Weird? Unique is more like it. This as you enter the world of coolness on the Web by logging on to www.halfproject.com, where highly imaginative Web artists and designers collaborate to strut their artistic stuff, leaving surfers in awe.
Definitely "100 percent made in the Philippines," Halfproject says in describing itself, with the master crafters guaranteeing that their ultra-cool website "will always be crafted by creative, happy Filipinos."
How often do we meet Filipinos this spirited? Their sense of humor is seen on its Horoscope for the designers’ page where readings (related to the arts and the Web, of course) for all zodiac signs are presented in an amusing fashion.
Are you a Scorpio obsessed with midi files? Halfproject.com advises you to quit it or "great misfortune" will come your way. Aquarians, use your lucky font Times New Roman in all your works.
Halfproject.com started in 1999 and since then, has featured impressive graphics and layout in its sections that cater to local and international designers. Indeed, it created some noise in the design community.
The site has been highly influenced by the digital art genre as evident in the depiction of its edition themes, from "Emerging Provocation" in 1999, "White Grunge Mix" in 2000, "Halloween," "Reboot" and "Rotation" in 2001, to its "Cheerleader" edition this year.
Halfproject.com provides the essential avenues for designers to communicate. Whoever you are, known or unknown as you may be. In other words, they let their fingers do the talking to demonstrate just what wonders they can make.
One most fascinating section is dubbed "Duel" where one witnesses a "friendly collaboration" between two designers but they have to come up with their own rules of the game. They commonly use the multimedia Shockwave Flash for execution of their "duels" after the parameters and theme are determined.
Among the featured matches are the showcases and collaborations of top local and foreign Web architects with the sobriquets Zylonzoo and Andrew, Wojtek and Kolber.
A designer who knows what teamwork means won’t get beaten up in the arena. Halfproject.com, in essence, is the product of harmonious collaboration between founders Rex Advincula and Drew Europeo, together with other top-caliber artists.
To view a match, just click on any of the thumbnails in "The Arena" and get mesmerized by the show of excellent artistry.
Another stimulating highlight of Halfproject.com is the so-called "Dephrase" section that invites artists to give visualization (in their own interpretation) to the featured "invitational phrase."
Up for more artistic challenge? Then try "Disaster" or what the Halfproject brains calls the "playground for visual stimuli." This tests the exploring and creative mind of artists by coming up with an artwork based on a given subject.
True to its aim of inspiring the local and foreign design scene, Halfproject brings to its viewers "Dissect" and "Showcase." These two sections display the works of designers and artists, but Dissect offers more by allowing the commoner to see how the creator anatomizes his own artwork.
Dissect serves as a true challenge for art enthusiasts to analyze the components of the art "specimen" in a step-by-step process. The artists themselves also give their commentaries on their own works.
Naturally, a website is not complete without a venue for surfers to voice out their sentiments. Halfproject’s "Bar Talk" provides that for viewers’ ranting and babbling.
Calling those that they interviewed "the unlucky ones" for yet unknown reasons, Halfproject.com gets up close with designers and artists, or anybody who is interesting enough.
Comic book artist Arnold Arre, Mick Gogoco of Ekobalumik, Bong Segovia of Minimum Order, and Mikkel Holmbo Frandsen of Oneey Black were among Halfproject.com’s "victims."
With their teeming talent, the Halfproject.com team has also introduced their Calendar Project in 2002 that offers, what else, calendars. The monthly calendar designs are available for download in pdf format.
Halfproject also has the coolest and pleasantly puzzling wallpapers for easy download.
All these and more striking layouts and photos, with links to the rest of the designers’ community, will make any surfer get sticky with Halfproject.com.