An agency that never ceases to amaze me is Goodby, Silverstein and Partners. Their ideas are groundbreaking, and their work is top-notch - definitely a company who’s work I check out regularly for inspiration.

Since 1993 they have been working with the California Milk Processor Board, and were responsible for developing the Got Milk? slogan, credited with putting life back into milk sales after a 20 year slump.

They’ve done some incredible work over the years, from print to TV to direct, but the stuff that really blows me away is the interactive work. Over the last few years they have produced a number of award winning digital campaigns that really set the benchmark in terms of (a) generating outstanding ideas for marketing a relatively bland product, and (b) pushing the medium (and the budgets by the looks of things). I could talk about each one of their amazing campaigns for hours, but I thought it would be good to give a short(ish) overview of their most recent online work… so here goes:

Cow Abduction & Brittlactica

In 1996 they launched a website entitled Cow Abduction that details the mysterious disappearance of countless bovines going missing from dairy farms across the globe. The site includes a whole host of features like eye witness accounts, photos of farmers’ messages to aliens, and even a catalogue of products like decoy cows, UFO traps and ‘Cowoflauge’. Watch the eye witness accounts, and prepare to laugh your ass off.

At the same time, another site launched - Planet In Need. The website centers around a planet called Brittlactica, whose citizens suffer from a range of ailments and who live in regions like ‘Insomniastan’, ‘PMStonia’, ‘Papau Hairthinny’, and ‘Cavitopia’. In a recent visit to Earth, they stumbled upon a ‘miracle elixer’ that fixes all their problems. Genius.

Get The Glass

In 1997 they launched a beautifully executed 3D board game called ‘Get The Glass’ that centered around the Adachi family who are afflicted with a genetic condition. They also happen to be thieves…. on a mission to do whatever it takes to steal a glass of milk located in ‘Fort Fridge’. The board game features a number of micro arcade-style games to keep the user entertained - just try and avoid landing in ‘Milkatraz’. Be sure to check out the case study on Goodby’s website.

White Gold is White Gold

Their latest campaign (2008) focuses on a musician (glam-rocker) called White Gold (and his two band mates, ‘The Calcium Twins’) who rates milk above any other white substance. The site features White Gold in all his milk-tastical glory, and allows the user to explore the White Gold world, unlocking various widgets and freebies along the way. As always, the campaign is complimented with a strong presence on Facebook, Myspace, Youtube and even iTunes. Serious follow-through.

The Latest: Got Milk? Brand Site

A few weeks ago, a brand new mother site launched - Got Milk?. It features a stack of games and quirky characters highlighting the many benefits of drinking the beverage, for example testing your milk IQ or head-butting milk cartons. The site is highly engaging and interactive, and is bound to keep you entertained for quite some time.

I can’t wait to see what Goodby will come up with in 2009.

1eighty has only been live for a grand total of three weeks, and I’ve already redesigned it. Isn’t that just typical? When producing a new piece of work, I always go through a sequence of emotional phases that go something like this (and I don’t think I’m alone):

• Start working on the interface
• Start loving a direction
• Decide that “this is my best work ever… Damn I’m good!”
• Start rolling the thing out
• A few days before completion, realize that the design sucks…
• …but it’s too late to turn back…
• …so there’s no option but to launch it.
• It’s live, the response is good, and people seem to dig it…
• …but the thought still persists… this could have been better.
• Maybe next time?

Does this sound familiar? I sometimes even experience this with other designers’ work I oversee. Is it just a coincidence that C.D. = Creative Director = Cognitive Dissonance?

Luckily this time the site is my own, and I can change it as often as I like. So why did I opt for this type of look and feel? Watch this space - I’ll chat about that in an upcoming post…

Just been featured on We Love Wordpress - an online showcase of Wordpress powered website. Nice one!

Every morning I drive past the skeleton structure that is the new Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. As the months fly by, it’s looking ever more impressive. In case you’re wondering what it’s going to look like when finished, check out this video.

Thanks to Coda for discovering the video.

I’ve just finished reading a fascinating article published by Business Week. It’s about how employees in many major corporations are demanding requesting Mac’s instead of PC’s. Here’s the amazing thing… Since 1997 when Steve Jobs returned to Apple, they’ve avoided the corporate market, choosing to focus all their attention on the consumer market… and the results are staggering. Here’s a short excerpt from the article:

In the March quarter, Mac sales blew away all forecasts, soaring 51% over the previous year, or more than three times the rate for the personal-computer industry. Throw in the iPod and iPhone, and Apple’s total sales have surged from $5.2 billion in fiscal 2002 to $24 billion last year. Its share price has risen 2,300% over the past five years, giving the company a market capitalization, at $154 billion, that tops those of tech giants Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Intel.

So… sales of $24 billion, without focusing any energy on the corporate market! Market research shows that Apple only holds about 2.19% of the business market share, but in today’s increasingly employee-centric market, corporates will have no choice but to submit and give employees what they want. And when that happens, Stevie’s smile will no doubt be even wider.

Ingenious business strategy or a massive stroke of luck?

Make sure you check out the article: The Mac in the Grey Flannel Suit

In case you haven’t heard of Papervision 3D, it’s an open-source 3D engine developed for the Flash platform. Click here to see an example of the tech in action (all you need is Flash 9 installed). Until recently, 3D within Flash has been near impossible to achieve. Papervision 3D has opened up a whole new world of possibilities in terms of how we conceptualise an online experience - quite literally anything is now possible.

Sites making use of Papervision 3D are springing up all over the place. Here are just a few examples of some truly amazing Papervision 3D experiences:

• Red Bull Flight Lab
• Audi RS6
• 2008 Honda Accord
• Monster Burnout
• Black XS
• Audi “Rhythm of Lines”
• Sony Bravia
• Paper Critters

I’m really hoping to see some rocking Papervision 3D sites coming out of South Africa soon. But I fear the worst… there seems to be only a handful of really good Flashers who are capable of understanding and using Papervision, and by the looks of things, most of them are spread too thinly with their day-jobs (rolling out corporate widgets and conventional Flash work) to invest the time needed in getting over the steep PV3d learning curve.

Oh, big-ups to Hello Computer for being the first studio in SA to use the technology a Papervision 3D site: Moonlighting

Anyone else seen any Papervision work coming out of SA?