But Less About Me...

The Largest and Most Eminent of All Juried Competitions in Graphic Design

I do love that headline.

And that's not me, that Communication Arts Magazine's take on their own 14th Interactive Design Competition.

Selected by a nationally representative panel of distinguished programmers, interface designers and creative directors, the winning entries will be published in the September/October Interactive Annual of Interactive Design Competition. Any interactive project created for digital distribution on the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, interactive kiosk or handheld device is eligible. 

Entry fees are $100 (U.S.) per Web site entry and $125 (U.S.) per disk-based entry.

Hurry, deadline for entries are January 11th, 2008.

Want to know who you're up against?

Take a look at last year's winners.

Nike is some sort of shoe company, right?

(Okay, it's not all corporate sites. Check out Jonathan Yuen's showcase for his work.)

I wonder if the jury will be operating out of here?

Photo by Don Fulano

Just In Time for the Holidays

How much is not enough?

From BBC's show Catherine Tate.

(This clip is considered PG-13 in that it recognizes the existence of sex and illustrates the fact adults often make poor decisions after ingesting alcohol.)

Right here on YouTube

Oh the Tangled Webs We Weave

"Forget about the Emmys, right now many are buzzing about the Webbys" - CNN

If you find the Emmys a snooze and the Academy Awards endless, you may want to watch an award show where your work has actually been considered.

Going strong in its 10th year, the Webby Awards recognizes incredible talent in "100+ Website, Advertising, Film/Video and Mobile Web Categories".

These include blogs, use of typography on a site, viral marketing, experimental online film & video, and, yes, weird site.

Time is running out for submitting your winning entry, the deadline is December 14th.

Just think, you'll be able to give your Webby hallmark 5-word acceptance speech in front of millions (online)!

Here's mine:

"Hey, is this thing on?"

Greenwashing? Gaswashing?

I've been passing by the new BP gas station on Olympic for about 6 months now and for the life of me I can't figure out what the company is doing.

Here's a gas station who rents (or owns) the billboards and bus stop surrounding it, promoting messages with flowers and messages like: "Put the petal to the metal", "A little better", and "Everyone into the carpool."

I bought gas at 7pm last night and it was a bit like an other-worldly experience. A woman in a BP shirt named Rita came over, introduced herself to me, asked my name, and wondered if she could answer any of my questions. I didn't ask any (because I was about to faint from overstimulation) but...

1. What's up with the hip music pumping out of the speakers?
2. Why is there a light show going on at your gas station?
3. Why, on every monitor on every pump, is there a video talking about conserving water, gas, paper, and reducing emissions?

Lastly, what kind of gas station has really, really clean, modern bathrooms?

I've since come to learn that the whole station is a LEED certified project, which is a green building rating meaning that it meets certain criteria for "environmentally sustainable construction".

I understand the desire to create better buildings, encourage conservation, but isn't a funky, trendy, ultra-clean gas station an odd place to do it?

Daniel Gross over at Slate agreed, several years ago, that BP's environmental stand is a little crazy, as the world's seventh largest company  "generates the overwhelming majority of its $160 billion in annual revenues from the oil and gas business."

So what's driving BP? Real concern for the environment, craving for the discerning consumer, or confusing bloggers who are in dire need of petroleum?

We're On TV!

Well, our booth is. And, wow, what a booth!

If you're into the Flash world at all and missed this year's FITC Hollywood, you can get a flavor of the event through this clip from blip.tv. (I don't quite no how to turn down the volume of the background so I can hear the interviewees better, but maybe your selective hearing is better than mine.)

If you're interested in learning more about Flash and its capabilities, I highly recommend seeing what events and classes are being held over at LA Flash.