Zinc Pop-up

Help! I'm Lost!

What is up with the mystery meat?

navigation

Spanning the top of every Zinc Panic page is the universal navigator, aka the Zinc Panic remote, or your everyday (though gussied-up) navigation bar. From the navigator, the three primary sections of site are easily accesible:

Genus Pages
Column Pages
Timeline Pages

The Zinc Panic search engine is also accessible in the navigator, but that is better covered in its own help section.

Genus Pages

The first row of navigational links on the navigator leads to the genus pages -- pages listing robot designs according to five basic archetypes.

Traditional thinking posits that robots should be classified according to how 'realistic' they are within a narrative context. That is, a military-themed mass-produced walking tank seems more viable than a primary colored Samurai robot with magical powers. But in truth, neither example is practical, so that kind of classification is moot. Zinc Panic discards the unnecessary burden of 'fiction' and dissects the robot kingdom according to pure visual design, as fantastical and gloriously childish as it all might be.

Thus, the five Zinc Panic genii are based on the analysis of objective visual elements. This allows you to explore robot design without prior familiarity of backstory. And without the bias that narrative creates, it is easier to appreciate each and every robot as a unique and important design entity.

Remember, the genus system is not an end-all, but just another tool to aid design discussion. We have purposely made it flexible enough to allow designs to fit across multiple genii. And, we hope, to duck the criticism of narrative fans.

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Column Pages

The links on the second row of the navigator lead to column pages -- pages containing information about the site, editorials, news, etc. Anything not directly related to the database that makes up most of Zinc Panic. Currently, you will find:

Zinc Dogma

Everything you need to know about the site, it's purpose, the obsessive-compulsive minds behind it. A general 'about us' section.

Densha Blues

Personal perspectives and other such editorials from the staff. The subjective ying to the rest of Zinc Panic's objective yang.

Radar Radar

News of the toy/design world; announcements of new and future toy designs. Although Zinc Panic is an archive of the past, sometimes we like to look to look into the future.

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Timeline Pages

The third row of the navigator links to our timeline pages, where toy and robot related events are chronicled by year. Because we have chosen to archive modern Japanese robot design, our scope only reaches back the middle of the last century.

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If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us.
©2004 Zinc Panic Collective