After cruising the interwebs day in and out, I’ve come across an array of well designed sites and smartly executed functional approaches to apps and web tools. But of all of those I’ve seen, the ones that get me excited all over again are those that seem to effortlessly accomplish both an aesthetic challenge and the functional needs of the site all at once. In that short list of sites, I would have to say that the AIGA, of all people, rarely meet that expectation. Well, this is an exception to that statement. The AIGA NY chapter seems to have raised the bar on my expectations, at least within the AIGA spectrum of things.
Although the AIGA NY site fits within the rigid standards and provides nearly identical content as some of the other AIGA sites, it provides a much more comprehensive sense of information available through its sexy grid based design and tidy little description buckets scattered throughout. It also uses a minimal color pallet to highlight the important bits of information and call out sections of relevance. The type choice is perfectly legible and exemplifies everything one should hope for in a site that caters to designers and artists alike. On top of the aesthetics, the site utilizes the ever so important RSS feed as a way to collect desired content on the fly.
After working with the AIGA MN chapter on a web project of similar scope (this project won’t go live until sometime in the spring of 09), it’s hard to not notice something so wonderfully executed. It actually makes me sort of jealous, which in all honesty, makes me cringe when thinking about anything AIGA. BUT, as it seems there is not only hope for something with such a stained reputation as the AIGA, but other sites that face similar challenges and obstacles. If anything, this should be noted as an excellent source of information and inspiration as well, to designers and other AIGA chapters. Take notes.
