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prior listings

 

• They Rule 2/26/03 
  Description: aims to make some of the relationships of the elite of the US ruling class visible - a starting point for research about these powerful individuals and corporations (Flash)
  Comments: In 2001, 6 men and 1 woman were on the boards of 26 of the top 100 companies in the U.S.  The map of these "7 most powerful" individuals makes the point and is currently the most popular visual representation.  Another map, the next most popular, makes the same point just as powerfully, in a different way.  The project is based on data from 2001 but a new version is in the works, based on newer data and planned for release later this year.  Josh hopes to update the data annually moving forward.  So, What's the point?  Simple.  There's relationships, or inter-connections among the most powerful people in American business and government that "are not always visible to the public eye."  This online Flash application allows users to see those connections clear as a bell.  Not only that.  Users can create new maps or add annotations or other connections to existing maps, or comment on a map's "pop-up message board."  Or - start from scratch by accessing data for one of the companies on the list, expand it, add related URLs, etc., and then save it as a new map to share with other users.  Click on one of the elite's briefcase for a menu of options, including a web search or seeing a list of his/her political donations.  Totally enlightening!  "The people who head up these companies swap on and off the boards from one company to another, and in and out of government committees and positions."  Seeing is believing, baby!
   
• Image*After 2/18/03 
  Description: free images and textures database
  Comments: "The cool guys" behind today's pick, Lex, Tristan, and Stefan, hope to offer a large database of highresolution images for free*.  Excuse me, guys, but I see you already have over 4,000 images in the database, which seems pretty large to me, and there's plenty of tasty images to choose from.  Okay, so they must mean they want to get really large, "so almost everyone should be able to find what they're looking for."  They're adding 5 to 10 new images daily, so just do the math, baby!  This well-designed resource for creatives is on the move...

  Free is big buzzword on the web, so please be sure to read the terms and be fair to this generous trio if you plan to download any of the big images in their database.  "Because we know how hard it is to find good material to use for your work, we offer everybody who wants to, our highresolution pictures for free through this website. Keep in mind though that these are NOT meant to be stock-photos or stand-alone pieces of work - they are raw material, to be used and/or edited for whatever purpose you see fit."  Fair enough, if you ask me...
   

• VivaciousWeb 2/14/03 
  Description: personal art and design website
  Comments: Spart's latest update is a set of 5 images called the "Stained Series."  It's interesting to see the various images that went into "final piece" with its deep, dark reds and faint, intricately layered backgrounds.  The series, in effect, shows how the finished piece evolved in Spart's mind.  That's probably why I like the "battles" so much, too.  They similarly document an evolution of ideas, but when two minds are involved in the process, the results can be unpredictable and quite surprising in the end.  Very interesting.  There's almost 3 dozen more individual pieces of Spart's original digital art to enjoy, going back to 1999.  When he put the new site design up last August, he said "all I need at the moment is a small and simple site."  This personal webspace is rich in creative, visual content and the simplicity in design makes it all the more appealing to me... 
   
• Witold Riedel :: NYC 2/12/03 
  Description: using photography and drawings to investigate unexplored spaces in a seemingly explored universe
  Comments: Witold, an artist living in New York, hasn't had a car in 7 years.  "I like to take the subway. I love to walk."  And in his travels, he loves to draw.  Back in November, he started his "Subway Sketchbooks" and has been posting pages from the small moleskine mini-books to his blog.  Witold's little "visual adventure" already has 47 pages and is absolutely superb.  Drawing on a moving train has its effect on the art, for sure.  Imagine drawing on packed subway train, standing up, as it moves down the track, shaking at times.  Lines become shaky but in the case of Witold's drawings, it only adds more magic to the work of a guy with a big imagination.  Read what he says about some of the pages and you'll realize that he's seeing more than meets the eye.  The sketchbooks and the blog are just a part of it.  See the "catalogue" for more drawings plus some of Witold's photography.  I really like his diptychs and his 600x250 photos, sort of like widescreen for the soul... 
   
• nicole is online 2/7/03 
  Description: a gallery of illustrations, animations, and graphic experiments (Flash)
  Comments: Considering where I found the site (see review), I'm not at all surprised how good it is.  The large showcase of illustrations and animations of French graphic artist Nicole De Rueda are presented via an artsy Flash interface.  The sounds are hypnotic and the art, colorful and engaging.  Nicole's beautiful place... online.
   
• pickone 2/4/03 
  Description: photography and Flash of David Hoffman and others
  Comments: One of David's "Family Members" was a daily pick here on 8/19/01.  It's still one of the best photography sites in the portal cool zone in my opinion.  [Another of the member sites houses 2 of David's photographic series, all taken with a Nikon Coolpix880.  One of those series had 80 different shots you can send as e-cards and the photos are outstanding, in that series as well as in the "South Africa" series.  Considering the nice Flash interface, that site was going to be today's pick.  But after going back and exploring more of David's photos taken with various other cameras and several of his Flash pieces, plus the work of some other talented photographers, today's pick is definitely the right choice if I only wanna pick one.  It'll lead you to the whole family if you've got the time...  [linkdup]
   
• GFERNA 2/3/03 
  Description: on-line portfolio of design + photography from Argentina
  Comments: Today's pick is a showcase of the visual work of Argentinean designer/photographer Guillermo Damián Fernández.  The site works fine in Mozilla-based browsers, but Guillermo's site design is optimized for (and looks better in) IE.  To be honest, I wish that stylized scrollbars were part of standards instead of being proprietary to IE.  Why?  It would be nice to be able to improve the look of scrollbars in all browsers or, at least, improve the look in IE without having to give up validation.  Oh, well.  Guillermo's portfolio is rich in visual content.  There's splashes, wallpapers, some nice graphic design samples, and Photoshop brush sets, plus tons of photos (21 different sets), both 35mm and digital.  My favs?  The wallpapers and photos, of course... ;~)
   
• Brock N. Meeks Photography 2/2/03 
  Description: I've never considered myself an "artist." The camera changed all that.
  Comments: Brock's not a web designer.  He credits Gabe Rubin for his site's excellent design.  Brock's a journalist who's accustomed to "using words to paint pictures in people's heads" but something happened when he discovered photography.  He realized he was an "artist."  In my mind, his photos are dazzling.  There's 4 galleries and new "projects" in the works plus the "picture a week" feature, intended "to produce at least one good photo a week and put it 'out there' for the world to see."  The shots he's put out there so far are really good, so we'll be watching...