Bzzzpeek.com is a website designed to appeal to young children that focuses on
onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...
from around the world. The site comprises recordings contributed by native speakers who imitate familiar sounds, such as animal calls and vehicle noises as they are typically rendered in their own language.
History and description
The website was created in 2002 by French-born Agathe Jacquillat and Germany-born Austrian Tomi Vollauschek of design studio FL@33.
The website name is a composite of the sound of a bee as made in French (bzzz) and an onomatopoeiac representation of ''piquer'', the French verb to sting.
The online collection focuses on the pronunciation and comparison of familiar sounds by presenting a range of animals and other objects as icons. When you select one, multiple images bearing different national flags are shown side by side so that the similarities and variations between languages can be heard by highlighting each one. Currently more than 20 countries are represented on the website and anyone can contribute their own sound recordings to add to the archive.
Many of the contributors are young children and the site is designed to be navigated largely through images rather than words.
Awards and exhibitions
In 2003, the website received an honorary mention at the
Prix Ars Electronica
The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria) ...
competition.
It has also received a Distinctive Merit Award from the
Art Directors Club of New York
The Art Directors Club of New York is an organization for art directors in New York City. It was founded in 1920, and has grown as an industry group, promoting art directors' work through exhibitions and awards, including the annual DESI award for ...
.
In 2011, the project was selected for inclusion in an exhibition entitled ''Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects'' at New York's
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.
It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
(MoMA).
See also
*
List of animal sounds
Certain words in the English language represent animal sounds: the noises and vocalizations of particular animals, especially noises used by animals for communication. The words can be used as verbs or interjections in addition to nouns, and ma ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Official website
Internet properties established in 2002
Onomatopoeia