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prior listings

 

• Virulent.nu 9/27/02 
  Description: inspired by the extravagant, mundane, and everything in between
  Comments: A high school senior turning 18 next month who's still "searching for something to search for" is the interesting personality behind today's pick.  The site's name is defined as "extremely posionous or injurious; deadly" in a major dictionary, but Jacquelyn says "fierce and forthright" is more like it.  She goes to say "Well actually, that's crap. I just like the word. It makes me sound tough."  LOL.  The site's only about a year-and-a-half old and Jacquelyn recently finished Version 8.0 – "Look, I'm art-deco. Heee heee heeee."  I enjoy Jacquelyn's writing style and sense of humor/sarcasm in her journal and several other side attractions got my attention.  Don't pass on the "art, writing, music" link in the sidebar – it leads to some engaging creative content, including two original songs – I love the lyrics in "gratitude."  Then, there's "The Beat Files" – a stand-alone site all about the "beat generation."  That phrase was coined two years before I was born (i.e., a long time ago) and Jacquelyn found "the era interesting enough to waste a few hours compiling information on it."  She's done a nice job doing that, looking at the various authors ("the forefathers of 'beatness'") as well as Buddhism – a pretty ambitious project if you ask me.  And if the "fierce" side interests you, have a look at the "wall of shame" – no holds barred.  I like the overall site design (and yes, the fonts are scalable through the browser) and it's obvious that young, talented Jacquelyn is just full of creative energy.  "Hip?"  I think so...
   
• friendchip 9/26/02 
  Description: experiments in sight and sound using Flash and Shockwave
  Comments: Is the term playground used less these days to describe websites?  In 2001, there were 23 daily pick site reviews which included the term playground in them, yet this year, there's only been 5.  Searching the cool zone site descriptions yields similar results – in 2001, there were 15 sites whose description included the term, but this year, there were only 6 so far.  This may tell us that the term playground is being used less these days.  Then again, it may just tell us that the loose nut behind the wheel here at coolstop has been going in different directions lately.  I guess we'll never know which is true (hehe).  With that nonsense out of the way, I just can't help but describe today's pick as an experimental playground.  The anonymous designer behind the site presents a variety of nifty Flash and Shockwave experiments via a super-minimal interface.  I particularly liked the "sound booth" collection which includes an interactive piece called "disko" and a humorous piece with a strange, digital voice called "anthropology."  On the main menu, "datachip" and "waschmaschine" are both amusing (to me, anyway).  The oddest piece I encountered is called "powerpoint presentation."  All in all, the graphics are low-res and the color palettes are quite limited – you might end up wondering why I picked it.  Well – it's original, creative, and fun, so I'll just ask "why not?"
   
• Frosty Welcome 9/25/02 
  Description: the writing is on the fridge (Flash)
  Comments: So.  You have a message you wanna send somebody and you checked out a few ecards and thought "I need something different."  Maybe today's pick will fill the bill for you – make your own custom message on the refrigerator door and send it along.  When the recipient clicks on the link in their email, they'll get your message, spelling itself out in a nifty animation.  Call me silly, but sometimes it's the simple, fun stuff that spells c-o-o-l...   [FIGOO]
   
• Look at Me 9/22/02 
  Description: a collection of found photos
  Comments: "Either lost, forgotton or thrown away, these images now are nameless..."  #166 is a mother and child taken in Abertillery, Wales; the bicycle in #165 does look like it's from the early 70s; check out the children in #224; the duck is almost as big as the kid in #228, taken in 1958.  When did color photography come into being?  That undated picture from Wales is in color but seems old-fashioned... is it?  Today's pick has over 200 "found photos" in the nicely-designed gallery – what a cool concept.  The oldest dated one I found so far was from 1938 but I've barely gotten into the collection and feel certain there's some even older ones.  My guess is that people will keep submitting photos and that users will love visiting the site on a regular basis.  Not sure why, but it seems to me the perfect pick for a lazy Sunday – enjoy...  [chronopolis|NEW YORK]
   
• 1844design.com 9/21/02 
  Description: a web designer's experiments
  Comments: Miami designer Dan Hunter says he's "designing with a purpose."  His faith is a big part of it – seems to be his inspiration, in fact, but his apparent love for design seems just as big a part.  When someone designs/creates because they have to, it shows – Dan is obviously driven.  The showcase of 50 "inspiration designs" is the heart of the content (I love the thumbnails).  "Signs of the Times" has some intense imagery along with Dan's related Biblical perspective.  I won't link directly to so you can enjoy bumping into it as much as I did.  I also liked "canvas" and "redd" to name a few others.  His work is full of personal expression – Dan's strong beliefs and love of God are not held back and hether you share his passion or not, you'll appreciate how well he communicates his spirit through art.  Regardless of what you were feeling before you hit the site, you will feel some of what Dan feels as you explore his inspirations.  There's also a gallery of wallpapers and some good pointers in "the links pool."  Today's pick is a well-designed, very personal webspace...
   
• Consequences of Thought 9/20/02 
  Description: created to explore the visual possibilites that could have otherwise been forgotten (Flash)
  Comments: John Bolster calls it "an exploration of visual thought."  His old site, which I originally encountered back in January, was described as "an attempt to explore possibillites in the realm of multimedia by combining sound, interactivity and motion into segmented compositions."  Well – John's still exploring and the new site on his own domain shows it.  Design is exploration if you think about it, usually leading to questions and further discovery.  Any designer who thinks he/she knows it all, or that he/she has covered all possibilities is deluding himself/herself.  That's just my opinion, brought on by John saying "this work is produced on the assumption of finding more."  I think I know what he means by "it's merely a placeholder for further inquiry."  Isn't everything we create a placeholder of sorts for what's yet to come?  If we don't take our ideas and realize them somewhere, like on a website or a piece of paper, aren't they bound to be forgotten?  I think so.  I think John agrees.  Anyway – John's little "collaboration between right and left" features more than 20 pieces.  I love the one that says "I threw the ball 78 times" above the dog, poised for more – the left vs. right metaphor shows up nicely in a blending of replicating images and music that comes and goes with movements of the mouse.  Another piece has me wondering if George is his father or brother – an amazing photo.  I also liked "boston beneath."  What I liked doesn't stop there – I could go on but it's your turn.  Exploring others' explorations can be fun, dontcha think?
   
• Urban Collective 9/19/02 
  Description: exploring the urban environment through contributions from creative people around the globe
  Comments: "Deconstructive Scape" is the theme that contributors must follow for the upcoming second issue.  33 works will be showcased, just as in the first issue, but to give more people a chance to be included, Michael decided to limit submissions to one per person – good idea.  "As the title goes, deconstruct your work. Rip, cut, scratch, make your work fragmented and abstract but urbanly recognizable..." – it's all about "xploring your urban scape" and submissions must be urban-related.  "We live in an urban society, plagued by everything around us, people, cars, buildings, structures, nature, etc, yet we don't often realize that most of our inspirations in our daily lives come from what we see around us."  I really enjoyed viewing the 665x290 images in the current issue – works from Turkey, Italy, Australia, Germany, Singapore, UK – it's global, baby!  There's a few Flash pieces, too – all very inspirational.  Looking forward to issue 2...
   
• 210879COM 9/18/02 
  Description: personal website of benjamin apfelbaum - design experiments and portfolio
  Comments: The first two facts I'll offer up about today's pick are pure guesses on my part.  The site name is all numerals, which made sense to me in only one way, so I'm gonna stick my little neck out and say that Benjamin was born on August 21, 1979.  My second guess is that he also goes by the name of "Cyze."  There's 5 different "cyze__versus__..." series ("friendly battles™"), so it's probably a good guess and yes, the visuals are very good.  There's another section of works ("xperiments") – check out "teenage angst" and "raw_v2" – very emotional, and there's 16 more works on the list.  Add some wallpapers and you've already got a personal creative space with a good amount of original content.  But, wait – here comes the good stuff.  124 pages of "mixed media [goodness] on paper" in "the gluebook" plus a 36-page .pdf format showcase of "screendesign and mixed media" called ".c2" – great original artworks – I see a few more hours at Benjamin's site in my very near future...  [stereot < inertia]
   
• Drunken Boat 9/16/02 
  Description: online journal of the arts
  Comments: "Our goal is to help find and showcase excellent work on the web, as well as to add to the artistic ouvre of the internet by bringing previously unpublished work online."  The "statement" in the 4th issue of this quarterly journal talks about the fact that the web is no longer new, pointing out that "losing its novelty may be the best thing that's happened to the internet yet... the true power of the medium has nothing to do with simple novelty."  Today's pick features "fiction, sound, web art, photography, expository, and poetry" contributed by a number of writers and artists – there's 18 different contributors featured in the current issue.  Some say there's a "decline in interesting content online" – today's pick and sites like it certainly lead me to believe otherwise.  Whatever "interesting content" means to you, you will find it on the web if you know where to look for it...
   
• viatrax.net 9/15/02 
  Description: modem killer...
  Comments: "I don't even know" is the first thing to hit you.  Maybe Evan is describing the site and saying it's an experimental thing with no clearly defined direction.  Maybe not.  Maybe the phrase is just there to stimulate a little thought.  I like the interface and the clickthrough navigation in the 3-part portfolio.  Evan's illustration art and photos are pretty good and he promises "more to come."  Several other sections of the site open in a supernarrow band – the "respect" section provides a lot of links, one line at a time – though not the most usable route to go, I like the unique navigation idea and seeing how Evan designs pages (actually layers) that are only 30px high.  Nice style and and navigation scheme plus some artsy visual works...
   
• r-selected.com 9/12/02 
  Description: infected area - collection of artworks (Flash)
  Comments: First off, today's pick will appear to be just one big tasty graphic unless you look for the navigation on the splash page.  If you're set at 1280x1024, you'll find it faster – I'm not giving any clues, so if you view the the site at 1024x768 you'll have to use the scrollbars and explore.  When you find the button, the project will open in a big popup (almost 1200 wide) and the navigation will be a little more obvious.  The visual content you'll find here is extraordinairy and I won't attempt to describe it.  And not to worry – if 1024x768 is the highest resolution you can get, you'll still be able to view Seb's cool artworks...  [robocore.]
   
• Cut and Paste 9/11/02 
  Description: a history of photomontage
  Comments: Back in the late 60s and early 70s, I used to make big collages of photos from various news magazines – one of them filled a wall in my apartment and all the signs of the times, blended together that way, fascinated me.  And then I moved.  To this day, I really regret that I didn't save them – that I didn't realize how meaningful they were and would become in the future.  What a loss!  Collage, or photomontage still fascinates me, though – there's several previous picks you might want to check out if you're interested in photomontage, and definitely add today's pick to the list.  David Palmer, a student of Multimedia in Glasgow, looks at the history of the "manipulation of photographs" going back to the mid 19th century which led to "the use of montage as a truly new art form" in the 1920s.  Though the art form "faded into obscurity for many years" until the 60s, it once again became big in the 80s and remains very much alive in the present.  Dave does an excellent job with all of this, providing in-depth information and samples of works of a number of artists.  And as far as the present day goes, you'll probably want to look at his work, too (or "play" as he calls it).  "Mental nourishment" indeed...
   
• HUMAN.IST 9/10/02 
  Description: samples of life trough my eye - simple choices in photographs for people to take time with - regular and common topics dated by my touch - it's your turn to open your eyes.
  Comments: Jérôme chooses to be simple in choosing subjects for his photographs.  It's up to the viewer to take a little time "in front of" his works – his life as seen through his eyes, "dated" by his "touch."  "It's your turn to open your eyes" and see what you see.  Jérôme calls himself a "self-made journalist" seeking "good vibrations."  His goal is to "take in work and make life pleasure" – I'm still wondering what he really means by that.  Today's pick is a collection of dozens of photographs – simple glimpses, simple, elegant interface, simply perfect, through my eyes, anyway...
   
• scriptygoddess 9/9/02 
  Description: a place where we can learn from each other
  Comments: Today's pick is an excellent resource for PHP and JavaScript "mini-scripts" if you "know what you're doing."  That's important to say because the site offers some pretty neat code for free, but it's generally geared towards more advanced web builders who already have some basics down.  "An example: if you don't know what PHP is, or whether you've got it on your site, you've got some basic learning to do before you start implementing PHP scripts."  With that said, I've got to hand it to Jennifer, the founder of the site, for providing such a cool resource.  There's a half-dozen other authors also giving their time to the project and the collection of scripts includes random images, slide shows, XML/RDF feeds, and loading different stylesheets based on browser, just to name a few examples.  There also plenty of useful "bookmarks" with commentary and a forum for users' questions and script requests ("it's clunky - but it works").  Jennifer and the gang don't claim to be gurus – "This blog is simply a place where we can learn from each other."  Thanks to Jennifer and the gang for such a useful site...
   
• FIGOO ** Worth Le Click 9/8/02 
  Description: designfriendly portalsite featuring an international selection of thé coolest sites every week
  Comments: I found a really cool site about a month ago via today's pick – a number of the sites on its weekly list are definitely "worth le click."  Okay – so Didz doesn't really "speak french, it's just more chique!"  He's a designer in Belgium who felt he "had to give the internet something back" when he started this site "for fun" last year.  Now in week #35, it's a great alternative portal for finding design sites.  Mouseover the graphic at the top of the page for an odd visual effect and don't miss "Trip picks" featuring the "South Africa Special."  I visit Didz' site regularly and it's about time I send a little respect his way – today's pick is also the latest addition to the growing explore the web list...
   
• Dectus 9/6/02 
  Description: personal design site with photos, wallpapers and tutorials...
  Comments: 19-year-old Jonas Minke got his first computer when he was only 7.  He says he's "always been interested in learning new things" – 3D Max and Photoshop are among the "graphic programs" he already uses quite well.  He's pretty good with his Nikon COOLPIX digital camera, too.  Jonas started experimenting with websites in 1996, but today's pick launched last August (with a different name).  Jonas shares what he calls his "graphical outages" and also provides some 3D Max tutorials and links to useful resources.  The "photogallery" showcases 10 different series from various places, mostly in Switzerland – interesting visual content.  Add some wallpapers ("graphics") and other "works" plus links to a many other graphics sites in the form of a button wall with user submitted links below it.  Different than your typical design site, Jonas' site is an excellent example of a genre of personal sites I really enjoy...
   
• photojunkie 9/4/02 
  Description: photos and other features from the camera guy
  Comments: "Yes the rumours are true. I am whoring myself out again with a new photo project."  So says Rannie, the guy behind today's pick.  The project he's talking about ("300 exposures in 30 days") promises to feature 10 photos from a different blogger everyday in September.  So far, Rannie's looking good – today's the 4th and his 4th featured blogger is up there, right on time.  It just so happens that the blogger whose photos are featured today at Rannie's site is a guy named Ryan – his site was the daily pick here at coolstop back in April of 2000.  Small world.  I'm not sure how long his blog existed at its old URL, but Rannie picked up the new domain name just a few weeks ago.  The "300 exposures" project is just one of a number of the side features on Rannie's photolog – he's also got a photo contest going on this month, plus other things like "show your pride" and "the film exchange project."  Looks like there's a "web portal" in the works, too.  I have a feeling Rannie's site is gonna keep getting better and better – his photos are great and the various collaborative offerings add a nice dimension.  They called him "the camera guy" back in high school – gee, I wonder why...
   
• gumey 9/3/02 
  Description: random, animation, design, information, subculture – illustrations of Michael Barcellos
  Comments: It's been a real long time since I've played Frisbee golf – like try the late 70s when it was just coming into being.  We used to play in a bayfront park in Coconut Grove – yep, in Florida.  So, when I hit Michael's splash page, the little tale of "Cheetah" being lost, but found again, brought back some fond memories.  Frisbee golf is just one Gumey's passions – Gumey is Michael, I'm thinking – he shares things he loves to do through wonderful illustrations.  They look like he's used watercolor, or perhaps markers to create them and I love the childlike flavor of his art.  The big feature on the site right now is "A la playa" – Gumey takes a trip to the beach.  "I don't drink alone, so I invited Jesus."  Seems the shots are a big part of Gumey's fun.  His "conquest" by bicycle includes a few wrong turns, laughing at the poor commuters who have to go to work instead of to the beach, and a "tranquil path" or two.  He eventually gets there and meets a guy named Bill – oh, oh – more shots and the "gold stuff" is gone.  But Gumey makes it back home safely (with more wrong turns, of course).  What a relief!  "Give me coffee" and "I just want to..." follow the tale – more cool illustrations, including Cheetah... that was fun!  [Experimental Magazine]
   
• 3 weeks in April 9/2/02 
  Description: an experiment in navigation and narration (Flash)
  Comments: Today's pick is doing some unique things with pop-up content and navigation windows (not to be confused with pop-up or pop-under advertising windows, which I hate with a passion, thank you).  I mention this because today's pick will present you with small pop-ups that you don't want to close because you'll need them to navigate – and they'll also close automatically when they're no longer needed.  "The pop up windows act as a navigational tool, so don't be afraid to move them!"  When you do move them, they actually appear to be somewhat transparent over the page – it's a very cool effect that I haven't seen before – still wondering how Geneviève does it.  Navigation choices will open new windows, representing real windows into the life of someone named Catherine – "What if a window became a real window letting us see the life of a person?"  So – moments in Catherine's life during a 3-week period are captured in static images as well as short Flash movies – a narrative, if you will, that will evolve depending on how you choose to move about "hundreds of windows" into her life – move them, drag them, and interact a while – you'll know Catherine in the end ...
   
• City Creator 9/1/02 
  Description: build a unique city and send it to a friend as an ecard
  Comments: If you want to send someone a unique ecard, here's a new idea for you.  Go to today's pick and create a city.  They'll provide you with plenty of components – buildings, roofs, people, vehicles, roads, and walkways.  Choose a background, then "drag and drop pieces from the palettes" onto the canvas and before you know it, you'll have a beautiful pixel-flavored city to email to a friend.  Pretty cool if you ask me...