraits of people and the presentation of it is rather unique.  Instead of clicking, you drag icons into a square to activate links.  Several totally blind linked boxes launch mysterious popups - you don't know what you're about to see when you click on those, so you have to be willing to be curious and take the plunge into clicking on an unknown.  The usability experts may be lining up to take their best shots, but sometimes I like a navigation scheme that's different and experimental - if you're willing to think a little and read between the lines, this site's as easy to navigate as any.  A guy named Shamus designed the site (rather well, I might add) and Ondrea, the photographer who took all these shots, is in the house - go visit! (Flash)
   
• IconTown 5/13/00 
  Description: an international project, inviting everyone capable of creating icons to become a member ("citizen") and take part in building a town by contributing an icon
  Comments: Icons are an intriguing art form... just as the 5k competition invited designers to see what they can do within extreme filesize restrictions, today's winner invites artists and illustrators to help build this unique community by submitting buildings and landscape elements, each limited to no more than four icons (32x32 pixels).  The submissions need to fit within the grid and layout scheme and many tracts are still available.  This is a visionary project - it's a physical community and the elements are individualized and linked to their respective creator's webspace.  It's colorful and fun and everyone is invited to participate - very cool!
   
• drububu design 12/22/99 
  Description: very original site with cool javascripts and java applets
  Comments: A desktop-like interface with well-detailed grayscale icons lends a unique flavor to this site.  Features include a number of impressive JavaScript and Java diversions, downloads, drawings, and writing about art and design.