READY SET GRAD
Few realize that college preparation should start as early as middle school to take advantage of generous income-based state programs, or that certain classes and activities can help students get into the college of their dreams. As a result, Washington’s young people are missing out, and the state is not producing enough college graduates to meet the needs of employers. The Washington Student Achievement Council hired us to design and develop a website to help middle and high school students, and their parents and teachers better understand the steps they need to take to get into and afford college. The though was to create a site that looked nothing like a standard government looking site but more like an interactive game that would keep the attention of a young student. Putting ourselves back into a school desk seat and remembering the endless flow of drab informational booklets we all received as kids helped us make something fresh.
NCTA
Life without Cable leaves a mighty big hole. Cord cutters mistakenly believe they can get Netflix, Skype and original shows without cable. So inspired by this touching song, we created a digital experience to remind people what they would be missing without cable. The site was built around a central dilemma for users: to give these Holes cable, or to cut these Holes loose.
post-script:
During our soft launch (less than $100k of online advertising), the Hole Saga was picked up by Time magazine and a zillion tech blogs, with one describing it as a "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-Meets-Wes-Anderson-Meets-Tim-and-Eric vibe.” In two days, it inspired love, hate and such a fiery debate over Cable vs cord cutting that the client decided to pull it. So if one day someone asks you if you saw the dummy named Mel, just say no. But you heard he died in a fire.
MURPHY GOODE
Of course there are pictures of pretty bottles and their tasting notes for critics and real serious types to download but there are also minute-long streaming-video snippets where Dave Ready, Jr. (the wine maker) makes those notes come to life. The site is largely based around a sense of fun that we discovered at the winery and the people who craft the wine. From family recipes to winery pastimes like Lair’s Dice the site is meant to veer from the stuffy traditional world of corporate wine to the family vibe that is Sonoma Valley and Murphy-Goode.
THE PHOENIX PROJECT
The Phoenix project is made up of people who work in various fields in San Francisco, and who are interested in supporting independent artists of all kinds. We came together to do three basic things, help out our community and surrounding communities in need, invite artists we know and admire to participate in the effort, and to encourage friends and colleagues to come together in a celebration of art for a just cause.
Our first benefit, we chose to support the working class victims of the Angora Fire in South Lake Tahoe. It is a community made up of teachers, firefighters, and local business owners which was absolutely devastated by the raging fire. While debates with insurance companies dragged on, real people needed help getting back on their feet. With the generous help of many artists and volunteers we managed to raise over sixteen thousand dollars to help the victims of the fire.
