"Using dimensional space to navigate layers of content is intuitive and the z-space in the execution works nicely." —juror Gabrielle Weinman
"It’s pretty rare that I would evaluate this kind of navigation system as a success (links that scroll away from you when you try to click them, a navigation that inverts and moves away when activated), but that’s exactly what I would call this site—an overwhelming success. The combination of stunning typography, unexpected information design and compelling motion have made me rethink how we structure information design online." —juror Liz Danzico
Overview: Justin Lerner is a designer, animator and programmer who looks at every project as an opportunity to do something new. He also likes to make things move. Bored by about 95 percent of what he sees online, he not only wanted to demonstrate his talents and drive his freelance business, he wanted to engage his visitors. The target audience is anyone looking to create a unique interactive presence on the Web—and everyone else.
• The project took one person two months.
• Vector graphics became distorted when zooming in; the only way to keep design elements clean was to use all font-based graphics.
• Since launch, the site's received around 60,000 hits.
Comments by Justin Lerner:
What was the most challenging aspect of the project? "The biggest challenge was creating a site that was unique and engaging—and not discouraging to use. I know some people aren't interested in playing with Flash sites, so I needed to make it user friendly, while still maintaining the integrity of an innovative Flash piece.
"The navigation is the driving force. I thought long and hard about how to approach navigation in a way that felt new and interesting. I came to the conclusion: What if the site didn't have separate pages, but instead every page actually existed at once. This spawned the idea of a large arrangement of all my content. I also thought about how sites always show content straight on, and I wanted to break the habit by allowing the content to be viewed from various angles. The physical content is secondary. The site experience is meant to engage viewers first, and if/when they're interested in learning more about my expertise, they can read up on it.
"I receive e-mails from around the world telling me they love it and asking me how I did it. It has definitely done its job in driving business, as I receive many job inquiries that start out with a compliment to my site."