A look back at affected websites
~ Design Department Roundtable #02 ~

The sites I would like to introduce are "Mona Lisa by Nakamura Yugo" and " 2Advanced Studios ."

First, "Mona Lisa by Yugo Nakamura" is not a website but a Flash work.
When I was just starting out as a web designer, I saw Nakamura Yugo featured in an overseas magazine that featured Flashers from around the world and became interested in him.

At the time, Flash was still in its infancy, with few people who could write ActionScript and no solid object-oriented programming. In those days, a work appeared in which the Mona Lisa's face distorted when clicked, and I was amazed by the idea and technology. "Flash can do so many things! Yugo Nakamura is amazing!"

When I was working as a flasher in my previous job, ActionScript was version 2.0, and when I was creating a script using a photo of a colleague, my boss told me, "Don't play around with other people's faces! Use your own face!" It's a good memory (laughs).

Next up is " 2Advanced Studios ," a site from the time when the speedy IT feel was popular.

This site is nostalgic!

Was this also about 10 years ago?

That's right. The design of Ver. 4 was so exciting and reminiscent of a movie, it left a strong impression on me.

Looking at today's flat design, this design is unimaginable.

At the time, Flash sites that gave off a futuristic, speedy feel were all the rage. This design and movement was a pioneer, and was featured in many summary sites and articles.
I studied this site and its overlay collages and visuals that give a sense of the mysterious interplay between light and objects. I think the influence of this site is quite evident in the design of a university website that I worked on recently.

That's true. It does have a technical image to it.

Recently, I have had fewer opportunities to create designs like this, so it's not easy to take on the challenge, but it seems like it could be applied to technical sites.

The first one I have is a Flash site, from a company called HYBRIDWORKS that influenced me when I joined the company (about 10 years ago).

At the time, Apple's UI was said to be the best, and skeuomorphic icons with realistic details were popular. As you can see from the tea icon, the use of color and the detailed writing were very beautiful and shocking. Even now, I am moved when I look at it again.
At that time, Ono and I were the only designers at Monosus, and we were inspired by the pixel art on this site and even drew illustrations for the Monosus site together.

Nowadays I often create flat icons, but back then I used sites like this as reference to create icons with a rich feel.

I used this site to create icons and learn how to add textures...I used it as reference, but deep down I was thinking "I'm better at this" (laughs).

I think this website represents the pinnacle of skeuomorphism. The ideas are great, and the illustrations are at such a high level that I wonder if even foreign creators could draw them.

I also created icons for the Coding Factory website in this style, but it was quite a challenge. However, since all websites are similar in style these days, it might be a good idea to actually incorporate it into your design instead of just reminiscing about the past. Is flat design really okay for everything? It makes you wonder.

The second is an HTML site, an article site called "BLOG×WORLD ENDING."
Unfortunately, it is now closed, but it was the best article site. The creator who ran it had already adopted HTML5 when it was recommended and animations could be created with CSS. I think all web designers in the world were looking at this site.

The title before the article also had well-constructed typography.

The layout was also beautiful. It was made by a member of a production company called Aguije, who is a designer and can do both front-end and back-end work.

" PICTAPS " is a website from about 10 years ago, and it was innovative that the pictures I drew would dance to the music. At the time, computers were only used for playing with typing software or gathering information, but I thought, "What I made will move on the browser!" It's similar to the works of " Team Lab " today.
It was also refreshing and interesting to be able to share what I had made myself.

That's interesting! When I have time, I'll try to draw them and make them dance.

The site that influenced me was the site of a production company called Bascule .

About 10 years ago, a childhood friend of mine who was a graphic designer and lived with me told me about this site, saying, "There's an interesting website."

At that time, I didn't think I would become a web designer, so I didn't have the perspective of designing a website, but I remember being impressed by the freshness of vertically long websites, which were rare at the time, and the impact of the illustrations and gimmicks.

What I found particularly interesting was when you clicked on the illustration of a vase at the bottom of the page, the whole site was sucked in. I remember being amazed that something like that was possible.

I've seen it too. It's a design from the heyday of Flash, but this vertical design is still relevant to modern designs.

How old is the design?

The site appears to have been around since 2001.