[zoom in screenshot - 77K]

Volumeone
http://www.volumeone.com

Category:
Graphics & Web Design > Personal Sites

Created by:
Volumeone in 2001

Rating:
7.4 (45 votes)

Date added:
May 10th, 2001

Last updated:
May 14th, 2002

Suggested by:
marc nichols (38)

Our comments:
"Volumeone is a visual communications project dedicated to the exploration of new narrative possibilities" says the founder Matt Owens. The site is a showcase of "web novelties" that have been added seasonally, spring 1997 being the earliest. It is quite interesting to see how Ovens stretched the limits of the medium with Netscape extensions at the dawn of web design, and he has been doing the same thing with Flash recently.

--Aycan

tung12a1 (4) - Dec 4th, 2003 Presentation  9 Graphics  10 Usability  ? Technical  4 Personal Slant  6 Overall 7.3 The script quire slow due to the large image animation DRT (19) - Apr 10th, 2003 Some of his work, I'd love to have it hanging on my wall! fohsman (11) - Jan 10th, 2003 Presentation  5 Graphics  6 Usability  2 Technical  5 Personal Slant  1 Overall 3.8 I didn't like their site at all especially version 22. Some of the other ones are good, for example the one in the screen shot. Their site is inconsistent, one version will be really good and the next will be something a highschool kid could make with frontpage. didulica (44) - Dec 5th, 2002 Presentation  8 Graphics  9 Usability  6 Technical  9 Personal Slant  9 Overall 8.2 stylewise hardly innovating anymore, but still surprising and a skillfull artist Updated on Jan 13th, 2003 kevin (2) - Nov 10th, 2002 Presentation  6 Graphics  9 Usability  3 Technical  5 Personal Slant  8 Overall 6.2 Cool illustrations but confusing. doneeh (8) - Sep 25th, 2002 Presentation  8 Graphics  7 Usability  7 Technical  7 Personal Slant  5 Overall 6.8 Too noisy I guess, and i dont like pop ups much. :) MC Solar (18) - Aug 5th, 2002 Presentation  9 Graphics  10 Usability  8 Technical  8 Personal Slant  10 Overall 9.0 also pretty great stuff. surprising and funny. jayfril (2) - Jul 13th, 2002 Presentation  1 Graphics  6 Usability  1 Technical  1 Personal Slant  2 Overall 2.2 ehh, where do i begin with volume one??? for this site to be in the top 25 is ludacris. this site's 15 minutes of fame was up back in 1997. how anyone can still tolerate this guys redesigns are well beyond me. it is recycled over and over again. and his main menu option is season?! so we go to the recycled site just to look at his site recycled every quarter of the year. Volume One shows us no promise for advancements. I wonder if Matt even upgrades his design software b/c i see no reason why he should. i read that someone said "It really has used the potential of Flash technology". the kind of crap he does in his site can be taught in mere hours to someone who has never even heard of flash before. Flash's potential is much much greater than Volume Ones. Volume One is the epitome of design block. Maybe if this site had some intention, maybe a better menu w/o all the annoying pop ups it has, and changed its layout from time to time...this site would be given a little more respect. Until then...this site gets the gas face. 2 stars out of 10. marc_nichols (57) - Jun 25th, 2002 Owens doesn't surprise us anymore with the reincarnations of the once briliant VolumeOne. Repeated exercises. Updated on Aug 25th, 2002 manuel80 (14) - Jun 1st, 2002 Presentation  8 Graphics  9 Usability  7 Technical  8 Personal Slant  10 Overall 8.4 you can love or hate this site.. personally i love it! by slade455   (unregistered) - May 4th, 2002 This site is very cool. I have been following the "seasons" theme from this designer for a few years now. His style is impressive. I like it a lot. I must say that many of you don't get this type of design. You can't argue the same tired usability points with a site like this. Obscure navigation IS the point for this type of experimental design. I am sure this designer wouldn't use the same design philosophy if he were to create a web site for a bank!! Get with it people. It is an artistic statement spoken through digital design. As far as the few of you complaining about a 480k flash intro, once again- get with it. Do you remember when a 200 mb hard drive was considered huge? Now we have 60GB + hard drives offered for desktop machines. The Flash intro is 480K people!!!! That is so small. In the near future we will laugh at the notion that 480k is too big for use on the web. The problem is not with the size of a flash intro, it is with the widespread deployment/acceptance of broadband. With DSL/Cable, that intro could have been 3 mb and I still would have had no problem seeing it. The same people complaining about the size of this flash intro are still probably using a 56k dialup with res of 640x480. Let the web ---> E V O L V E. by mctwofist   (unregistered) - May 1st, 2002 nice graphics but I have to agree with ugwump's review. What the hell is up with the navs and interface. Sure its cutting edge artsy but whats the bloody point? Not really sure if its a personal site, promo site for my bike from 1973 or what. Hardly worthy of a top ten rating. ugwump (31) - Apr 16th, 2002 Presentation  5 Graphics  9 Usability  2 Technical  8 Personal Slant  1 Overall 5.0 I'm personally amazed this site has been rated so well. While volumeone obviously has a skilled hand at Flash and graphic design, the usability is atrocious. And I don't have the patience to wade through the entire site trying to figure out what the site's purpose is (if anything). No thanks. nat/x (4) - Feb 27th, 2002 I attended the same design school as Mr. Owens and would like to add my voice to the reviews. Volumeone is not your typical website, and as such it is a pity to see so many reviewers boxing it into the usual constraints. For a site like this, bandwidth and end-user considerations should fade from view... This is a site that is pushing towards the future, defining trends the rest of us will be eager to jump on. A 480k Flash intro is not a bad thing for this site, it is highly appropriate. Besides, anyone with a half decent connection should have no problem waiting 10 seconds for such magnificent visual treats as are available on volumeone. This site represents commitment to the medium we work in, it is the product of someone who is genuinely making the web a better place to be. Respect. samktheman (27) - Feb 19th, 2002 Presentation  7 Graphics  7 Usability  5 Technical  3 Personal Slant  4 Overall 5.2 This site could have been better, the other sites have cool intros, the graphics were massive, and the scrollbars were very, very annoying - scrolling to find empty space. I would recommend making the images a bit smaller. Pearl (31) - Jan 3rd, 2002 Presentation  9 Graphics  9 Usability  7 Technical  8 Personal Slant  8 Overall 8.2 A site with surprising thematics, which are well executed. Zlatan (14) - Dec 26th, 2001 Presentation  9 Graphics  7 Usability  6 Technical  8 Personal Slant  9 Overall 7.8 interesting visual experiments. ruize (6) - Dec 26th, 2001 Presentation  5 Graphics  5 Usability  5 Technical  5 Personal Slant  5 Overall 5.0 I've seen much better, it amazes me that this particular design is Wow Web Designs "#1" - while it is particularly good, certainly not worth a 10. Microsoft (16) - Dec 20th, 2001 Presentation  10 Graphics  10 Usability  10 Technical  10 Personal Slant  10 Overall 10.0 Volume 1 is so cool! It really has used the potential of Flash technology. Hope those who have fast speed can take a peep at volume 1! Nicky (27) - Dec 9th, 2001 Presentation  8 Graphics  8 Usability  6 Technical  9 Personal Slant  7 Overall 7.6 Well defined eyecandy. However, the new versions are hardly surprising anymore. Owens should be careful that this particular site doesn't change into an 'one-trick poney' nevertheless, its level is still the one other sites will be measured by. Updated on Mar 3rd, 2002 syntekz (10) - Nov 29th, 2001 480k flash intro? I didn't even let the site load. stefano (9) - Nov 28th, 2001 Presentation  8 Graphics  10 Usability  7 Technical  8 Personal Slant  8 Overall 8.2 clean, well balanced, amazing! Sarah (34) - Nov 28th, 2001 Presentation  7 Graphics  7 Usability  6 Technical  7 Personal Slant  6 Overall 6.6 clean, well balanced, but maybe too slick to really make a lasting impression. Monica (20) - Nov 16th, 2001 Presentation  8 Graphics  9 Usability  6 Technical  6 Personal Slant  9 Overall 7.6 a super classic! Kay (16) - Nov 14th, 2001 Presentation  8 Graphics  6 Usability  6 Technical  8 Personal Slant  7 Overall 7.0 gives kickass first impression, but when you take a closer look, it lacks depth and visual excellence. certainly not bad, actually quite likeable and good, but not best in its class. DeeJay (36) - May 15th, 2001 Presentation  9 Graphics  9 Usability  6 Technical  9 Personal Slant  8 Overall 8.2 Owens does his thing and does it well. But the graphics seem to be less delicated before and apart from the theme, it is starting to be same ol' story over and over again. New version is great again though Updated on Mar 6th, 2003 Fred (158) - May 12th, 2001 Very interesting website. The color scheme is very unique, and bright, which gives it a cozy feeling. The spray pain can is a little bit cartoony, yet looks very nice. One suggestion is remove the dhtml that makes the can move up and down. It's quite annoying.