Design Exploration

#1)  www.girleffect.org:

In May 2008, the Nike Foundation and the NoVo Foundation collaborated on an idea called "the girl effect." The leaders of these entities believe that when adolescent girls in developing countries can get an education and are protected from violence and discrimination, the world benefits. Instead of being driven out of school early and into early marriage, childbirth and HIV infection, educated girls understand how to bring economic change to their families, communities and countries.

The visual represenation of that mission is the Web site, www.girleffect.org.

Replete with facts and figures on girls in poverty and how the viewer can help, the most imformative and emotionally powerful part of the Web site is a two-minute type-only animation.

The video, produced in Flash software by Wieden + Kennedy (www.wk.com), takes viewers on an unexpected journey with simple typography, whose frames are paired in perfect time to an urgent-sounding piano composition.

To get the viewer actively involved, the home page immediately asks the viewer to agree or disagree with whether "the world is a mess." One click on "agree" and the video begins.

The designer's minimalist choice of a film without photos or illustration and instead the use of black- and orange-only typography whose message alternately flashes and then rests for a while on the screen makes for a compelling experience. Black typography grounds the message and orange makes it urgent. The typeface itself is all in uppercase lettering and resembles an SOS (international distress) signal. The piano music, all in a minor key, crescendoes and decrescendoes with certain frames. As for the frames themselves, the designer skillfully takes the Girl Effect message and spells it out, mostly in large type, with one to three words taking up each frame. Again, the message here is urgent and the viewer can't miss it.

Once the video ends, the viewer can learn more by viewing videos of girls in developing countries who have tackled the barriers of war, hunger, violence and poverty and made a difference in their villages. The site also provides the tools for girls and women to learn and spread the word such as sending the URL to friends, downloading the logo, posters, stickers and even the html coding for the logo to pass on. Last but not least, the site shows viewers how to take action: Send a girl to school, help fight a legal case, give her a microloan. Small wonder it has already won a Favourite Website Award (www.thefwa.com).

#2) http://dyc.saab-web.com/microsites/turbogene/GLOBAL/en/index.shtml

It's a classic question: If you were a car, what kind would you be? The carmaker Saab takes that query further and asks you to take a Turbo Gene Test on its Web site for International users. "The choices you make define who you are," the site says, so off you go to answer whom you most identify with (Mother Teresa? John Lennon?), what kind of gloves you like, what magazine topics your prefer and more. The results match you with the Saab that suits your life and needs. 

Taking the Saab test is like getting in the driver's seat and steering your personality to the perfect Saab model. Each question has beautiful, sophisticated visuals and with each answer you zig-zag your way closer to the car of your dreams. Jazzy, mood music keeps you rolling along. The site, produced in Flash, has slick typography and lots of white space. The questions and answers have surprising visual rewards. For example, when you pick your favorite glove as a work glove, a wrench falls into it. When you choose your own magazine title, you see a mockup of the cover. This type of novelty is probably exemplary of what Saab drivers want.  A model for other Flash sites, it's logical to see why this site also won an FWA.