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prior listings

 

• pianographique 8/31/01 
  Description: hijack your keyboard – create graphic and sound compositions simultaneously (Shockwave)
  Comments: Jean-luc Lamarque is probably wondering what the heck is going here on at coolstop.  His site was just submitted at 5:09 a.m. CST (that's GMT-6) this morning and by 7:00 a.m., here it is, already on the front page of coolstop as today's pick.  You see, I try to look at submissions quickly, not only to keep up, but to make sure if a site is brand spanking new and/or really outstanding, that I'm aware of it and give it a little priority.  That ongoing effort to filter out the very best sites quickly is amplified in the morning — many submissions come in from parts of the world that are up when I'm sleeping.  I usually get up around 5:00 a.m. and the very first thing I do, every day, 7 days a week, is turn on the computer and check for new submissions while the coffee is brewing.  This morning was no different, except for the fact that Jean-luc's site was in the queue waiting for me.  The description grabbed me and off I went.  Though I had a few other possible picks lined up for today, this morning, like every morning, I wanted something better — something with a little more punch.  So, the Shockwave is loading a thing called "Compulsion" and the coffee is done and off I go on to beginning another day that will hopefully be cool, or at least, interesting.  It was more than cool early this morning — like I said, I'm always looking for something really outstanding.  This morning I got it, thanks to Jean-luc.  The orchestra was ready, the guitar was finally tuned, and the guys in the graphics booth were ready for the show.  The rest was up to me and my keyboard.  Good coffee, cool jazz, and tasty graphics fill my soul and I'm ready-freddy for that 7:00 a.m. curtain call — I hope you enjoy this one — I sure did...
   
• ufocrash.de 8/29/01 
  Description: the photography and art of Jan Schäfer and a place where other people can show their stuff too...
  Comments: I first saw the photography of Jan Schäfer when I visited pixelgraphy, the daily pick on 8/19/01.  One of his photos was the "photo of the month" for June at Daniela's site.  Though you'll find some excellent city scenes and other miscellaneous photos among the dozens in his gallery, it looks like Jan's subject of choice is people.  Some of his shots are a little fashion-oriented, but his emphasis is on facial expression more than anything else — those are the shots that I'm most fond of and find most memorable.  Jan, who's also a painter, has designed a number of CD covers — not commercially, but because he didn't like the covers on some of the CDs in his collection — an interesting motivation, if you ask me.  He's built a few other websites, and this one has a clean, simple design and perfect navigation.  Jan, a "mediadesigner" likes Filter, Stone Temple Pilots, and Garbage and dislikes "drunk and superficial people."  He also plays guitar.  I think I like this creative guy...
   
• podLob 8/27/01 
  Description: extreme polaroid photography among other odds and ends
  Comments: Bored?  In a creative slump?  The next time you're void of ideas and want to go somewhere in your mind to find that next great work of art, but just don't know how to get there at the moment, you might wanna try doing what Travis does.  You take a coupla tomatoes outta the fridge and grab that trusty old Polaroid.  You'll probably need a knife and a cutting board, too (careful if you try this at home, kiddies).  Extreme?  That's what Travis calls it and it is.  Just imagine how you can add color — I'm thinkin' some endive and purple onions would help along with that speckly Italian dressing.  Of course, it must be hard to avoid thinkin' "when's lunch?" when you're working with such subject matter.  Okay — the "tomato project" is just one of Travis' brainstorms.  There's a series called "captured orange" that's not as culinary as the tomatoes thing.  If facial expressions are what you like (as I do), "deep sleep" and "faces" will please you.  It's all very artsy stuff between the odd effects that the Polaroid can render all on it's own plus whatever Travis is doing to manipulate the images — a very rustic quality.  There's also a section of Flash "research" that includes more cool images in some of the pieces.  The design is simple with old-fashioned horizontal scrolling, but it fits the content rather nicely.  Excuse me — breakfast awaits me — pass the tomatoes...
   
• the strangest thing 8/26/01 
  Description: arworks, design, interviews + (mature content) (Flash)
  Comments: Today's pick is a tight design with cool visuals and nice Flash work from a guy named Jörgen Engdahl who intends "to present a bunch of weird interviews with artists and designers."  The current issue, Version 2, was put out in March, 2001.  I'm not sure if and when the next version is planned, so for now, there's the current version, "Interview with a Girl" with access to the original launch version, "Interview with an Idiot."  The girl in the current issue is Anna-Karie E., a German artist (a very good one, at that), and I really like the way her artwork samples are presented.  The interview's a good read and chances are the current version represents how Jörgen plans to do things on future versions.  Time to note that the name of the interviewer is Gar and my guess is that he and Jörgen are one in the same, but I could be wrong.  The reason I find that question interesting is that wacky first version, the "idiot" interview, where who else but Jörgen himself is being interviewed.  It's really funny and not for the faint-hearted and does tell you a lot about this guy Jörgen and his alter-ego or partner in crime, Gar.  Whether or not Jörgen continues building his "bunch of weird interviews", I'm thinkin' that the site is great just the way it is now...  [experimental]
   
• hU HA 8/24/01 
  Description: I am a simple man. I don't like complication. (Flash)
  Comments: There's a Flash animation called "Bandits The Next Generation" at today's pick that really rocks!  Robert "is a simple man" — that's the only fact you'll find in his "about" section, though the interesting background image does include his picture with very cool effects.  His signature appears to be that narrow, vertical band of red to the right of each visual piece.  Another motion graphics piece with excellent photo work is called "fonika.org" and if you go there, you'll find that it's the intro.  Yep — it appears that Robert does, indeed, rock and it's definitely worth exploring that other site, especially if you're interested in some cool beats for downloading.  Today's pick has a half-dozen other visuals — it's all good.  Robert's not as simple as he claims to be — at least, not when it comes to his work...
   
• pixelgraphy 8/19/01 
  Description: photos by Daniela Börner
  Comments: What a glorious day it is!  Not only have I managed to add yet another great site with "pixel" in it's name (an obvious obsession with me), but I've also added yet another great photography site at the same time!  You don't really have to speak German to enjoy the site 'cause if you can't read the words, you still get the key content — the photography of Daniela Börner.  People, architecture, landscapes, and still life photos, nicely organized and presented — and the "special" section, unlike the others, has several Flash presentations.  I really liked the series of "trains" related photos and it's neat horizontally scrolling interface.  The color scheme of the site is different — strikes me as shades of "peach" — nice use of frames and perfect navigation, too.  Add the cool "photo of the month" feature where the user can vote on other peoples' submitted photos to the things I like about today's pick.  Pixels and photos, designer and photographer, all in one — nice site, Daniela!  [HSE7EN3 aka h73]
   
• Le Lab 8/17/01 
  Description: net-art and webdesign -- new french webdesign site -- projects in flash and shockwave, artistic photos. and french and international webdesign links --fresh and cool
  Comments: "Net-art."  The pale greens in the dreamy background image sure go well with the white to eggshell elements on the page.  It's a new French design site but it really seems to be about the art.  Jessy says it's "fresh and cool" — it is!  It's got a soothing look and feel, at least to me it does, and the team of three behind the site are off to good start.  Illustrations in .eps format for download — haven't seen that before, and there's free desktops, too.  The "projects" section has two dozen pieces in it already — some Flash and Shockwave, some static visuals — ALL very nice.  There's several Flash studies that are a little different than what I've seen — I was pleasantly amused by the "click three points" piece, wondering how they did that and inspired to find out what actionscript functions they used in the piece.  "Inspired" is the key word here.  The limited listings of international links and French design links should grow as people submit their URLs.  It's always nice to find something fresh and cool like today's pick — it's not cliché — the site is new and different and I'm wishing them the best.  Thanks, Jessy...
   
• 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...
   
• IM crew 8/13/01 
  Description: showcase of graffiti art from a team of 5 French artists (Flash)
  Comments: I'm not sure why but graffiti art is fascinating to me.  Okay — so, I'm not saying to grab yourself some spray paint and go deface some public property or anything like that — do that here in Chicago and get caught and you'll find yourself doing some time in the pokey.  But, it fascinates me nevertheless — maybe it's the unique canvasses or the fact that it's done with spray paint, or maybe it's just because it's so big and colorful.  The crew of 5 behind today's pick is doing it's thing in Paris and Grenoble and I'm not sure if they have to watch their backs or not, but they've managed to capture their art in photos to share with the world.  Their site showcases a large assortment of their work, divided into four sections — "fresques", "chromes", "trains", and "lifestyle."  It's all done with Flash, and though each section presents you with a wait for 200-400k to load, the presentation is excellent and worth the wait, in my mind.  The Flash interface is one of the coolest I've seen in a while — great rollovers and motion.  Cheers to the crew...
   
• DecibelDragon 8/11/01 
  Description: listening to the vibes of creativity - opening the lines of communication
  Comments: So, I swing by the great surfstation early this morning and the top entry in the news says "brand new community site. heavy focus on photography."  Naturally, I'm interested, seeing "brand new", "community", and "photography" all in one place, so after thinking to myself "what a cool picture of toke!", I'm on my way to see the brand new site they're talkin' about.  My very first thought as the main page loads is "thank you surfstation, thank you" 'cause I see immediately that this great design space is rich in content.  Before hitting the galleries, I read that a number of people have helped to get this site off the ground and Ede, the founder (and wonderful photographer) is really thankful for the community that already resides there and has high hopes of seeing more people get involved.  So, on to the galleries — San Francisco, Eqypt, Australia, Figi — it's definitely a global thing and there's oodles and oodles of outstanding photos.  Brand new and sweet!  Kudos to Ede and the surrounding spirits for getting this wonderful new project off the ground...
   
• peculiar planet 8/7/01 
  Description: foto gallerie - visiting only, no inhabiting....
  Comments: "It loves low light" and "does what IT wants to do."  That what this guy who calls himself "dude" says about the Lomo.  The unpredictable results are part its allure and the dude is definitely hooked on it.  But he's not just a "lomographer" — dude's got 18 other cameras and uses all of 'em... quite well, thank you.  So, we've got three different Lomo galleries, plus a half-dozen other "digital galleries" here, each with roughly 30 photos.  Dude's got content — good content, and plenty of it.  In addition to engaging photos, one after the other, he also shares knowledge about the art and the equipment used.  Nice tiny thumbnails and excellent navigation.  There's also a portfolio of his web work, which includes a site about "his other 'art'" — he's into making hand bound books and his site about it is excellent — it discusses the concept, tools, and paper used in the craft and the gallery has six different pieces in it.  It's a good day at coolstop 'cause you're getting more than one great site with today's pick — it's all about the content, dude...