sepoct2006preview

Interactive Annual 12

September/October 2006 Sixteen Dollars www.commarts.com

interactive annual 12: advertising

Havaianas “I adore this site. It makes you want to explore. Leave it to Brazil to come up with something that’s the interactive equivalent to ‘The Girl from Ipanema.’”

—Kevin Farnham

Overview: Showing off the Havaianas sandal line while

speaking the language of fashion, this site features a different illustration style and musical arrangement for every shoe the company makes. Organized by consistent but barely perceptible guidelines, it continually surprises its visitors with elaborate animations and vibrant splashes of color.

• 6 full versions, 3 different languages • Worldwide store finder • 120,000 unique visitors per month • 1 song with a different arrangement for every shoe

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Interactive Annual 2006

www.havaianas.com.br

“Amazing sense of style and attention to detail! Beautifully crafted animation and sound draw you into the site and lead you to the product in a really wonderful and surprising way. A truly mesmerizing experience.”

—Susan Easton

Creator’s Comments: “The challenge was to find

a way of illustrating more than twelve different Havaianas styles, including all their colors and specifications, without taking a hard sales approach or, worse, being boring.

“The site needed to contain an extensive amount of content about the brand including product information, the markets where it’s available and the advertising campaigns that support the brand. We also wanted a special place where Havaianas addicts could send their stories and declarations of love. We had a lot to accomplish, all of it while speaking the language of fashion.

Havaianas World is the result.

“Attributing a ‘lifestyle’ to each type of Havaianas, we created niches for the different styles, using attitude as the basis for the illustrations, colors and animations. The approach was duplicated on the product pages where we also developed a custom system for each style.

created a theme for each section that helped convey the concept behind each different style. While visitors navigate, they can listen to the same song with different rhythms and styles.

“In the end, Havaianas World is a playful, multicolored, interactive experience.”

—Sergio Mugnaini

“Music became a way for us to convey the idea that Havaianas are universal sandals that suit every place and every person.

By creating different arrangements of the same jingle, we

Sergio Mugnaini/Marcello Serpa, creative directors Adhemas Batista, art director/illustrator/typographer Luciana Haguiara, writer Raphael Carvalho/Flavio Ramos/Fabricio Zuardi, Flash programmers Ana Maria Machado, producer Ricardo Martins de Almeida, animator Lua Nova, music composer Almap BBDO, project design and development/ad agency Alpargatas Havaianas, client Communication Arts

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interactive annual 12: advertising

Specialized: Body Geometry “A great concept thoroughly executed in a way that shows, and explains, the product in a unique and memorable way.”

—Todd Purgason

Overview: Cycling meets science class on this site for

Specialized bicycles. Users poke around to learn how Specialized gear works with the body, while graphic dissections of muscles and skeletons—complete with squishy sound effects—make learning science just as unsettling as it used to be.

• 10 featured products

www.specialized.com/bodygeometry

• 3.8gb total file size • 2-month production time • 400,000 hits as of May, 2006

“Quirky, fun and effective.”

—Paula Willard

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Creator’s Comments: “Body Geometry cycling gear

is all about protecting and supporting what’s on the inside—nerves, soft tissue, bones. After immersing ourselves in the science of the gear, we thought it made perfect sense to use dissections and anatomical imagery to bring it all to life. Plus, who doesn’t want to see a guy with no skin riding a bike?

“Since accuracy was really important on this project.

We worked closely with a by-the-book medical doctor who would say, ‘No, that’s not what that artery looks like. It’s more like this.’ Then he’d draw it correctly on our layouts.

“For sound effects, we decided to shoot for gross. A few squishes and slices add to the realism. Our hope is that people will leave the site feeling a little more human.”

—Mandy Dietz/Aaron Dietz

Keith Anderson, creative director Albert Kelly/Steve Mapp, associate creative directors Aaron Dietz, art director Mandy Dietz, writer Enjoy Greener Grass, Flash programmer Carey Head, producer Mike Geiger, executive director Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, project design and development Specialized Bicycle Components, client Communication Arts

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interactive annual 12: information

Curating the City: Wilshire Blvd.

“A nice way to look at this type of content; it was really effective at drawing me in.”

—Todd Purgason

Overview: Curating the City is an educational program that treats Los Angeles as a living museum, offering a fresh look at its cultural heritage. As part of that effort, this site provides an interactive tour of Wilshire Boulevard, using its architecture to highlight the history of the city.

• 8 neighborhoods, 100 buildings • Java and MySQL engine • 30,000-year interactive timeline

www.curatingthecity.org

• 970 photos

“Well-organized and artfully presented.

Through a series of architectural wonders and landmarks, it provides a fantastic exploration of historic Wilshire Boulevard.”

—Paula Willard

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rical significance. Should these be shown on the map with existing buildings or in another way? Do we ghost them out somehow to show they no longer exist? What about endangered buildings?

Creator’s Comments: “The

biggest visual challenge for the design team was to define a look and feel for Curating the City that would visually represent a street and its buildings. The visual language and the chosen image had to provide the correct balance between historical and contemporary points of view.

“To gather research and inspiration for visuals, the team took a field trip to Wilshire Boulevard. They drove in and out of neighborhoods along the boulevard and photographed details and nuances of each area. This research gave the team the ability to create shapes, colors and typography that ultimately influenced and defined the look and feel of the site and interface. During this exercise the team also recognized that Wilshire was an interesting mix of new and old cultures; the team applied this new and old approach throughout the design process.

“Also during this project was an ongoing conversation about how to represent the buildings along the boulevard. Some buildings have been demolished but bear important histo-

“It was crucial to the Conservancy to call out historical buildings that were in danger of being torn down in order to encourage citizen advocacy. We created a filtering mechanism for visitors to view only demolished and/or endangered buildings. All demolished and endangered buildings are also tagged on the map to call out their special status. Since each building on the map is database-driven the Conservancy can easily update building status and information.”

—David Lai

David Lai/Hiro Niwa, creative directors Casey Sheehan, lead designer Hugo Zhu, technical lead Jon Lorenz, programmer Jason Taylor, Flash programmer Szu Ann Chen, producer Anna Simonse, project manager Morgan Weatherford, quality assurance Hello Design, project design and development Los Angeles Conservancy, client Communication Arts

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fresh

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Bob Dob

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Location: Redondo Beach, California, and www.bobdob.com.

Duration: Staff:

Five years.

Myself.

Education: BFA, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California.

Cultural Influences: I love anything with a strong narrative, especially stories about the darker side of human nature.

James Ellroy is always a good read.

I played in a punk band for ten years, which had a great impact on my work.

It taught me not to take things too seriously and always try to have fun.

I also had two great instructors in art school, Nathan Ota and Jim Auckland, without their excellent instruction I wouldn’t be where I am today.

I have a studio built in my garage. It doesn’t feel like you’re going into the garage though because you have to walk through a Japanese water garden to enter. I look out French doors at the garden all day. It feels like you’re in another place. Very relaxing.

Environment:

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” —John Steinbeck

Philosophy:

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