Brand Experience Agency - Groove 11 - GrooveLab

Connecting The Dots

Once in a while, a product, a technology or even a web site comes around that just stuns you in its use of a simple design mixed with technology. 

The new Audi site does just that. By creating simple 3 dimensional images created with nothing more than dots, Artificial Duck (the designers & programmers behind the site) have created something beautiful, engaging and truly interactive.

Viral Videos and The Art of The Con

Many of you may have heard or seen “Viral” marketing campaigns by businesses seeking to inexpensively promote themselves or their products and/or services over the Internet, specifically viral video campaigns. Viral marketing and viral advertising, as defined by Wikipedia, refers to “techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth, delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.”

Samsung Omnia (i900) Unboxing

Saving the World One Design at a Time

I believe design is definitely one of the tools we have in our save-the-world arsenal and the good news is I’m not the only one. I’ve just discovered Design 21, a “Social Design Network." The site is a partnership between UNESCO and the merchandise company Felissimo. Design 21’s mission is to “inspire social activism” through design and the site has some great features to support this mission. Members can post design-oriented profiles, blog, show work samples and reveal organizational affiliations that surface who they are and what they’re into. In addition to the design-focused profile feature, there are articles on a variety of topics, like an interview with economist Jeffrey Sachs on how designers can contribute to the global goal of ending extreme poverty. The site also brings together designers and non-profits through the hosting of design competitions, and an “Act” area in which socially conscious organizations can list project descriptions and request pro bono support. The design by Area 17 is clean and inviting, and the site in general is just a pleasure to engage with. Design 21 is a fantastic illustration of the promise of Web 2.0 empowering communities to create change. My only concern now is finding the time to dig into all the exciting content and join the conversation.

The perfect banner? Maybe so!

Web banners are challenging. People are just as used to them now as they are billboards, magazine ads, TV spots and everything else. So grabbing attention is an art.

This banner, part of an anti-crystal meth campaign, does an exceptional job of getting through the clutter with a very authentic-looking real-time/web cam approach to getting the message across. When the guy first sits down, he even adjusts the cam and the picture shifts. Very cool. The teaser, shown here, grabs your attention and compels you to click – and doing so launches the message.

It's a great look, a great approach for the audience, a great use of the medium, and a great execution. Would that all communication was this clear and compelling.

The Power of the Web

Sean Dunn, one of Groove's founding partners, had an interesting experience not too long ago that really brought home the power of all this Web 2.0 stuff and how it converts brand conversation from monologue to dialogue.

While blogging last week and posting comments about the presidential campaign, he reached out to someone named Peter. They started a dialogue. No matter what you think of the debate – and who you align with politically or morally – it was clear from their lively debate that he had this person in a real dialogue. So, he looked to Google to learn a little more about Peter. This is what he found:

"Peter H. Wehner served until March 2007 as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Initiatives, running the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. He was a Bush speechwriter who worked for William Kristol when he was chief of staff to then-Education Secretary William J. Bennett."

With nothing more than his computer and cable, he was debating a White House insider! As Sean says, "A voter like me would never have had access to the inner circle of any other presidency at any other moment in time. This man was debating me on health care, abortion, taxes, etc. My debate will go on – and he will do his best to change my mind."

Think of the power shift this implies. CEOs like Jonathan Schwartz at Sun blog every day. We all need to understand the true power at our fingertips – the power to reach out, in real time, to real people. Who knows where it could lead or what connections you could make?

It truly is a whole new ball game.

When life hands you lemons

Here are some stills from another great banner I found on BannerBlog.com. It's interactive, with high-quality video and sound design. Using a simple idea around trying to make money in a way everyone can relate to, the advertiser communicates quickly and engagingly with the audience. Click here to see the whole thing.

Left vs. Right

In case you don't know where the Left and Right stand on issues, there is an innovative multimedia site that can now help you. 

http://www.leftvsright.com/

Even if you're overloaded with politics already, this is a great web site for sparking new ideas. The structural framework is very interesting. The site mixes different ideas together in a single unified theme, including video of 2 people representing the Left and Right. After it loads, you can click on any topic name listed under the table. The 2 people will then talk about the topic, while also presenting more to learn. At some point, stop interacting and do nothing. The 2 people start to talk, make a cell phone call, take a few shots, and more.  It can be humorous.

The Ultimate Experience

These are screen grabs from an amazing viral video called "People in Order" which you can find on YouTube. In it, one hundred people, aged 1 to 100 pronounce their age and hit the symbolic drum. Watching this short-but-brilliant film, hatched from a simple idea, is quite an experience. In a matter of minutes, a parade of humanity marches past you, and you can't help but feel like a tiny spec, and feel connected to everyone else making this same journey. It's the ultimate experience -- the human experience. And it's way cool. Watch it.

An elegant interface

Here is one of the most spellbindingly (is that a word?) beautiful interfaces I've ever seen online. Check out thewhalehunt.org and you'll be completely captivated. The site is a series of 3,214 photos spanning seven days, a self-described experiment in storytelling that depicts the plan-making, preparations, trek, community building, and aftermath surrounding a modern-day whale hunt in Alaska. [Yes, they still hunt whales in some places.]

That in and of itself may not sound too exciting. But it's the way in which the photos are presented that gave me pause, and cause, to say "Wow." Creator Jonathan Harris gives you a choice by which you can navigate through the photos: mosaic, timeline, or pinwheel. There's also an original typeface, an unusual search method, and fascinating, simple, elegant (there's that word again) icons for navigation and search parameters.

I've posted a few screen shots here, but you really should log on and experience it for yourself to see the cool way the cursor affects the thumbnails, how the photos rearrange themselves with a click as you change formats, the interesting way to set search parameters, the original typeface developed just for this site, the elegant (there's that word again) icons in the nav bars, and so much more. Definitely one of those "I wish I had done that" ideas.

Save A Tree For Christmas

No not that Tree, but all those trees that go into making the paper to produce all those catalogs that arrive at your door during the holiday season. My good pal, interaction designer Karen Theisen, has gone green crazy this year and turned me onto the beta site for Catalog Choice. This nifty little site allows for one-stop shopping to tell all those retailers to simply cease and desist. Okay, all except for Design within Reach. I've still got to have my fix.

Check it out and save a tree.

Catalog Choice