Web Critique: Chicago Artists' Coalition

The list of services on the Chicago Artists' Coalition site makes the advantages of membership very clear. If I were trying to make a living primarily as an artist, I definitely would consider the health care resources and access to the job bank worth the membership fee. Also, the way the galleries are organized really showcases members' work nicely, and you can search for work using a variety of criteria (artist, media, subject, technique). The artists' profiles are great--I liked reading their artist's statements and being able to find links to their own sites.

The calendar is kept up-to-date and it's very informative--you can actually read a description of the events rather than just seeing the titles and wondering what they're all about.

The layout of this site is pretty simple and it's organized well--I didn't have any trouble finding anything I was looking for. It sort of looks like they might have used a Dreamweaver template!

Knitted Village

Now I feel really, really crappy about that one scarf I've been trying to finish knitting for a year now.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/8017645.stm

Bulls Logo

I've had logos on my mind since discovering the great lesson plans on the Cooper-Hewitt website and thinking about the role of design in art education. So I was pretty amused by the recent discovery among sports bloggers that when you turn the Chicago Bulls logo upside down, it looks like a robot sitting on a park bench reading a book:


I am wondering (1) whether this was intentional when the logo was originally designed, and (2) why people are assuming the robot is reading a bible. It looks like a generic book to me...and I would guess most robots aren't religious. Artbot, your thoughts?

How Do You Make It?

Vimeo

A recent Slate article called YouTube for Artistes caught my attention after all the video viewing and making we've been doing. It's about Vimeo, a video-sharing site used by people who the Slate writer describes as "a high-art, film-buff set—the kind of people who, when making movies for the Web, pause to consider such virtues as cinematography, framing, music, and composition."

I watched some of the staff picks and definitely found some great videos that I wish I had seen before getting so far on my own video project. (I still really like mine, but the videos on Vimeo are really inspiring and creative.) I really liked this one because I found it extremely calming and I'm a fan of black-and-white artwork in general:


ultramar from yoonar on Vimeo

Check out the site if you have a chance or if you need some last-minute inspiration!

Web Critique: Street-Level

This site is certainly on the fancier end of ones we've seen so far this semester. When it looks like an experienced web designer had a hand in making a site, I expect it to be well-organized, and this one is. (What a treat after Mess Hall.) But at first I was a little confused--the larger categories of About Us, Programs, Get Involved, and Media are clearly visible across the top, the subcategories in orange bars on the right are not noticeable at all. So when I clicked on About Us and just saw their blog, I initially thought they didn't have a mission statement until I figured out where the subcategories were. The subcategories definitely should stand out more--either as a fly-out menu when you scroll over the main categories, or just bigger and more prominent on the right.

The stop-motion piece, Vroom, is super cute. In general, I'd love to see more info about the projects on the Media section of the site in addition to just the projects themselves. What was the context--did Street-Level go into a school or have kids come to their storefront space? What type of filming and editing training did the kids go through before creating these pieces? How did they determine the subject matter of their assignments--on their own, or through guided assignments by Street-Level?

Uncle Envelope

Uncle Envelope seems like a really cool idea and I thought some people in our class would be interested. It reminds me of Meredith's artist trading cards presentation in C&I, and I would bet Uncle Envelope and Artbot would really get along.

They mail subscribers "an exciting paper object or craft" once a month. It's geared toward kids...or people like me. I am curious about how successful it is; an annual subscription is $36, and they pay artists $200 for their designs.

If you were in Eth/Ped last semester and are an expert zine-maker, send something in and you could get $200 from them. Keep it in mind when you're looking for something to do on May 12!