Leap Day -
It took a while to get this up but I decided to make and edit a video in one day and this is what I got. Nothing prize worthy but for me the goal was to just create something.
Not sure why but I’ve been in a video game creating mood lately.
This one is Road Ruler:
A mobile game concept that uses Google Maps to build your personal race tracks. You can also race on other user tracks and if you beat their best timed run then you become the owner of that track. This creates the possibility of endless tracks and an insane community of racers trying to rule them all.
Check out some screenshots here
Air Guitar BC - Before Controllers
This is another video game concept I came up with while thinking of Maestro. Since the dawn of rock & roll along with amazing guitar riffs we have had our air guitar. Its light weight, inexpensive and there is no wrong way to play it. You dont need to master crazy button smashing sequences or have to know the song. All you need is to feel the power of the rock gods and harness that energy to perform amazing air guitar moves. This game would be specifically for the kinect (Wii might work too) since all that is required is for you to rock out.
*Also inspired by Air Guitar Nation (Awesome Documentary)
Maestro - Master the Music
This is a video game concept I came up with a few weeks ago. So far I just have the title and plot but its awesome. Its about a kid named Maestro who lives on a farm that his parents own in a small village. Ever since he was little, Maestro knew that he had a purpose and it was far greater than working on the farm like his dad has planned for him. He loved music more than anything and although his village was small and located far from other civilizations, Maestro had heard of the many forms of music and the power that each of them contain when mastered. (Each styles of music originates from a different world). He had dreamed of hearing the sounds of different cultures and playing them as well but for now he had to stick with his drum made from a log and cow hide.
But when his one true love Sonnet mysteriously disappears, Maestro embarks on an epic journey where he has to master all forms of music in order to save her.
Update: I think Im going to change the story around a bit. Instead of the kid being named Maestro I want “Maestro” to be a level of musical expertise. So each world will contain a Maestro that has mastered a certain type of music and this kid will venture out to become the ultimate Maestro by mastering each genre.
*Im open to names for the kid.
Chrysler didn’t start a movement
This post is a response to the article I read on uprisingmovements.com: On cue, Chrysler turns a great ad campaign into a movement
This years Super Bowl was depressing. I didn’t care for the teams playing and to make things worse Madonna was singing at halftime. So like always I have the commercials to look forward to. Chryslers “Halftime in America” was perhaps one of the best and most inspirational commercials of the Super Bowl (my favorite was by Kia Optima, so awesome). While I loved that it was a commercial that went beyond selling cars and towards setting the tone for what we as americans need to do, it certainly did not start a movement. To me the ad said nothing more than “Hey america, we believe in what you can do so when you’re doing it think of us and buy our cars.”
This is depressing to me because I believe that brands have a much stronger influence over the things we do or the things we should do then our government. We feel a greater sense of inspiration when Chrysler (or any other brand) makes a statement like this versus some political figure because we dont necessarily look to brands when it comes to motivating our economy. It surprises us and in return motivates us. With that said Chrysler’s commercial was motivational but nothing more.
Before I jumped to this conclusion I went over to Chryslers site and Youtube page to see if there was any sign of a “movement”. And while I hoped to see some space created by Chrysler that takes the motivational speech and puts it into action, I didn’t. They sell Imported From Detroit T-shirts on their site and their Youtube page does show how the sharing of the commercial has reached millions of people but nothing that shows sign of an actual movement.
To me a movement is providing a space that allows those you have inspired to fill it with content based on the inspirational piece you created and then taking action along with the community. For brands that want to do more than market stuff to consumers and speak to cultures to create movements they have to become apart of the movement themselves by taking action. The community that you are trying to reach out to wont truly be inspired or convinced until you prove to them that you are serious. Take action Chrysler. Help the community get their “Halftime in America” going.
If you’re like me you don’t need some motivational commercial by a car company to tell us that our country is struggling and we have to find innovative ways to fix it. We already have passion, desire, and amazing ideas. What most of us don’t have is the capital or resources to make them real. Brands can help with this! They have the ability to start movements and potentially turn this country around. But this won’t happen until they go beyond the marketing and create points of action.
Had to show off the logo I made for our wedding site!
*sorry its so blown up…
Top secret story boarding for a concept I’m working on. Also possibly the most boring picture ever. Yes my wall is that blank..
A Class High School Desperately Needs
I dont know about you but if someone were to ask me to describe my time in high school there would be mostly talk about life outside of the classroom. I was fortunate enough to go to a great public school, however, I couldnt tell you anything positive about my experience there. I wish I could describe it like my experience (classroom experience) in college. To sum up the classes and people I met there in one word it would be “inspired”.
Inspiration is something high schools are lacking more than anything. After college I became motivated, determined and destined to make something of myself. In high school? Not so much… I know its impossible to change the structure of a public school, which is not what Im suggesting. All Im saying is that we should offer classes that aim to inspire these kids. Figure out what their passions are and get them to dive into it head on. Some might say that this could be an after school class….have you met a high schooler? Do you think they would enjoy anything remotely close to after school class? No.
If juniors and seniors can take community college classes outside of their high school but during regular class times then why not other “classes”. Im determined to figure this out because I wish more than anything I could have been inspired in high school like I was in college. Imagine the things we could have accomplished! Now we are left to play catch up.
Do we want to continue this trend?
I dont normally do this but if you are reading this let me know what this class look like for you?
Woke up to this amazing view this morning. Had to test out the panoramic app.
Could Gamification and Mobile Strategy Save Community Transit?
Before I recently took my internship at Copacino + Fujikado in downtown Seattle I have never taken the bus to go anywhere. I always drove when I had to go somewhere which wasn’t a lot. So there was no way in hell I was going to drive into work everyday and waste half of my paycheck on gas. Luckily enough my position came with an ORCA card (our Community Transit bus pass).
It didn’t take long for me to become an advocate for riding the bus. Why wouldn’t more people do it?? It saves you money, you dont have to drive and you get to sit and relax until work. Yeah I guess you have to get a little friendly sometimes with people you’ve never met but not everyone on the bus smells bad and tries to talk to you.
Being in the advertising industry there was one, scratch that, several major flaws I noticed with Community Transit.
#1 - The Bus Ads: These were perhaps the least engaging and greatest lack of creativity I have ever seen. Ok, I get it, they are ads on a bus after all but Im pretty sure my high-school brother could come up with better ads. No, Im not going to take out my phone for a QR code that will probably just take me to lame website.
When more than 85% of the people are staring at their phones or laptops why even have ads at all?
#2 - Missed Opportunities: My bus ride takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to downtown depending on the traffic. Im assuming majority of those that work downtown have the same experience. For Community Transit that is up to an hour of having your customers/audience attention. They are stuck on your bus! Nowhere to go! And what do you do? Ignore them.
#3 - Lack of Mobile/Digital Integration: CT is struggling to keep people riding the bus. This coming January I am losing my bus route which is just up the street from my house because hardly anyone rides it! I think most people will agree that CT is way behind when it comes to going digital. Just look at their site. The ORCA card is even worse.
This is a poor lack of decisions and strategy for CT. When your business is losing customers and canceling routes, you need to step up to the game.
There are plenty of concepts and ideas that Community Transit can use to try and engage their audience and potentially increase their riders. Take a look at Chromaroma - “a new application from the UK production company Mudlark that transforms public transportation in London into a competitive multiplayer game.” - PSFK The platform tracks all their statistics from the users swipe card. Its pretty sweet.
When you watch the video you can tell that this game is intense and relies heavily on the gaming dynamics. CT doesn’t have to take it this far. I personally don’t think it is necessary. If they took the time to utilize the potential of the swipe card, CT could create an engaging platform that offers rider statistics, resources that the user might find helpful while traveling on the bus, and could also incentivize the user for not taking their own car.
The platform could even learn frequent user routes to reward loyal riders and give them a heads up to whats going on when they get off at their stop.
Lets take it further. Local brands could team up with CT to offer incentives and customer rewards. Lets say Rick is a frequent and loyal rider for the past year and CT has learned his daily route to 4th and Pike downtown. If Starbucks partnered with CT they could then let Rick know that he has a fresh cup of coffee waiting for him at the local barista when he gets off his stop. Not to mention the countless opportunities to connect with the riders while they are sitting on the bus!
Given that Community Transits business is mainly moving people from one destination to another, mobile integration should play a huge role in their strategy.
Edward Boches has recently written a few great articles on going mobile. They are mostly geared towards agencies but a lot of the insight can be applied to any business strategy as well. Check them out here and here.
