Life of Man Website is a Communication Arts Pick of the Day

Really proud that the Life of Man website we made for Esquire was the featured Communication Arts WEBpick of the Day on November 5th.

Communication Arts is one of the few design magazines I still make time for - so it's really nice to get the nod.

The Week of October 5th

The week that was...

Dolphin Tale Movie Strikes Box Office Gold - We Knew Winter When...

So, looks like our favorite bionic dolphin, Winter, is giving Brad Pitt a run for his money according to the weekend box office report.

Dolphin Tale, the feel good hit of the Fall, is just behind Moneyball in a photo finish, pulling in over $20 million and earning a top three spot.

Not bad for a little dolphin from Clearwater, Florida.

We were introduced to Winter and his remarkable story a couple of years ago when we made the Winter's Tail website for Turtle Pond Publications in support of the book.

Not surprisingly, the site is seeing a nice traffic spike with the movie's success.

Always nice to see a highly evolved marine mammal with a bionic tail make good.

Check Out Winter's Tail

JFK50.org: Not Just Sexy – Crazy Sexy

Very pleased to find out last night that JFK50.org won a Gold MUSE Award in the Education/Outreach category from the American Association of Museums. Not only that, one of the judges called the website "crazy sexy."

If you got it, flaunt it, I always say.

Read all about it here.

Now we need to go get a mantle...

JFK50.org – History Right Now!

You may recall we initially launched the JFK50.org site with a concept of select time-released events unlocking in "real time" on an interactive timeline in the History Now section.

Well, forget that.

We talked to the JFK Library and we all agree, the events are too important and too interesting and well, too cool, to hide from first time visitors and we all know how important it is to be "sticky" when you've got a content rich website.

So we just unlocked everything on the timeline.

Check out the 13 nail-biting days of the Cuban Missile Crisis, presented as an interactive graphic novel.
Or get a jump on the Bay of Pigs, with the anniversary coming up this weekend.

Remember you can dive in to individual cells to immerse yourself in the day and navigate frame-by-frame through the story.

We hope you like it.

Check out History Now at JFK50.org!

Artgig and Benny App in the News!

"Local Artists Create Digital Fun for Kids"

And the Benny story continues.
Had a nice sit down with Benny author/illustrator and Artgig pal, Dan Wetzel, and Lisa Buchman from the Bedford-Katonah Patch yesterday to talk apps.

Read all about it here.

Set your alarms - JFK50.org - The Peace Corps

Tomorrow is March 1, 1961 on the JFK50.org website and you can get a look at the graphic novel treatment of Kennedy's push for the Peace Corps in History Now when the event opens on the timeline. For an an extra layer of rich interactive goodness, you can also dive into individual frames to get more story and media.

"Being Benny" Children's Book App Coming Soon...

So, we’ve been working on some apps.

The first to release this year is “Being Benny,” a children’s book app based on the story from our good friend Dan Wetzel at Purple Sneakers Studio. We know Dan from way back in the Sunburst Technology days when we were making educational games for Houghton Mifflin. He’s a good friend and a very talented illustrator/animator and all-around creative.

When we found out Dan had written and illustrated his own book we applauded him. Sure, it’s easy to dream of writing a book but to actually sit down and craft an entertaining story and illustrate it, is no small feat. Once we got Benny in our hands, it wasn’t long before we were talking about making the leap from the page to the touchscreen.

The app is in Beta testing now and should hit the Apple App Store for iPads and iPhones in the next month or so.

Stay Tuned...

Being Benny is currently available in paperback or hardcover at the Purple Sneakers Store.

Jimmy Fallon JFK50.org Spots

Pretty cool - Jimmy Fallon did some spots pumping up the JFK50 site.

JFK 50th Anniversary Website - Part 3

JFK50 - Legacy Gallery and Beyond...

(Part 3 of 3)

Back to those killer videos... JFK was a media-savvy guy and he embraced all platforms of communication. You can see it in the televised addresses, radio speeches, photographs and films of everything he did, and how he made all this media available to as many people as possible. So we went out of our way to incorporate as much video and audio as we could. In addition to the JFK historical media, there is a growing library of videos in the Legacy Gallery that show how the JFK legacy has affected the lives and work of people today, ranging from Matt Damon and Wynton Marsalis to Stephen Colbert and Nancy Pelosi.

And finally, there is a Downloads and Resources section of the website, making themed content available to students and teachers for use in personal or classroom projects.

JFK seized the hearts and minds of America and inspired a nation to form a community focused on change. Since we launched the site on Jan 20th - the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s inauguration speech, I’ve talked to a number of clients, friends, and family, who were there in the 60’s - and the site is clearly stirring memories and emotions. That is impressive. What would really be impressive is if we can achieve our goal, and inspire a younger generation to carry the torch. Who knows? Maybe a future president is looking at History Now, right now.

JFK50.org

JFK 50th Anniversary Website - Part 2

JFK50 - History Now

(Part 2 of 3)

Working with ESI Design is always a great experience, and working for the JFK Library and Museum in Boston has been a pleasure. Their vision was to bring the life and times of President Kennedy to not only the generation that remembers him, but to engage the new generation of kids who know his name, but maybe not so much about his passion and ideas for a better world. Working for kids is one of our favorite things to do, and we wanted to make history speak in a contemporary language. And so the History Now section of the site was born - transforming formerly dry, colorless information into a graphic novel styled panorama. The timeline is peppered with major events taking place during the three years of the Kennedy presidency, like JFK’s inauguration and the Bay of Pigs invasion, that unfold on the same date they occurred 50 years ago. It's our own version of a time machine. And we think it’s pretty cool.

Next up, Legacy Gallery...

jfk50.org

JFK 50th Anniversary Website - Part 1

JFK50 - Something for Everyone

(Part 1 of 3)

The final days leading to a major launch are always nerve-wracking, but after some last-gasp coding heroics by super Steve, the site is live and we're all feeling pretty good about it. This project was another herculean team effort, featuring the combined forces of Artgig and ESI Design, along with the crack video crew at Ager Meillier Films.

The jfk50 site is a ground-breaker for us. If you've been keeping up with the iOS vs Flash war raging on the internet and here in my blog, you will have seen that at this moment in the constantly evolving primordial internet soup, it's a complicated and excessive task to make a media-rich, interactive site accessible to every person on every kind of device. But that's just what we've managed to pull off, and we've done it in a way that we hope is both transparent and intuitive. On your computer you can view the site in all of its Flash goodness, or default to HTML for accessibility. On mobile devices and the iPad you'll get all of the media delivered in a friendly lightweight HTML5 presentation. It sounds easy but video was the giant uncooperative gorilla in the room, because once you get away from the standard Flash player - there are no standards. So you better triple your time for testing and tweaking to get it right.

Next week - History Now...

jfk50.org

Artgig Concert Report: The Dead Weather - Prospect Park, BK

We shut up shop early Tuesday to brave the BQE, landing in Prospect Park only moments before The Dead Weather hit the stage for a Celebrate Brooklyn benefit concert.
And when Jack White appeared, blow torch in hand, on a perfect summer's eve, we snatched our frosty beverages from the Watering Hole and melded into the buzzing crowd.
From that moment on, we were transported in an experience described afterward by our honorary Artgigger, Nick, as "soul cleansing."
Yeah, soul cleansing with a blow torch - that about sums up the good old-fashioned rock concert The Dead Weather threw down - hustling, cussing and stomping through the night.
When it was over and the dust settled, I was left literally stunned.
That was The Dead Weather.

Read more at Brooklyn Vegan (and look who's at the top of the quotes).

iPads and iPhones and Apps - Oh My!

A very good longtime friend of mine, an Art Director for a big healthcare advertising agency, stopped by a few weeks ago with his shiny new iPad. I only had a few minutes with it, mostly playing a motion-sensing snowboarding game with my son, but I was left with a clear and distinct desire to own one as soon as possible.

It should be noted, that when I met this friend almost 20 years ago, he was the only person I knew who had a Mac.

A week later, I found myself on my patio drinking a nice bottle of Prisoner red with the same friend, when he voiced his surprise/shock/disappointment that I still didn't have my own iPad - especially since my business is rooted in technology and the web. He went on to tell me how his boss had just come back from some trade show and declared the iPad to be the future of computing.

I explained to him that Apple blindsided us, and our plans for Flash app development, when they pulled the rug out from Adobe with their new developer terms.

He was unimpressed.
He went on to explain that app development is the place to be.
And how he doesn't even miss Flash since he got his iPad.
And how even the porn industry is embracing HTML5.

I explained to him that HTML5 is a nice thought and a good Flash alternative for video in some browsers, but it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the mature interactive application authoring ability, not to mention penetration (while we're talking porn) that Flash provides.

Again, the HTML5 and Flash argument is really apples and oranges.

Well, how do they make games for apps then? He asked.

Well, Apple has their own developer environment for apps called Xcode and you can get up and running with some basic functionality pretty quickly, but if you want to do something fancier and more graphics driven, like a snowboarding game, you'll need to know Objective-C programming language and OpenGL for the graphics interface.

My friend stopped looking at me like I was some kind of caveman and we finished the bottle.

The conversation shifted to a new project he was working on with a hot, happening shop, and as he was talking them up, with iPhone in hand, he naturally made a move to call up their website to show me -  but stopped himself.

"I'd show you their website...but it's in Flash."

To be continued...

Artgig Launches IWPR International News Website

After over three months of around-the-clock-effort from an international development team lead by Jim here in Pleasantville and Tarrant Marshall in Australia for Artgig, along with our friends at ESI Design in Manhattan and the Institute of War and Peace Reporting team in London, we are extremely pleased to announce the launch of the new IWPR corporate news website. ESI had been working on this project for over a year when they brought us in and handed off a 70-plus page design spec for production.

We knew the three-month timeline was aggressive, especially considering there were other development teams in the mix working on ancillary components, but in typical Jim fashion, he didn't even blink - he just rolled up his sleeves and got to work with Tarrant in a routine that involved few breaks for air and lots of Skyping.

Amongst the many virtues of the new Drupal site aside from the new look, is easier, faster access to uploading and editing news and articles from not only everywhere in the world but everyone, including journalists in the field - and they can do it in any language they choose. It’s a picture of democracy blooming not only in struggling nations, but in journalism itself. And the open source platform will allow IWPR to continue and expand their work long after we've gone.

It's a difficult concept for westerners, because we're used to standing up and being heard, regardless of what we have to say. Or despite what we have to say, in most cases, and we don’t even have to stand up. Free speech is a luxury we take for granted. IWPR mentors communities for whom this concept is new and often dangerous, with services, equipment and this new website. They teach, encourage, support and disseminate.

But the beautiful part is the greater transparency of the entire process, which is in fact the main purpose of the organization, and indeed of journalism in any form. Every new iteration of the site allows more small voices a megaphone, brings more stories by the people to the people, cultivates understanding and empathy, and along the way enlightens us all and prompts action in the name of justice. Now that's a website to be proud of.

Check it out:

iwpr.net

From the Trenches: Apple vs Flash Part 3

Tuesday, May 25th 1547 hours

Just when it appeared Apple had Adobe Flash cornered, Google enters the fray.

Last week Google unveiled Google TV at their developer conference and joining Google's VP of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, on stage in support of the platform were some other tech heavy hitters:  Sony boss Sir Howard Stringer, Intel's Paul Otellini, Best Buy's Brian Dunn, and Adobe's chief executive, Shantanu Narayen.

That's right, Google is going full steam ahead with Flash on their mobile Android platform, their Chrome browser which just graduated from Beta, and now coming soon to a TV near you - Google TV.

Attempts at a blended TV/web interactive experience using your television are usually half-baked and clunky but Google aims to change that with the Intel Atom chip to deliver fluid browsing, content, apps and games - all from your remote.

It will also be interesting to see how Google incorporates the power of its powerful speech recognition software.

Our embedded operative and Android tester, Jim Bail, who watched some of the conference webcast, reports the Google gang stuck a big bullseye on Steve Jobs and Apple, calling out comparisons to Big Brother and warning of a Draconian future.

Now let me go search Google for images that include the terms "trench, war, and television."

Stay tuned...

From the Trenches: Apple vs Flash Part 2

Thursday, May 20th 0956 hours

The big thing that everyone is missing in this Flash War is the fact that Flash is not just video.
Sure, it's the preferred platform of the moment because practically everyone has Flash and can run it in their browser the same as the next.
But if HTML5 or some other technology bumps Flash from its web video throne, Flash will still be the only competent authoring tool for interactivity and animation on the web.
Sure, we've all learned that big splashy Flash intros are bad.
And we all know that what most people want on the web is content and they want to get it quickly without jumping through hoops.
But do you really want to eat chicken every single day?
What about the one day out of the week when you want to change things up, to try something different? To use your imagination?
How else are we to achieve the seamless cinematic quality of a big beautiful Flash site produced in capable and creative hands?
Or a game?
Club Penguin anyone?
Farmville?
Do you think it can be done in HTML5?
Have you seen the amazing "look what I did in HTML5" animations floating around?
They stink.
According to a 2009 Quantcast study, mobile web is less than 1.5% of all web browsing in the US - and that includes the iPhone, iPod Touch and every other mobile device you can think of.
Mobile computing is clearly on the rise, and the iPad will likely add to Apple's mobile share but we're not talking total domination here - not by a long shot.

It's a safe bet that the remaining 98-point-something percent of web users will not abandon their Flash-enabled browsing experience anytime soon.

Flash is safe...for now.

MUSE LIVE NYC

I gotta say, I had mixed feelings going into this one.

I like Muse, but it's far from an unequivocal love - I probably skip as many songs as I listen to.

Their sound is typically big and heavy and undeniably catchy, but it too often slips into full-blown opera (think Queen)–and that's where they lose me.

On the plus side:

• There are few songs better for late night driving on the West Side Highway than "Map of the Problematique." 
• I saw them perform on television at last year's VMA's (yes, the one hijacked by Kanye West) and I was struck by the precision and confidence of their crunchy performance.
• Ever since, the buzz has been building, culminating in a glowing firsthand concert report from Artgig Australia at Big Day Out in Sydney just a couple of months ago.

So when the Garden gig was announced, I felt an immediate tug and grabbed some tickets.

If I had any doubts going into Friday night, Muse smashed them to bits with a powerhouse performance that quite simply kicked ass.

This is a band made for the big stage and they used every inch of it, up and down, to put on one hell of a big show.

See them now if you can.

You won't regret it.

ChatRoulette - Exactly What It Sounds Like

It's 7:20 pm in Moscow - do you know where your children are?

As I went through my Monday drive mental checklist this morning, I stopped at one nagging item - "must nurture blog."

But this is easier said than done.
For one needs something to write about in order to write.
And I know as soon as I get into the office, I'm likely to come under heavy fire that will not let up until sometime Friday when I lock up for the night, so the opportunities for a moment of precise clarity leading to a worthy blog post are few and far between.

Needless to say, I arrived at work without a topic.
Well, I was thinking of interviewing Steve, but I'll save that for another day.

As I dove into my morning mash of news and tweets, it hit me square in the face.

Enter ChatRoulette to save the day.

What is this? I thought. Another breakthrough social web platform–and I've not heard of it.

How is it possible?

I read the New York Magazine article about a 17-year-old Russian kid who, out of boredom, built the site for random video chatting with strangers.

If you don't like what you see, all you have to do is click next to get a new stranger from somewhere else in the world - before they do it to you.

Brilliant. I thought.

Exciting. I imagined.

Gotta check this out - I did.

And what I got in my five minutes on ChatRoulette was a lot of quick images - mostly guys and most of them jerking off.

Next, next, next...

A guy, wearing a furry raccoon hat with murder in his eyes, stares back at me - next.

A woman, no that's a guy with breasts, next...

A sign - "show me your tits", next...

And then I arrived at something different - like a bad art installation.
Are those giant bags of cocaine or is it seat cushion stuffing set against an aluminum foil backdrop?

The chat started as words appeared on my screen - the stranger on the other side asked me "know what this is?"

"Clueless," I responded.

Next - the stranger disconnected.

Clueless, and happy, I thought.

Chris Tarry - Always Fresh

Our favorite Canadian bassist and all-around creative force, Chris Tarry, is at it again - we just pushed the latest website update live and you should go there right now to check out a LIMITED TIME OFFER to name your price for downloads!:

Still here?

Let's continue this conversation over at Chris' site - where you can soak in the new layout and get all the news and features you can handle in one big Tarry-sized gulp.

GO!

christarry.com