Name of Site: Pixel Conscious
URL: www.pixel-conscious.com
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: A living monument to "digital awareness and inspiration" this site draws the hip, switched on crowd to discover just how aware they really are. In the age of postmodernism, EVERYTHING is hip, from a noodle box to a doughnut, so long as it silently speaks some kind of axiomatic truth. There is plenty of it here, as the links to featured designers attest. This site is a newbie in the genre, so has yet to achieve cult status. Perhaps you should get your own stuff up there to kick things along a bit. In the mean time, check the cool download apps, funky links and interviews with the guru of the week. Now you're wakin' up. - SS
Name of Site: GUI Galaxy
URL: www.guigalaxy.com
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Need a Map
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Bishop, the GUI robot host, clunky and cute, hosts this fun-focussed foray into the art of cool. Checking the affiliations here reveal a well-connected crew spawning a lively portal of pictography. Icons, characters, photo pictorials and comments abound in a decidedly Mac-leaning design environment. In a funny way, a lot of these ultra-cliquey cutting edge creative sites are beginning to look a bit similar to each other. Could it be that it has become so cool to be different that we have all started to look the same? The universe is a strange place to existentialize in. Back to my double de-caf moccachillo... - SS
Name of Site: Kaliber10000
URL: www.k10k.net
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: One of the giants of the genre, k10k, the "Goodvibe Provider", packs more onto a home page than one thought possible. A zine-style layout offers button after button of clickable options into designer heaven. Funkified dot matrix fonts, little micro-icons and an informal conversational style had me settling in very comfortably to explore the offerings. Brave and bold designers strut their stuff as their achievements splash across the screen, inspiring yet more brave designers to create even more groovy stuff. It's the ultimate biofeedback mechanism. Good stuff inspiring more even better stuff. Current projects beg your involvement in the highly community-focussed k10k world. - SS
Name of Site: DeviantART
URL: www.deviantart.com
Load Time: Slow
Ease of Navigation: Need a Map
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: This site is a shining example of why mainstream media doesn't get the Internet. It's a massively successful site that works because of its total involvement of its visitors. No spoon-feeding here, baby. Here it is all about you, the creative genius. Thousands of eager designers constantly post work after work into their on-line portfolio for the critique and congratulatory remarks of other members. The standard is as diverse as the membership, making the whole thing a delight to explore. Powerful user features and an almost religious commitment to the cult of deviance keep the inclusion factor irresistibly appealing and the ideas flowing. - SS
Name of Site: Design is Kinky
URL: www.designiskinky.com
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: It certainly can be, and with this passionate team of design-loving freaks, the kink can only get kinkier. They've pulled together the coolest links, projects and collaborations in a constantly evolving festival of hipness. As you would probably guess, most designers have more of a brain than just their visual cortex, so a fair amount of philosophical discussion abounds between the coloured pixels. Discussions on useability, the death of the dotcom, elitism... ah, yeah ...feels good to know the great unwashed may never come here. Keep the kink for those that get it - and get it here you will. - SS
Name of Site: Australian In Front
URL: www.australianinfront.com.au
Load Time: Medium
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: From the confronting splash page and into the gloriously colourful slideshow collage of images on page 1, the case for the land down under being at the cutting edge of all things cultural is well stated. A mass of local links that towers above the international links keeps the argument strong, as does the furiously active forum and the featured projects. Postmodernism claws back some relevance and floats to the surface of mediocrity as designers with brains and consciences do their best to design a better world, fight back American imperialism, and party hard along the way - Aussie style. Oi Oi Oi! - SS
Name of Site: Futureaus.net Designers Guide
URL: www.futureaus.net/design
Load Time: Medium
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: If you, as a designer, have disappeared so far up your back passage in search of where you thought the sun was shining brightest, perhaps it's time to pull your head out and rethink your philosophy. Design is the way forward for humanity. Design solves problems. Design makes the world a better place. This design guide has been created to help you find your soul after years of wine labels, chip packets and billboards. A complete step by step plan to get real about sustainability, responsibility and ethical behaviour. Once you have tuned in and turned on, drop in to other similar guides and start making a difference - God knows the ad agency you work for isn't going to - it's up to you to save us all. - SS
Name of Site: Digital Thread
URL: www.digitalthread.com
Load Time: Slow
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: Design is cursed with infinite possibilities, which can freak out your average designer trying to make a decision, but can really impress the visitor to any design portal. Check the hugely diverse Web gallery, then inspect the work of the world's best design houses, before leaping in yourself to help thread this rich tapestry. Great thing here is the resources - font factories, Photoshop Actions and tips, great books for sale, a whole bunch of other free downloadables and links to other vessels of helpfulness. Also it is nice to see a "designer" site that actually uses nice bright colours - a pleasant change indeed. - SS
Name of Site: Archinect
URL: www.archinect.com
Load Time: Medium
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Architect/Connect - get it? Archinect - a place where concepts of design in the real world can flourish online. Architecture seems more steeped in philosophy and social conscience than most other forms of design, so this place simply overflows with cool ideas and concepts for a better world for us to inhabit. From mobile HIV educational and treatment facilities in Africa to World Trade Centre proposals and even a few bits of virtual architecture for online chat rooms, you can explore a diverse and forward-thinking culture that shapes our world. Great links too, ensure Archinect is true to its name and it's mission - in their words - "pimpin' architecture"(?!) - SS
Name of Site: FlashKit
URL: www.flashkit.com
Load Time: Medium
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash
Review: If there is one program that has revolutionised the possibilities for the Web, it's Flash. Here a commercially backed user group of humungous proportion offers inspiration, via showcases of the coolest and latest creations, and practical advice via tutorials, forums and reviews. On top of this, there is a massive amount of free stuff, like sounds, fonts and other elements, some buyable stuff, and a mass of other sections. It's amazing what a bit of corporate sponsorship can do. This is so huge that they even have their own conferences. Flash has arrived and is ready for you to jump on board - destination - the future. - SS
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