“A great use of fashion photography and simple interaction to showcase products.” —juror Bryan Finke

“Super-sexy interface!! You have to drag your mouse over the model’s body to view a closeup.” —juror Sasha Kurtz

Overview: Simple in nature, this pop-up sitelet gets straight to the product without using a complicated hierarchy. The ultra-simplistic interface is refreshing, a product teaser using models that have come to symbolize the Victoria’s Secret brand.

• Heavy use of rollovers
• 8 styles, with 12 different washes/possibilities
• 2 months, 6 people

Comments by Vas Sloutchevsky: 
“When clients like Victoria’s Secret come knocking on your door, you can’t afford an out-of-the-box design solution—it has to be fresh and unconventional. Thankfully, a new line of jeans from Victoria’s Secret provided ideal inspiration—beautiful photos of beautiful women in beautiful clothing!

“Every time we approach a new interface design we think of a graphic device that can turn into an interactive hook. In this case, the first thing we noticed about the client’s images (besides being irresistibly sexy) was that they could easily be turned into silhouettes. Since the model silhouettes resemble letterforms when they line up, and letters and words are the world’s most common navigation devices, it led us to consider using the images themselves as a primary means of navigating the site. Typography and other navigation elements also complement the models’ silhouettes.

“After the interactive hook for the Style Index became reasonably clear, we started thinking of putting a different twist on it for the Style Detail pages. We decided to turn the layout 90° and make the ‘reveal’ line (the vertical line, that follows the mouse and defines the edge of the mask and conceals part of the image) horizontal. This allows for the mask to reveal an enlarged view of a model while keeping the other models in plain view.

“We projected the same logic to the remainder of the experience—the Wash Index and Wash Detail pages. By adding cross-links throughout the site, virtually any piece of content becomes available from any given point. Finally, to emphasize the four-way symmetry of the site, we placed the Blue London Jean logo in each quadrant.

“We can honestly say that working on this site was one of the most creatively rewarding experiences of the past year. All of the pieces merged together in a seamless manner and the end result is a site with equal parts sex appeal and functionality.”