CREATION NEEDS CHAOS: MUNICH'S COMA]2 WEB-DESIGN SHOP SHOWS ITS LIGHTER SIDE
As a city where the traditional breakfast is wheat beer and veal sausages, where french fries are served with gravy, and most respectable workplaces have at least one keg of beer, Munich isn't exactly a breeding ground for lightness (or sobriety). But tucked into the bohemian quarter of Schwabing West in a former military barracks are the offices of coma]2, one of the world's more light-hearted and kinetic Web design shops.

	Good design means that most people like it, but somebody has to hate it, or you know you haven't done your job. - Marina Shtatlender

Founded two years ago, coma]2 describes itself as a group of refugees from German television production. Strictly speaking, coma]2 isn't a company, it's a "collective of media artists" - an acronym that spells, well, coma. Their client list includes Apple, Microsoft, and several major German TV networks.

The coma]2 design team is anchored by the Russian-born, Texas-raised, New York-educated, and now-living-in-Munich Marina Shtatlender. She came to Europe in 1997 after a career that included a stint designing the look and feel of VH-1. While working at German television studio MPP, she met longtime multimedia hand Collin Croome and broadcast animator Mario Klingemann. They discovered a shared dislike of bureaucracy and a desire to do something else, and soon all quit their jobs to form coma]2. Shortly afterward, they invited friends Markus Niedermeier, Rudi Mauser, and Sascha Arnautovic along for the ride.

Like many European Web houses, coma]2's focus remains on structured screen design. The firm relies heavily on Adobe® Photoshop to give their sites a unique look and feel. "You always need to push the limits of what a Web site can do," says Shtatlender. "Good design means that most people like it, but somebody has to hate it, or you know you haven't done your job."

Humor also forms an important element in coma]2 designs. "Our clients always want everything to look beautiful, be done by yesterday, and stay within budget, so we try to have fun and not take it too seriously," says Klingeman.

And many coma]2 sites are fun. The firm’s light-hearted approach is evident even in it’s own Web site - visitors to the bio page are greeted by a pop-up window asking for a vote for the coolest member of coma]2. The option "nobody" is checked by default. Another coma]2 site for an underwear company features an interesting use of QuickTime VR. With a click of the mouse, underwear-clad models rotate freely in cyberspace, allowing visitors a more complete peek at the - uh - goods. Not surprisingly, the page is now the most popular on coma]2's site.

"The Quicktime VR was only a prototype," explains Croome. "Our friends agreed to be models. Next time, though, the client wants us to use professionals." Needless to say, coma]2 has some understanding (and uninhibited) friends.

The team has used Adobe GoLive for years, but also relies heavily on After Effects, Photoshop, ImageReady™, and Illustrator. "Our motto is, 'anything is possible and you don't need an SGI box to do it,'" says Klingemann. "We prefer to work on Macintosh computers with Adobe products. Basically every site we do is made in GoLive, and we reach deep into its JavaScript library for interactivity. There's a lot there that people aren't using."