Also- 3 person design firm

http://www.also-online.com/

Also is a 3 person design firm with an awesome interactive portfolio website. I love that the homepage is deceivingly simple and stagnant. Just click on any of the navigation tabs and watch the entire site come to life and transport you to a whole other realm. It really is fantastically done! Their portfolio shows a range of capabilities and along with the work that went into this portfolio it is no wonder they are winning over clients. Even the awesome blog Design*Sponge turned to Also for a site redesign (which is very successful according to the amount of hits each day!).

There is something so refreshing to having a playful portfolio site that is also taken seriously and was well thought out. It has just the right amount of things going on so as not to overwhelm and compete with the most important thing, their work. I also love the ease of use, and the creative ways to bring a new "back home" button to each page that fits within the illustration.

Personal Portfolios/Blogs to Inspire

http://orbasquara.com/

Orba Squara.
I'm still confused on the pronunciation after years of exploring this site, but I know they are brilliant.

Not only do I love the music they make (make sure your volume is turned up!), but also their visual aesthetic and brilliance in photography, typography, and graphics. This site masters the idea of making type part of the image. It is beautifully placed within the scenery, so that you see the image and type as one entity. There is also a seamless flow as you pass one image into the next, getting glimpses of this trip, yet feeling completely a part of it.

The right scroll on this site is equally unique to the imagery and it adds this feeling of being on the road with the band on this 10 day cross-country tour. I also appreciate the ability to slow and quicken the pace of the right scroll by the location of the mouse. The site seems to be infinite, in fact, I'm certain I never played it all the way to the end. This is a fete I still need to master one of these days. (Although you can cheat and forward the scroll to the end)!