As the 2006 competition draws to a close, I
look back on the outstanding entry field in
awe. Simply put, I am blown away at the level
of work that is out there and how designers
and developers continue to reinvent new ways
to use technology to achieve their marketing
and communication goals. As a tribute, we conducted
interviews to share more information about the
winning individual or firm responsible for creating
the best of category entries in the 2006 competition.
CODE
AND THEORY WINNERS INTERVIEW
Q. Give us a background
of your company.
Code and Theory creates & develops
aesthetically engaging, comprehensive and comprehensible
designs — a true marriage of form and
function. Code and Theory is a design and software
development company that creates solutions to
enhance our client’s brand position across
all platforms. We offer our clients a wide range
of technology to accomplish all goals.
Q. What is your approach
to developing interactive media solutions?
We use a collaborative engagement process to
identify business requirements, resource needs
and capabilities. Once requirements are gathered
and approved, we push for creative and innovative
solutions while implementing front-end design,
back-end management tools, supporting infrastructure,
and related database development.
Q. What was the creative
inspiration for your winning project?
Getting Up was directly inspired by graffiti
culture and the aesthetic of the urban landscape.
We aimed to create an interactive experience
representing a first person perspective of New
Radius, the game’s fictional setting,
in a realistic context.
Q. What technologies
were involved with making the project?
Original photography, and the usual digital
tools: Photoshop, Flash, etc. The custom CMS
that drives the content of the site uses PHP
and MySQL sending XML to Flash.
Q. What were the biggest
challenges to making the project and how did
you overcome them?
One of the main challenges of the project was
to create a destination to provide news, trailers,
and info about the game within a compelling
interactive experience. The site’s structure
and backend also had to be flexible and support
localization of content. The game features tags,
pieces, and appearances from real-life graffiti
legends so the authenticity of the site’s
experience was critical.
Q. Did the project achieve
its goals?
Yes. The site established a strong and unique
online presence for Getting Up, immersing the
prospective gamer in the detailed environment
of New Radius well before the game hit shelves.
Q. Where do you / your
team turn for creative inspiration?
We looked to our own urban environment, New
York City, and its graffiti writers for inspiration.
Every detail of the site, from the flicker of
lights in the subway to a realistic ATM interface
was inspired by life in the city. We tried to
translate as much of the grit and decay of the
streets into the virtual world we created for
Getting Up as possible.
Q. What trends do you
see in interactive media production today?
We see an increased focus on highly interactive
environments as well as an increased emphasis
on the use of video. As high-speed internet
access increases, more users are able to access
and enjoy video-rich sites, providing interactive
media creators even further freedoms in creating
exciting online destinations.
Q. What are some of
your favorite websites?
Some of our favorite websites are actually the
most straightforward from an interface perspective.
Flickr and YouTube changed the way we thought
about sharing photos and video on the web, and
the redesign of The New York Times website stands
out for simplicity and information clarity.
Q. What projects are
you working on now?
Currently we are working on a complete redesign
of Ecko.com, various projects for Microsoft
and Viacom, Charlierose.com, and a number of
video sites utilizing Brightcove technology.
