Demand design in your web 2.0. Please. From now on, we’re voting with our mouse, and we want you to come along. Design matters. We vow not to spend a single second looking at an ugly screen.
This was brought to mind the other day when an artist we know pointed us in the direction of Virb.com. Another social networking site, yes, like myspace, but prettier. And you don’t have to be a coding genius to make your little corner of the web prettier. Virb lets users click and drag modules around to customize the page. It’s an elegant backend interface, and it makes for elegant user pages. Sure the second wave of users will visually dumb it down, but for now, it’s a designed oasis. And even if they do, Virb has an awesome kill button that removes the users customization for your viewing pleasure. Goodbye wacky background. Goodbye bouncing .gif. (Plus there are interesting music and photo integration features.) So if you’re currently using myspace to get a little free home on the web, do yourself a favor and look at Virb.
On a similar note, YouTube (a dumb name) or Vimeo? Never heard of Vimeo? Here’s the logo:
Friendly. Clean. Uncluttered. Just like the website (and the video interface). Oh, but maybe we’re just taken with sites whose names start with the letters “vi,” you’re saying. Maybe it’s like “vi” is the new “i.” Well then, we submit Flickr and how about Google. See: simple, clean. Yes and yes.
Interestingly, we are not recommending the new social networking site for fashion-heads Iqons.com, but we do have to mention it. If you can get an interview with Franca Sozzani, you surely know a designer who will know someone who can do something to elevate the design.
WHAT TO DO NOW?