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A full-service design and production company, Funny Garbage (FG) has created Web sites, CD-ROMs, title graphics and print campaigns for clients like The Cartoon Network, Compaq Computers, Nike and I.D. magazine. Creative director and co-founder Peter Girardi started out as a graffiti artist before attending the School of Visual Arts in New York. A hands-on leader, he acted recently as head honcho creative of the FG team who redesigned the VH1 Web site.
How did you land the VH1 project?
VH1 wanted to rebuild its site to offer streaming audio and video content as well as take advantage of convergence between its on-air programming and the Web. Funny Garbage had worked on the Cartoon Network site, so we had experience with taking on-air content and enriching it for the Web. We had also worked with a number of music sites - Luaka Bop, Atlantic Records and the Red Hot Organization-so VH1 saw us as a natural fit.
What were the initial ideas for redesigning the site?
Some of VH1's most successful programming has focused on the history of pop music, taking a critical and often bemused look back on the artists and trends that have come and gone over the years. in designing its site, we thought it would be fun to go digging through the rock-and-roll trash heap.
And how did you make that work?
We took a fat of inspiration from old concert posters and albums-not so much the classics of the 50s and 60s, but more of the outlandish 7os and 8os. We used a lot of bright colors, sometimes in garish combinations, mixed with very stylized imagery. The design is loud, a little in-your-face, but at the same time it's very clearly organized because the pages are information heavy and we didn't want to overwhelm the user,
How involved was the client in the whole process?
VH1 told us at the very beginning that they wanted the Web site to have a very distinctive look, separate from their on-air identity. So that gave us a lot of freedom in designing the site. As far as the content and organization of the site, however, we had to work closely with them because they had some very strong ideas about what the site...