Clay Andres

Great Sites: Bright Site, Little Company

Cutting-edge Web design is usually associated with big-budget companies and high-priced design agencies located in the big, coastal burghs. But deep in the heart of the country, a niche company called on a local firm to design its Web site. The polished result shows that clean design and editorial wit thrive in the fertile soil of Tennessee.

Great Sites: What Makes Sun's Site Shine Brightly

Sun Microsystems, the self-proclaimed "leading provider of equipment and services that make the Net work," has a big Web site. You might also expect that this manufacturer to the planet's geekiest people would have the typically cluttered site of the computer world, where functionality is compromised in favor of information overload. Not so.

Great Sites: When the Web is the Brand

The Web is undoubtedly a new medium, but old rules still apply. The biggest difference is that a company's Web site becomes its own brand. Once you recognize this fact, the design of sites takes on a whole new dimension.

Great Sites: A Metaphoric Stroll Through the Shelburne Museum

Although difficult to capture in cyberspace, the Vermont arts and crafts museums Web site gives a digital tour worthy of its surroundings.

Great Sites: SFMOMA Showcases Modern Art in a Modern Medium

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art site highlights the museum's extensive resources and collections with elegance and innovation worthy of the SFMOMA name.

Great Sites: The New Yorker's Style

Some people like it, some don't. The topic is "The New Yorker's" relatively new Web site, and contributing editor Clay Andres likes it quite a bit, banner ads notwithstanding.

Great Sites: The Beauty of Understatement

Gmund.com is a site that says very little in words, but conveys a great deal in images. Yet it is not Flash-laden or loud in any way. Instead, it speaks in whispers, carrying this home page's message -- "a culture in papermaking since 1829."

Great Sites: A Novel Interface for the Smithsonian's Everyday Things

Don't you hate it when the first page of a site is nothing more than a long list of technical requirements for viewing the site? This is not a good way to begin a quality Web-browsing experience. Yet the appropriately titled "Revealing Things" prototype created for the Smithsonian Without Walls has no choice.

Great Sites: Gates Benevolence in Action

These days it seems I can evoke groans of disrespect in any group simply by mentioning the name: Bill Gates.

Great Sites: Holocaust Memories Live in Media-Rich Site

This site doesn't sell or advertise anything. It doesn't ask you to register or fill out a survey. It will probably never be updated, and yet it will never be outdated. It is a site that exists solely for the presentation of its content. What a concept.

Great Sites: Netscape Breaks Away from the Pack

Is it possible to design a portal page that's actually attractive, that's both useful and easy on the eyes? I'd never seen one, at least until the graphic design firm of Helfand | Drenttel transformed Netscape's home page.

Great Sites: A Curiously Strong Argument for Using Frames in Web Design

Do you revere or revile frames? You wouldn't think that the addition of a single tag to the HTML definition could cause so much controversy. And yet there's little agreement over the usefulness of this now relatively well-established construct.

The Nike Olympics

The Sydney 2000 Olympics have just begun and already there are the usual grumblings about poor TV coverage, along with reports that viewership is down 25 percent from the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.