Tag archives: uk

The Student Corner: Anamorphic Typography

Pretty amazing anamorphic typographic installation by graphic design student Joseph Egan of the Chelsea College of Art & Design.

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Pupils, let’s study maths

In the UK the government has launched an online campaign to encourage more children to study maths and science.

It’s a smart educational project, with a rare and strong practical focus. The website shows a series of cool aspirational jobs (from game developer to snowboard designer to food technologist) while describing the educational path to start those careers. I like it because it wants children to think (at least for a couple of seconds in order to realize the variety and breadth of careers that science and maths qualifications can lead to.

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Doritos ID3: this is entertainment

It looks like brands and agencies have been starting to get the best out of Facebook Connect. After Prototype or Frenzied Waters, here comes Doritos with its ID3 advergame.

This campaign is to support the launch of Doritos new product innovation: a limited edition mystery flavour, “ID3″, that consumers have to guess . Once again, when the tortilla chips brand owned by PepsiCo plays with technology, it does it in a consistent and relevant way, not just as a pretext. As you will see in this case, it does not do things half. I must say I am quite impressed by the level of production of this campaign. I like the way it mixes interactive first person video as well as 3D tools. Adding the integration of personal content, thanks to Facebook Connect, Doritos delivers a successful immersive experience.

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Vodafone launches #ukhols map

I realize this is very geek, but I really like it: in the UK Vodafone has launched a website which combines Google Maps and Twitter to build the picture of where British people are going to spend their summer holidays.

The initiative has been launched to spread the word about the fact that roaming charges across Europe have been eventually abolished by Vodafone.

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Cravendale is back (and still has something to say)

The world of Cravendale Milk is back with the 2009 edition of the website (if you want to read about the 2007 version, click here). It is not as fun and crazy as the previous version, but it still offers us some food for thought.

Despite the extremely didascalic/self celebration message that welcomes visitors on the homepage (we think a milk website should be fun, it’s not just about clicking and reading…) the website really manages to create a nice experience thanks to its interface.

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The X Factor challenge

I love when media are well integrated delivering a rich and new experience. It’s the case, for example, of The Carphone Warehouse X Factor Challenge website in the UK, that perfectly supports and enhances the TV show.

The website has the most basic and obvious functionality which allows visitors to vote for their favourite performers in the show. But there is more, as users have also the chance to become stars of X Factor themselves. By using a PC or a phone the next singers wannabe can record and submit their performance, winning the chance to participate in the show, as the artists or, at least, among the audience.

CHI & Partners London and Unit 9 did a great job, both with the concept and the execution. First of all, as I said before, I like the way the web has been integrated with the TV show.

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The Truth About Smart

From the UK, a lovely piece of work by Agency Republic to promote the Mercedes-Benz Smart ForTwo. The truth about Smart is definitely a great example of interactive storytelling: simple, wit and even very informative.

The experience is divided in five chapters and the journey is accompained by a narrator that explains the car characteristics’ and engages users in humorous interactions. The navigation through the five videos is smooth, engaging and even relaxing I would say… In a way, I felt like I was watching a BBC documentary mixed with a light version of Little Britain.

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The viral vinyl

From the UK, an unusual viral marketing idea. The British singer-songwriter Tallulah Rendall has decided to surprise and please her fans with a little gift. As explained on Cool Hunting the idea of the viral vinyl is that each person who walks through the door of Bush Hall in London on 6 August 2008 will receive a vinyl single wrapped in beautiful artwork with a little story attached. Each record comes with a unique download number that the recipient can then pass onto friends.

Surely an interesting idea that mixes the digital and the material word and definitely makes us remember that “viral marketing” or, better, “word of mouth” is actually older than the Web itself.

Terminate-a-mate

From the UK, an curious case study about a Terminator campaign created by the guys at London 20:20. The action is a few months old now, but I’m sure you’ll find it interesting anyway. Mobile played a key role in the project with an innovative GPS based mechanism that allowed users to precisely locate their friends around town.

A video explaines in details the campaign that also took advantage of a nice online media execution.

Iconic Britain looks pretty flat

To fight back Google Image Search dominance in image search on the Web, Msn has launched in the UK “Iconic Britain“. The website encourages visitors to upload images that better portrait UK culture, architecture and tradition. Users are also (and more importantly) invited to search the Web and look for the images that best fit into the concept.

I have contrasting feelings about this campaign. I think the Iconic Britain concept, althought it isn’t very new, could have been an interesting starting point for promoting the Live Search feature. Unfortunately it looks like MSN took a quite creative idea and developed it with the flattest look & feel and interface possible. To me this website even works negatively for the MSN brand not intentionally (of course) communicating to the users MSN isn’t a cool brand at all. What do you think? Am I too critic with this campaign?