Well, I know that this is hard to imagine, but I do have a Facebook account. It is not the most active account, actually you can say that it is one of the most unused Facebook accounts ever. But from time to time I tend to check it. Today was that time.

I will start this post backwards. That means that I will say Kudos now. Kudos! Facebook is the perfect example that global can be also nice and functional instead of messy and crowded. Facebook is the perfect proof where the design team has the same importance as the developers.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against developers. It is just that most of the time, the design process doesn’t have the same priority as the development one. And it should, because with the help of the designers, developers’ work will be better highlighted.

In this case the design results are awesome. Facebook is clean and simple. It has plenty of features that are well embedded in the design, so the interface would look catchy yet simple. The sidebar is also one of the best optimized sidebars I’ve seen. Every single component in the Facebook UI is well connected with the rest of the site. Even the chat module, looks way much better than standalone instant messaging applications.

It is easy to say which is the best looking social networking site around. That is because big social communities like MySpace or Hi5 have a very ugly interface with poor user experience. In the opposite side Facebook gives lessons about user experience and user interface. I want to say congratulations to all designers from Facebook and keep up the excellent work.

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As it is explained in the title - Zune design rocks. Zune website design rocks! And I must tell you that I’m not a fan. I don’t have a Zune or an iPod. I’m not into portable mp3 or whatever. I just like that design.

In the early days, Zune.net had a pretty good design also. But this one is even better. The pages are simple and clean with no additional or decorative graphics(frilly bits). I like the fact that the images are big and that every visitor can receive the proper message. Also, the headings or categories are wrapped-up in a box container with a strange big padding in the top area - which gives the section a light and at the same time filled air.

One of the things that I like most is the gray color used in this design. That is because from my point of view, gray is the most powerful visual element from the color spectrum. Used correctly it can boost your design but at the same time, gray can ruin the final composition. In this case, it was very clever used and the final effect is as you can see - pretty good one.

This is by far, in a world of “grunge hand-drawn” and web 2.0 designs, a fresh air of innovation. Kudos for the designers!

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Well, I know that when you hear Microsoft, you don’t think immediately at design. Why? Because they are one of the biggest software producers world wide. And so far, their accent was on products and features and less on direct image.

It seems like in the past year, the design of their websites has changed. And the good thing is that it has now new and balanced design lines. And here I’m not talking about the design style from Microsoft Windows Vista, I’m talking about clean and new approach. The designs have distinct elements and they don’t have the same appearance, which is a plus. Also the websites have a div approach rather than table - also a plus.

1. The first design that is comes in to my mind is their first page at Microsoft.com. Well it might not be like Apple.com, but I think is quite elegant. Also very clean and the first page does not have scrollbarofobia like many other corporate websites.
2. The second design that I like is Mactopia.com, which is a website dedicated to Office suite on Mac machines. This has a good clean dark design and really nice graphics - not too much but always in good proportions.
3. The third site is the presentation spot for Expression Studio. Expression Studio is Microsoft’s response to Adobe Creative Suite. For the moment the pack is not so powerful but at least the site looks really good.

My best regards to Microsoft Design Team and keep up the good work.
[Numai bine]

Define: SrollbaroFobia: The scare to have a scrollbar in your browser when displaying a website

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There are lot of web portals out there. In fact, the main web business idea, up until 2003, was a web portal. Everyone wanted to build one and to showcase big amount of information. Now, things are a little different and with the help of some make-up, we call them COMMUNITIES. But at the core level, this websites are portals of information.

The trend was to have a higher diversity of information displayed in a portal. This idea was causing a certain amount of issues because users don’t want everything and users are usually picky. So, the need to niche website was the reason for people to start websites focused on few domains rather than all.

Part of this category of portals is CGSOCIETY.ORG, a comprehensive but still well focused website. It has a big community and also active. The site is quite dynamic with upcoming events and latest news and other features that keep the user online. Also a big advantage for this community is represented by the visual contests with big and valuable prizes. From books to software licenses, from graphic cards to workstations, the visual challenges from CGSociety are assaulted by cg artists in fame pursuit.

The membership on CGSociety comes in 2 flavors - free and paid which cover a wide variety of features. You can choose to have a free account or for a small amount of money you can benefit from discounts on partner sites.

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