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Online Resource Community For Visual Professionals Launched

I/us Corporation of Ontario has launched an impressive community oriented resource Web site for visual design professionals. The site, known simply as i/us, is founded by Arlen Bartsch, past Director of Sales and Marketing for Corel Corp. and Chris Dickman, author of books on CorelDRAW, and founder of CorelDRAW Journal, and the CorelNET site, which provided a ground-breaking online resource for users of Corel Corp. applications. The new site has been designed to make it easy for visitors who use design and publishing tools to exchange technical information in a variety of ways.

The i/us site, at [ http://www.i-us.com ] hosts sophisticated threaded discussion software, providing more than 80 software- and hardware-related topics backed up by a moderator team of 42 veteran users. Visitors can also contact and communicate with one another using the live Graphic Chat server, as well as members of the Graphic Network paging service. Cold Fusion-based directories allow visitors to make entries and search listings within such categories as user groups, service bureaus, training firms and positions available/wanted.

According to Chris Dickman, i/us Director of Community Development, "Users of graphics and publishing applications are a Net-savvy group who want fast access to the knowledge of their peers. The focus of the i/us site is to provide the infrastructure for them to quickly find--and exchange information with--fellow users."  "I/us Corporation was formed to build Web-centric communities", says Arlen Bartsch, co-founder and company President. "Our premiere site is a showcase of the vision and direction we have taken in community development for visual professionals, who rely on the Web for the effective use of their tools."

While i/us is not in the business of content creation, it does provide mechanisms for independent content creators to better reach their audience. As well as hosting such content areas within the site, the Associates program encourages developers of sites with related technique-oriented material to join forces under the i/us banner. The benefit to participants in the Associates program is the traffic gained from congregating around the i/us hub. Will-Harris House is the first Associates site and the home of Esperfonto, the Web's only interactive typeface selection system. Will-Harris House also features TypoFile magazine, for people who love and use type. TypoFile covers type techniques and technologies; offers samples of the latest typeface releases; and its WebFonts section has the latest news about type technology for the Web.