Showcase and Showreel Websites

SciFi channel mini series TinMan kicks off their promotional campaign with an amazing flash based graphic journey though Infinite OZ. You can control the speed with which you fly through this beatifully designed landscape, pause on a scene to find out more information about that place, and if you wanted to find out more about the program just got to the main TinMan website. Airing on the SciFi chanel on December 2nd at 9pm – I will be interested to see if they can translate the backdrops to the small screen.

Portfolio sites – how do you get noticed and stand out from the competition? How can you give yourself the edge in the world of new media agencies? Well single-page design could work for you if you don’t have much content, but want to showcase just your work. If you’re a designer then using a single page design can save you time and cost as it doesn’t require much coding. Below are some of the best examples of single page web design I’ve found. Hopefully, they can give you some inspiration.

Inspirational & Innovative Interactive Marketing

Hello my name’s Chloe. I’m a graphic designer who has been working in the field of web design for the past 6 years. Over the coming months I will be bringing you a selection of sites that keep my creative fire burning, please feel free to leave your comments or queries about any of the sites I post and I will endevour to respond.

SAIZEN MEDIA STUDIOS is an internationally acclaimed and award winning Design Firm that specializes in highly cinematic and detail oriented imagery.

Well known in the industry, for its meticulous approach to graphics creation and attention to detail, Saizen Media Studios consits of a team of internationally acclaimed artists, engineers, programmers and animators, and provides services in the fields of Web Design, Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, Packaging and Music Production.

As expected with such a talented team, their own company website is truely a credit to their craft with attention to detail and creative use of flash animation, no matter how many times you look at the site you are guaranteed to see something you didn’t last time.

TVM Studio is a collaboration between Trevor Van Meter (hence the name) and his partner Ferg.

Between them they have a variety of sites including VanBeater, Jamungo, Pixelperson and my personal favorite… CrappyCat. This site includes a flash game of said CrappyCat which is completely pointless and utterly brilliant and I would highly recommend a walk around CrappyCats world!

The next in my list proves that single product information brochure sites most definitely don’t have to be dull, boring and text heavy. In 1993 11 milk processors in California agreed to allocate 3 cents of each gallon of milk sold to fund efforts to promote the consumption of milk and the GotMilk? brand was born. (I’m sure you all remember the ‘milk mustaches’ campaign – with over 200 celebrities representing the brand – In 2002, the ad was named one of the ten best commercials of all time by a USA Today poll)

In 2006 the the campaign diversified and began targeting the Spanish speaking demograph. Now the brand is back with not one but two interactive websites (one in english one in spanish) and the campaign to get nations drinking milk has begun once again.

I included my next selection to illustrate that, although good navigation is critical to a well designed website, breaking away from the industry standards doesn’t necessarily mean that the site will be inoperable. After a few seconds to get my head around the pencil/zoom function of the site I found that it was, in fact, quite easy to find my way around. Mind you I would expect no less from a 73 year old brand development agency that’s been responsible for campaigns such as Tony the Tiger, Pilsbury Dough Poppin Fresh and Earth Hour, and representing companies such as Kellogs, McDonalds and Levis.

Last but not least I have included the following site on recommendation from a colleague. With all of the DIY and DIC (do it cheap!) ecommerce websites floating around on the web nowerdays, it’s nice to come across a site that takes pride in the customer journey as well as the end result in making a sale. Although the loading times are understandably longer than a run of the mill ecommerce site, the graphics and functionality more than make up for the wait. Couple the smooth navigation and clean design with the vast amount of content (including learn to ride tutorials, news and events and even it’s own community!) Burtons is one of the most comprehensive ecommerce sites on the web today – and they redesign it EVERY year!!