DESIGN ARMY
“You can learn a lot by seeing it done right” is part of the advice offered at the site for AIGA DC’s Inaugural Student Design Competition. Students contemplating entering web design competitions should take it seriously, beginning with studying this effort by Design Army. But it took a little selling to get the client to buy in, says creative director Pum Lefebure, explaining that Washington, D.C., is “a fairly conservative community, and this is after all a student competition.” The issue: Design Army’s concept was ever-so-slightly naughty. Lefebure recalls the board of directors needing a little nudging. “I said, ‘Guys, come on! Do you want people to enter this or not?’”

Good thing the board saw Design Army’s logic. More romantic than erotic, the site’s allure is attributable to an accomplished union of clever copy, elegant typography and layout, and restrained coding. Typographically, the site is clean and classic, with assured use of changes in font, tracking, scale and color to establish the double entendre-laden voice and add emphasis where necessary. “We designed this site with a grid structure, like a print page,” Lefebure says. “It helped us make sure we had plenty of white space.” The same restraint applied to the use of technology. “The site doesn’t rely on technology any more than it needs to. HTML works just fine, and HTML is getting so much more capable these days. I can look at this on my iPhone, and it looks perfect.”

Classic layout and quick loading are nice features, but they don’t explain the site’s sense of fun. “Are you a Virgin?” in blocky pink magenta type surmounted by a silhouetted cupid dominates the home page; while the question may not be advisable as a pickup line, the playful visual style makes it clear this is not XXX web. The various cupid characters that crop up throughout the site offer just hints of movement. “The small scale of the animation offers subtlety and captures the eye more effectively,” Lefebure says. “If something’s going to move on the page, you’d better have a reason for it. It’s so easy to overdo stuff on the web. We’re finding that sim­plicity is more successful.” And as to the success of the site in drawing entries: The students fell in love with it. Tom Biederbeck

DESIGN ARMY | CREATIVE DIRECTORS: JAKE LEFEBURE, PUM LEFEBURE | ART DIRECTOR: PUM LEFEBURE | DESIGNER/ILLUSTRATOR/PROGRAMMER: TIM MADLE WRITER: WAYNE GEYER | CLIENT: AIGA DC | WWW.DESIGNARMY.COM