Assignment #8: 404 Fun

The beta site has arrived!

We're still working out a few pop's and clicks, but that's part of the fun. Literally!

In celebration of the new AdHack community we wanted Assignment #8 to offer each of you a chance to contribute in a lasting way. So here's how:

We want you to help design our 404 Page.

(What's a 404 error page?)

To make a long story short, a 404 error page is the page that appears when there is a broken link, missing page or server problem on the AdHack site. We don't want to predict it, but it will eventually happen.

And getting a 404 error can be a heart breaking, dream shattering, life altering experience. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it's not sunshine and lollipops.

So we want to show folks a page that's both useful and serves to lighten the mood. A 404 error page they can remember, even though we don't want them finding it often.

Make your 404 error page funny, useful, relevant, make it useful. Make it what you'd like to see on AdHack if you found an error.

We'll choose a winner in the usual manner — a poll we can rig if we need to — and award a prize to the winner. Their winning entry will also henceforth become the Totally Official AdHack 404 Error Page. NIfty.

So what else do you need to know?

The error page can be text, links, htmls, images — pretty much anything you can put on a web page. Probably not a video. Though if you could convince us it should be a video, we'd consider it.

Here are some links to get your mind whirring:

• 404 research lab with 404 of the week
• Smashing Magazine's guide to 404 error pages with examples
• Great 404 error roundup
• How to create a great 404 error page

Happy designing!