Crumpler

This web site caught my eye on the fwa site. First of all let me just start out by saying what an experience I had going through each winner on the fwa web site! There is some amazing work out there, and the possibilities seem to be endless. 

Before visiting this site I had never heard of the company called Crumpler. I had however seen some of their bags on shoulders of trendy bike riders around town. So I was pleased to find the website to be just as trendy and cool as those colourful bags.

Why I think this site works is because the navigation through it is like nothing I've ever seen before. Yet it is still very easy to find what you need. The first page is fairly straight forward with product shots of bags on a very cool conveyor belt that moves when you go to the next page of bags.

Everything at first glance seems straight forward, you can choose a bag and learn more about that particular bag. You can view it in different colours and also read reviews by other customers who have purchased that same product. But what I liked was the aesthetic used to display the products. Everything feels like an old, retro vending machine. Right down to the tacky vinyl wood details and push buttons.

This creates a fun environment for people to navigate through. When moving the mouse a small arrow pops up and encourages you to click on it. The "machine" then moves to a new section. There are a number of quirky games and nonsense video clips to entertain you. I found my self laughing out loud at some of them. This really speaks to the personality of the Crumpler company. They are a fun bunch of people with a good sense of humor. 

All in all I think they hit their target market right on the nose. Some suggestions I would make to the designers are;

• what if the product shots moved upon "roll over", rather than having to click on a button to get another view of the bag. And show the top and bottom views too!

 ps.   here is the url:

www.crumpler.com.au/flash/flash.aspx#/english/products.html