Oh Dear _ I think I must have oversold the site.
as "making other websites obsolete".
I always thought the design of websites at a fundemental level was a way of trying to put onto the web a reflection of the personality, aims and goals of the entity that owned the site. So if the site wants to sell you something ( and superbad - why assume all sites want to sell you something ? -it in fact only sells wholesale ) and it is an out and out comercial site then it has to make the viewers experiance as comfortable as possible.
I posted this site only because there was a fews threads earlier in the week where some "off the shelf " templates were being discussed. Now these were all very good and slick but ultimately they would be like the shell of a hermit crab - Someone elses creation , and unless one was very lucky to find the perfect match, none of the templates will quite match the personality of the actual person whos site it was used on.
Tse and Tse seem to me have perfectly got across their personality and "creativity". And it is "creativity" that they are selling , not car parts
They have shown they have that rare ability to also realise on a technical level their ambitions in a complex narrative. I know I don't have that technical ability - my website is real mess and is the result of my technical inability to realise on a website the ideas I have in my head and the finacial inability to pay a professional to do it for me. Thats my failing and it is nice to see a site where it comes over without those 'failures'.
jdp - I know what you mean about how design is communicated. Its a fascinating subject but when you say it is whole another story - mmm - I am not so sure
I think its an error to belive that the design process on a creative level has anything to do with communication. It only only has to do with communication when you get to the point of having to 'sell' or explain your designs to someone else in order to fund, manufacture, build, support etc..... your creation. If you can realise your design on your own and it is a good design in what ever field, it will communicate itself. However we live in the real world and few have the resources to do anything on their own. So to get things done we have to communicate our ideas to others for them to support.
So there are main 4 groups
- those who create rubbish and can't sell their ideas. (that's me)
- those who create rubbish and can sell their ideas. ( I would put most very successful (monetary) architects in this group.
- that my envy)
- those who create brilliance and can't sell their ideas (these are the people we admire and look to, when the their work is profiled by the design media because that is the only time we ever see it, because none of it is ever made
)
-those who are brilliant and can sell their ideas ( this is a very rare combination and it usually helps to be Italian
- anyone have a few examples? - very rare to sustain over a whole career and most of my heroes have ultimately sold out by making branded "bog roll holders", toothbrushes etc for Alessi etc.
.)
So why the rant? - or should I say discussion - here is why and the lesson on sucking eggs.
Maxwell and other forms of communication , when in the hands of illustrators and technical illustrators is an amazing tool, because an illustrator's skill is in the communication of the Idea in its most appropriate and fullest extent, and they are worth every penny of their fee if one has the money. However the Idea itself will already have been created and been vetted elsewhere for its 'goodness' ( for want of a better word). The danger comes when Maxwell falls into the hands of people like myself who get paid for ideas in our field. We can illustrate our ideas, to what appears to the uninitiated, at a very slick and competant level without tomuch difficulty. But the ideas themselves can be crap ! But the quality of the illustration overides our ability to see the faults in the design because we are so impressed by the illustration.
I may suffer from this in relation to the Tse Tse site and have been bamboozaled by the shere anarchic nature of the site - but I genuinely don't think they are trying to sell anything other than their creativity and brand , so that they will have imprinted into like minded people their personality and made their products out from their competitors, when retailers are looking to restock their shops. Afterall the objects that they are selling are through dealers shops (and they look like pretty ordinary tableware) and they have no control about the context of these shops, but they have control about how they set themselves up on the web. I myself am off to France for a holiday and might pop into one of the shops if happen to be passing. However when I go to London, (very infrequently - perhaps once a decade!) then I will pop into the Conrad Shop which is listed as an outlet and see how the "Tse Tse" flies are doing. Hey I might even by a cookie cutter - could be collectable in the future !!! And when I use it I will think of thase crazy French duo and their amazing website !
Why do I leave thinking * Fools* &* Easily parted from their money*
Oh dear - the kids are up - have to make breakfast
TTFN
Jonathan
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