Studio Exploration - Melissa O'Brien

My first design studio that I discovered was Whitevoid. Based in Berlin, Germany they have clients as small as local museums and as big as The BMW Group. They essentially caught my eye because the very clean user friendly "file in drawer" design that their website hosts. When a new subject is selected it is opened like a filing cabinet drawer and all new subjects are pulled out like a file from inside the cabinet. When you choose a selected "file" to explore it is laid open with photos, videos and a small blurb about the project and intended audience.

This design studio creates truly advanced interactive installations from a touchscreen interface bigger than a grown man, a gun shaped fully functionional DJ device, to the super forward thinking fog screen display which lets you walk through your intended content.



My second exploration is on Goodby & Silverstein. It was their philosophy that states "the best client relationships are based on telling the truth to each other, even when it's hard" that got my attention from this studio. Goodby & Silverstein treat their audience with a certain level of respect by presuming their audience has a "certain level of intelligence, discrimination and humor". In doing so they believe they will be awarded a better form of interest and engagement with that audience.

This design studio is advertisement based but I agree with their morals as well as their challenge to get their audience to think about a product instead of consuming what the masses suggest.



Personally I envy a business that can get their message across and maintain a Eco-minded company that has a heart. Goodby & Silverstein have worked with many notable companies like Anheiser-Busch, California Milk Processors Association and Adobe but my favorite campaigns are their pro-bono works for Keep America Beautiful and the California Coastal Commission.

The last exploration I found was purely by accident. I stumbled upon the NDesign Studio when looking for tips for InDesign. This site was really a great find for me because there is a section that details the design programs needed as well as the assets they gathered to create the final product. For the beginner Adobe or Flash creator it was a great tool to see what goes into the design of their site. It was nice to see a studio who is secure enough in their skills to show the behind the scenes of their design ideas especially in this digital age.