EYEBALL
On its website, New York-based design firm Eyeball describes itself as an indiscriminate design company: “careless, maybe. Variegated, promiscuous, or even multifarious.” The point is that Eyeball tends not to use any one approach when working on a project—anything resembling a standard would be something to avoid. “We just make things that are interesting, relevant, informative and compelling,” the site declares, stating that Eyeball’s business is built on “a nebulous combination of intuition, talent, expertise and experimentation” … resulting in terrific design.

Being able to use the site now that it’s up and running is the fun part, says creative director Jory Hull. “Everyone knows the hardest job is to design your own website, so we can’t really remember having fun during the process.” Aesthetically, the site design’s biggest influence was a grid. As for content, Hull says, “I think we were mostly influenced by our understanding of our typical clients’ needs.”

A showcase of Eyeball’s best work, the site has a simple and straightforward design, introducing the firm’s new aesthetic. With talent drawn from all over the world and led by seasoned creative directors, Eyeball has directed hundreds of live-action spots over the past 15 years, pioneering many of the techniques now used regularly in commercial production. Visual effects, CGI and 3D are in their blood, and their motion graphics innovations are legendary in the industry.

Targeting advertising creatives, television and film professionals, corporate clients, fellow designers and students, the immediate goal of the site was to introduce new branding, followed by the necessity of building an archive as an XML database that’s easy to update and expand.

Anything that looked similar to what competitors were doing was avoided; likewise anything that might come across as over-designed and complicated. Clutter is something Hull finds particularly unappealing in a website, and he made sure that none found its way into this one. Clarity and easy access to the volume of work were the most important attributes. Feedback has run the gamut from accolades to a few thumbs down, Hull says, but most of it has been thoroughly positive. If he learned something new through the process that’s worth sharing, it’s this: “Make sure all your assets are organized and preapproved before programming begins.” Dana Rouse

EYEBALL | CREATIVE DIRECTOR: JORY HULL | PROGRAMMER: CLOUDRED | WRITERS: JORY HULL, LIMORE SHUR | WWW.EYEBALLNYC.COM