About twelve years ago, a friend told Dan Coe about his job in multimedia. Shortly after he began working with him, along came the Web. He never looked back. In 2006 he launched Coexist with partner Christian Deuber.

03.21.07

Cars and Commerce

What's currently your favorite site? These may seem like odd choices, but Acura.com for its clever interface design and Google Finance for its information and information design.

What's the subject/topic of of them? I guess its fairly obvious, but Acura is a brand communication piece representing the auto manufacturer's product line and Google Finance is a tool that tracks everything related to business and finance.

What makes them notable? Acura.com is a great example of bringing content to the surface or giving visitors a sneak peak. The user can simply roll over each line of vehicles (RL, TL, TSX, etc.) in the global nav and get a sense for Acura's current stable of vehicles. Beyond that, sub-categories (like Features and Options) are nicely hidden away so the tertiary nav is the focus—ultimately it creates a more upscale, edited look and feel. Well done!

And, you can go ahead and say that I'm boring but I've found Google Finance to be a great source for business news. Google offers up information so intelligently and contextually that I'm constantly picking up bits of what's going on within our own industry as well as our clients'. Actually, I'm looking at it right now: Getty's revenue increased by 9.5 percent last year.

Technically, what's unique about them? Acura.com performs very well. The global nav is tight and reactive and the promo animation is surprisingly smooth for being so big. Google Finance's search tool at the top of the screen is a great piece of functionality. It looks benign enough but it actually behaves like Spotlight and is incredibly effective and easy to use. You can also save companies to your online portfolio and see what other investors have to say in a community feed delivered contextually with each business. No wonder Google stock is nearly $500 a share.

Could they be better? Acura.com is a great extension of their brand, so nothing comes immediately to mind that I would change. But, with Google, I haven't found a way to add my Google Finance portfolios to my Google home page yet. If this functionality exists, it should probably be more overt; if it doesn't, Google needs to get crackin'.

What's your job? I'm a co-owner and the director of interactive at Coexist in Columbus, Ohio.

If you have a degree in what field is it? I have a degree in visual communication from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

How did you get involved in this industry? About twelve years ago, a friend told me about his job in multimedia, creating digital magazines delivered on CD-ROM. I started working with him and along came the Web. I never looked back. I still love my job.

What's your biggest Web (design) turn-off? Sites that don't show an understanding of what the Web is currently capable of delivering. The best rich media sites walk the line but don't cross it.

What inspires you? Hillman Curtis's thought-process and Michael Jager's style.

What's the weirdest thing you've bought online? I guess I don't buy weird things. I do by a lot of things online though. Does anyone need any boxes?

What do you do in your spare time? I usually go for bike rides (mountain, road or around town with my wife) or walks through the woods with my two Rhodesian Ridgebacks (Gunnar and Mable).

What music are you listening to right now? Whatever's streaming through WOXY (funny how it's changed from artist to channel).

What gadget can you not live without? It would have to be my Treo; I kind of fear my children will be born with tiny thumbs.

What's your dream computer set-up? My dream would be for Adobe to release CS3.