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Zach Klein is a designer and entrepreneur living in New York, NY. He is the brains behind the beautiful design of Vimeo and one of the brains behind CollegeHumor. Zach was kind enough to answer just a few questions about his work at Vimeo. Be sure to check him out!

How did you get involved with a huge idea like Vimeo?

My business partner Jakob Lodwick is a longtime video enthusiast. In 2004, while I immersed myself in NYC’s photoblogging scene, which was being spurred by the sudden popularity of Flickr and tagging, Jakob tinkered around with a concept of tagging video clips in order to later assemble a movie from a string of keywords. Soon after, we began to pursue the idea together, making it an unofficial project at night after we wrapped up our CollegeHumor work every day. I was responsible for the interface, which in its first iteration was largely inspired by Flickr and the community they built on top of photos.

During the design process, what were your biggest breakthroughs (”Aha!” moments)? How many different ideas did you present and filter through before you arrived at what is on the site currently?

I think the biggest breakthroughs came when I realized the ways that videos are different from photos, which made me confident to steer away from some of Flickr’s layout precedents. Specifically, it was important for me to understand that the flash player is a portable device, and our early data demonstrated that most video plays would take place off-site encouraging me to move functionality from the video page to the player itself. I think the player is still in the early stages of where it could go, as I expect most of our users’ experience should take place inside the player itself allowing us to renovate the video page into a showroom compelling users to take the video home with them, so to speak, to take it to their other habitats like Tumblr, Twitter, etc.

What’s with the somewhat ethereal, earthy illustrations, anyway? (We love them!)

I sometimes fantasize that if I ever could afford it I would buy a substantial number of billboards and replace the typical advertisements with simple, beautiful images. I was thinking about this when I was laying out the Vimeo login page — typically the more boring page on any site — and then emailed my friend Chad Pugh, an extraordinary illustrator whom I’d love to work with in greater capacity some day, and commissioned him to envision the Vimeo world to serve as the background for the page. Since then, the characters and objects in that illustration have become mascots.

As far as the user experience goes, how much of a part did you have in the development side of things?

I only went as deep as CSS, however in 2007 we grew our team from 4 to 16 people comprising a small front-end team to work with me. Justin Ouellette (who’d later go on to found Muxtape) assumed the CSS work, as well as most interaction programming.

What sets Vimeo apart from other video hosting services around the web?

Dedication to quality, community, and originality — without exception.

What’s your favorite thing about Vimeo?

The best part of Vimeo is the back office, the 20 or so people who continue to run Vimeo. They’re incredibly talented and creative, and I’m very thankful for the time I had to work with them. A good idea is worthless without impeccable execution and a commitment to iterate, and this team played a majority’s role in helping Jakob and I hit this one out of the park.

What are you doing these days?

I’ve raised a small pool of money from other entrepreneurs I admire, and I’m working with Patrick Moberg, who also worked at Vimeo, on a startup called Spurd. We’re based in Brooklyn.

Thanks so much again, Zach, for taking some time to answer a few questions.
Make sure you check out Zach’s personal website, and follow him on twitter!

(interview originally posted on Fuel Your Interface)

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Effective communication is key to moving design projects forward and is especially important for proofing. In an ideal world, designers and clients would meet face-to-face, but in reality client schedules and locations make it impossible, leaving electronic communication as the only viable option. What designers need is a virtual workspace where they can communicate with their client much like how they would in person. Emails do this to an extent but they are painful to keep organized, make it impossible to mark-up proofs, and require more work from the client and designers than they care to invest.

With so many marketing firms, design agencies, and in-house creative teams, there should be at least one software option out there that works better than email, right? There are actually several tools that can significantly make the proofing process easier and take the stress of project review down a notch. These types of tools offer you a way to automate the proofing process and send feedback to your client and vice versa without jumping through unnecessary hoops. This article lists and briefly describes many potential tools that can streamline your proofing process and make your relationship with clients less of a headache. But first, I need to point out a few factors that can effect which proofing software you choose.

Size can be a big factor in finding a proofing software that works for you. Are you a small company or a freelancer? Maybe you want something that is simpler and more straight forward. Do you manage a large corporate creative, publishing, or design team? A proofing software that offers advanced scheduling and workflow management might make your job easier. Your size and the size of your clients also play into the many security factors you should consider.

Large Agencies and Corporate Creative Departments

If you manage the proofing process for a large agency or company, you might find value in a software that not only gets the job done but also does so in an efficient and organized manner. You will want something that has advanced workflow and scheduling capabilities to make managing your team easier. In terms of security, your clients may prefer their projects hosted on a server that you own and manage rather than a third-party server. This requires more configuration and maintenance on your part but will put your clients’ minds at ease when they know their digital assets are in trusted hands.

Approval Manager

Approval Manager includes an integrated annotation tool along with email notifications. It offers advanced workflow and schedule management features which makes it a good solution for larger teams and design firms. Approval Manager also is hosted locally by the user on a personal server so security issues are managed in-house. There is a free version available along with an upgraded version that offers more features.



ConceptShare

ConceptShare also offers an annotation tool for marking up and commenting on proofs along with notifications. Users can organize their proofs into collections, workspaces, and folders so they can easily navigate through their proofs. The entire proofing process, including uploaded files, are hosted on ConceptShare’s website. Their website offers a free trial and four separate editions that offer different capabilities based on team size.



ProofHQ

ProofHQ is a lot like ConceptShare in that the whole process is hosted online. ProofHQ includes a basic annotation tool, folders for organizing your files, file versioning, and email notifications. Prices range from $17 – $299/month which are based on the number of users, storage size, and the number of proofs per month.



Small Creative Teams & Boutique Agencies

Small design firms may be able to get away with a proofing solution that doesn’t offer as many features as the ones discussed above. As a manager of a small team of designers something that is simple and cheap might be best for your needs. Hosting on a third-party server might be another desirable option because it is easy to setup and you don’t have to waste your resources on maintenance. Granted, this option isn’t as secure as hosting locally, but it is a practical option for a small design firm.

Backboard

Backboard is a simple online proofing tool that allows you to mark-up a proof using a red pen tool. Users can set deadlines and receive notifications on those deadlines along with feedback and new proof versions. Users can also upload their existing contact lists to Backboard to easily mail out their proofs to existing colleagues and clients. All projects are hosted with Backboard and plans range from $6 – 50/month.



Notable

Notable allows you to take a screenshot of your design, upload it to their website, and receive and share feedback between your team members. It also offers user workspaces for organizing screenshot based on projects and clients. Notable offers a limited free version, a free trial, and basic paid plans ranging from $19 – $49/month.



ProofQuick

ProofQuick is much like Backboard in that it is a quick and simple online hosted solution for small team proofing. It also offers notifications and an integrated markup tool. ProofQuick was originally built specifically for the yellow page industry but can be used for a variety of purposes. Their website offers a free 15-day trial.



Freelancers

Whether you’re a novice designer or independent expert, a simple and free (or close to free) proofing software solution might be your best bet. If you don’t have as many clients as bigger firms, workflow or scheduling management capabilities may not be essential. You can probably get away with a software that directly emails your clients the proofs and allows the clients to quickly make comments and email them back when they are finished with their review. In this case, the simpler, the better.

Redmark

With Redmark you can upload an image and send it off to your client for review. The client can then use Redmark’s online annotation tool to comment on the image and email it back to you when they are finished. It also offers a way to archive and view past versions of the image. Redmark is limited in comparison to other online proofing solutions but is a free service.



ididwork

Ididwork is a free solution that can be used as a simple feedback tool. Users can share what they have been doing with their team members and begin receiving reviews and comments on their work. Users can either sign up as managers or employees so user categories can be defined to a project. This isn’t exactly tailored for a designer/client relationship but may be used to fulfill this need.



DesignSignOff

DesignSignOff hasn’t officially launched yet, but did recently acquire a popular proofing tool called GetSignOff. Users can present their work to clients who can then give feedback. Clients can stay up-to-date on their project with email notifications and project stats. Once this project launches, it could be a great tool for freelancers and novice designers.



Adobe Acrobat X Pro

Acrobat X Pro offers simple version control, annotation, and review. You can use the “Adobe SendNow” feature to send, track, and share your files online. Adobe X Pro doesn’t offer all the features of a regular proofing software, like workflow, scheduling, and email notifications, but does offer a simple way to receive quick feedback from your clients. This option may be a bit pricey, but Acrobat x Pro does come packaged with Adobe Creative Suite 5.5. Acrobat X Pro costs $449 for the full version and $199 for an upgrade.

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Brian Hoff runs a full time independent studio in Brooklyn, publishes The Design Cubicle, speaks at design conferences and has been featured in several industry publications. It’s fair to say that we at FUEL are big fans. Brian has been busy with Mojo Themes and their recent stellar re-design. I had a chance to pick Brian’s brain about the process:

CE: What was the overall goal of the re-design and how did you aim to make Mojo Themes stand out?

BH: There were three major tasks at hand when redesigning and rethinking the Mojo experience: Improved usability, simplified navigation / browsing experience /marketplace, and creating a better and more enjoyable experience that was lacking.
At first, we found ourselves moving far away from the brand that Mojo-Themes had already established. It took us a few weeks of swimming in the wrong direction in order to see where we needed to head to take the effort a touch further. With a fresh, lively coat of paint, beautified typography using webfonts (Proxima Nova), more engaging headlines and copy, dynamic and unique experiences from page to page, improved marketplace browsing, and rich interactions, including the Mojo Monster.

CE: Did you start the process with wireframes, moodboards, and loads background research or after the initial talks did you have a pretty clear cut idea in your head on where you wanted to take the design?

BH: Yes. A good portion of any project effort I take on starts off with extremely rough wireframes on paper and progressing into a more detailed mockup of the layout which focuses on tone, hierarchy, typography and flow of the page – so basically no color or texture comes into play in the early stages.

The tones early on consisted of blacks, various shades of grey, and white, which allowed me to map out importance through tone and contrast. The hierarchy and “flow” through emerged through typographic means – size, style (italics, bolds), all-caps. Beyond being a lovely, lovely typeface, Proxima Nova also has a very large family of fonts which helped us further extend the typographic hierarchy a bit more than your average family.

The project started off great, but took a bit of a sideways turn for about 3 weeks until I finally was able to see the direction it needed to head in. I remember calling the Mojo fellas (Brady Nord and JR Farr) explaining to them that I was sorry I wasted 3 extra weeks of their time, but I knew the new vision was something they would equally be excited and proud of. That’s the funny thing about design: it often takes going in the wrong direction for weeks on end to finally find the right path.

CE: What was the biggest challenge or hardest thing you had to work through in the design?

BH: The biggest challenge by far was not moving too far away from the “Mojo brand.” This was one of the main reasons we got lost for a few weeks. Although everyone was happy with the visual direction of the site, something didn’t feel quite “Mojo” about it.

There were periods of both myself and the guys over at Mojo saying, “well let’s change this to see if that works,” or “how about we change this color to see if that works better.” I typically find, especially if I’m saying things like this to myself, that it needs to go into an entirely new direction. Luckily, the guys behind the scenes at Mojo Themes were more than understanding and valued the process and much as the end result and were happy to extend the initial timeframe we set out for. Overall I find that great or even better ideas tend to transcend and evolve over rigorous thinking and re-thinking the original thoughts. This is why I tend to stay away from unrealistic deadlines.

CE: The details are what separate the men from the boys. The design has outstanding little details as well as beautiful typography. How much emphasis did you make sure you kept on these attributes?

BH: Thank you. Typography is certainly the backbone of great design and as a bit of a type nerd (and by bit, I mean that’s a bit of an understatement), I tend to focus on the typography from the very early stages of the design. When I have a mood in mind I tend to look for a typeface to match it first in addition to also making sure it fits the medium and function well.

The same goes for the tiny details. They tend to make the work unforgettable and experience more wonderful. Although it’s important to note that one shouldn’t go overboard with detail as well. Figuring out where to deploy the fine details and when to leave the unnecessary behind is key. Another important note in detail is on the development side (something I tend to worry about if I hand off files to other developers), but the people over at Mojo did an impeccable job. The PSD and the fully developed site overlay each other beautifully. Pixel perfection and precision.

CE: This design/implementation of this site comes at a time where there is a huge drive for being standards compliant & using responsible web-design practices. How conscious were you of making sure that this would be able to be carried out throughout the project?

BH: Knowing your medium and understanding the audience a bit plays a huge role in the responsibility of any web designer. All of my work focuses around simple, beautiful things that “work” for their intended use, while also pushing boundaries where possible. Just because something is “standard” or “responsible” doesn’t mean they can’t be approached from a different angle while still remaining “responsible.” The Mojo Themes website was designed around these same principles and processes.

CE: What are the highlights of the new design?

Here’s (pretty much) the full list of what we changed, added and improved upon:

• Landing page: More emphasis on the themes and seller interaction
• Dynamic page layouts: Each page has a unique layout to match the content
• More compelling headlines and copyrighting improvements
• More Monster: We gave the Mojo Monster (hover over him on the home page) more personality as a friendly guide and companion.
• Strong Typography: More focus on readability, hierarchy and personality
• A footer with charm and action. Useful links and a new way to sign up for newsletters.
• Simplified, restructured and much deserved Forum spring cleansing.
• More engaging and customizable blog to highlight the various authors that write for the blog
• More comprehensive Check Out process
• Fully redesigned Marketplace experience through re-thought category browsing and filtering
• Powerful and engaging interactive elements
• More streamlined sign in and sign up experience
• Achieved an overall mood that kept the to Mojo’s playfulness, yet raised a new standard and polish for all Marketplace companies online to rise to the (nav)bar – this is where the home page’s headline came from. Overall we found that you can be both playful and sophisticated at the same time.

LANDING PAGE

Actual size: http://cl.ly/652r

LOG IN AND NAVIGATION DROPDOWN DETAIL

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4phd

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4p5g

MARKETPLACE BROWSING

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4p82

SHOPPING CART

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4ozR

CUSTOM CHARTS

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4qKc

MAKING A DEPOSIT / PROFILE BALANCE

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4pcw

BLOG

Actual size: http://cl.ly/4qHw

MOJO Themes aims to create an open marketplace for top rated designers/developers to shine in a world where design is going down hill quicker then we know and where someone can find, rate and buy quality themes & templates all in one trusted place.

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It never ceases to amaze me how many wonderful pockets of creative people there are. Whether it’s interior design, advertising, architecture, graphic design, web design, motionography, illustration, fine art or photography (or anything else) there is an vast amount of talented creatives who do awesome work everyday. The problem is, there are so many, it’s hard to locate where these awesome people live and work!

Here is where you come in:

Tell us your favorite creatives, firms or companies in the comments, via e-mail or twitter and their location. There is an abundance of talent that is both inspiring and captivating and yet it’s hard to wrap your mind around who is where doing what… Plus, you might learn about someone new who is in your neck of the woods.

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The world at large is infatuated by micro-economies. You see it in fashion, in the ‘Web 2.0′ startup world of Silicon Valley and in the MASSIVE yet tiny film production world in Los Angeles. The industries of world business have always been followed by a tide, so to speak, of smaller sub groups. These groups contain their own eco systems of big and small ‘fish’ who provide food for (or feed on) each other to grow, evolve and survive.

The online design and creative community is no different. It has its own cultural and financial ecosystems which are even made of several micro groups within themselves. The consumers of Envato’s marketplaces, the attendees at Carsonified events, Behance’s network, Smashing Magazines readership, Buy-Sell Ad’s advertising and Sitepoints Products are all members of different overlapping groups of a vibrant micro-economy.

But even for the ‘sharks’ of these micro-economic oceans, it can be a helpful to gain some perspective every now and then by swimming past a whale.

from National Geographic Mini-site

Versace, Gucci, Marc Jacobs and the other ‘whales’ in fashion, set the direction year after year for each season’s fashions. Similarly, the creative world as a whole, moves with waves made by the industry giants.

From the mediums you might offer a client (Web, Print, Mobile Apps) or the essential positioning of the latest design style (can anyone say ‘letterpress’), all the way down to where the expected place for a ‘contact us’ link will go. One only has to look at the similarity in campaigns each year at the ‘Webby Awards’ or watch the commercials on TV, Hulu or passing by you on the side of a bus, to see the influence these creative ‘whales’ have on our day to day lives and ultimately our professions.

So for perspective sake, lets take a quick look at 10 ‘whales’ of the creative industry:

Company: TBWA
Website: http://www.tbwa.com
Principals: Tom Carroll, Jean-Marie Dru, Lee Clow, Denis Streiff, Keith Smith, Laura Coots
Location(s): 100 different countries
Notable clients: Absolut, Jameson, Kahlua, Nissan, Pedigree, Twix, McDonalds, Pfizer, P&G, Apple, Infiniti, Nicorette, Adidas, Alli, Energizer
Est. Number of Employees: 11,000 people operating in 274 agencies
Public/Private: Public
Est. Annual Revenues: $1 Billion+

Company: R/GA
Website: http://www.rga.com
Principals: Chris Colborn, Bob Greenberg, and Nick Law
Location(s): New York, London, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Chicago
Notable clients: NIkeID, NIke Football, Verizon wireless, Ad Council, Nokia, American Eagle,
Est. Number of Employees: 640+
Public/Private: Private
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

Company: Saatchi & Saatchi
Website: http://www.saatchi.com
Principals: Kevin Roberts
Location(s): 140 offices – 80 countries
Notable clients: Bel, Deutsche Telekom/T-Mobile, Diageo/Guinness, Emirates Airline, General Mills, Mead Johnson, Novartis, Procter & Gamble, Sony Ericsson, Toyota/Lexus, Visa Europe.
Est. Number of Employees: 6500+
Public/Private: Unknown
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

Company: Razorfish
Website: http://www.razorfish.com
Principals: Bob Lord, Lee Sherman, Andreas Gahlert
Location(s): Seattle – 20+ offices worldwide
Notable clients: AT&T Audi Ben & Jerry’s Best Buy Capital One Carnival Cruise Lines Choice Hotels Condé Nast MillerCoors Dell Disney EMC Corporation Forest Labs Investors.com JCPenney Levi Strauss & Co. Kraft Limited Brands
Mattel McDonald’s Mercedes-Benz USA Microsoft/MSN NFL Nike Olympus Oxfam PNC Bank Purina Ralph Lauren Safeco Samsonite Standard Life Bank Starwood Hotels & Resorts Toshiba Travel Channel Victoria’s Secret
Est. Number of Employees: 2000+ worldwide
Public/Private: Unknown
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

Company: BBH
Website: http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com
Principals: Greg Anderson, Emma Cookson, Joe Da Silva
Location(s): Global: Europe, Asia Pacific, North America, Latin America, China, India
Notable clients: Axe, Google, Johnnie Walker, Lego, NYC & Co., Smirnoff, Sprite, Vaseline, Ally, British Airways, Westin hotels & resorts
Est. Number of Employees: 235+
Public/Private: Private
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

Company: AKQA
Website: http://www.akqa.com
Principals: Stuart Sproule, Guy Wieynk, Jason Warnes, David Bentley, Leo Chu
Location(s): San Francisco, Amsterdam, Berlin, London, New York, D.C., Shanghai
Notable clients: GAP, Smirnoff, Visa, Volkswagen, Warner Brothers, Unilever, Lipton, Ferrari, Nike, Fiat, USPS, Xbox 360
Est. Number of Employees: 550+
Public/Private: Private
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

Company: Crispin Porter + Bogusky | CP+B
Website: http://www.cpbgroup.com
Principals: Chuck Porter, Jeff Hicks, Andrew Keller, Rob Reilly, Jeff Steinhour, Eric Lear, Jeff Behjamin, Winston Binch
Location(s): USA, Canada, Europe
Notable clients: Microsoft, Burger King, SAS, Kraft, Baby Carrots, Dominos, Old Navy, Best Buy, Philips, Open, Canadian, Coca Cola Zero, Scania, Telia
Est. Number of Employees: 1,000+
Public/Private: Public
Est. Annual Revenues: $1.6 billion in billings

Company: Smith Harmon – Responsys
Website: http://www.responsys.com
Principals: Dan Springer, Scott Olrich, Andrew Priest, Don Smith, Chris Paul
Location(s): San Bruno, San Francisco, Chicago, New york, Denver, Seattle, UK, Melbourne, Sydney, Denkmark, India
Notable clients: Avis Europe, Continental Airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa, Dollar Thrifty, Lands’ End, LEGO, Men’s Wearhouse, PayPal, Qantas, Southwest Airlines, StubHub, and UnitedHealthcare.
Est. Number of Employees: 308
Public/Private: Private
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

Company: BBDO
Website: http://www.BBDO.com
Principals:
Location(s): 287 offices in 79 countries
Notable clients: Gillette, Braun, P&G/Tide, AT&T, Bank of Ireland, BMW, Bridgestone
Est. Number of Employees: 15,000+
Public/Private: Public
Est. Annual Revenues: $1.1 billion ’09

Company: Goodby Silverstein & Partners
Website: http://www.goodbysilverstein.com
Principals: Rich Silverstein, Jeff Goodby, Mark Rurka, Rich Dizon
Location(s): San Francisco
Notable clients: Netflix, Chevy, Specialized, Logitech, Intuit, Frito Lay, Sprint, Doritos, Adobe, Comcast, NBA, HP., Wii, Cheetos, Yahoo, Kayak, Häagen Dazs, Dickies
Est. Number of Employees: 200+
Public/Private: Private
Est. Annual Revenues: Unknown

A quick disclaimer… although many of the companies listed have their roots in Advertising and may be considered ‘traditional advertising companies’, the emergence of web media has blurred the lines of traditional media, so much so, that there are fine lines and nuanced differences between Advertising, Media production, Design & Marketing companies/firms. Most of these listed do all of the above.

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RESOLVE: verb, to come to a definite or earnest decision about; determine (to do something)

Resolutions come and go and some rarely make it past the first week of February. Chris Streger decided to change that by asking several of his designer friends to make their own ‘resolution’ in the form of an iPhone Background. He started the To Resolve project that stemmed from a conversation with his girlfriend. He sent out as many ‘call to arms’ as he could think of to designers he knew or those he didn’t. There’s been some pretty great work come in so far and it’s almost double in the last few days. If you need some inspiration, a new iPhone background or you want to design your own, check out the To Resolve Project.

Mads Burcharth | His Submission

Tyler Galpin | His Submission

Dan Cassaro | His Submission

Bobby McKenna | His Submission

Matt Payson | His Submission

Stefanie Pepping | Her Submission

Cassie Stegman | Her Submission

Sean Ball | His Submission

Michael Spitz | His Submission

Travis Fleck | His Submission

Rich Arnold | His Submission

Paul Wilkes | His Submission

Scott Hill | His Submission

Joseph Hughes | His Submission

Matt Stevens | His Submission

Jason Hines | His Submission

Curtis Jenkins | His Submission

Jenn Lew | Her Submission

Chris Streger | His Submission

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Part geekery, part circus, Kick Awesome.tv is wicked weekly web show (say that three times fast) that is dedicated to design, the web and general nerdery. The men behind the show are Nate Croft & Jon Longnecker who are also behind the wondrous works of 47Media. Currently, they’re 12 episodes strong – ranging in topics from photography lightboxes, first person shooters, music, iPod Nano watches, photoshop trickery, dribbble, their personal lives and anything in-between. If you’re tired of all the other boring ways to learn and hear about the industry you should definitely check them out. If you love their content as much as we do they also have some awesome sponsorship options. If that’s not enough awesome for you KickAwesome.tv is on twitter as well as facebook so, you should definitely fan their page and give them a follow.

Get More KickAwesome.tv

Twitter
Facebook
RSS
iTunes

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A major movement in the fields of photography and design is a call for minimalism. The major viewpoint of this trend is that, when it comes to art, less is more. In a world packed with overwhelming information sources competing for attention, consumers are bombarded by countless images each day. The minimalist movement argues that, when content is stripped to the bare essentials, it can more effectively catch the viewer’s attention and speak directly to their senses rather than overwhelming them with information. While advocates of this movement can be found throughout the Internet, one of the best locations to learn more and become a member is within Flickr groups. Here are the top 10 Flickr groups dedicated to the minimalist movement that you will likely find useful.

1. Elegantly Minimal

This Flickr group advocates that photos can still be elegant while advocating minimalism. All photo subjects are included in this group as long as they adhere to the minimalist requirements.

2. True Minimal

The True Minimal group advocates art that is stripped down to the bare essentials. This group is all about the sentiment that less truly is more.

3. Minimal Black & White

The Minimal Black & White group takes photographs back to their days of infancy by only allowing black and white shots. In a world so inundated with color, this group can be a refreshing escape.

4. Minimal Corner

The minimalist movement can take many turns and that includes having a group dedicated completely to the art of corners.

5. Minimal Color

Minimalism isn’t only about stripping designs down to their essentials concerning subject matter. The Minimal Color Flickr group embraces minimalism in color and includes wonderful displays of strategic color usage.

6. COM-Minimal

The COM-Minimal Flickr group includes both wonderful minimalist photos and enriching discussions regarding this design trend. While most Flickr groups only allow the posting of minimalist photos, this group provides a refreshing alternative to also join well-rounded minimalist conversations.

7. Minimal Flowers

As the name states, the Minimal Flowers group only allows simplistic, beautiful images of flowers. This is a great group for those who are primarily interested in photographing the natural world.

8. Animals in B/W, Sepia, & Minimal Color

This group is for the animal lovers on Flickr who are also fans of the minimalist movement. View animals in their most natural settings as they are meant to be seen.

9. Minimal Intervention in Photos

The Minimal Intervention in Photos community is a wonderful break from today’s trend of over processed photos with photo editing software. Only naturally shot photographs are allowed here.

10. Minimal Art [no people, no life]

The Minimal Art [no people, no life] group takes people and all life forms out of the minimalist movement by only allowing photos of lifeless elements such as buildings and furniture.

In a world inundated with information, the best option you have to stand apart from the massive crowds is to strip your designs and photography to the essentials. This minimalism in art will be a refreshing sight for your design viewers and will be more likely to grab and hold their attention.

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Lets face it, in our culture: style, individuality and custom one offs thrive. Why should this stop at the bathroom? Yumaki is looking to change the face of that. The 2010 Originals collection is tailor made to meet the high functional & stylish expectations of the urban man/woman and comes in a colorful range of 18 all very modern designs and color selections that has never been seen as toothbrushes before. The Originals model is made out of high quality nylon bristles and a unique flexible handle that is made out of degradable plastic. It’s also has an ergonomic handle which shows that it balances design and function equally. The handle also has a circular hole that fits accessories such as the interdental brush and the tuft brush.

Yumaki doesn’t sacrifice international production standards to bring you this beautifully sleek ergonomically designed toothbrush they still clean your teeth and gums just as efficient as other toothbrushes produced with state of the art machines and materials that you’d find on your supermarket shelves.

Although Yumaki is a relatively new oral care brand, the Japanese manufacturers of the products have more than 100 years of experience producing oral hygiene products. All Yumaki toothbrushes come packaged in a sleek travel-sized plastic tube that have space for additional dental care accessories. Subscriptions are offered online for the lazy and forgetful customers that vary from every month to every third month for the duration of the whole year.

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David-Michel Davies is the Executive Director of The Webby Awards and the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. He has devoted his career to championing and celebrating the very best of Internet culture. The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) is a network comprised of more than 1,000 Internet experts who sift through cat photos, political blogs, robot videos, celebrity tweets, and more to uncover the most innovative work on the Internet. We recently had the opportunity to pick his brain about the recent addition of several categories that focus on apps and bringing them to the awesome Webby Awards stage.

Is incorporating the world of apps into The Webbys an exciting change?

The world of apps is definitely one of the most exciting changes we’ve seen in the way people interact with the Internet in all the years we’ve been doing this. It’s pretty exciting, and it’s definitely a big change and a really a big change for consumers. It’s really why we re-oriented and re-launched a whole bunch of new categories to honor this stuff, because we think it’s pretty significant.

At what point did you realize you were going to have to incorporate apps into The Webbys?

The big change in the last year has been the iPad. Certainly there’re apps for other tablets, but, the way that the iPhone was the game changer for handheld devices, the iPad is for tablets.

It basically made tablets something consumers were interested in for the first time, and what does that mean? That means people are sitting on their couches touching the Internet and being relaxed, being social and sharing while sitting in their home environment and not at their desk. That’s not to say people weren’t interacting with their mobile phones, but the size of the handheld screen makes it more of a utilitarian action. It’s a new space that people are interacting with, and that was definitely a big element on how we incorporated this in the Webbys. The game and content was changing so quickly.

A recent wired article talked about the death of the internet and how people are shifting towards using apps instead of the internet as a whole. Do you think in the future things will be shifted more towards apps like Facebook, twitter and Skype?

I think that two different things are going on right now. Apps are providing a really rich user experience and are much more immersive than what you would find in most traditional websites. That’s something that consumers respond to and have a much more emotional connection to, and I think that part is here to stay.

But I am not as bullish on the delivery method of this experience. Right now we’re looking at downloading all these apps on all these different devices, and until HTML5 and some of that stuff catches up and has widespread appeal with browser functionality, the downloadable apps model will continue.

In the long-term, it’s difficult for closed systems like that to compete with open systems. It does create a lot of work and overhead for developers with so many different types of apps for all these platforms. I think when http can deliver that kind of immersive experience, it will pick up traction again and have a good shot at being the long-term model.

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Everyone loves creative gear right? Well, what about stuff that not everyone has? Even better. Below are a few places that offer some really creative and kickass shwag. These are great people, doing great work and selling it to you and me. Need a shirt? Got it. Need an iPhone case? Got that too. Now go buy some gear! I’m sure there are other great places for

UGMONK

As the market continues to become saturated with overly complex, cluttered designs, Ugmonk’s mission is to provide high-quality products with simple, fresh graphics.

About the Designer

Jeff Sheldon makes his home in Downingtown, PA with his wife and no pets. He graduated with a B.S. in graphic design in 2008 and has a passion for all things design. When he’s not designing, Jeff enjoys snowboarding, soccer, biking, photography, and sleeping.

Inksie

Inksie is a brand, online community, and shop based on well-designed products and the culture that embodies them. The hub of our organization consists of new designers and veterans alike, excited to create, distribute, and vote on works of art around the world.

IdeaCafe

In this age of digital communication, smart phones, and touch computing, there is still a yearning for the simple. Despite the blood curdling pace at which technology inexorably advances, many people prefer to capture ideas and thoughts on an age old device — paper.

The purpose of this site is to provide a friendly, easy to use experience for finding and purchasing high quality notebooks, notepads, sketchbooks, and whatever othercreativity-inspiring products strike our fancy. We aim to enable creative people to find all the resources they need to work on their projects, capture their thoughts, and wireframe their lives in a format that fits them.

Veer

At Veer, you’ll enjoy an uncomplicated shopping experience that lets you stay focused on what’s really important: your creative work. You’ll also find things to do, accessories for creatives at home and on the go, plus endless opportunities to save.

House Industries

Known throughout the world as a prolific type foundry, House Industries has made a considerable impact on the world of design. House Industries fonts scream from billboards, wish happy whatever from tens of thousands of greeting cards, serve as the basis for consumer product logos and add elements of style to a wide range of mainstream media. In their illustrious career, House artists have mastered a large cross-section of design disciplines. Their typography deftly melds cultural, musical and graphic elements. From early forays into distressed digital alphabets to sophisticated type and lettering systems, House Industries’ work transcends graphic conventions and reaches out to a broad audience. What ultimately shines in the House Industries oeuvre is what always conquers mediocrity: a genuine love for their subject matter. Be it hot rods, classically relevant lettering or Swiss Modernism, House continues to provide typographic optimism in this age of the lowest aesthetic common denominator.

Poolga

Poolga is about art and design on hand-held devices and discovering talented illustrators and designers. We think that the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad are great devices for carrying around, displaying and sharing art. We mostly focus on illustration, graphic design and typography.

Johnny Cupcakes

Customers like and appreciate the story and work ethic behind my brand. I started this as a joke from the trunk of my beat up ‘89 Toyota Camry. A college drop out with a drug and alcohol-free lifestyle, I never wasted my time going out and partying but instead focused only on brainstorming and sketching up my wacky ideas. I turned down investors and took countless risks like keeping my shirts out of chain stores.

Other Places

What did we miss? There are thousands of unique places to buy some good gear. Give us your input in the comments!

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Erik Johansson has a nack for photography but more-so he has a nack for photo manipulations and editing. He is a 25 year old freelance photographer that lives in Sweden. He works mostly on personal projects and commercial work. He says “I see myself as a photographer as much as a retoucher, a combination that is only limited by imagination.” Imagination he has! In the following photos you’ll notice he can make anything look real. The kind of hours this guy logs in photoshop must be astounding!

Connect with Erik

Erik is on various social networks so you can follow his folio updates or just his everyday tweetings. We’re expecting to see much more of his work in the future!

Twitter

Facebook

Tumblr

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Just because designs are simple or minimal doesn’t mean they aren’t clever. A new campaign created by Marshall Fenn Communications uses these very principles. Marshall Fenn takes on project large and small and their happy to help clients in anyway possible. There based out of Toronto and Las Vegas and have some other creative work that is worth taking a glance at.

To achieve a simple, minimal advertisement you have to reduce everything down to the key elements of the message you’re trying to get across. No bells and whistles just copy and execution. This campaign boils the market down (hair care) into four different “styles”: Black, Brunette, Red & Blonde. Then, using older hair styles that some of us haven’t seen the likes of for years to reference “coming back”. To keepwith the “it’s coming back” theme there is also a boomerang that is woven into each of the vector designs. To top it all off the Nisim, helps stimulate hair growth which makes the campaign a nice, clean, minimal, successful campaign. The backgrounds are simple.

Advertising Agency: Marshall Fenn, Toronto, Canada

Art Directors: Jonathan Guy, Steven Kim

Copywriter: Jonathan Guy

Photographer: Andy Ferreira

Illustrator: Jonathan Guy

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If you’ve gotten bored with traditional motion graphics and haven’t quite gotten into 3D movies yet you’re in luck. Architectural projection mapping is here and ready to boggle your mind. The idea is that you project a 3D object onto a 2D surface. Like the facade of a building. (even though some are 3D with columns and roofs) This begs for some large scale creativity and makes buildings come to life or collapse in front of your eyes. This could begin to get very interesting as technology progresses in the future… There could be all kinds of uses for architectural projection or it could be directly projected on people! Imagine someone walking around the street and buildings move and bend to try and get prospective customers to enter to check out their merchandise. Here are some awesome examples of where Architectural Projection Mapping is now… Could you see design & advertising crossing into this medium?

Battle of Branchage

Architectural Projection Mapping @ Branchage Film Festival 2009

Kraft Work

Architectural projection Mapping @ Autostadt, Wolfsburg 2010

BMW JOY 3D: Asia’s 1st Interactive 3D Building Projection

Watch as we transform busy office buildings in Singapore from a symbol of work, into a symbol of Joy. Witness Joy coming alive at Suntec City, Towers 2 & 3.

Hirzberger Events – Digital Wallpaper

Once in a while it is nice to not work on a commercial project and have the freedom of doing whatever you want. Fortunately the people at Büro Hirzberger hirzbergerevents.com were totally open to whatever we presented them to decorate parts of their office space in Vienna.  My fellow co-workers at Strukt Design Studio strukt.com came up with this digital wallpaper, using 2 projectors to map an entire wall and using VVVV to do the deskewing and to generate the content. Many thanks go to the great guys at Concept Solutions derigel.at to provide us the equipment for the test set-up.

ENVISION : Step into the sensory box

ENVISION: Step into the sensory box. Under this name hides the immersive experience offered by Alcatel-Lucent to its customers at the last Mobile World Congress. An experience-based video mapping designed by the agency and the Department SUPERBIEN New Media Agency \ Auditorium. The public was invited into a cube and discover an artistic vision of the tagline of the event: Transforming the mobile experience.

ACDC Vs Iron Man 2 – Architectural Projection Mapping on Rochester Castle

On the site of a thousand years of violent history, ACDC were pitted against Iron Man in a ground breaking architectural projection mapping project. The front facade of the Great Keep at Rochester Castle, was brought to life using the latest in 3D animation techniques. This onslaught of the senses, saw the castle confront it’s ultimate challenge. Warping, morphing, spewing and collapsing before the audiences eyes. Let there be rock!

3D Projection Mapping

3D Projection mapping in the city of Sugarland, Texas for New Years Eve 2010. This video is courtesy of Texas Video & Post who created the content. LD Systems provided sound, lights, video and staging for the 25th anniversary of the city. The equipment included a gramdMA lighting console, Barco HD projectors, Hippotizer HD media server and mapping system, and EV X-Line concert speakers. LDS and TV&P collaborated for this event on the heels of the overwhelmingly successful Glowrama event.

Samsung 3D Projection Mapping In Amsterdam

Perfectly mapped to a historic building in Amsterdam, the projection realistically cracks the building in half, sending debris shattering down before it fills up with water and then drains into a rain forest revealing the new Samsung 3D LED TV!

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Burton. The word that’s almost synonymous with snowboarding. Wether you like the snow, the boards, the clothes, the culture or just have a love for creativity Burton dishes it all out. Burton’s claim to fame started In 1985 when the first Burton snowboards were shipped to Austria, Germany, France, Norway and Switzerland. 150 boards had already been sold, an hxd the only employee was a pro snowboarder. Burton has fueled the growth of snowboarding worldwide through its groundbreaking product lines, its grassroots efforts to get the sport accepted at resorts and its team of top snowboarders. Burton dominates the snowboard industry worldwide with global headquarters in Burlington, Vermont and international offices in Innsbruck, Austria and Tokyo, Japan. If you’d like some more Burton history info there is an amazing PDF with all the ins & outs of stuff you never though you’d like to know over on the sites History page. Check it out.

Site Branding

Sweet Gear

The Good Book

If you haven’t seen the Good Book: Burton’s 2010 catalog. This thing is packed full of amazing design, creativity and photography. The amount of finely crafted detail and attention given to each nook and crannie is amazing. Although they are gone and out fo print. (see below)

Printed copies of the Good Book are history, but if you check your local dealer bribe some kid with one, visit a Burton Flagship Store or continue flipping coins into wells, you might just find one.

Need some more Burton in your life?

Site: Burton.com

Twitter: twitter.com/burtonsnowboard

Youtube: youtube.com/burtonsnowboards

Facebook: facebook.com/BurtonSnowboards

Contact:

Burton Snowboards North America
80 Industrial Parkway
Burlington, VT 05401
U.S.A.

Rider Services / W-48
Tel: (800) 881-3138
Fax: (802) 660-3250

E-Mail:info@burton.com