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OUTSTANDING: StepUpSpeakOut.com

Design Firm: Archrival, Lincoln, NE
Designer: Clint! Runge
Programmers: Bart Johnston, Craig Kohtz
Copywriter: Allison Sagehorn
Production: Carey Jaques, Cassidy Kovanda
Client: Nebraska Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition

With StepUpSpeakOut.com, the design team at Archrival accomplished the nearly impossible: They created an educational site about gender abuse in entertainment that appeals to notoriously fickle teens. Instead of wading (or not) through the kind of dry, boring pages found at many public-service efforts, users can explore the site's content through a series of dialogue boxes that expand and contract organically. Teens can access everything from media clips and news articles to steps for taking action.

"A lot of teens are saying, 'Oh my gosh, I didn't realize what I was watching,'" says creative director Clint! Runge. "I think if we had a site that was more corporate, it wouldn't have the same appeal." Our judges agree. Kevin Airgid says the site's "fresh look" and "underground vibe" help bring attention to an important social issue, and Jemma Hostetler finds the content presentation "surprisingly on-target for a state-funded education campaign." Sounds like the V-chip's new best friend.

1. Expanding and contracting dialog boxes play off the "speak out" concept.

2. StepUpSpeakOut.com puts a filter between teens and entertainment, or as creative director Clint! Runge puts it, the site lets young people know that "how you see people acting toward women in music videos isn't a smart way to act in real life."

MERIT: HP Festive Holiday Card

URL: www.goodbysilverstein.com/awards/how2005/holidaycards/festival.html

Design Firm: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco
Creative Directors: Steve Simpson, Keith Anderson, Will McGinness
Writer: Peter Albores
Director of Production: Mike Geiger
Production Company: unit9.creative.production
Client: Hewlett-Packard

Get the April 2006 Interactive Design Annual