NOTCOT was a labor of love for Jean Aw. From what started as a personal design blog to “keep track of resources,” NOTCOT has expanded into two sites, NOTCOT.com and NOTCOT.org which collect around 20,000 visits per day. NOTCOT.com is still (mainly) a standard design blog but NOTCOT.org has evolved into something of a social network. Users submit interesting aesthetic finds such as new art and artists, products and projects.

Jean has teamed up with ThisNext as less of a business move and more as a way to drive interest and content to NOTCOT. Users can tag items from ThisNext with “notcot” and they automatically appear on her site with shopping links. When asked about tranforming NOTCOT into a “traditional” business, Aw replied that “as a designer, it’s a living, breathing portfolio.” Already in place a springboard to her design consultancy, it seems to make much more sense for NOTCOT to thrive on this “network of informative and collaborative websites” rather than strike exclusive deals.