Archived entries for industry roundup

Better Views For My Social “News”

Breaking the layout “gray area” in online news streams world.

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In graphic design classes, you are taught to be friends with the white space, ensure your design has clear entry points, and—my personal favorite—break the gray area. Yes, this is from print design classes I took circa 1995 since interactive design (aka “multimedia”) had yet become a field of study.

Your challenge is a white spread of paper, figuratively and literally, and you have to put all that content in there. Usually that means flowing copy in odd-numbered columns (or now you kids call it “grids”) to create a visually appealing layout. All that crammed up copy becomes “gray areas” and your eyes don’t want to stay on them. It creates what’s called “reading fatigue”—you don’t want to read a long article on The New York Times unless you’re really into it—and that’s why god created focal points, white space and pagination to fight gray areas.

The gray area challenge stays true today with most social media interfaces like Facebook and Twitter. What also is true is the fact that web users don’t read, or more accurately, don’t read most of the copy in front of them. They skim the content, waiting for some words or visuals to grab them.

That’s why content visualization is key in my book. The good kind, of course, and here are some products out there that makes my eyes happy and my visual browsing experience better:

PostPost

PostPost offers an alternate content visualization method for your Facebook. It takes your Facebook news feeds, i.e. links your friends and Pages shared, and lays them out as stories in a newspaper-like display. The design feels familiar—yup, it’s very much like the current trend of displaying feeds in boxes with large image or video and some copy blurb (e.g. The Huffington Post or Times Skimmer from The New York Times, below).

Each “news” bucket is more user-friendly and social-friendly: You can delete news you don’t want via the standard “X” button, videos play in-line and, as quickly, share / like / comment on it. The interface is simple and the user experience is conducive to the ever-impatient social media consumption.

PostPost creator, Peter Yared, sees it as the natural evolution of content consumption. “Instead of displaying what an algorithm on Google, strangers on Digg, or an editor on The Huffington Post surface, we show what your friends think is interesting.”1 And hopefully triggers social conversations between friends.

And back to the point of this post, it is definitely a better layout, nice visuals acting as clear entry points broken by enough “white space” to actively engage your eyes.

For a look into PostPost, its features, technology and future, read Inside Facebook‘s review.

Paper.li

Paper.li is a news aggregation service for your Twitter. It visualizes the feeds from either the people you follow on Twitter, a Twitter search, or a Twitter list and puts them together like a newspaper. The interface is straight-forward and clean.

Unlike PostPost which requires you to log into your Facebook account to pull your feed, you don’t have to create an account to use Paper.li if you want to read other-created papers. You can search available papers by name, categories, interests and more. Checkout Netflix’s Paper.li using hashtag: http://paper.li/tag/netflix

I like the novelty of it and I appreciate any content visualization method created to improve content absorption. Yes, they can improve the refresh rate, which is limited to daily update instead of PostPost’s real-time update. Yes, there are things to improve upon (read Jason Keath’s hate letter) and yes, there are a lot of nice things that can potentially make Twitter news stream visualization better (read Boost All’s love letter)

For a thorough review of Paper.li, read PC Magazine‘s write-up.

It definitely beats reading rows and rows of 140-character tweets without any discerning way to distinguish content. Looking at the Twitter avatar doesn’t help me in figuring out what the tweet is about.

Times Skimmer

Before the iPadization of web design, The New York Times came out with Times Skimmer in February. This browser-based application offers online readers a new way to read paper. The interface now looks very familiar, with the fluidity of spreading out the content according to your browser window size just like spreading a newspaper as well as paging through it.

Clean, simple and to-the-point, it’s a better way to “skim” the news. Apparently, it is a precursor to the Times’ Chrome app, which became available two weeks ago.

If all these skimming techniques work well, who knew? We may not even want to read the real paper anymore.

We’ll have to look up Google images to find a screenshot of the Times’ paper and say, “Remember this?” to the future generation.

For more on the Times Skimmer:

Conclusion:

In the age of curated consumption, does what your friends know make it valuable? That’s for you to decide. This Facebook vs. Twitter 2010 stats from ZDnet may help you.

I have to admit, these are some starting points to better content visualization for your news feed. Some may call them curated content although I consider them simply as news aggregators. What I like most about PostPost is its real-time updates, which is the main complaint people have on other visual news aggregators such as Paper.li and iPad’s Flipboard.

Well, you have to start somewhere, right? And I like the way this is going for the sake of better design and better user experience.

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1Inside Facebook: PostPost Turns Facebook Links into a Socially Curated Custom Newspaper

Photo credit for old newspapers: ShironekoEuro

iPad apps – Automotive brands: Winter 2010

Apple iPad hit the US stores in April 2010 and the landscape of digital experience shifted. The expectation definitely shifted in a big way: It’s not enough to have a website and a mobile application anymore for a brand to be cool, hip or technologically superior, especially if you are a brand that prides itself on technological advancement, such as an automotive brand.

Since I try to diligently keep up with digital trends for myself, my company—Squeaky Wheel Media—and my clients, I keep a lookout on the general trends in industries my clients are in, including the automotive industry for Lexus. Here’s my roundup on what iPad apps are out there in the automotive industry, starting with luxury automotive brands:

Audi — A8 Experience & Car Magazine

The Audi A8 Experience iPad app is an interactive brochure with built-in virtual tour of the exterior and interior. The app allows you to build and price your own custom A8 and  read the latest news & reviews. You can also take the iPad to your local Audi dealer to unlock even more content.

Don’t forget Audi Magazine iPad app, which TheNextWeb gushes about (see Audi Unleashes A 500-Horsepower iPad Magazine). The app is Flipboard-like, allowing you to drag, enlarge, slide… basically slosh the content around however you want.

No wonder it was gushed over even by non-car enthusiasts.

BMW Magazine

The BMW Magazine iPad app is glossy magazine with interactive features that pack a pretty powerful punch. Yes, it lets you read the articles and does it with ease and fluidity. Yes, it has full-screen videos that lets you hear the engine purrs along. But it goes beyond simple magazine reading; it lets you play. User can play with some of the cars and even finger paint one of BMW’s famous Art Cars.1

BMW doesn’t forget that its car and drivers who love them are part of a certain lifestyle. The app lets you utilize the car navigation feature, guiding you to a restaurant featured in the app’s travel article. Now that’s neat.

Other notables in the luxury automotive brands?

These three iPad apps are just brochures or lifestyle magazines but boy, do they know how to make you look with: Beautiful photography, attractive layout & typography… anything to make the product truly shines.

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Now I’m rounding up signature brands in general automotive arena who I still believe always push for better and smarter:

VW — Volkswagen Das

True to its DNA, Volkswagen Das iPad app is an interactive magazine with “zing!” It makes full use of iPad’s native ‘swipe’, ‘tap’ and ‘touch’ interface so users can browse the 360-degree car views, videos and articles, as well as utilize certain interactive features created to highlight a VW model featured in the issue (e.g. a feature to test the ascent angle of the new Touareg in the Summer 2010 issue).

“DAS. is an important building block in Volkswagen’s digital marketing strategy and gives us the opportunity for an interactive dialog with our customers. Our goal is to transmit the fascination of the brand and its products in a new digital dimension, creating a global experience,” Luca de Meo, Head of Marketing at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, said at the launch of the iPad app.2

I know VW lovers are fanatical about their VW and I hope they’re happy with the app. I personally love the different design styles between different magazine issues but hey, I don’t own a VW.

Jeep — 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee

The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee iPad app is basically a touch-based brochure for the latest Jeep Grand Cherokee mode. Continuing with its “The things we make, make us” campaign, the app houses designer interviews, product spec sheets, photo gallery and the story of how the things we make, make us. It also integrates the Jeep brand website, dealer locator, Facebook pages, YouTube channel, etc.

MINI TV

I have to admit, I was really excited when I heard about MINI TV iPad app. Well, I was pretty disappointed. No Flipboard-y swipe, no cool doodats.

I understand it is called MINI TV app so it’s more like a YouTube channel. But MINI never “just” does something; all the stuff it did was always above expectation, so when this app delivers exactly what it said, über disappointed.

Sorry, MINI. You need to do Version 2.0.

Honda — The Honda CR-Z Experience for iPad

The Honda CR-Z Experience is basically an interactive brochure of the all-new CR-Z Sport Hybrid from Honda. The app comes with multi-dimensional views, hot spots, customizable colors and an interface optimized for touching, tapping and swiping. The CR-Z fans seem very happy and the app lets them learn more about their vehicle than they would on the website.

Ford — 2011 Ford Fiesta

The latest newcomer into the iPad app for automotive brands, the 2011 Ford Fiesta iPad app is pretty standard: Exterior and interior 360, videos, locate dealership, etc. One nifty little feature I like is the body graphic, aka tattoo for your car skin.

UPDATE (1.11.2011):

Hyundai — Equus iPad Owner Experience

The latest addition in the automotive iPad race is this beautifully done iPad Equus app by Hyundai, which 16GB WiFi iPad comes standard with every Hyundai Equus as a complete Owner’s Manual, providing its owner with “everything you need to know about this exceptional vehicle is literally at your fingertips.”

The app is beautifully done, with user interactivity that takes full advantage of iPad’s native touch feature to showcase the Equus model.  The iPad app offers many features that other auto-maker should take note of: 3D vehicle walk-around, videos of various interior configurations (e.g. reclining “First Class” rear seats with leg-rests) and interactive demonstrations of vehicle safety features (e.g. directional headlights). It even offers what looks to be something of a driving game.

Packaged in a bespoke leather case with an embossed logo, suede interior, and even kickstand, now that’s what I call a proper iPad app!

Conclusion:

That sums it up for now. There are more out there but we’re just starting, the apps mostly are still version 1.0,  so I’ll keep my eyes open and catch cool ones for the next industry roundup. And with the iPad 2 looming in the horizon, it will be interesting to see how any of apps will take advantage of its 3-axis gyroscope.

Of course we’re not leaving out our client, Lexus. Something is definitely in the works. (Wink!)

p.s. Thanks, PadGadget and TheNextWeb, for being such an awesome resource!

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1PadGadget: Updated BMW Car Magazine Hits the iPad App Store
2
PadGadget: Volkswagen Launches iPad App

Alcohol brands online: Summer 2010

Before the 4th of July weekend, Squeaky was asked by Tequila Avión, a premium tequila brand, to help with its digital presence. There was a sense of urgency to “elevate” the brand: Tequila Avión was being written into HBO’s Entourage by the creator, Doug Ellin, for episode “80: Buzzed” to be aired on July 11th (yes, in one week!). They asked for our help because their existing site didn’t do much for the brand.

We opted for a Facebook tab to “Experience Tequila Avión” which allowed the three different tequilas to be featured with custom recipes that are simple and sleek to reflect the premium product, yet lending the small, independent brand a grassroot feel by utilizing their Facebook fans. The strategy and execution were well received by the fans and the brand team, and we did it in a super crunch time!

During the discovery and strategy phase, we scan the web to see what other alcohol brands are doing online. (Trust me, there are a lot of them out there.)

Here are a few that stand out:

Absolut Vodka—Absolut-ly on top

Absolut has consistently done very well with their brand messaging. They are “smart, stylish, creative and witty” and they seem to always get it right, from web to social media to mobile.

Facebook Fans: 534,407 fans

Facebook Campaigns:

  • BROOKLYN: What’s your Stoop Story? Celebrating Summer, Bloggers sharing their love for Brooklyn, Spike Lee, etc.
  • Lemon Drop: To promote Lemon Drop the movie starring Ali Larter
  • NY-Z: Documentary with Jay-Z – video released on Facebook first
  • Berry Acai: With Zooey Deschanel

Remember their ABSOLUT Anthem video from summer 2009?

Mobile: Absolut’s iPhone app has the nicest interface with a card-flicking motion that has a nice stickiness to it.

In addition, Absolut is the first brand who embraces the LGBT market. The latest commercials I saw was during Ru Paul’s Drag Race (yes, the show is my guilty pleasure. I just love Ru!)  where LGBT personalities (from Santino Rice, finalist on Project Runway to journalist / editor / author / TV personality Merle Ginsberg) of shared their coming out / standing up story in a bar and Absolut creating different drinks named for them. Absolut was a sponsor and the segment with Berri Açaí is hillarious.

Summary:

I’ve always been a fan of Absolut, every since I saw those iconic Absolut print ads (Absolut Brooklyn is still my favorite and that was out in the 90’s). The fact that Absolut has managed to move on every new medium successfully and speaking about the brand consistently is an achievement not many brands can claim they did well.

So Absolut, from one vodka drinker to another: Very well done!

Grey Goose Vodka—Less than premium

When Urban Daddy’s The Dashboard came out in August and I saw the Grey Goose bottles on the bottom right corner, I was pretty excited to see what they have to offer. Unfortunately, the nightlife assistance tool is created for Urban Daddy and only sponsored by Grey Goose. So it wasn’t a creative push from the vodka brand.

The tool, albeit the really sleek 3D-ish design, is only half as cool and smooth as the Sprint “Plug into Now” dashboard, which came out almost 2 years ago and is still being kept up-to-date nicely.

Facebook Fans: 148,035 fans

Facebook Campaigns:

  • L’Orange: Downloadable Cocktail cards (go to Photos, with simple “Drag to desktop and print” instruction), Video of their TV commercial, Mobile Recipes App (Grey Goose Mobile Alert).
  • Boxes: Pocket Cocktail iApp, Send a Toast to friend (which links to their website)

Note: Unfortunately, all the campaigns above are no longer available.

Mobile:  Dubbed “A Guide To The Extraordinary, Delicious and Exquisite,” I felt that it was nice but lacking the pizazz that Absolut’s  iPhone app brings to the table.

Hornitos Tequila—Ballsy!

Facebook Fans: 48,1545 fans

Facebook Campaigns:

  • Grow A Pair:  Showing their commercials + monthly contest. Currently running ads with videos pointing to Facebook
  • Recipes: With an easy Print, Share, Comment & Like links under each recipe

What stuck was the hilarious commercials from their “Purer Than Your Intentions” campaign with “Cougar Phone” and “Doris.” Watch ’em!

Other notables:

Patron Tequila

With its recognizable bottle simply at the center on the website, surrounded by hovering, comment-shape features, the brand strongly presented itself as a premium spirit brand. I like it: It’s clean, straight-forward and it feels premium.

Was the hovering of the elements done intentionally to mimic the bee in the logo? I don’t know but now that I’ve noticed it, it’ll be interesting to find out.

901 Tequila

This is Justin Timberlake’s tequila. It’s not a spoof. He can now add “Distiller of fine tequila” to his list of accolades. The tequila is supposedly super smooth, according to tequila aficionado who tried it. Well, if you have what it takes to create a product, why not, right?

The website opens with a looped video of this girl, looking at you and, I have to admit, if you leave it on for a while, it’s kinda creepy. Within the FILMS section, you can watch its sexy smooth commercials. Coming from the guy who brought “Sexy Back,” it’s certainly appropriate.

Beauty brands online: Summer 2010 #2

Lancôme—YouTube Beauty Guru Michelle Phan

Lancôme was smart to tap Michelle Phan as its video makeup artist in February. The 22-year-old art school student is a YouTube sensation—she’s the most subscribed beauty guru with over 200M views and 800K subscribers.

To keep her inspired, Lancôme sent Michelle to Paris for 4 days, visiting historic sites from Notre Dame to The Pont des Arts where Kate Winslet filmed the signature Trésor commercial, as well as the Lancôme Institute. Her Paris journey is recorded in Lancôme’s Facebook “Michelle + Paris” app.

Even though she’s only 6 months into her 2-year contract, her YouTube video views already doubled and she keeps on garnering buzz: This week, she is featured by T, The New York Times Style Magazine, for which she created an exclusive video titled “Futuristic Look.”

p.s.: Did you know she was turned down for a job working behind the counter at a department store for Lancôme? I bet she’s doing OK now.

Bobbi Brown—Pretty Powerful Follow-up

Bobbi Brown captured many in NYC with its Pretty Powerful campaign which was unveiled in May, from print ads to commercials in and on yellow cabs to 5-minute makeovers in their beauty counters. The campaign showcases real women and was kicked off through a video contest in January with public voting in March. For every vote cast in, Bobbi Brown donated $1 to one of Bobbi’s causes, Dress for Success, an organization that provides disadvantaged women with interview suits and career development advice.

While on my usual browse-mode, I went back to the website and noticed its been jazzed up a little. The Pretty Powerful winners now have a “Get The Look” section on a larger page format. The Beauty Buzz section looks like a news bulletin (albeit one from a very nice design firm) with a strong personal feel, especially in Bobbi ‘s Story.

On the other hand, the Learn section has an educational feel of a makeup artist class, where instructions are laid out in a very visual way and the products look almost touchable. The design “Botox” (like they say: You, but better) works for me; I found myself browsing the site more than I usually do.

Maybelline New York—The French Revolution

Gemey Maybelline, the French site for Maybelline New York, offers a lot more features I found interesting compared to the US site. On the mobile front, there are Makeup Studio Mobile app, a virtual makeup studio, and Studio Manucure (aka Manicure Studio) iPhone app which shows you the secrets to a perfect manicure, from selecting the right nail polish to nail care solutions.

In addition, there is WeLoveMakeup.com, an online community of more than 20K “Make Up Addicts” sharing thousands of looks and discussion topics. It’s like Facebook for makeup artists and beauty enthusiasts to connect, learn, share, and even have Make Up Parties.

Its Blog in The City features three personalities: Capucine (a makeup addict), Emily (a fashionista) and Flo (for NY looks & trends). The blog is young, fun and informational, the topic ranges from summer frocks ala The Sartorialist to Magnolia Bakery. I even learned that there is such a thing called a trikini. Who knew?

Meanwhile, Maybelline’s US site has the Runway VIP Sweeps and Maybelline Loves Fashion microsite to support Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in September. You can find videos and instructions on how to get the look, plus a mini NYC guide if you are here in New York during Fashion Week.

The microsite could be a lot better. It’s just not up to par with what you’d expect out of an official sponsor of Fashion Week.

Chanel—Rouge Coco

Chanel launched its Rouge Coco campaign this spring, featuring French actress / singer Vanessa Paradis. I like the Facebook effort, where you can share virtual Coco Rouge buttons (a la the press kit / swag bag that was sent out in December) by posting them on your wall. Unfortunately, once the reveal period was over, the buttons are gone.

I like that you can browse all the lipstick shades within the Facebook tab but when you click to “Shop Now”, the color you were reviewing didn’t carry through to the e-commerce site. You can see the color name in the URLstring, but you have to reselect the color from the dropdown.

This is too bad because the e-store interface is nicer than a lot of other beauty brands and because the Chanel site is gorgeous with its simple typography, clean layout and stunning photography.

Related post: Beauty brands online: Summer 2010 #1

Beauty brands online: Summer 2010 #1

Revlon—Modern Glamour: Runway Looks to Virtual Makeover

When Squeaky first nabbed the Revlon digital account, we are excited because we were not only working with a global brand with its world-famous ambassadors (i.e. Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba), we were also presented with a challenging task for a total site re-engineering. So we brought in the glitz of fashion and celebrity, and the technology of virtual makeover.

Tapping into the star power of Revlon’s Global Artistic Director, Gucci Westman, we added behind-the-scenes Fashion Week runway and get-the-look videos into the Beauty Lounge section. From Oscar de la Renta to Rag & Bone, you get all the inside tips & tricks directly from the superstar makeup artist herself.

When we were asked to recommend a virtual makeover engine for Revlon, we did a thorough review of two of the most prominent virtual makeover software available in the market: Daily Makeover & Taaz.* Squeaky’s final recommendation for Revlon’s Virtual Makeup Artist™ is to use Taaz because it allows for a more sophisticated application with very subtle sheerness for glosses, shadows and color hues.

For example, mascara application lengthens the lashes when the amount is increased while on DailyMakeover, the mascara only becomes thicker at the base. In addition, Taaz provides options for types of top and bottom lashes while DailyMakeover only provides Top, Top & Bottom and Bottom. We really like that Taaz’s makeover preview area is much larger than DailyMakeovers. The model’s photos are also more natural with visible blemishes, providing Revlon with real makeover experience as complexion improves upon sheer application of foundation, concealer and blushes.

Other beauty brands that also utilizes Taaz’s virtual makeover engine are Estée Lauder and just recently, TopShop.

Estée Lauder—Let’s Play Makeover

One of the main draw of Estée Lauder’s Virtual Makeover is the use of Hilary Rhoda, the brand’s face since 2007, as the model for you to play with. Everyone would look gorgeous with those blue eyes.

Unfortunately, the “1-Click Look” feature only has one look at a time, while Revlon’s “Get The Look” has seven looks from their ambassadors to choose from.

TopShop Make Up—Virtual Makeover

While TopShop‘s has four looks to choose and three models to play with—if you don’t feel like uploading your own photo, Revlon has six models with wider complexion range to choose from. On top of that, since Revlon has Hair Color products, the Virtual Makeup Artist lets you choose hair color and styles you like to best complete your look.

We continuously think about new ways to improve the Revlon site, including the Virtual Makeup Artist, and believe me when I say we are brimming with exciting ideas. So stay tuned!

Up next is Part 2: From Lancôme’s YouTube sensation, Michelle Phan, to Bobbi Brown’s Pretty Powerful and Chanel’s Coco Rouge

*The review was performed on September 2009.



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