There is web stuff happening all over this darn town.
Everywhere I turn there are things going on, happy hours to be had, talks being given… and oh the networking. A few weeks ago it snowed here. If you have ever been in DC when it snows you know its like the world is about to stop. Refresh DC was scheduled to happen that day. If you aren’t familiar Refresh it is:

a community of web designers, developers, and other new media professionals working together to refresh the creative, technical, and professional aspects of their trades in the Washington, DC, area.

The talk that Thursday was on Web Accessibility (a great talk by the way, given by John Croston) and despite the snow and panic, the room was packed. Standing room only. How awesome is that?

The themes of these events are predominantly technical. I like learning about how things work, so I go to a lot of them, but there always seems to be a void on the design end of the spectrum. AIGA and ADCMW hold fantastic events but they are really geared towards print designers. So after a lot of people saying “yeah we should do something for web designers” M. Jackson Wilkinson and Jason Garber did.

On Feb 29 Viget Labs (where I now work… did I mention that they we rock?) is hosting DC Design Talk. It is the first “talk” in a 3 part conference series geared for people who make websites. I am pretty excited about the focus being on design and it is shaping up to be a great event. Already there are a list of speakers that I anticipate learning a lot from.

Viget Labs is a web development and consulting firm who can boast a well known web app such as Squidoo in their projects section. They have four “labs”: strategic consulting, application development, online marketing, and interactive design. A few weeks ago I spent a couple of hours in their very impressive Falls Church office, peaking over the shoulders of their designers and kicking back in their “fishbowl” lounge. They have fun. They innovate. They practice web standards. They design Bad-ass websites. They flourish.

These guys have been on my radar for a while now. Last June their Team Viget site caught my eye on CSS Import with their sexy java-script skills. Upon further investigation I realized… “hey these guys are right around the corner from me”. They have since been featured on galleries all over the web including the Web Designer Wall’s Best of CSS Design 2007. Back in August I literally walked into DC Barcamp and met Rob Soulé a member of the Viget Design team, who then went on to co-lead a fantastic presentation on the “Challenges we face as Designers”. Interested in the team’s enthusiasm and community involvement I added the Four Labs Blog to my RSS reader and followed along from afar.

The concept of a company’s brand has really evolved in the last few years. What used to be considered a logo and a tagline has transformed into a full blown experience. Not only does a strong brand transcend the products and services a company provides, but it amplifies the attitudes and personalities of the individuals creating them. When you walk into Viget not only do they have swank offices that just shout “web 2.0″… there is an indescribable vibe amongst their team. A buzz. A feeling of anticipation and excitement. The word “viget” comes from Princeton University’s motto “Dei sub numine viget” and means be strong or vigorous; thrive, flourish, be active, be effective.

I am very excited to say that this Monday will be my first day as a Web Designer at Viget Labs.

When I was in college I heard a lot of cheesy pick up lines, but I had one friend who was the king of them. He insisted the money line was “Excuse me are you from Tennessee? No? Well… you are the only Ten I see“. He really did use that line and it really did seem to work. A cheesy pick up line won’t catch my attention, but a bad-ass series of websites will.

Tennessee has Dollywood, the Bonnaroo music festival, Graceland, and obviously some bad-ass web designers. Thanks to the help of Rob Soulé I found the team responsible for these fantastic sites nestled right in the heart of Knoxville Tennessee at DesignSensory. Why import talent when you have it at home?

With exceptional attention to detail these sites creatively incorporate rich textures while keeping their information organized. Layering hand drawings, photographs, and patterns the designers have created rich experiences that compliment the content of the site without overpowering it. A clear hierarchy allows the user to easily navigate through the site to find what they need in a timely manner.

I especially like the fact that this is a series of sites. It is far more common that you find a series among print collateral such as posters, invitations, or banners. On the web it is much harder to pull off a series of websites without it feeling forced or disrupting the user experience. While many of these sites have been featured on CSS Design Galleries I have yet to find a place that really shows off all of them as a series. There is one site for each season, a site focused on education, and a site advertising vacationing in Tennessee. So I am going to post them here, please click on the image to launch the site and check them out.

http://winter.tnvacation.com/

http://spring.tnvacation.com/

http://summer.tnvacation.com/

http://fall.tnvacation.com/