You have to work for the business

I love it when designers take a totally new perspective on something we all take for granted. I love this business card for a personal trainer that is impossible to read unless you stretch it apart which takes effort since it is make out of a stiff rubber like substance.

Flicker Time

Another interesting use of the Flickr open API is the new Flicker Time site which will show the time made up of 70 Flickr images drawn from two tags you input.

JBL Tour

The guys over at Firstborn Multimedia have created another cool site. This is one JBL audio called JBL Tour. It does a great job of letting the content become the interface and not cluttering the design with buttons and links. It is simple and stylish but effective and engaging. Diving into the products is interesting when you rollover the product name and get a very large close-up.

ACURA Interactive Showrooms

This isn't new or really innovative but I wanted to write about the Acura.com Interactive Showrooms because I think they are an example of a site that really stands out in their category with great design and really knowing their audience. Almost every car site is nothing more than a collection of over Photoshop'd beauty shots and dull running footage that no on takes seriously since none of this ever looks like the real car or gives a real sense of the car or it's features. Acura.com does have the usual collection of re-touched car shots but in between that you find each model has an interactive showroom. This is a section where you can see the car, open the doors, turn on the lights, and see the features in action. Each model has a slightly different showroom and they are all very well produced with minimal but effective writing leaving the animations and interactions to do the talking.

MOTO Colors

Motorola has launched a new site called MOTO Colors to promote their phones numerous colors. You choose a color and then paint with a really cool organic brush that create dynamic shapes based on the color. For instance green creates plants and flowers, greys create urban scenes and blues create waves. Once you are happy with your creation you can save it as a screensaver or wallpaper as well as sharing it with friends. It is a unique expression of branding where you let people create something of their own using your brand as the brush.

Zune Arts

This week Microsoft launched their wanna-be ipod killer the Zune. zune-arts.net has the collection of animation they commissioned for the launch. The quality is all over the lot but some are very well done.

Scion Scratch

Saw a rich media ad unit today for Scion cars that led to an interesting microsite called Scion Scratch. The microsite is a big scratch off ticket where you take a Scion key and uncover a variety of Scion cars trying to find two alike. Be sure to have your speakers on because the sound design is a fun bonus. The powerful interaction here is that they sell the car by selling the car. You only options are to choose from one of their three models and they don't clutter things up with sales or model information. They focus on one thing and really see it through and then hand them to their primary site.

Section Seven

Saw today where Section Seven who created the Aaron Jasinski site I just blogged about has a new site. I like the interface and simple presentation.

Aaron Jasinski

AaronJasinski.com has been around for a while but I found it again today in my bookmarks and thought it was work a mention. It is a wonderful example of a simple, colorful and unique interface that you have never seen before but you know how to use.

Digg Labs - Swarm

Took a spin through Digg Labs today and saw their Swarm application. It is a visualization tool that shows each story as a circle. Diggers then swarm around the story and make it grow so the brighter the circle the more diggs they have. You can choose to show all activity, popular, and newly submitted stories. I always love unique information design and display like this.

Uniqlo - Now THAT is a product catalog

I was in New York city this week and saw a lot of very cool outdoor ads for the Asia retailer Uniqlo who opened thier new Flagship store in Soho this week. A friend of mine over at BBDO Atmosphere (thanks Arturo) sent me a link to their site and I was absolutely blown away by the Uniqlo Explorer which is the best online product catalog I have ever seen.

You click on the button for the Explorer and it loads the catalog as a photomosaic of the image that was displayed on the home page. You can then browse to specific category and you will get an entire screen of scrolling thumbnails of their products. You can click on one of the products and it will pull up a larger version of the product. Once you have seen enough click on the floating product and site will create a new photomosaic of the product you were just looking. This is what makes this not only the most unique e-commerce site I have ever seen but easily one of the most impressive displays of Actionscripting I have ever seen. It is easy to dismiss the effect when it happens from the home page because you think they have pre-scripted the mosaics based on those initial pictures. But when you see it create one on the fly you realize that those mosaics are all quickly being created dynamically. The rest of the site is also full of interesting design and content so click around and see it all.

Stuntman - Best use of Flash video

The stuntman is just fun and one of the best uses of Flash video I have ever seen. You have to check this site out.

Adobe's creative mind

It would seem that buying Macromedia may have finally given Adobe a clue to the fact that for a company who creates tool for creative professionals, their promotions are painfully uncreative. They have launched a new site called The Creative Mind to promote the release of an update to their Creative Suite package.

The site content is split between three different planets which also serve as the primary navigation. The content is then hidden in the planets and you have roll around to see what you can click on. This part feels awkward since the look of the objects you can click on don't relate to the content they are linked to. The alternative is a site map with an interesting layout but you have to figure out that you can access it by clicking on the sparking star between all the planets. So while the site is a step in the right direction it is more looks than substance and didn't make me want to upgrade any more than reading the list of upgraded features.

Stunning Hyundai Veracruz E-catalog

When it comes to advertising and microsites everyone wants to talk about creating an "experiential" site or online experience. Looking at the new site for the Korean Hyundai Veracruz I finally saw a site that delivered on that promise. It is a combination of a deep experience with rich and engaging content. The large videos load amazingly fast for any site with video content let alone one that is streaming content from Asia. The animations are very done and match the visual quality of the entire site. It comes as no surprise that the site was created by d'strict who consistently seems to be done some of the most unique and innovative work on the web today.

Explore Ibsen

Saw a site today called Explore Ibsen and thought it was an interesting use of video and multiple photos to simulate video. This small tweak to use photos cuts down on the download time without really compromising the experience. The design is reminiscent of a CD-ROM with the visual design and use of sound.

My very own Iron Chef

I am a foodie and I get a lot of inspiration for my design work and studio culture from great chefs because I see a lot of similarities between cooking and design. The big three for me are Thomas Keller (French Laundry, California) , Ferran Adria (el Bulli, Spain) and Masaharu Morimoto (yes the guy from Iron Chef). I have never had the opportunity to meet or talk with any of them until last night when I got to meet and talk with Morimoto at the Taste of New York.

TBS launches VeryFunnyAds.com

I saw today that TBS has launched VeryFunnyAds.com which is a collection of funny ads from all over the world. You can't help but be suspicious of this site and wonder if it nothing more than a thinly veiled attempted by TBS to create a new revenue model where they can charge companies to post their commercials and not have it feel so "corporate". If anyone knows anything more about this post it in the comments.

DiyBox Flash t-shirt designer

I found this site today for a Flash online applicatin to design t-shirts. I have no idea what any of the text says but it is interesting.