Digital Content & New Media

• R/GA’s digital signage project for Club Nokia
  
  
• Yep, iPhone was really huge in 2008. Here’s one app for A4 Driving Challenge (appstore link), developed by Factory Labs.
  
• Another landmark in digital marketing for CP+B, with the Whooper Sacrifice Facebook app.
  
• I’m a sucker for Branded Applications. Here’s ‘Find It‘ developed by Dare Digital for Sony Ericsson, right on time for the next Summer festivals. So, where’s my tent?
  
• A website about design being nominated for a Webby Award on best copy/writing is no small achievement. Design Observer has my vote.
  
• I had to mention an ARG, with a subtle but effective sponsoring by McDonalds of ‘The Lost Ring‘, developed by AKQA.
  
• The Best Job In The World. This one’s a winner. By CumminsNitro Brisbane for Tourism Queensland.
  

INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING

• Agency.com’s interactive video ad for Nike
  
  
• TBWA’s famous Get A Mac synced banner
  
  
• To balance the previous nomination, here’s a load of them for Microsoft, by FirstBorn:
  
  
• Shake-up Wario Land, by Goodby+Fi
  
  
• Pepsi’s open letter to Obama, with direct webcam recording. Created by R/GA.
  
• EepyBird (from DietCoke+Mentos fame) Sticky Notes experiments
  

Websites

• Nvidia’s Speak Visual, by Cutwater (and production by Odopod)
  
• Previously featured here, MrStrings, by Fallon London
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• In An Absolut World, by the Swedish crew of Great Works.
  
• Axe Chocoman Hunter, by Bascule Inc japan, specially the integration with QR codes.
  
• More goodness from Japan, by Uniqlo and Dentsu
  
• Also featured here, The Unloader by Nokia, created by FarFar
  
• Hotel 626 for Doritos by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
  
• Another one from Goodby, this time for Sprint with the Plug into Now widget
  
• Beautiful illustration, also featured here: Hello Sour Sally, developer by Kinetic.
  
• Even more dreamlike than the previous one is Coraline, by W+K .
  
• A fresh one for me, with the corporate presence of Lumina Communications created by Kilo Studio. Love the sound design.
  
• The unavoidable Coca -Cola Happiness Factory, by Sapient
  
• Another one you can’t escape from: NIKEiD, developed by R/GA. It’s about time we start seeing more engaging e-commerce sites.
  
• An old one from the old master (in Internet years) Yugop, Design and the Elastic Mind at MoMa.
  
• A treat for photographers: Boston.com’s Big Picture. Have a look.
  
  
• Syrup built a great community resource at SavvyAuntie.com.
  
• From the auntie tribe to the Urban Daddy. Wishing there was such a classy site for Lisbon
  
• It’s impressive how NASA managed to reinvent their web presence. Managing the transition of huge amount of content while embracing new tools is no small feat.
  
• I wonder if Obama has one more win this year, with SyrupNYC‘s work for Hope. Act. Change.
  
• Had to mention one great self-promotional website from the mad minds of Gringo, with Andre and crew swearing practice. Legau p’ra cara***.
  
• One more self-promotional portfolio worth of notice is Whitevoid, with their innovative navigation
  
  
• ‘The Girl Effect‘ was highighted at Osocio.org, a work for the Nike Foundation created by Wieden+Kennedy. As a plus, it’s also one of the best examples of Progressive Enhancement in Flash that i know of.
  

Online Video & Games

• Lovely online strategy game for GreenPeace Brazil, by AlmapBBDO
  
• Content is always the Burger King. With Seth MacFarlane’s YouTube channel. By Crispin.
  
• PangeaDay, a TED prize initiative, used the power of film to share by millions of people our common humanity.
  
• The always inspiring video ‘Fifty People, One Question‘
  
• Even with its ups and downs last year, it’s still my favorite videocast: EpicFu with Zadi Diaz.
  
• Props to Donnie with ‘You Sujk at Photoshop‘. Tutorials can be fun.
  
• As for viral, being a proud web dude, my vote is destined to ‘The Website Is Down‘. I’m sorry, what?
  
• Last one, with a shameless plug for LoweDraftfcb‘s Amsterdam nomination with Upload Cinema that i mentioned here a few days ago. I knew it was that good.
  

There. This should keep you busy for a few hours. Enjoy and don’t forget to vote on the Webby Awards.

The web based MMO playing game, created by The Secret Location and the playful folks at Phantom Compass, is based on Vision’s TV documentary “Iprophesy” , extending the show to the web, with players creating customizable 3D characters, that can talk with other players, and travel between 13 different environments, each reflecting an episode from the TV show on Vision TV.

It’s the next evolution of online forums, with posts available as external RSS feeds, with collaboration and chat amongst players. By exploring the multiple worlds and answering challenges, each player earns point with winners awarded on the TV show. With TV feeling the pressure from online media, it goes with the saying: “If you can’t beat them, join them”.

It’s nonetheless remarkable how long have we progressed these past few years, with the rise of broadband and better browsers allowing experiences that were once reserved to desktop or console games.

Scope is tidy and well structured, with nothing disturbing his world order. He completes his duties on a very efficient and resourceful way.  And even if we scramble their world view, things don’t fall apart.
On the other hand, Mrs. Creep is quite flashy, very liberal and never stays too long on the same place. She loves to please her friends and clients, even though she doesn’t succeed every time.
Here’s our Scope Creep couple, a vision of what goes on in interactive projects.

Scope starts at the activity definition, with an overview of required resources. It then continues to create the processes that are agreed among all parts towards a final goal.
And then comes the Creep, with the chance of being hit by last minute change requests, way beyond the initial briefing or suddenly being confronted with a reality that wasn’t present as the project started.

Scope creep usually happens when the initial requirements and resources are incorrectly defined or when unforeseen changes and tasks appear along the project, requiring new functional adjustments and project rescheduling.
The saddest truth, at least for interactive projects, is that scope creep is bound to happen. There’s no sure way to avoid it, but one could start by finding out why it happens, instead of just focusing on the final project stages (with programmers or producers getting all the blame), where each change requires a profound restructuring of what’s been developed beforehand, whether it’s animation, programing, rendering, etc.
The most reasonable approach to scope creeping in web projects is to focus on the whole process, instead of the individual .

How to deal with Scope Creep?

We start with risk analysis, a rather common technique in project management, establishing the details before the project gets started and actually produced. But with more complex projects, the greater this risk analysis becomes. On what interactive projects are concerned, the complexity gets really huge. The web has only 10 years but it’s constantly changing, with teams having to deal with several different browsers, platforms and a variety of programming languages and product release cycles of months, if not weeks or days.
Keeping the pace with all this innovation, with lack of talented or trained team collaborators and still being able to deliver projects on short schedules is a challenge that many agencies and digital studios face these days. On top of that, the constant stream of change requests and approval process are wearing out interactive teams.

John Scope could try to get things right by setting a project duration in regards to historical records, but that just doesn’t work. No two projects are the same, no two clients are the same, no two programmers or web designers are the same. He might also try some fancy new techniques like SCRUM, and while it might work for some teams, it’s really just dividing bigger problems into smaller ones so they get more manageable.
Web projects don’t seem to have a way out of the rabbit hole, as long as the creative process is based on visual comps, storyboards and those pesky JPEGs sent for client approval.

Integrating and early planning

I stand with 37 Signals, and their “no-Photoshop” approach, using fast prototyping and wireframing on web applications and services. Focus on functionality, not visuals. Worry about what really brings changes on the process, not what is the result of the process. Unless creative agencies start rethinking their silos there’s no way out of scope creep. These days, most RIAs have drag and drop capabilities, Rich text editors or javascript libraries that can bring a client or creative into the production process to perform live edits, shortening the iterative release cycles.
This process also empowers other project members, presenting them tools and concepts that they were not aware of.

And before writing the first line of code, be sure that all interested agents have the same expectations regarding the final product. The earlier you do it, the earlier you’ll finish it. And have it written, with client, agency and production team with one common agreed goal.

It’s hard, it requires everyone’s commitment, but once we get in the flow, i’m sure you’ll make John Scope and Emma Creep happier.

First, another great idea by FarFar, with Nokia presenting the next step in workload management. Just upload that boring document you have on your Documents folder and be surprised.

Speaking of mobile, and for not accusing me of a Nokia bias, there’s Samsung Omnia, a video exploration on what a mobile device has to offer, at 42goodthings.com. Also created by a Swedish agency, Projector.

Having a great time? Then grab a Heineken beer, and take a good look around the bar to know the signs.

It could be easier to understand, so i wouldn’t had to put up with the annoying voice off. The Oddcast custom video is nice though. Work by Unit9.

After the digital inspiration, a few more video bytes on creativity, starting with Lit Studio‘s Interactive Mirror (not sure how it would work out on a Monday morning)

Interactive Mirror from Alpay Kasal on Vimeo

and ending with an essential talk on creativity and play by IDEO’s T shaped men, Tim Brown.

One of the best examples on how to use the browser and web technologies as a creative medium. Simple javascript effects and carefully synced video can do wonders for your interactive experiences.

That’s what “The Outbreak” is doing. An interactive movie, where choices have to be taken, determining the plot and movie’s final.

Directed by Chris Lund and edited by his wife Lynn Lund, the zombie adventure challenges the user to make the right choice or die.

Beware, there’s a lot of blood if you don’t succeed. I wonder if we’re starting a a trend with B-interactive websites ?

Photo by Eole, under a Creative Commons License

Ten years ago i was leaving university, thinking on how i would get along with Business Management, but having fun with Flash 4 on my spare time, while hanging around in IRC and building personal webpages on HotDog HTML editor. At that time, i didn’t even knew there was a job for a digital marketeer much less in advertising.

A few career changes later and past the dot com bubble, i find myself in a place i wouldn’t have dreamed of 10 years ago. The last 5 years have been a reward for always keeping my faith on the enormous potential of the web. New organizational models, the rise of social media, the fall of traditional media, the birth and rise of Google, it’s been a hell of a ride.

What about you, how was your last decade? How has it changed your career? Do you find yourself at the place you envisioned ?

The video was around a few days ago (love the tablet power), on the best infomercial tradition, with the website pushing the corny aesthetics to the limits.

Now i get the video reference to “any time is Kanye time in a absolut world”. The cheesy graphics and flashy rollovers, introduce us to the countdown of what seems a new product launch by Absolut. Of course i’m gettting a few bottles of vodka, and become a totally different person. Like a drunk one.

If you’re a juvenile groupie, with no self esteem and let yourself be amazed by celebrities and their endorsements, this might just work. If not, what a bad move by Absolut and Kanye, pretending that vodka might turn you into a famous person. Or Lindsay Lohan.

Such is the case for Mercedes-Benz and their latest van, Viano. Together with Hamburg agency Syzygy AG, they’ve accomplished a beautifully executed website, The Best Place For Heroes.

Mercedes partnered with Disney, and based on the story of the blockbuster movie “Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian” created a interactive narrative where the beauty of their online video navigation stands out.

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From becoming a Narnia mythical creature (yes, that’s me above) to a hero message board (aren’t these the new guestbooks ?) the whole experience makes you wonder if you’re in a movie website, in a theater or just enjoying a road trip adventure on the new van. Be sure to turn you audio on and explore the online chronicle.

Source: Ars Thanea Blog

Halo 3 and Whopper Freakout won at Integrated .

On Cyber, Uniqlock had a important win, specially for showing that blogs are a a valid online media alternative.
Other works featured here were also winners at Cyber: Absolut Machines, A Blind Call, Who is Fermin and Orange Unlimited, Red Cross Horselstest, Coke Zero, Get Out and Play, First Few Words, Flugtag Flight Lab and Bring The Love Back.

I guess i have an eye for winners. Perhaps it’s time for the folks at Cannes to invite me as a juror?