 |
Pixelsurgeon
Pixelsurgeon is a digest of the creative, strange and interesting from the internet, relayed to you by our hand-picked team of newsposters. In addition to our newsfeed - updated several times a day, every day - we review movies, games, and music; interview designers, musicians, movie makers, and artists; and host exclusive competitions and online exhibitions of artwork from all over the world.
How it all started
Arber and Rich wanted to create a community site that was broader in scope than other design portals, that looked at art, technology, culture, music, games and movies, but wasn't afraid to be uncool.
Launched in Spring of 2001, the first Pixelsurgeon site was an instant success, with thousands of people visiting every day. Unfortunately, a so-called Unlimited Bandwidth deal came with the largest small print our previous hosts had ever read. As our kindly benefactors reached for the oxygen, reeling at a hosting bill to the sombre tune of tens of thousands of pounds, we quietly packed our bags and left a thankyou note on the fridge door.
Enter professional ham smokers and certified design demons, the Mediamonks. Without their generosity and understanding, Pixelsurgeon would not be here today.
It's been an eventful few years: hugely popular appearances at renowned international design events such as OFFF Barcelona, Computer Arts Live London, and BD4D Tel Aviv; a hilarious - if somewhat baffling - Keystone Kops style heist at Pixelsurgeon HQ by a Knotts Landing fan site; global recognition and acclaim from such venerable institutions as Wired magazine and the BBC; impotent legal threats by the American Red Cross; and many a lost weekend spent updating and maintaining the site when we really should have been sleeping. Or eating. Or at least earning a living.
The future is now
It gradually became clear that Pixelsurgeon required a face lift; not to mention a complex content management system. And so began one of the longest redesigns in web history: over a year and a half of secretive round-table discussions and false starts before we managed to agree on anything without resorting to eye-poking and pillow fights.
In the spring of 2003 work finally began. With self-professed Web Drone and PHP/mySQL genius Andy Barefoot working diligently under the hood, Arber set about the task of designing an all-new, super sexy Pixelsurgeon. With a little extra wax from Rich and the newly augmented core team, Pixelsurgeon was just about ready for a relaunch...
Raoul Sanchez and Kid Yam Lo, June 2003
|
