A while back, we engaged in a small debate about the term “interactive”—especially as it relates to video and other entertainment content. Well, today, Arcade Fire dropped another mind-blowing interactive music video—their third, if you’re keeping count (See Black Mirror and Neon Bible). The first two gave users the ability to manipulate sound and video… this one, however, just takes you back to the place you grew up.
I won’t spoil the details (mainly because you need to experience it for yourself), but you can read more about how director Chris Milk pulled it off at the Google Chrome Experiment page. Yeah… the whole thing was built in HTML5. Notice. Served.
We love a challenge. Particularly when it involves our favorite pastime: Creating human-animal hybrids. In the new film, “Dinner for Schmucks,” Jemaine Clement plays a Mathew Barney-esque artist name Kieran Vollard. It’s no secret that we’re big-time Jemaine fans—so when director Jay Roach asked us to help create the artwork to represent Jemaine/Kieran’s warped artistic vision, we jumped at the chance.
Our good friend Jeremy Dimmock (of Polyester in Toronto) joined us for the project and, well, that’s when things got interesting. Two photo shoots, a little animal taxidermy, a frozen octopus, and a whole lotta Photoshop yielded the final pieces and we even got to hang out on the set the day that Kieran’s gallery show was shot for the film.
With that problem solved, we got to work on the animated title sequence for the opening of the film. The task was both strange and challenging: Complement (but not compete with) a massive dead-mouse diorama that plays a prominent role in the film. Somehow, we pulled it off. To say that it was amusing and unusual just doesn’t quite do the project justice. Then again, aren’t those the very best kind?
Want more? “Dinner for Schmucks” opens today and you can catch the complete title sequence, Kieran’s artwork and lots of other really funny stuff at a megaplex near you. For now… check out Jemaine’s righteous/riotous interview (including artwork!) with Jimmy Fallon:
Creatively, this was an exciting challenge. We not only needed to reflect the new self-serve direction TCBY was taking, we also needed to respect the 30-year, category-creating history of the TCBY brand. We explored some throwback options, looked to Europe and Asia for emerging trends, delved into market research and consumed a lot of amazing frozen yogurt.
While several unique design directions were created, each expressed a few givens: the new brand should be friendly, suggest health, and remain simple while incorporating a memorable twist.
A winner quickly emerged. The proprietary typography is simple and approachable, while the cup shape within the “Y” provides the hook. Indeed, the empty cup reflects the self-serve concept perfectly, encouraging customers to fill the cup with their own masterpiece creations using the country’s best yogurt.
We were stoked to be invited to speak on branding for the Evo’ 10 Social Media Conference. Our own Heather and Scott hit the stage to breakdown our branding and social marketing philosophies and had a fantastic reception. As part of our assignment, we were also given a small online retail company/social media participant to rebrand called Touch’d. Here’s the team’s stellar results. Looking forward to next year’s conference!
What’s the easiest way to get a band label? Hard work? Kissing up? Paying people off? False.
The easiest way is to film your band and throw it up on YouTube and let the free world vote on how good or “ungood” you are. That was the idea behind freecreditscoreband.com. Virginia-based Martin Agency came to us to help bring the idea to life, so that bands across the nation could subject themselves to the scrutiny of each other, and have their family vote for them as much as they could.
A few samples:
Turns out Darth Vader used to be really into GWAR, and also good financial knowledge, allowing him to high-kick his way into fame:
When our friends at PepsiCo (in connection with our other friends at Undercurrent) contacted us about an interactive installation piece for their Senior Management Meeting, we knew two things: 1) We didn’t have much time; and 2) We wanted to build something beautiful and intuitive. I suppose we also knew something else: We could do it.
In just a few short weeks, PepsiCo asked us to help them visualize some of the social conversations happening around the PepsiCo brand. What we delivered was a simple, elegant multi-touch installation—packed with information. During the multi-day conference, PepsiCo executives could walk up to the 60-inch screen and use their hands to navigate the virtual space. In addition to the conversational excerpts, execs could also dive into a single conversation to read the full text. A Twitter panel also illustrated the real-time conversation.
We’re not too humble to say that our installation was among the most popular in the venue. With a business-minded focus on online conversations about nutrition and the environment and a fun factor that bordered on futuristic awesomeness (A 60-inch touchscreen! Grab the jetpacks!), this installation is set to evolve. Stay tuned!
So I had a thought late last night. What would happen if I used our newest site Flame It created for DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon to flame the very site itself? Would it A) form a galactic singularity with the power to consume our entire solar system? B) create a cataclysmic parallel universe where we all have fire-breathing doppelgangers? Or C) work just the way it does on other sites. Answer: C… thank goodness.
After a couple months of hard work, the PDX crew was proud to put the finishing touches on a beautiful, immersive, brand-focused site for Newcastle Brown Ale (big shouts to our friends at Vitrorobertson and TWC). As the site went live, we were reminded of something we had almost forgotten (but not quite): Our very own Patrick Marzullo (aka Tricky, Trickster, Scrap of Man) is featured quite prominently just below the Opening Acts hotspot on the Record Store page.
You see, the hired talent just wasn’t up to our rigorous standards. We needed someone who could look at records and swig beer like a champion… and, well, Patrick rose to the occasion. Check out the entire Newcastle experience HERE. And check out the entire Patrick Marzullo experience HERE.
Today’s Site of the Day on FWA is none other than the recently unleashed LEGOCLICK.com, designed and developed by the dudes and lady-dudes of Struck/Axiom in association with Pereira & O’Dell. (If you haven’t seen it yet, you should check it out.) To mark the occasion, we’d like to share a technical peak behind the curtain of one of the more popular features of the site – removing a block of content.
StruckAxiom just finished the branding and digital design for Utah’s first digital conference called PushButton Summit 2010. This event will be Utah’s premiere digital media summit for animation, gaming, mobile distribution, interactive and entertainment. It’s a two-day event and is intended to bring together world-class industry and technology leaders, entrepreneurs, students and executives to discuss the latest in what’s pushing the creation and use of digital media. We just finished this teaser thanks to the talents of our own Tosh Brown as well as Bob Zagorskis.
Enjoy and better yet, come to SLC and check out the big event!
