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April 25, 2008—With all that the interactive, interior design website DesignMyRoom.com has to offer, it’s no wonder that it has been recognized by three prestigious award organizations, Webby Awards, ad:tech Awards and SXSW Web Awards, in the past year. “DesignMyRoom.com has already received a warm welcome in the public Internet community, but we are extremely excited to see our site recognized by the industry as well,” said Jesse Engle, Vice President of Product and Business Development for Swatchbox Technologies, the company that runs the site.

At DesignMyRoom.com users have the ability to explore interior design ideas virtually before beginning home remodeling and redecorating projects. The site includes thousands of products from major household names like Armstrong, Benjamin Moore, Kohler, Smith and Noble, Whirlpool and Target. In addition users can view the creations of other users or get advice and design ideas from several of the nation’s top interior designers—all for free.

This year DesignMyRoom.com won the ad:tech award for “Best User-Defined Experience,” beating the popular ElfYourself.com website in this category. ad:tech defines this category as “websites that let the user create a custom experience based on their unique needs or likes through the use of a tool or application that facilitates the functionality.” 2008 was ad:tech’s 11th annual award program; each year this competitive program recognizes talented interactive technology designers.

In the 12th annual Webby Awards, Swatchbox’s DesignMyRoom.com was named an Honoree in two categories: Lifestyle and Community. This year the Webby Awards, hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, received nearly 10,000 entries, of which fewer than 15% were deemed Official Honorees. In the Lifestyle category, DesignMyRoom.com competed against other websites that feature commentary and advice on “lifestyle and living topics such as gardening, home improvement, interior design, architecture, and like subjects.” In the Community category, websites were judged on their ability to “create or facilitate an online community, connectedness and/or communication around shared interests.” Jesse Engle of Swatchbox Technologies said, “To be recognized by the Webby Awards, really tells us that we are doing something right in the Internet community.”

At this year’s SXSW Interactive Festival, DesignMyRoom.com was recognized as a finalist in the Business category, a category for sites that are “devoted to the promotional needs, functions and services of for-profit businesses.” Each year the SXSW Interactive Festival is a place where top thinkers talk about the newest trends in technology, their projections for the future, and, of course, the year’s award winners and finalists. This year, the event was hosted by Adobe.

 

About Swatchbox Technologies

Swatchbox Technologies™ (www.swatchbox.com), located in Westborough, Massachusetts, is a leader in virtual design tools for the home. The company’s Swatchbox Rendering Engine enables homeowners to design and decorate using digital photographs of their own homes to make better design decisions before embarking on home improvement projects. Swatchbox works with manufacturers, retailers and online publishers, including Ace, Alcoa, Armstrong, Benjamin Moore & Co., Clopay, Dupont, Hearst Corporation, HGTV, Lowe’s, Pittsburgh Paints, Sears, Sherwin Williams, Time Warner, True Value, Valspar, and Wayne-Dalton.