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 A monthly review of Web design and resources. August/September 2001
Advertising itself as "the thinking gamer's site," this smartly designed Toronto-based destination aims to correct what its creators perceive as a popular misconception: video games are a mere cultural oddity undeserving of serious review. "This lack of critical scrutiny," according to one of the site's writers, "retards the development of the medium, which in turn reinforces the prevailing attitude toward games." (Funny, we thought we'd seen plenty of game reviews.) Among the bimonthly original articles are spirited attacks on the worst video games of all time--one welcome inclusion: the vastly overhyped Myst--and helpful tips from an ergonomics expert on joystick injury prevention. Helen Hamlyn Research Centre/RCA <www.hhrc.rca.ac.uk> In a joint project with London's Royal College of Art, the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre promotes awareness of "design for our future selves." The center hosts conferences and sponsors projects with an emphasis on "socially inclusive" design, focusing on aging populations, changing work patterns, mobility for all, and innovation in care and rehabilitation. A few of the R&D projects posted have real heft--for example, an experimental multilayer clothing system that stiffens on impact but flexes with the musculature of the body when protection is not required. Architecture Now <www.architecture-now.com> With a smattering of news stories about integrating design thinking into business strategy, this site looks like an online zine. But it's really a promotion for the consulting services of Stephanie Smith, an author (Money: To Get Rich Is Glorious) and teacher who happens to run a flrm that helps corporations use architecture and design to enhance their marketing efforts. Targeted to company managers, the site is a terrific sales pitch for Smith's services, but the bulk of its avowedly hip editorial content appears to have been frozen sometime last year. Environmental Home Center <www.environmentalhomecenter.com> Forget the awkward moniker...no, on second thought, don't, because this online store for the Environmental Home Center--a Seattle-based supplier of sustainable building materials for the home and office--is almost too good to be true. Operated by some of the people who worked on the development of LEED, the national standard for sustainable practices in commercial construction, the center offers one-stop shopping for your eco-friendly home needs. All the products you'd expect are here, from lumber, insulation, and roofing to paint and built-ins, but you can browse as well for stuff like water and air fllters, cleaning supplies, housewares, and bedding. Think of it as the Home Depot for greens.
An impressive demonstration of the talents of two youthful German graphic designers, this promotion's graphic idiom should appeal to anyone addicted to space movie visuals. With a whiff of futuristic angst, Düsseldorf-based Doris Fürst and Malte Haust deploy an elegantly detailed GUI (Graphical User Interface) composed of deviously clever animations, rife with extraneous visual cues that play on the male-female dichotomy. A portfolio section displays thumbnails of largely self-generated projects, elaborating on an aesthetic that pretends to show what display systems might conceivably look like in the future. Browse our Screen Space archives for even more reviews of Web design and resources. Ken Coupland can be reached at screenspace@metropolismag.com. |
