Frozen Planet Interactive
Last week saw the first episode of Frozen Planet, a landmark series narrated by Sir David Attenborough. To coincide with the launch of the television series, The Open University commissioned us to design and develop an interactive that would expand on an existing print item. The interactive is split into three key interactive elements, Google Earth layers, archived video footage and a Polar Timeline:
Google Earth Layers
We utilised the Google Earth Api to display custom layers that the user could explore. These include ice cover, species settlement, migratory patterns and much much more. For example, a user can see how the world was mapped in 1790, track Emperor Penguin colonies and browse through a collection of BBC archived footage.
Interactive Polar Timeline
The user has the ability to explore the polar regions by choosing key events in history. For example a user can find out where Shackleton set off in his last quest to circumnavigate the Antarctica or exactly where and when Antarctica was first discovered.
The Final Product
We developed the interactive to be completely dynamic, therefore ensuring that the tool could be reused in the future for completely different shows and data sets. The latest version of the interactive is viewable on the Open University website
CBeebies Something Special Website
CBeebies approached us to work on a development pitch for new highly accessible interactive content for the award winning children’s television show ‘Something Special’.
Something Special is simple, fun and informative and each programme focuses on aspects of the children’s world about them.
Each programme sees Justin and Mr Tumble out and about applying signing in a variety of places that have relevance to the young audience. Topics covered include pets, toys, weather, clothes, shops, food, all about me, where I live and colours. Mr Tumble always dresses up, wearing brightly-coloured clothes and even big shoes! He moves around and has lots of fun. All children will love him!CBeebies
Solution
It was imperative that the website was not only suitable for young children but also children with disability. This means that accessibility was fundamental in the design process and traditional design rules ignored. This was all about bright colours and simplistic design.
The pitch that we worked on was successful, leading to the project being greenlit and subsequently built by Aardman Digital. It is now officially live on the CBeebies website so head over and have a look.
UFC Semtex Logo
Our logo for UFC Welterweight Champion Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley has been flashed in many of his tournaments up and down the country.
The logo was part of a set created for Fight Management Ltd, Ultimate Championship Ltd and Paul Daley who is currently ranked the #10 best welterweight in the world. After going through many different designs the client eventually settled with the three official logos you see today.
THE DESIGNS THAT DIDN’T MAKE IT
THE ONES THAT DID
Sky Online Bill Tools
The Account & Billing team at Sky have been redesigning the online customer bill to make it both more accessible and more informative. To coincide with the new design we were asked to design a simple graphing tool that would plot the customers spending throughout a variable time period. The tool had to be in line with Sky’s online branding and had to feature both a Pie Chart and a Bar Graph.
Solution
The graphing tool is still live on the site today and should be for a while, however, for those that aren’t Sky customers…
Sky 50 HD Channels Animation
Sky wanted a short animation being put together to celebrate the launch of their 50th HD channel. The animation had to be under 30 seconds and should feature programs from their top HD channels; Atlantic, Sky One and Movies.
Solution
Below are some shots from the final animation. The animation was only live for two weeks and so is unfortunately no longer available.
Leader Launcher Game
London digital agency Thin Martian asked us to create a game to coincide with the UK elections. We only had a week to come up with the idea, design the game and build it so it had to be simple yet addictive.
Solution
The final version incorporates brutal humour into a known mechanic and worked brilliantly. The user has the ability to fire their selected election candidate across a land of peril. From landing in sandpaper to crashing into spinning saws…a gruesome death is inevitable.
