It’s been an odd week, with the people of the world joining together in unity to debate, celebrate and if you’re watching the Ashes, then (probably) commiserate. Anyhow, given the global nature of this week, I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s ramblings to international sites that have caught my eye. Cows, drugs and eco-consciousness. What more could you ask for on a Friday?
Eco Zoo – Form and function combined
A while ago, we featured a site called Ecodazoo as a beautiful example of Flash craftsmanship. Well, its back and upgraded with new characters and some lovely design features. Look at the pop-up books and just imagine if we took this approach with some of our graduate brochures.
Mock-ups made easy
One for the creative bods. A simple way to create iPhone mock-ups in Illustration or Pencil style. The Ronseal of design websites.
Holy cow! Art made simple
A few years ago, cows started to permeate the global landscape as part of what was touted as the largest public art project in the world. For those of you who don’t remember it, back in 2001, hundreds of blank, life-sized glass-fibre cows were painted, set up at prominent sites around London, then, after several months on display, auctioned off. Recently, some bright spark in Norway has created a site that allows you to create your own cow art and upload it to Facebook. It’s good fun but require that you either speak Norwegian, or are happy to experiment. (Hint: If it is anything like Swedish “Jeg vil lage min egen ku” probably translates as “I will make my own cow”…)
Canada says “no” to drugs by encouraging teens to experiment
This is a weird site. See the effect of certain drugs on human beings, by choosing a drug and watching its impact represented by a human eye. It takes a while to load (the pre-loader is at the top of the screen) and features games, videos, and some pretty intriguing effects. The site may seem irreverent and distasteful to some, but personally I think it is extremely clever – talking to teens in a language they understand without being patronising. And by language I don’t simply mean copywriting, but in the overall approach to communicating about drugs.