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McLuhan-esque interfaces

Interface design is most successful when the medium is the message. Here are two examples, polar opposites, that illustrate that principle beautifully:

simplicity.jpg On the left is a site for Whitevoid, a company that creates interactive installations for museums and events. The site is essentially an interactive sitemap, elegantly exploded in a gently-rotating 3D space. The interface is fluid, responsive, and highly intuitive – effectively selling the company's capabilities, even before you view any of their work.

On the right is a site by writer and performance artist Miranda July.The entire site is a linear series of simple messages, hand-written in dry-erase marker on the author's kitchen appliances. This presentation format is funny, clumsy, and deeply personal – conveying, in just a few clicks, the writer's particular brand of eccentric satire.

The approach of the first is antithetical in nearly every way to the second: polished vs. crude, high-tech vs. low-tech. But in both these cases, the medium delivers the message (Whitevoid = slick tech / Miranda July = quirky wit) so effectively that you get it, instantly and indelibly.

Posted on Saturday, February 16, 2008 at 09:08PM by Registered Commentercarla echevarria in | CommentsPost a Comment

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