Japanese sneaker brand Onitsuka Tiger's has launched a new site called MadeOfJapan.com. The site is a combination of collage and user-generated content and was created by Strawberry Frog and Dutch agency Woedend. The content and interface is a collage of a sneaker and scrolling over the photos revels links to everything from obscure anime sites to sports commentary to fashion blogs and more. After clicking around it looks like there are some repeated links but they are supposed to be updated hourly and change depending on which links you've already clicked. It is another interesting example of letting your content be your interface.

Labels: Design and user experience, Exceptional creative, Integrated advertising

Fuel Industries' has created an amusing new online campaign for the DVD release of Eragon. The site opens with a video introduction of a vehicle covered in a black tarp and shaped suspiciously like a VW Beetle. Once you wait through the intro the tarp blows off to reveal the Saphira 2007, a majestic dragon that can be customized with car-centric features like paint scheme, stereo system and seating configuration. The implied homage to Volkswagen extends to the tag line "Riders Wanted". While the site is probably the best DVD launch promotion I have seen I do wish that the intro was either shorter or more interactive as you get the joke about a third of the way in and have to wait for the punchline.

Labels: Design and user experience, Online advertising review

I found something interesting in the latest firmware update to my PS3. Sony has teamed up with Stanford University to create a way for PS3's all over the work to put the Cell processor inside the game machine to good work with the Folding@home Distributed Computing Project. The goal of this project is to research protein folding and misfolding to gain an understanding of how these are related to diseases include (but are not limited to) Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and many forms of cancer. The program kicks off this Sunday night when Sony is asking gamers to leave on their PS3's to help a good cause and it will be interesting to see home many gamers log-in to help.

Labels: Digital culture

Sad to say that Saturday marked the one year anniversary and final episode of the Ze Frank show which I have written about before and think is genius. No word yet on what he has up next but the show will be missed.

Labels: Digital culture

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners has launched a new 'got milk' campaign called Get the Glass which is made up of a series of commercial and an amazing web site. I have only scratched the surface of the site but it is extremely well done and amazingly detailed as it rivals something you would see in a video game. I will write a more detailed review once I have been able to send more time with the site but take the time and check it out.

Labels: Design and user experience, Exceptional creative, Exceptional experiences, Exceptional Flash

Just an interesting side note. I read an article this week that at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival Kathy Sierra questioned why attendees would bother to show up at a conference in person in the age of live blogging and streaming content. With an opening line of "You don't need to be here" a few the left the conference room through the back doors. It is an interesting point. I have never been a huge fan of conferences because I never leave feeling like it was worth the time or the money.

Kathy Sierra's comments remind me of a speech I heard from architect Frank Gehry. Frank stood in the front of the room at a small conference and said "Why are you all here? You are all professionals and smart people. Do you think I came up with the museum in Bilbao sitting in an Architectural Digest conference? Stop looking at other people's ideas and start coming up with your own."

Labels: Digital culture

Recently several large trade publications have publish articles about the massive amount of money that has been spent on the (red) campaign and the appearance that is has generated a smaller than expected ROI. These articles set-off a firestorm of debate about the numbers and real impact of the campaign. I am not going to quote any of the numbers as none of them seem to have come from a reliable source and will simply say that I love the (red) campaign and hope that is it yielding real results and not wasting money that could be better spent in other areas.

It is interesting that there is now a rival campaign that is attacking the (red) campaign and it raises an interesting point of view about all of this. Romantic Static and Words Pictures Ideas have collaborated on this new campaign that enables a person to donate to charities without buying anything from major companies. The idea here is interesting as they argue that more money should be donated directly to a cause and that shopping should not be a rational response to human suffering.

I can see both sides of the argument here. Having worked on charities advertising of all sizes the bottom line is that most Americans will only donate to charity or act on things that will help the planet if it doesn't effect their day-to-day lives. So from that point of view I do understand where project (red) came from and the fact that it does have potential to get people who normally would not donate to charities to help even in a very small way. That being said I also agree with the fact that supporting this lazy "Not my problem" mentality is a short term solution that may not yield any tangible impact. Only time will tell and hopefully someday we will know the real numbers behind all of this.

Labels: Offline advertising

Coke has launched a new microsite to support Coke Zero and I have to say that it is surprisingly entertaining. The concept of the site is that Coke Zero has stolen the taste of original Coke and all of the content supports this idea. The most entertaining section is "Unlock the Secret" where you get to take various implements of destruction like a blow torch, saw and wrecking ball to open a safe containing the secret formula. It is very well produced and a lot more fun and interactive than I was expecting.

Labels: Design and user experience, Exceptional Flash, Gaming, Site review

My wife turned me on to this site for the French design store colette which is found on rue Saint-Honoré in Paris. The site is fun and unusual since it is populated with colettes signature robots who serve as the site navigation. It is a fun diversion and you may find something cool for your office.

Labels: Design and user experience, E-commerce

Converse has launched a new version of their website converse.com. The new site is all done in Flash takes advantage of the motion and non-standard interface design you can create with Flash but it is ultimately the sites biggest downfall.

The main navigation is a floating circular disc which moves depending on the section of the site and houses the four main sections of the site. Secondary nav is listed down the left hand side of the site and spring out when you roll over to reveal a variety of content. Content is usually shown in a module that only takes up about a third of the page and this is surprisingly small given the fixed site size. Browsing the inventory is straight forward with the usual options with a few upgrades and embellishments that are available because of Flash.

All of these parts adds up to several large problems. First, the relationship between the main nav, secondary nav and content feeling awkward with too much un-used dead space. The eye lines are broken and many of the pages have no visual center that path to lead the user through the page. Next, is that the interface designs feels like it was done by several designs who never met as different section have different navigation schemes and none of it leads to a consistent feel or experience.

In the end the new coverse.com is a project that should have spent a lot more time in information architecture and less time in design and Flash prototyping. It is unfortunate that this site seems to have been lead more by production technique than thinking and strategy.

Labels: Design and user experience, E-commerce, Site re-launch, Site review

Saw this new ad today for Adidas which simply reads "Nike has great ads. Adidas loves competition." It is a simple and intriguing campaign launch but it better lead to great full campaign or it will never be anything but an amusing start to a forgettable campaign.

Labels: Offline advertising

I saw the first really good use of the new Flash 9 video codec and compression today on Polo.com where they have posted the Fall 2007 New York fashion show. The focus of the site is the high quality video but as each model walks down the runway a small thumbnail appears in the corner of the site and clicking on the thumbnail will put the outfit in your "favorite looks" which can be reviewed and edited later. It is a nice integration of video and site functionality that needs to be seen more.

Labels: Design and user experience, Exceptional Flash

Anytime you go out to a club in New York you see the all powerful velvet rope that separates the in-crowd from the rest of the world. That trend is now carrying over to retail stores where section or entire stores are only accessible by invitation only. It has now even spilled over into on-line where next month forzieri.com will launch their Privileges Club which is an elite shopper club section of the site that will only be available to members.

Labels: Design and user experience

I was cruising through Yahoo! today and hit a link that took me to the beta of the new Yahoo! TV. It is an impressive Web 2.0 execution with a very nice interface design that is really easy to use and makes it easy to get to a lot of content. It did remind me of a cross between iTunes and the launch version of USA Networks new site which has since unfortunately been dumbed down and cluttered. I also REALLY like the My TV module on the right hand side of the screen which lets you see a schedule of tonight's shows and program your series 2 TiVo through the module.

Labels: Design and user experience, Digital culture, Site review