Best of Tucson 1996: Best Web Graphics

Best Web Graphics

READERS' AND STAFF PICK: Now, before you start crying foul, hear us out. The Internet is an electronic world in the throes of creation. Sites are growing, changing and disappearing altogether on a daily basis. It's hard to keep track of what's out there: One week you'll find a site that's totally cool, and the next its whole graphic identity has morphed. But basically, there are two kinds of Web design out there that need to be addressed: the hobbyist vs. the graphic artist. It's true computers have given many of us who otherwise lack artistic skill the technical ability to design; but technology doesn't an artist make.

Our criteria in choosing an award-winning site is that it be local and of professional quality. And when it comes to the overall integration of up-to-the-minute technology, professional layout and beautiful graphics, DesertNet just can't be beat. This scrappy group of Web designers and techies puts up a number of graphic-heavy pages for local businesses, as well as two online publications: the Tucson Weekly and the Albuquerque Weekly Alibi. While not all of the pages on DesertNet utilize all aspects of their design capabilities, the overall package includes sites with Virtual Reality (the Hotel Congress Club Cam), animation, and a wide variety of graphics and layouts by a pool of professional local artists (including photographers, cartoonists and graphic designers). They're by no means the only guys experimenting in the control room, but their's really is a site to watch if you want to know what this Web-hype is all about.