Garrett creates on-line forum to celebrate the best in digital design

An on-line forum aiming to bring the digital design industry together by discussing innovative work has been developed by Applied Information Group and New Media Knowledge.

Dynamo London, designed by Malcolm Garrett (pictured) and funded by the London Development Agency, acts as a forum for users to upload other interactive designers’ work, which can then be rated and discussed by visitors. Garrett hopes the site will take in projects beyond the Net to include installations, interactives and sound design.

‘The site is intended to be a showcase, only instead of uploading your own stuff and saying ‘Isn’t this great?’, it takes a more altruistic approach by allowing people to pick up on other work,’ says Garrett.

Focused on the professional industry, the site uses a triple-rating system, covering aesthetic, technical and effectiveness measures. The site itself is built on a simple design of plain text. ‘I think it’s the only site I’ve designed which is all text, aside from the logo. Everything is live and editable,’ adds Garrett.

Alongside the discussion board, Dynamo London will also host industry events. On 23 February Dynamo London team member Tom Evans will speak at a one-day conference on graphic design. The conference, which takes place in Conway Hall in London, will take biodiversity as its theme. Kerr Noble director Amelia Noble will also speak at the event.

The LDA has agreed to fund Dynamo London for a year, although Garrett declines to reveal the amount allocated to the project. It will be run by AIG and NMK, the new media learning and business hub set up by the University of Westminster in 1998.