Jean Aw is the co-founder of NOTCOT, Inc. Her "jokingly-named NotEmpire of sites" are an inspirational resource for trendspotting and new ideas. We're avid fans and wanted to know how one goes about building, um, *not* an empire but something close to it. We found out that, like so many creative-types who are living the dream, she ended up on this path seemingly accidentally. Here's to happy accidents!



The NotEmpire:
NOTCOT.com
NOTCOT.org
NotCouture.com
Liqurious.com

How do you think the blogging explosion has helped facilitate the spread of design, and young designers ideas?

I love blogging because I see it as a tool to help humans filter the mass of information around us. With this oversaturated space (A glut, one might say, Jean?), it's often hard to figure out what to read or where to go. I love the blogs of designers, because it's a way see what everyone else is working on and getting excited about.

Since there is internet access nearly anywhere these days, it has really changed how quickly, easily, and cheaply, designers can now get their work out there. Designers can also get feedback on designs-in-progress in real time. At NOTCOT, we have both manufacturers and designers contacting us, looking for each other. It certainly feels like the internet is facilitating what was previously a much lengthier courting process.

One of the most amazing things for me has been watching the evolution of a design concept, seeing it brought into production, and then meeting those products in the real world. Like at ICFF, when we finally got to meet Design Glut!

Some days I look back on elementary-school projects, papers, and random fascinations I had as a kid. I wonder how much more we would have known if we could have researched things on the internet. The idea of looking up something like penguins in books and encyclopedias now seems so archaic compared to googling for it, watching live webcam streams, emailing with penguin experts instantly... The speed and thoroughness which we can now research is an incredible thing. There is so much inspiration at your fingertips constantly.



Will this trend continue? Have blogs and online news sources come to replace written press, or do they balance each other out? Is information available on the internet more temporary or more permanent than printed sources?

I don't see the blogs and online news sources as a trend, so much as a new medium. Nor do I consider books and magazines to be a trend... If anything, I think the digital medium is a nice supplement with many new opportunities: more immediacy, room for live conversation, video, and constant updates. If we're diligent about our backups and server maintenance, I wonder if it's really any less permanent?

NOTCOT seems to have been around forever. How and when did you decide you wanted to start a design blog?

Hmmm, forever, eh? Time travels so fast on the internet!

NOTCOT.com launched in spring 2005, and NOTCOT.org sprung up in spring 2006. The rest have been launching as we get excited and inspired. I never actually decided/wanted to start a design blog. I think in a way, it picked me?



It organically popped out of a combination of finishing up my design masters in Milan, coming back to California, and not being sure what I wanted to do. I ended up crashing on Dan's couch in San Diego. He set me to work, basically putting me through our own CSS bootcamp of sorts. I learned CSS by building a movable type blog. I needed content to design around, so I just started posting all the things I was already bombarding all my friends with over IM! And somewhere along the line other people found it. They kept reading, and I kept posting.

Of course, as you know, we've come a long way from that point, with our jokingly-named NotEmpire of sites growing constantly. As the blog did its thing, we were even more excited to play and design. We designed a new framework from scratch which lead to our Curated User Submission model of gridded polaroids that are now NOTCOT.org, NotCouture, and Liqurious.

This framework really lets us move quickly through content we love and find inspiring. With these sites, we can also get the most creative play with design, development, and user experience/usability, which we are especially passionate about! Recently Dan even left his day job at Yahoo to come play full time on NOTCOT with me. It's been an absolute dream. These sites are our shared digital replacements for studio inspiration boards filled with magazine clippings, comics, stickers, post-its and more.



I love NOTCOT, and want you to blog my new product. How should I approach you to actually make this happen?

Th best way to get our attention is through NOTCOT.org. This is a Curated User Submission Site. You just register and upload a great 250x250 image if your product. Then link to whatever page has more images and info, and give us an enticingly informative caption. If the editors love it, it will go up on the front page!

The other way is to drop us a line through the contact form. Link us to incredible images; blow our minds!

If you don't write back, should I keep trying?

Please feel free to keep trying with new projects. Trust that we pick what we love, and if you catch our eye it will go up. I'm just one girl going through over a hundred emails a day. One of the hardest things is when people take it too personally if we don't write about something. If I can't get back to you, please don't get upset. I'm doing what I can to keep all the sites fully stocked with inspiration!