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Pretty Loaded is an online museum of "preloaders," those animated countdowns that inform visitors that their mind-blowing web experience will be 100% loaded as soon as their pokey PC catches up to the site's state-of-the-art graphics and sound.
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Preloaders have roots in the old MGM "roaring lion" logo and Porky Pig's stuttering "That's All Folks" sign-off; they're corporate logos with attitude. But as Americans' internet connections and computers grow more robust, preloaders may go the way of the dial-up dodo—hence the need for a way to commemorate this brand-new, yet dying art. (The most ancient preloader on the site is from way back in 2002.)
Pretty Loaded is curated by Big Spaceship, the design firm responsible for a few of the preloaders featured on the site, and most recently for the web presence of the brain-piercing ad campaign for the film Underworld: Rise of the Lycans.
David A. Greene
Dave has contributed to Dwell since its inception. He's a CalArts dropout, a former art critic for The New Yorker, and a producer of comedies on TV. He lives in, and writes from, Los Angeles.
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