GrooveLab

A fun video shoot

Recently Groove had a video shoot at studios in the Presidio for our client, Citrix. We're developing and producing a fun game for them around the topic of desktop virtualization and it stars one of the foremost gurus in the space, Brian Madden. The game has turned out to be a fun mashup of modern technology meets Gene Rayburn [remember him? the host of Match Game...with the long, skinny microphone, bad jackets, and self-conscious leer].

Brian was a great sport, and because of his experience shooting his own virtualization-related Web show, he breezed through what could have been a very long day and made it quite enjoyable. The most difficult part was getting his tacky jacket and tie to stay in place the way they were supposed to. Luckily, our stylist extraordinaire and former Groover Loretta Hintz was on hand to deal with the problem.

Here are a few more pics from our shoot day.

 

More Reasons to Celebrate

Groove 11 has just been awarded the redesign of the St. Clement Winery website and we're thrilled with the opportunity to bring their brand to life on the web. The truly difficult part however is all that discovery involved; the site visit, the wine tasting and eating of good food that a day in Napa demands. It's hard but we'll manage to love the work!

Time for a Toast

Groove is proud to announce that we've just won a sweet Web project from Chateau St.Jean, a gorgeous winery in Sonoma. We're very excited because we're all such foodies and wine lovers, so the project is near and dear to our hearts – and stomachs. Never mind that it hasn't even started yet. We'll be creating a fantastic new website for them, which will certainly feature the historic chateau and renowned gardens.Sonoma here we come!

How NOT to extend a brand

I saw an interesting retrospective online the other day, about all the wonderful ways Mattel has expanded the Barbie brand over the years. Of course, not all of these ideas were wonderful. Many of them were far from it, and these three are cases in point.

Meet Pooper Scooper Barbie. Complete with little piles of poo.

I honestly did think this one was a joke, but apparently the joke's on me. Because everyone knows little girls love to recreate animal attacks after they have a tea party. I suppose Malibu Barbie will soon be coming with a plastic Great White and break-away torso for those times when she strays into the shark-infested waters off Southern California.

I’m afraid I don’t know the name of this particular model. Moulin Whore Barbie, perhaps?


So let this be a lesson to us all. Brand extension can be a great thing. It probably means you're doing something right, enjoying success, gaining audience, all that good stuff. But for heaven's sake, please do it responsibly. Because there's nothing worse than expecting to win over 7-year-old hearts and minds with an iconic brand by having angry reptiles peck the icon's eyes out.

Groove's Holiday Party

A good time was had by all at Groove's annual gala.

Just watch the video.Download G11holidayparty08-web

 

Experiential?

Over the break here at Groove I finally got myself over to SF MOMA to see the Martin Puryear sculpture exhibition. I really love his work; familiar materials and almost-familiar shapes leave one wondering what the purpose of these odd objects might be, or in some cases, questioning the character traits of the animal-like forms. Many of the pieces remind me of beautiful and simple Shaker objects, built for use and spartanly sensual.

My friend, at one point during our tour through the exhibition, casually reached out to touch the surface of a sculpture in the course of conversation. Being a good museum-goer, I warned him off that behavior immediately and quickly glanced toward the guards. Truth is, I’m trained as a sculptor and I deeply understand the impulse. We want the full experience; we want the data that stretches outside the visual. The story is simply not complete when only a single sense is engaged; a richer meaning develops from diverse layers of information. The artist, in the making, engaged multiple modalities; we should demand as art viewers that we too get the full experience. I’m just happy we didn’t get caught!

A Master Class in Typography

Much has been written about the opening credits of movies. And rightfully so. The movie "Seven" reinvigorated the genre a while back with some amazingly creepy, schizophrenic typography unlike anything seen in years which so artfully fit with the movie's theme. But very little has been said about the close of movies, most specifically the "The End" part.

Modern movies often omit "The End." I consider it a welcome maturation; it's pretty obvious when the movie's over so do we really need to be told? In 2009, it seems kinda cheesy. Still, in its heyday the end title card was a movie's final statement. A final chance to brand the experience, if you will.

A new set of still shots on Flickr gathers 173 end title cards from an impressive array of films, mostly oldies, for their very own showcase. What I love about these is how well they hold up. Sure, it's only six letters but they amount to a master class in typography that any graphic design student [or practicing professional, for that matter] would do well to study. The very epitome of simplicity, balance, elegance, and style, they are really fun to click through. Here's a smattering (click on each image to see a larger version).
Make sure you go here and check out the others.

Is Creativity Recession-Proof?

The economy. It’s all you hear about on the radio these days, especially since Britney’s been behaving herself. My daily commute is 40 minutes each way, and just about every morning and evening drive-time DJ has something to say about the state of the global economy.

“Here’s’ Beyonce’s latest single. Bet she’s not feeling the recession.”

“Kate Perry kissed a girl and she liked it. Must’ve been an independently wealthy girl. I’d sure like that, too.”

“That was O.A.R., trying to sell you their latest CD so they can make some M-O-N-E-Y.”

Then there’s NPR, which these days stands for Neverending Pronouncements on Recession. The housing market is kaput. Auto’s right behind. Third-world countries aren’t investing like expected. China’s GNP is down. Layoffs abound.

L'experience magnifique

I recently took a trip to Paris and visited the Arc de Triomphe for the first time. It's quite a colossal structure! No wonder Groove client NetApp used it as inspiration for their new logo.

One of the most impressive aspects of touring the Arc was the unique user experience they had inside, at the top. Here are a few pictures.

Basically, you use a mouse-like control, fashioned after the Arc itself, to move a model of the Arc 360 degrees. This varies the point on the model that a light shines on.

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Here's a little snip of a video [you could call it a videoette] from one of Groove's recent location shoots in Napa. We shot in vineyards near a bunch of bee hives [a gaggle of hives? a pride of hives?] and the video director, Toby Burditt, decided to goof off for the camera. Since he so rarely gets to be in front of the camera because he's always behind it, I thought I'd post this and take it down when he pays me, oh... say, $50. I'm waiting, Toby. Meanwhile, everyone else enjoy!  Download toby_sting.mov