http://www.petapixel.com/2012/12/07/ethereal-macro-photos-of-snowflakes-in-the-moments-before-they-disappear/
Russian photographer Andrew Osokin has mastered the art of macro photography.  His photos consist of snowflakes just before they melt and appear to be computer generated.  However, they are real photos taken with his DSLR camera and macro lenses.

www.kayruane.com/
Kay Ruane is a visual artist who lives and works in Cambridge, MA.  I found her site while I was on stublemupon. I like Her site because is simple, easy to navigate and displays all her portfolio in a neat and organized way.

www.havve.net
Havve is a photography site displaying the work of Marek Weiss and Marek Hanke, both photographers from poland.  The site is flash based and have some cool photos.

catinwater.com/2012/08/21/rashad-alakbarov-paints-with-shadows-and-light/
Rashad Alakbarov from Azerbaijan uses suspended translucent objects and other found materials to create light and shadow paintings on walls.  These are pretty crazy to look at.

www.weheart.co.uk/2012/01/24/jason-freenys-anatomical-sculptures/
American artist Jason Freeny Uses small children's toys combined with clay and paint to make detailed anatomical sculptures of childrens characters and cartoons such as Super Mario.

Art and Technology

This is a great website for graphic designers. It offers design contests hosted by real potential clients and anyone can participate, the "winner" (aka best designer) has their work chosen by the client and is paid. There is a wide variety of projects on the site and it is a good opportunity to build your portfolio and maybe make some cash!

http://99designs.com/

Also these games on the site are really fantastic, they are made specifically for designers and definitely appeal to our sense of humor.

http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/06/29/rad-design-games-and-quizzes/

This video is something that I find myself coming back to often, its such a great blend of traditional media and technology and it is truly remarkable. Its like a lava lamp on steroids the way the paint behaves at such high speeds is mind blowing, and their spinning camera rig is equally impressive.

http://vimeo.com/14955603

This video showcases some seriously great film making. It is a creative story with a clever twist at the end, but the cinematography itself is exceptional. I have no idea how these shots were achieved but it is quite an experience to travel through such an exciting environment frozen in time.

http://vimeo.com/7710830

This is a portfolio site for We Think Things. I find their work itself very appealing but I also appreciate the simple interface of their website. It showcases their work nicely and the set up is simple and charming the way they phrase their links.

http://wethinkthings.com/

This site has a lot to offer. I go here often for tutorials, they are useful and very well put together and easy to follow. The site also posts a lot of inspiring design and I find myself scrolling through and gawking on a regular basis.

http://blog.spoongraphics.co.uk/

5 Artistic Websites

http://www.rekkiabilly.com/page/home/#t1

This website featuring the band Rekkiabilly is well crafted, has a sensible layout, and is visually interesting. One of my more favorite aspects of the site is the “X” icon that is used, the skull, when viewing photos or other pop-up windows. This icon is reused throughout the website, both within the banner at the top separating the different links and as bullets under “Latest News.” Reusing material is always a smart idea, especially when tackling large projects such as building a website. It has a rustic, gritty look to it, something I believe probably relates to the band and the music they play, so I’d say the website delivers the band’s image successfully.

 http://www.meomi.com/portfolio.html

While the artistic style is very cartoony and focused more towards a younger audience, it works for this site as it shows the strong points of the Meomi group. Being designers for children’s books and television shows, this style is represented clearly when first opening up the page. This is an important aspect to convey when laying out a website. Does the viewer understand what the website is when they first open it up? Hopefully, the answer is yes. In particular, I really enjoy all of the roll-over animations that have been included around the content area of the pages. It gives the website some extra flavor for those who like to explore.

http://www.bootb.com/en/

Two reasons I included this website: first, I really enjoy the hand-drawn, chalkboard feel going on; second, it promotes artists globally and gets them in connection with other business both large (LEGO) and small. While there are some areas I would improve upon (such as the cluttered feeling and lack of division between the lower sections on the home page), I think the concept is strong. I like that directly on the front page you can see who the more popular artists are, some of the clients that have used BootB, and some of the open projects currently available for artists to tackle.

http://undergrad.biola.edu/

This is a pretty interesting site for a private school in California. While there are a lot of graphics and is visually intensive, I think it is done in such a way that keeps everything organized and understandable. I liked the Student blog sections on the website and how each blog was associated with an image of the student and a small biography about them. The previous and next buttons do not take you to a new page, rather the visual rotates and pans to each new student. Clicking on their person takes you to the blog. Breaking the traditional mold of simply traversing from one page to the next gives the website a lot more interest and excitement.

http://amberjean.com/

I think this website is a good example how something simple can be very elegant and still retain strong artistic qualities. The fading in and out of backgrounds when navigating from one page to the next, the gradient fade applied on her graphics, and its shear simplicity makes the website easy to understand while also being enjoyable to view. The links are laid out in a clear and readily identifiable way such that it makes it easy for me as the viewer to know where I am going and how to get there. The roll-over effects are subtle, a simple shift of the link and a bolding of its letters. This simplicity and elegance is also mirrored in her website signature and logo displayed at the top of each page.

Websites

http://www.liuscreations.com/

A web/interactive designer based in Denver, Liu Xin's online portfolio shows her work in a streamlined manner, with jump offs to get more details on each piece. This site is simple, stylish and functional. I liked the way that she grouped her work into web, print, brand, motion, and concept sections.

http://dribbble.com/

Dribbble is an online gathering of designers. It helps connect designers with each other and with potential clients. I can lose hours browsing through the great current work that designers are posting daily. The clean cut layout keeps the focus on the designers work and keeps functionality of the site high. 

http://kendrickkidd.com/

Kendrick Kidd's web site has a blog style to it showcasing his most recent work (lots of tshirt & packaging design). I enjoyed the variety that chronological ordered provided in showing his work while side links to specific types of media are also provided. 

http://www.jtcdesign.com/

Jessica Caldwell's online portfolio has a minimalist style that helps to keep her design experience front and center. I disliked that when you clicked to expand one of her projects, hovering over the diamonds still popped the other projects up over the top. This seemed odd, but with no other listing of the products this was the only way to jump from one to another so its a bit of give and take. 

http://www.socketstudios.com/

The Socket Studio design portfolio is stunning in its simplicity. I really enjoyed the clean cut effect that the page jumps provided both horizontally and vertically. This allowed each piece to be seen on its own with no distraction from the other work. The navigation is simple, and easy to use while still providing an unusual user experience. 

Before I die I want to

www.beforeidieiwantto.org

"Before I die I want to" is a sight inspired by a psychologists tool called safety contracts.  In the case of the site, people write down accomplishments they want to achieve before they die.  The hope is to inspire people to fulfill their lives goals and desires.  Artistically, the site celebrates the Polaroid which gives an overall feel of nostalgia to the website.  This is one of my favorite websites to browse through. It's covers a large scale of emotions and makes you think about your life and your future.

For the love of creativity

http://www.behance.net
http://www.behance.net/msterling36

behance.net is an online portfolio system that hundreds of people use. You can view all of the profiles and look into the artist's work. One of the portfolios I was looking into was Monica Sterling (second link above). She is our age, and is doing some great work. She gives me hope that I can do this, and that I can succeed.

A way for anyone to get inspiration

Pinterest.com

At this point, I think everyone knows what Pinterest is. It allows people with little artistic ability to be able to make something fun and exciting! There is so much inspiration out there, that you can find almost anything you are looking for. Its fun and often a life saver for projects you dont know what/how to do.

2nd Nature Studio

http://www.2ndnaturestudio.com

This website shows off their company's talent in such an interactive way. It showcased their recent projects on the main page and then had their portfolio in a separate section. They also have a section, in plain sight, informing the viewer that if they want to participate and be on the team they can and it also says how they can do it.

They offer a multitude of different projects from web design to mobile apps. They are all different and exciting to look at.

http://creativesandbusiness.com

This is a good  place to explore when/if your interested in selling your art or going into any type of art related business. 
"Creatives and Business LLC is a Centennial, CO based publishing, consulting and educational firm whose purpose is working to improve the business skills and success of artists and arts/creative organizations. "

here are some of the services this company offers

Services for Artists and Arts Organizations:

• Business Planning
• Marketing Strategies
• Brand Development
• Organizational Development and Training

Gerhard Richter, Artist website

http://www.gerhard-richter.com

I was surfing the internet looking for inspiration for a project and I came across this. Gerhard Richter uses this sight to get his work out there. He has been in this field for over 5 decades. He uses so many mediums and they are all so intriguing. It is definitely something to look at, especially for some new inspiration.

Non-Commercial Sites

http://www.hopkodesigns.com/

Scott Hopko is a teacher at SUNY Cortland with a company located right in the town. He has done a lot of interesting logos that a lot of people don't know about. If you've ever rode on one of the campus busses, the you're on one of three that he's designed. Also the Bricks logo and theme is all from him. These and many other cool designs are all located on his his website, and having him as a former teacher inspired me to one day do some of the work that hes made.

http://www.dollarshaveclub.com/

This website is a little something that i happened to stumble upon the one day and though it was something else. For only a dollar or so a month, the website will send you above average razors right to your door. On the main page of the site is a youtube clip advertising the company, and to me, i think its a very comical way of broadcasting it. After seeing this video, i actually get the razors sent to me for basically no cost and it's a lifesaver.

http://www.choonimals.com/

choonimals.com is a site that I've been going onto for years now, and a clothing line that iv'e been a fan of for sometime now. I forst met the owner of the company at a rock concert, and from there fell in love with the line. It basically started off as four best friends doodling during class in high school and would put these doodles all over the school. People soon became big fans of these crazy drawings and asked them to keep making them. One day the friends started making the doodles on shirt and selling them, then the rest is rock n' roll history. I go on the site at the beginning of every season to see what new stuff they put out.

http://beer.wikia.com

If you have any odd question about ber or any answer that needs to be solved, then this site is perfect. It has information on all types a beers and this to me is very interesting. It kind of makes you want to try different flavors of beer. Once discovering this site, i found out all sorts of facts about my favorite beers that i never knew of.

http://artofmanliness.com/

The sites name basically says it all. Its just a big site of manly art and things like it. I actually used stumbleupon.com to help me out on this one. This site also helps you out with grooming, dressing and men's help. It more or less a big encyclopedia for how man should live

The Jealous Curator

www.thejealouscurator.com

The Jealous Curator is a site of modern artwork.  It constantly is updated with new pieces featuring many diverse artists.  Many mediums are covered throughout the website and it is very inspirational tool to browse through.  The website also provides links to artist's personal pages, museums and events.  It's a great way to see what artists in different fields are working on.

Kelsey Souza, Non-Commercial Graphic Design

Graphic Design USA is a current news magazine for design professionals.  It includes not only graphic design articles but all fields of design, for instance package design, cover design, web design, printing, and in house design. Created in 1963, it features artists, trends, top professors, current news and its relation to the design world. This magazine also displays advertising on the website that is tailored to design, especially multiple media types. To stay ahead of trends and on top of design it is important to keep yourself up to date and well read in magazines such as this one. 

http://www.gdusa.com/

Ink Wells is a small graphic design and printing company that my cousin started our of Jamestown, NY.  Developing the idea for this business from a separate snowboarding website, my cousin John fell in love with digital photography and the inspiration around him.  Ink Wells supports independent artists, photographers and small companies and bring them together to create their art.  They specialize in printing custom and unique artwork, but have big dreams as well as big plans for expansion.

http://inkwells.co/blog/         or        http://www.facebook.com/InkWellsCo

Stressdesign is a well known and well established firm in local Syracuse, NY who specializes in communication design for both profit and non profit companies.  They emphasize the importance of the client artist relationship on their website, which as as a consumer would be an important thing to be looking for.  They have many bright bold, easy to understand elements in their work, which is also an important consumer desire, in terms of understanding the work and advertising for the company.

http://www.stressdesign.com/our-work/

Lis Design is a design company who has had their hand in just about every business in my hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY.  In the scheme of things her studio may be considered on the smaller side, but it is a full service design studio that focuses on marketing properly to make the customer happy.  I really love the phrase that lis design is known for, "ideas that are beautiful." It is clear, short and true to the style of the business. 

http://www.lisdesign.com/

For my last website I decided to look at a web design company, Black Sheep Web Design out of Albany, NY. This company specializes in website design, maintenance and hosting for both profit and non-profit organizations.  They lay out their homepage clear as day, which is easy to explore as someone who is just exploring.  I like how each section is easy to identify for even a first grader to understand.  My favorite part about this website though is the black sheep logo, which is a fresh take on this once unlucky name.

http://www.blacksheepwebdesign.com/

Digital Art

http://www.hugeinc.com/

Huge Inc. is an advertising agency designed to promote different products and businesses online. They have 7 offices worldwide, even one located in Brooklyn, NY. They also endorse different events happening worldwide promoting goods and services.

 http://www.tbgdigital.com/

TBG Digital is an advertising agency that helps to promote brands through social networks such as Facebook and twitter. They pay close attention to demographics to draw in the right crowd for the business they are promoting. They have an office located in New York.

 http://www.adweek.com/adfreak

Adweek is a website that promotes products and advertises for them. They have a section called Adfreak which displays the best and worst of advertising. Some products were amusing to see but very interesting to know that they exist

http://www.bigspaceship.com/what-we-do/

Big space ship is a company that advertises through connecting products and businesses. According to their site, “we don’t consider this the digital age — that’s too simple. This is the age of connection” (Bigspaceship). They link the fields of design, technology, and communication together to make a connection and strong marketing strategy.

http://www.ideo.com/about/

Ideo is an advertising company that uses the design approach to market new businesses and products to the global community. They promote businesses and help them flourish. They help organize companies markets so they can be stable and adapt to the ever changing community and culture.

Non-commercial

http://www.datainterfaces.org/2011/11/twitter-orographies/

Twitter Orographies is a twitter conversation experiment. The interface represents the discussion of a chosen keyword. Relations between given topics are then shown and a multi-dimensional space emerges.

http://www.princeton.edu/artofscience/gallery2011/index.php%3Fp=1.html

I found this online gallery very interesting. All of the photos displayed are parts of science experiments. This competition is hosted by Princeton University. In 2011, 168 pieces were submitted from 20 different departments.

http://io9.com/5756701/artist-uses-nasa-technology-to-capture-the-cosmic-beauty-of-flowers-in-extreme-detail/gallery/1

This gallery contains pictures taken of flowers using NASA technology. The techniques used were once developed to take pictures of the surface of Mars.

http://www.facebook.com/maggiesjewelrybox

This jewelry maker from Oswego, NY posts all of her jewelry on Facebook while her website is under construction, though it will be opening soon. Maggie uses models that she finds on Facebook to model the jewelry that she has made while taking stunning photos of it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/cyber-art-artists-photographers-and-film-makers-using-new-technologies/11638.html

In this video, narrator David Reid talks about the Ars Electronica Festival in Linz, Austria. This festival displays art created with new technology. Artist Matthew Gardner has an installation of robotic origami flowers that open and close as someone walks by. 

Dangers of Fracking

www.dangersoffracking.com

Dangers of Fracking is a website explaining what hydraulic fracturing is and the process it involves.  It's a creative way to explain a very serious and confusing topic.  The visuals are eye catching and the way in which you navigate the page is very interactive.  This site also makes it easy to get involved with organizations and contact local officials.  Overall it's a creative way to get the word out about an important issue.

The Wilderness Downtown

www.thewildernessdowntown.com

The Wilderness Downtown was created a few years back to promote Google Chrome and experiment with its capabilities.  My friend showed it to me when it first came out and I thought it was a cool idea.  It's an interactive film created by Chris Milk and features music by Arcade Fire.  The sight is built with HTML5 video, audio and canvas.  Since the only way to successfully view this website is by downloading Google Chrome, it works as a good marketing tool.

Design Milk

www.design-milk.com

Design Milk is an online "magazine" that features modern art, architecture, interior design, furniture, decor, fashion and technology.  The sight is constantly updated with new products and gives links to their original website.  It's a great way to get inspired and see what other designers have been working on around the world.

Jenn Pedersen, non-commercial websites

www.postsecret.com

Post Secret is considered a blog, it is a ongoing community mail art project that is created and run by Frank Warren and volunteers. Many people in the United States and around the world mail Frank post cards with creative art, most including typography to tell the world their secret. 

http://www.qcassetti.com/

Q. Cassetti’s website is extremely interesting. Within her site she displays her illustration, which includes works for clients including Steuben Glass, The Corning Museum of Glass, Cornell and Tiffany and Company to name a few in her long list. Most of Q’s clients have found her by seeing her works that she has done for other clients, online. 

http://www.davidairey.com/

David Airey is a graphic designer using the internet to gain clients. I thought that his site was extremely interesting because on the home page he is showing and explaining how he begins and goes through his process of getting to the final design. I also found it interesting because he shows his main portfolio but also different branches of portfolios including photography, printing, posters, ect. 

www.pinterest.com

Although this is not just directly for art and artists, it is a way that artist can and do get their work seen. Anyone can get a pinterest account and create boards to "re-pin" different things they see. One major catagory is art, a viewer can click on the picture to go to a link making this another way to get work/design, ect seen online. 

JLPhotography33

I know a lot of photographers use this as a way of getting their work out there and getting clients. Although just amateur I have booked two weddings, and a family shoot by putting my work in different folders. 

Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/petes.cakes?fref=ts

I'm not sure if this is considered non commercial but I know that there are a lot of people who use this as a way of advertising or getting there name out there. For example my Dad created a page specifically for his business called Pete's Cakes. He has all of his prices and types of baked good that he makes posted as well as photos of his work.

Etsy

http://www.etsy.com

This is a websites where artists can buy and sell handmade or vintage items. This is said to be the world's most vibrant handmade marketplace. I choose to share this because I know someone who makes their own jewlry and then uses this technology to sell their pieces.

Artists use technology to re-imagine old masters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9435907.stm

"Every act of creation is first an act of destruction," said the great Pablo Picasso.

I found this video to be very inspiring. It shows how a new generation of artists have been commissioned to recreate some of the old masters using technology.

http://utica.krock.com/

KRock is a local radio station in Utica NY. This website advertisers local businesses, offers contests for rock concerts and provides videos and photos of shows. KRock has links that allows its listeners to connect with them through twitter, youtube and Facebook. This site even provides a live radio stream of music.

icrossing, digital marketing services.

http://www.icrossing.com/about-icrossing-interactive-agency

icrossing is a digital marketing agency that builds connected brands. I choose this website because the company is an idea driven, interactive agency that was built to build connected brands.

"We combine talent, technology and a partnership with Hearst to build connected brands and turn customers into evangelists. We provide every digital marketing service out there – and then some. We strategize. We measure. We create. We innovate. And we do it all in over 100 countries and as digital AOR for over a dozen clients."

Modern Marketing Concepts

http://www.mmcweb.com/tour.aspx

Modern Marketing Concepts is a Business in Kirkwood New York.  This business was created by one man Dan Babcock. Over the years he has grown his business into a very successful one. A lot of his clients learn about his business by his well organized web page. It has videos explaining, pictures to see and a lot of other useful information.

http://www.prlassociates.net/company.cfm

PRL Associates is a company my dad and two partners own.  They have website that promotes business for them.  A lot of their clients are referrals  but when people refer them, they like to look them up and on the web.  By having a web page it encourages clients to pursue business with them.  It shows they are put together and will get the job done.

Hue

http://www.huestudios.com/

Hue is a graphic design firm in Binghamton New York. On their site they have a page solely dedicated to their marketing technique. Their technique is just like what we talked about in class. They take advantage of every technology source possibly to spread their business.

 "We develop big ideas without losing sense of the details.

our marketing approach integrates innovation, creativity, and visual excellence into big ideas and implements them across all mediums: web, digital, print, tv, radio, and social media.

through our creative process, we build solid marketing strategies based on business objectives and market research. this results in an accurate, unified voice that produces more conversions, and higher sales".

http://www.hopkodesigns.com/

This is a really interesting website that displays a local graphic design firms work.  They have been around since 1998 and have been running a successful business.  Most of their clients know about them through their website.  I thought this was a very good example of showing how having a well organized website displaying your work can result in a successful business.

How to use technology to gain a competitive advantage

http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/blogs/using-technology-to-gain-a-competitive-advantage-07062012.html

I found this article very intriguing.  People are always saying how technology is the future.  We need to learn as much as possible about it and how to use it in a beneficial way.  This article discusses exactly why it is so important. I think businesses will continue to use technology as a source of improving their businesses and getting a step up on competitors.

Welcome Everyone