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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]
   
• deconcept 8/25/01 
  Description: my virtual sandbox (Flash)
  Comments: "...i'll be taking vacation from this site for a bit.  i advise you to do the same.  go outside."  So, Geoff, the creator of today's pick, will probably not know for a while that he's being featured here — no biggie — he appears to be more on the giving than the taking side of things, anyway.  Like another pick earlier this week, I admire Geoff's attitude about sharing his .fla source code with others if it might be useful to them in learning how to use Flash.  The web's a funny animal and positive things like sharing (imagine that!) go a long way.  On one hand you have thieves out there who will grab whatever they want from anybody's site without permission, while on the other, you've got nice people like Geoff whose work is all original and have the attitude that users should feel free to download the code if it's useful to them.  If it's not linked, "feel free to e-mail me and ask for it" is Geoff's attitude.  The funny thing about those banditos I mentioned are that they always take what's not being offered to them (because they want to steal ready-made content instead of knowledge that will help them create their own content!) — go figure!  Geoff's a talented designer and Flash creator who says "this is where i post things that i make.  some people call them 'experiments', others call them 'art'.  i think they are whatever you want them to be."  I think his pieces are interesting and unique and his interface is cool — see what you think...
   
• 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...
   
• smog.net 8/23/01 
  Description: artists - writers - photographers - curiosities (mature content)
  Comments: They're looking for some "new blood" — but, that's not to say they're lacking in content.  According to the copyright information, the site's been around since 1995, though I'm guessing it didn't always have it's current name.  There's two additional domain names you can also use to reach it and aside from the name Michael Phillips found in the meta-author tag, it seems rather low-profile.  That's kinda nice, if you stop and think about it — with all the hype and self-referential crapola on the web, here's this online mag sorta thing serving up plenty of content by great artists, writers, and photographers, apparently just because they love the art — I like that kind of motivation.  They say they're "a non-profit, artist-run joint that exists to draw attention to things that we find interesting... we just don't like most things. and that's probably why you're here."  A simple uncluttered design that navigates well plus excellent content, including information about the artists — I'm thinkin' you're gonna enjoy today's pick...
   
• Qrime.com 8/22/01 
  Description: our view of the role of violence in the society and its manifold relationship to human nature (Flash) (mature content)
  Comments: Human nature.  Black and white and red all over — literally.  Today's pick is the creative work of Motomichi Nakamura, featuring a series of short animations that look at violence as an element of human nature.  It's a great example of how simplicity can be profound and how something cute can carry a serious message when one reads between the lines.  The characters are very real — they seem to jump right off the screen — yet, they're quite primitive.  It's up to the user to come to his/her own conclusions on this one, but if representations that depict violence, even if in only a suggestive way, are troublesome to you, you may want to pass on it.  It's definitely not glorifying violence but it does illustrate it and I think the message is simply that violence does exist in the human heart and we can see it all around us.  Words, motion, limited, but effective use of color — the work of Motomichi Nakamura communicates well and therein lies its greatness, in my humble opinion, anyway.  I guess we all have an opinion.  It's only human...
   
• 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...
   
• My Book 8/14/01 
  Description: Photography is about being personal. Gallery featuring the work of controversial Norwegian photographer Petter Hegre (mature content)
  Comments: Today's pick comes via our friend Rares Dragan at Experimental Magazine (Issue 02 just released) — not from him personally, but from Experimental's growing link archive.
  
  
  
  Petter Hegre's photography is amazing — that's the only word I can come up with to describe it.  His site features 44 pages of photos (nice, little pages, 'spiral bound' for the web) spanning a 10 year period.  Many of the pages have series of photos on them and after spending almost an hour there early this morning, I hardly scratched the surface.  "Photography is about being personal" is an underlying theme of Petter's fine art and he claims to be "Norway´s most controversial photographer."  I'm not sure about that but will say that his work is really intended for mature viewers.  The emphasis seems to be on people and the human form — it's done tastefully and it's safe to say that Petter has extraordinary vision.  I'm assuming he's the designer of the site as well — the presentation as a book of photos provides excellent navigation and a look and feel that's quite realistic.  He's actually published his works in a real book (obviously a professional), but there's no in-yer-face promotion going on here.  Rather, what the user gets is tons of great photography and a pleasing user experience — does it for me...
   
• 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...
   
• chillydot 8/6/01 
  Description: "i'm a maniac, maniac, on the floor"
  Comments: "I am unemployed and I need a job now. I have 4 friends who are seeking similar jobs in a shrinking market."  Like many of us out here in the dotcom residue, Steph, a Cold Fusion® developer in Florida, was recently laid off.  Her company went down a "victim of [its] parent company's incompetence with money-management."  Words of wisdom, thank you.  So, like many sites I'm looking at these days, Steph's personal webspace includes her resume.  This whole new-economy-gone-byebye situation could be very depressing if you let it — your choice — my choice — don't let it.  Just keep on keepin' on...
  
  
  
  Steph is an interesting, upbeat 20-something whom you wouldn't guess was recently laid off unless you dig a little in the archives of her "log" (as she accurately calls it).  Her most recent entry features several excellent photos and a series of 4 questions — they seem to be jokes at first, but they're actually a good test to see if you're thinking.  In the archives, there's quite an assortment of entry titles and several of Steph's visitors appear to be enjoying her comments feature.  Most of the entries are simple, everyday stuff that's lighthearted and fun to read.  "Don't you hate it how cats think they own the place and can walk where ever they want without regard to anyone else's feelings at all?"  "My friggin bird just woke me up from my nap."  "I was overwhelmed by his cuteness, so I had to take a picture."  Like I said, lighthearted, personal stuff — nothing earth-shattering or written for shock value — just personal stuff, pure and simple.  One point to Steph for that.  Now, lemme tell you what I really like about today's pick.  There's a piece called "behind the curtain" where Steph basically photographed an entire day at work.  It's not as lame as it sounds, though. I found it rather enjoyable and unique — who do you know that would spend a day at work catching everyone's expressions, scenes in the elevator and the big event, going out to lunch?  Then, there's a section she calls "photoshop" where her husband (who she loves dearly) is the repeated victim of the software's power to decapitate and re-capitate (is that a word?) — I think it's a gas.  Finally, those randomized photos at the top of the page are pretty darn cool.  Though Steph's site is not called a photography site and really is more of a personal webspace with entertaining, scattered content, it's really the photos and Steph's apparent enjoyment of photography that sparked my interest in her site.  Well done, Steph, and the best of luck to ya...
  
  
  
  IMPORTANT POST-REVIEW NOTE:  I've just learned that Steph's "photoshop victim" is not her husband — it's one of her former co-workers.  Sorry 'bout that, Steph!
   
• Outwardly Normal 8/4/01 
  Description: where I kick off my shoes after a hard day's work, let down my hair and just do what the heck I want to
  Comments: Cheers (and tons o' respect) to preshaa for originally pointing to today's pick — they mentioned the site in their news on 8/1 and I discovered it early this morning.
  
  
  
  Julius is a litle bothered that he's been pulling it off so far "without giving even the smallest stuff for such trifles as design, usability, legibility, bandwidth and other things that [he has] a professional or academic interest in."  It's not like he hasn't been working on redesigning the site — there's a number of ideas in the works that he's glad to show you and hopes for feedback that might help him finally move forward with the redesign.  Frankly, I don't care because I really like the free form, minimalistic route he's taken.  After all, it's the content that counts, and Julius has plenty of that.  There's a big, friendly sense of humor at play here, which is probably what I like most about the site.  So if those two polls on the main page produce a "405: Method Not Allowed" message, who cares?  Julius does this stuff for the fun — it's an "after work" sorta thing with a "what - me worry?" kinda attitude which I find quite refreshing, thank you.  Among the goodies you'll find here are some of the shortest poems in the world and an odd interface called "Fidomatic" that doesn't appear to do a darn thing.  For those more visually oriented, there's an assortment of tile patterns you can browse through and photos of the people Julius knows.  It's scary to admit that I could relate to Julius' "troubled childhood" piece and there's an assortment of other drawings, too.  Plenty of diversions and pretty good navigability somehow make today's pick just right for a Saturday morning...
   
• Splashchallenge 8/1/01 
  Description: to share knowledge with the designers' community - tutorials, contests and inspiration
  Comments: Whether you want to call all those big graphics splashes, covers, or wallpapers, they've become quite popular on the web.  Claudio's really into creating big tasty visuals and sees his site as a place where he can share knowledge about the process — not only his knowledge, but that of many others who submit not only their artwork, but also the Photoshop® file they used to make it.  What better way to provide tutorials than the actual files themselves — that's the first unique thing I like about today's pick.  The other thing that's impressive is the quality of the submissions to Claudio's contests.  At the top of the page, he describes his site as "the right place where to fight with your artworks" and it looks like the participants, armed with their talent and tools, have been game for the challenge.  The gallery of submissions for the "Four Elements" contest is superb and there's 24 different pieces to enjoy — very inspiring, indeed.  Claudio's still accepting submissions for that contest.  Another contest, the "Rorsuck Test" is limited to 4 artists, who are each already working on their quarter of the artwork — the composite image will be published soon.  I have a hunch that the upcoming links section should be pretty good and that today's pick will be an ongoing source of inspiration as new contests are launched.  Nice stuff, Claudio...