Artist Exploration: Ruperto Fabito Jr.

Ruperto Fabito Jr. calls himself "a hybrid designer, specializing in interaction and visual design." He is a talented artist and designer who works with different mediums, including web, broadcast, and print. I found his website on the fwa site, where he was awarded S.O.T.M. - Site Of The Month - for his creation of the application Paper Critters. Ruperto describes it as "a viral web application where users can create and share paper toys."

I explored the application, and found it to be original, well designed, and just plain fun.


The interface is straightforward and easy to navigate, it gives proof of his talent with layout and design. The application allows the user to be the creator of your very own paper critter. You can customize your critter using a variety of stencils and tweak those to your liking with options for size and color. Or you can draw freehand using the drawing tools. Once you are finally done creating your masterpiece, you can submit it to "The Colony", the name for the database where all the critters are stored, and if you like, even print it out. Once you print it out, you can follow the instructions to make the 2D
printout become a 3D critter. Try it out!!

Animated and Interactive Picasso Gallery

This project caught my eye because of its use of 3D Actionscript animation. The Layout is clean, effective, and visually appealing. It reminds me of design that is used by Apple. Good Design.

Subconscious Influence: The Effect of Advertising

I like this project because it makes light of the fact that, we are influenced by our surroundings and I thought it showed a lot of creativity. At first, I did not know what to do but, after the horns started honking, I knew I needed to get a move on. Ruperto even takes a shot at the iPod advertisement. I liked this one.

One of the aspects I liked the most in Ruperto's designs, was the use of sound effects their ability to put a smile on my face. On his main site each rollover is greeted by a simple sound bite and when you click on it you are alerted with a different sound. I find his work to be both effective and innovative. It accomplishes its intended purpose by reaching the audience and involving them in the experience.