Lounge Lizard
Top web design and development firm. Specializes in online marketing.
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High-end web design, SEO and e-commerce with award winning results.
A fairly fun site for Acura (Canada) that provides far more than a fair approximation of what this SUV feels like. In fact, beyond providing intimate marketing details of every feature of this automobile, it enacts several Flash powered 3-D dramatizations of futuristic special effects, like for instance, the hybrid hovercraft/suspension - that you really have to see for yourself. What more can we say? Go for it!... More
A great sales tool for alta fixed-gear bikes, with a very nice yarn. Hilarious photo illustrations in a very short, sweet, and funny presentation... and besides the bikes are just sharp. The 'Thread behind the bike is that it's a joint project beween graphic designers (Bleed), furniture designers (Norway Says), product designers (Frost Produkt) and advertisers (Shnel&Melnychuck). Perfect.... More
A new Flash website in an austere style for Belgian furniture and partioning designer Alternativ. We liked how the site has a high attention to detail that is lacking in similar sites in this genre. And apparently, not only is the design very clean, minimal and beautiful, it is also functional and fully indexable by search engines. Ultimately, even though we felt the Flash transitions were on the slow side, the overall presentation makes the product photography appear artful – and distinctive.... More
Nature already has all the best answers to all of our major design problems. So why not ask nature? Evolution has already developed and created the perfect designs, and all we have to do was emulate mother natures' wonders to improve our lives. In this time of green consciousness, a Darwinian approach to a green future will harness the biology of nature (biomimetics) to help us innovate naturally and efficiently. Find out more at this great portal design, sponsored by Autodesk.... More
The culmination of websites that are supporting the launch of the Audi-TT Coupe. The site demonstrates a great grid-based web design. Multiple medias like streaming video, DHTML and integrated audio provide visitors with an opportunity to peruse through a rich description of the creative paths taken in the construction of this car. The structured nature of the metagrid boxes couples control and flexibility and an elaborately expanding interface control utilizes pictoral navigation to maintain a theme of beauty & exploration. All this while light design contrasts highlight the subtle silver tones and sophisticated beauty of the Coupe.... More
The official Lamborghini website is the ultimate purist site for an Italian sports car lover. It does exactly what an exotic sports cars design company should do... And that's the opposite of thrilling you with special car games or cooler-than-thou navigation... Lamborghini righteously showcases their entire auto history with full-screen photographs, specs and measurments of some of the sickest cards known to man - from the very first model to today's ultra refined speed machines. Done up in the simplest black, with a totally minimal navigation yet a healthy heap of attitude, you may have to look twice to realize it's a full Flash site. All the effects and transitions are played down as to reduce their interference with the goods... And for any sports car purist, 'the goods' are the sexy, aggresive and mind-blowing designs of the Lamborghini autos themselves.... More
Exactly how all websites may look one day - this is certainly the way we'd love to make websites; minimalist, white, with light splashes of color is what it's all about (for us). Trim copy, big product images, an appearance of high quality for this bespoke outdoor camping products shop. What's not to love? Neat looking & really simple.... More
Clase-A was developed for advertising the Mercedes - Benz A Class in 1997. 15 days after releasing the web site the car had it's own technical bugs. "The client gave us total freedom" Since the year of it's design the site has been regaled as a beautiful product despite the delivery extention on the car. All graphics were done using Freehand, Photoshop and After Effects.... More
The old school industrial design magazine from the Pratt Design School in NYC. Core was changed in 1999, but still features articles and student projects with a clean delivery. Designed at Pratt University in NYC, originally by industrial design students, this site was a portal for showcasing student works and exhibits. Core77 is now (Nov.2000) more focused on promoting web design and ID together as a more universal graphic design portal and resource, but it has lost much of the interesting interface design that first made it a standout project.... More
Design and the Elastic Mind explores the reciprocal relationship between science and design in the contemporary world by bringing together design objects and concepts that marry the most advanced scientific research with attentive consideration of human limitations, habits, and aspirations. The exhibition highlights designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and history—changes that demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior—and translate them into objects that people can actually understand and use. This Web site presents over three hundred of these works, including fifty projects that are not featured in the gallery exhibition. Originally launched in February of 2008.... More
Ah, we can feel the effervescent cleaning power at work on our brains already... With this sky-blue background and gravity-defying water droplets, this single page gateway site for Electrolux – a Swedish appliance company – oozes with a fresh, sensual appeal. Unfortunately, the killer drawback to this page is that every single link takes you to another pop-up Electrolux site... Which wouldn't be so bad if the designs were more similar. It's a great gateway splash page, but ultimately this page is 99% functionally irrelevant. It's a testament to the difficulty (and failure) of unifying a multitude of branded global sites under one design. We can only hope, perhaps, that the design of this one page wonder will eventually be "filtered-down" to all the sub-country sites. In the meantime, enjoy the bubbles, but just don't click on anything!... More
The British invention of the hovercraft was the inspiration for Swedish lawnmower inventor Karl Dahlman to develop a flying lawnmower and this site presents the product line with a lean but bold design impact. This is a well branded, brightly colored and amusing site that remains clean and clutter free, but sprinkled with demonstrative gif builds. An overall appealling product design and impressive online delivery of it's capabilities and range of models.... More
This small site for a hybrid industrial and product design company features some nice gratuitous 3-D Flash movement and good overall cohesion and 'sense of space'. The highlight of this very crisp design is the green, living, modular and sometimes gooey nav system found positioned at the bottom left which guides you through the six basic pages of the site.... More
Home of the legendary eyewear designers ic! berlin, this site is just pure fun in a fabulous line work design which emphasizes the feather light style of designer glasses. It's rare to see such playful creativity in a product site, but ic! berlin crosses the line in this award winning site with lots of playful visuals - after all, if you are going to treat your eyes to some great looking designer frames, why not have a fun visual site too? It's a perfect marriage of promotion, art and design crafted with a confident, light-hearted attitude. Explore this site, and your eyes will thank you!... More
This large industrial design firm's site is an excellent example of Swiss design methodologies. Strong linear Swiss grid techniques lend support to this visual structure while the contrast of the bright yellows and blues help highlight the products. Ideo enlisted the excellent web talents of Metadesign to create their website, which garnered several web design accolades and awards for their innovative and appropriate design solution.... More
Iomega's site employs a 'templated' design concept of bold lines and tonal balance that differentiates a range of products while it still maintains unity under a single brand. Their heavily framed section dividers invoke the same design used in the package and identity design on their data storage products and equipment. This site has since been redesigned.... More
Even if the Rondo is not a true "green" car, this design for the Kia Rondo site is very eco-friendly and happy—it is actually a mid-sized hybrid SUV with the fuel efficiency of a sedan... but it does not use any alternative fuels. And the bright copy and fictional marketing words like "giddyupidness" and "cabinocity" remind us a little bit of the Tour De France branding on TV in 2006: "The Cyclism". None of this is necessarily a bad thing! It's "enlightening" that car companies are beginning to base some of their marketing around eco-friendly appearing designs... it's just not truly eco-friendly until it's not creating pollution at all. But we loved the soft rainbow colors, and the happy marketing copy. We also liked the idea of small puzzle-based mini-games, enforcing the concept of a car for "smart" people. It maybe a bit too cheery for us, personally, but for... More
Heralded as one of the world's most luxurious sedans, Maybach Manufaktur is a lineage of traditional craftsman who create an exclusive class of hand-finished saloon style automobile. From bumper to bumper, interior to exterior, the Maybach sedan exudes beauty, refinement and sophistication. Therefore it only makes sense that their online presence is in a class far above and beyond any other automotive web sites. On their site, you can bask in the the rich heritage dating back to the late 1890's and follow the history of the Maybach founders to the present day, as a part of DaimlerChrysler Works. Crafted in alluring beige and brown tones, the site truly exemplifies the magical aura of the Maybach Manufactur line of high-end sedans. Certainly, best of breed for the category.... More
We've always been big fans of wood textures in websites – and even more so when it compliments the subject matter. In this case, the site is for a Belgian furniture design company. And like the furniture itself, the site uses classic grid-based design—pure simplicity with wood texture backgrounds.... More
Here's an interesting site (we missed) that launched back in 2005... Remote controlled, dynamic lighting—an advanced lighting solution that brings the rythmic fluctuations of daylight into the working environment. Dynamic Lighting is something you install into your home or office that alternates between blends of cool and warm light to create a stimulating (or soothing) ambience, based upon the time of day, or your own preferences. It's a really interesting technology, and this clean, sky-tones-on-white website has all the right demos and diagrams to communicate the concept with the utmost clarity.... More
Hummingbirds, asymmetrical berries and mathematical rain are just a few of designs you'll find in this beautiful site for a custom wallpaper design studio. Why frame your art when you can have it as a repeating pattern all over your walls? Porter Teleo puts the art back into wallpaper by using very minimal concepts - a type of Japanese sensibility - and abstract shapes incorporated into harmonious color schemes. And the site, designed by Shawn Sanem Art & Design, brings out all the beauty of the art inside by allowing it to take center stage. It's a perfect harmony of art, product and online visibility vehicle.... More
Saab A clean and picturesque place for cruising through the simplicity of Saab's automotive wonders. Saab is a delicate and finely balanced corporate site. The light balance and subtle shades of colors hints at elegance and craftmanship while the precisely positioned shots and close-ups speak more to the underlying power of engineering coming from the twofold craftsmen of jet planes and automobiles. Overall, a simple and classic site that also provides multiple language support without sacrificing design. The site was redesigned recently, but it did not loose any of it's beauty and even gained some usability features in the process.... More
Every once in a while, we come across a site or portfolio that truly breaks new ground in interaction and interface design... Of course, you don't need to read any farther to know what you can only experience by visiting the site. But let's just fill in the blanks; This is an art and industrial design portfolio website for the works of a creative duo from Hungary. Spavia (both sections) contains artworks and projects in ceramics and porcelain, silicate design products, paintings, photograms and photography. Kudos go out to these two who have obviously contemplated the medium (Flash) and made their portfolio very easy to use and understand, while also developing a highly original creation. (Added HINT: Use intuitive keyboard buttons to "walk" through instead of clicking.)... More
Forget for a moment – websites, posters, fashion, electronics, and furniture... here is an outstanding design firm that specilizes in shipbuilding... yachts to be exact! And what yachts they are – we just can't get enough of the design of these unique vessels. Some of them look like PT-boats, updated with a modern twist. The larger yachts have this sophiticated, military line to them, almost like mini naval cruisers. But that's just the exteriors... Tansu takes their vast experience in product and interior design, and pours it into an thoroughly obsessive attention to detail, styling and architecture that raises the entire boating experience to a higher plane of expression and usability—inside and out. Living at the crossroads of so many design disciplines, while crafting such beautiful, usable crafts is really just unfair. Damn right, we're straight-up jealous! All that, and a great Flash site too.... More
In a continuing sign of the explosion of video gaming to come, Atari rises from the ashes to release a first-of-its-kind Massivly Multiplayer Online racing game for the XBOX360 platform. Test Drive Unlimited is the signature release for the 360 (much as Halo was for the first generation XBOX) which is virtually set on 1000 miles of 3D roads on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Test Drive brings many unprecedented online features to the racing genre and is the first title to fully showcase the true power of the new triple-processor system. If you haven't been keeping up with video games since the days of Spy Hunter then you'll be astounded by the graphics available for home systems which undoubtedly rival the realism of 3D created for blockbuster animation movies. We're very happy that Atari has released a slick, flashy site that describes all of the features, and provides fresh... More
This posting is actually two sites by BP—two sites which share the same branding, color scheme and purpose; to indroduce us to "greener" ways we can live our lives in conjuntion with gasoline usage. BP is savvy when it comes to grasping the idea of environmental impact, and has used it extensively in crafting their brand. In site one, (thegreencurve.com - see main link) we learn how well we are doing personally on the "greencurve" of environmental impact. In site two, alittlebettergasstation.com, we explore some new forward-thinking industrial design by BP in the form of their futuristic and eco-friendly gas station. This page contains a stand-alone Flash piece that uses animated, "cartoony" characters reminicent of very early TV ads for gas stations with a dash of Looney Tunes thrown in. Hopefully, this kind of thinking, and eco-friendly branding becomes more of a trend moving into the future.... More
Welcome to the masterful branding that is the Volkswagon auto site... from end to end, title to widget, hype to reality and rubber to chrome, every nook and cranny of this car site is meticulously polished and in line with the new "V-dub" branding. The only comparable web site we can think of which is so seamlessly intergrated is Apple's—which also builds upon the strong use of white, (occasional black) and bold, full-screen presentations. Screen after screen there are beautiful layouts and great car photos to behold... but functionally, there are some real wonders in here too; 3D-on-the-fly-rendering of videos, the widget/dashboard nav, build and crash your own car, or take one of the VW rides into the Compare-o-tron. What can we say—after three days exploring this site, we are still finding it increasingly impressive.... More
