Svpply is the crystallization of designer Ben Pieratt’s post-manifesto about taking the value of design seriously. While it is essentially a bookmarking site for shopping online, the experience is one of going to a fancy boutique with your best friend with taste. Oh, and who happens to have taken the time to carefully lay everything out for you before you enter the store.
The site is the latest in a series of projects by Pieratt (which includes the Book Cover Archive and Lookwork) that really attempt to address discovery as a design problem. While the familiar “People who bought this also bought that” function as well as friends’ and users’ lists at least attempt to bring some sanity into the online marketplace, the experience of larger online outlets still make you feel like a preschooler lost in CostCo. Being trailed by a mad sales robot who keeps picking up and showing you the stuff you put down doesn't help you feel less alone. The obvious solution is to turn instead to the thousands of smaller shops online, but the task of going through those can be just as daunting and lonely. The same situation (and its accompanying anxiety) follows any kind of search, whether it is for visual inspiration, something to read or someone to follow.
Through a constantly improving mix of curation, connection and organization, Svpply soldiers on fearlessly into the entropy of the web. It provides clear proof that design at every level—from concept to structure to form—is what creates great experiences in both real and virtual space.
