Badass Ideas

We are all sitting at our desks doing the same thing… we are all Designing. Who else out there can relate? What does their environment look like? Is anyone else going through the same exact thing I am right now?

Alex Giron created a Design Faces pool on Flickr, and I have really enjoyed seeing the shots taken by other designers as they sit at their computers working their magic. If you are a Designer… join the pool and take a shot. Its great source of inspiration!

WebStock
If flying to New Zealand wasn’t such a ridiculous way to spend my money on a web conference I would so be there. Luckily a few of the same speakers will be at South By Southwest. Beautifully designed site. Love the layers and typography.

This Ain’t No Disco
A Blog that features interior work environments from creative agencies all over the world. The more comfortable you are in your surroundings the more creative you can be, and this site features some really cool spaces.

Yahoo Design Pattern Library
Sometimes everyone who is involved in creating a website is not on the same page to what nomenclature should be used for web functionality. I had one client call everything that was a square an “iframe”. Web banners, and carousels were all iframes. This made communication difficult. This is the second more extensive pattern library I have seen and I recommend checking it out. The other is http://ui-patterns.com.

Disengage
Doug is one of my new colleagues at Viget, and and I really enjoy his Blog. My personal favorite post is called “Live Life as Doug: The Easy Way”. Both Doug and his blog are very witty and full of interesting information. His Flickr gallery with inspiration is fantastic.

10 Principles Of Effective Web Design
If you haven’t been to Smashing Magazine yet.. go there. Now. Don’t even finish reading this post. While many of Smashing’s articles can massive brain-dumps of obvious information they also have a lot of good stuff too. This article is a good one to bookmark.

PacMan Cupcakes
Need I say More?

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.

I grew up on Macs. I am a member of an all Apple family and currently live in all Mac Household. My first Mac was a Quadra 605 and I have never owned any sort of Windows machine. My family still holds on to a Flower Power (still running) in our attic. In 2002 I started my summer job at an Apple Specialist in Richmond. Back then there weren’t Apple stores, there were Apple Specialists who had on-site (knowledgeable) repair technicians. We used to throw midnight release parties for the new OSs and would rent out a local movie theater to broadcast Mr. Jobs’ keynotes. Some people think this sounds pretty dorky but It was the most fun I have ever had in my life. Everyday I woke up and got to share my passion with the Apple Community. And thats what it was… a community.

(Im not pissed off in this pic, I just didn’t know my picture was being taken at work)

Apple has inspired a culture that extends beyond a brand, it created a community and now that community is becoming mainstream. So was it a revolution? Perhaps it has just made people begin to think Different…ly.

This trailer got me thinking a little bit about how things have changed since my days working at Capitol Mac.

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/