The new site is described as "Facebook for creatives" and includes functionality similar to LinkedIn and Twitter that's geared to boosting design careers.

While there are already a sizable number of portfolio sites geared to the creative professional sector, the founders of Filter Foundry seem confident that a different mix of functionality will provide a compelling alternative. The goal of the site is to help creative individuals or firms showcase and market their products and services, find work, hire collaborators, learn or teach techniques, and buy digital products from the marketplace. Targeted are those active in such areas as web, interactive, gaming, film, advertising, television, animation, 3D, print, architecture, CAD/engineering, fine arts and photography.

Free membership provides such possibilities as showcasing and managing a portfolio and profile; mastering new techniques by attending learning sessions; solving problems by asking questions or searching for answers in the site's predictive knowledge base; developing industry relationships via the site's social features; and purchasing modestly-priced media from a royalty-stock library of more than nine million assets. A WorkZone feature is slated for late February that is said to allow creatives to quickly find work on a global basis.

The site has launched with the Autodesk MUDBOX 2011 competition. Over the next 10 weeks a series of learning sessions will be offered to introduce beginners to the 3D capabilities of MUDBOX. Participants can download a free trial version of the software and upload their creations, with the community rating and voting to pick a winner who will snag a 16GB Wi-Fi Apple iPad.