(v)
(v_i)
(version_industries)

music

deadsy.tv_website

band page
discography page
_what
fan-site for the los angeles-based, rock band, deadsy
_how
born out of our enjoyment of deadsy's music, deadsy.tv was a side project of ours that gave us a chance to experiment with some older technologies we'd used for the thomasnewbolt.com website. it was the band's new 'tv test signal' logo that primarily inspired the project and lead us to choose the .tv domain. the idea was basically that your computer was intercepting a fairly weak but yet prevailent pirate signal from the band. the end result was a site that deadsy fans the world round have applauded and that also lead to us helping out with deadsy's own website deadsy.com and the band's myspace pages.
_features
  • full motion video flash intro
  • flash driven navigation system
  • basic, menu based user interface
  • easy to update database-driven site filing system
  • random background music selector
  • full-screen music video playback
_link
www.deadsy.tv
_awards
'original' DOPE award
_tags

michael bolla_website

intro
exclusives
_what
site for the new-york-based property broker, michael bolla.
_how
this has been one of our more long-form projects & much like thomasnewbolt.com it has really tested our abilities on a number of new design fronts. the brief was to translate into website form everything that michael bolla & his company luxury lofts & homes have come to stand for during their 15 year existence. michael showed us the kind of sites he was into & we ultimately chose to design the site in flash in order to capture the company's very personal & non-corporate approach. furthermore his passion for yoga, beautiful spaces & subtle, elegant design have all come to the fore on this project in a manner that's translated very well into some satisfying web design. much like the stationery set we designed for him, this site has a lightness, grace & elegance that contrasts well with the world of luxury realty.
_features
  • full screen flash technology
  • flash driven GUI
  • streaming mp3 audio
  • coordinate driven property location mapping system
  • mailing list
  • contact form
  • database driven content with html & php driven backend
  • vector graphics video based introduction
_link
michaelbolla.com
_awards
gold medal in the july 2005 american design awards
_tags

thomas newbolt_website

painting view
sketchbook
_what
site for the cambridge-based artist thomas newbolt.
_how
thomas called with some ideas for a site that offered us the opportunity to produce something that would showcase his life's work beyond any typical website limitations. for his online debut he said he didn't care for slow connections or primitive computer technology; the people he wanted to see his work wouldn't have them anyway & they had to be impressed.
_features
  • flash-driven, intuitive site navigation
  • system sound effects & a classical soundtrack
  • site enhancements for faster connections
  • database-driven site filing system
  • still & moving artwork viewing mechanism
  • 'sketchbook' guestbook.
  • video clip pop-ups & 2 full short-films
  • random article quoting mechanism
  • multiple site backdrops
  • contact form
_link
thomasnewbolt.com
_awards
gold medal in the november 2003 american design awards 
_tags

thomas newbolt_motion graphics

painting view
sketchbook
_what
two short films for the cambridge-based artist thomas newbolt.
_how
whilst putting together the site we did for thomas, the video footage we collected whilst in his studio amounted to a good few hours worth. our original intention was merely to cut small clips from this footage to create the intro piece and random inserts you now see when using his website. however, once all the footage was captured and we were looking through it to see what was usable we found ourselves almost automatically cutting together a short film. the one film then naturally became two & we felt that certainly the second, a more documentary style piece, was something thomas just had to see. amazingly enough he was delighted with both films & you can now of course find them on his website.
_link
versionindustries.com/movies/thomas/tn.2.mov
_tags

deadsy.com_website

home page
band page
_what
website and street team site for the los angeles-based, rock band, deadsy
_how

deadsy got in touch with us after our work on the experimental fansite, deadsy.tv. they wanted us to overhaul their existing site in a fashion that was as true as possible to their new record phantasmagore and to everything deadsy had come to represent. knowing full-well we were fans of the band, they gave us free reign to do what we wanted as long as the site was, for the most-part, information first and looks second.

secondly they wanted us to put together a forum to accompany the site that also doubled as a street team hub and organization platform. the vanilla forum was perfectly made for the task given the level to which it can be customized. we built into it various sign-up forms, promotional item request forms, dynamic events forms and an integrated live chat system.

_features
  • flash driven navigation system
  • basic, menu based user interface
  • easy to update database-driven site filing system
  • mp3 player
  • flv flash video player (with smoothing)
  • mailing list form
  • vanilla driven street team forum 
  • javascript based live chat system 
  • multiple contact forms
  • individual and state-based user accounts 
_link
deadsy.com
_tags

andrew maxwell_website

home page
archives
_what
site for the irish comedian, andrew maxwell
_how
andrew gave us carte blanche to produce a site that we felt captured his style and attitude as a comedian. immediately we began work on an idea that played to our strengths. the result is what it might be like to be reading about andrew in your local greasy spoon. mmmm!
_features
  • flash driven UI
  • custom photography
  • custom audio
  • CMS backend
_link
versionindustries.com/archive/andrewmaxwell
_tags

passionate music_ecard

big blue ball ecard
charlie haden ecard
_what
ecards for the new york-based agency, passionate music
_how
ben kosman wanted us to create an ecard template that would help him promote his varying clients in the music industry. the cards had to provide text, photographs, video and music in a fashion that was clean, elegant and adaptable to the aesthetic of each project.
_features
  • xml based adjustable content
  • interchangeable graphical slices
  • video player
  • mp3 player
  • slide viewer
  • email a friend form
  • multiple share / purchase / link menu options
_link
passionatemusic.net/ecards/charliehaden
_tags

beyond apollo_website

loader
part 1
part 2
_what
teaser site for the feature film, beyond apollo
_how
michael grodner approached us to produce a teaser site for his forthcoming feature film debut. he wanted a site that would create a buzz but also act as a way of helping him raise funds to get the film made. armed only with a script and some old NASA stock footage we wrote a short 'shooting script' of ideas. we developed four main stages to the site of which michael went with the two he felt were the least revealing and most enticing. the end result is a short but sweet curiosity of a site that gives sneaks script fragments at you and hints at the strange psychology of the film.
_features
  • original music
  • original sound effects
  • original dialogue
  • flash user interface
_link
beyondapollo.com
_tags

big black delta_music video, record sleeve + poster

EP cover
poster
_what
EP artwork + music video for the LA-based band, big black delta
_how
jonathan bates, better known for his part in the fantastic band mellowdrone, recently got back in touch with us regarding a 'new thing' he was working on. as luck would have it, it was some seriously rich and rewarding new music. the kind which fills the mind with images pretty fast. well, the next thing you know we're watching the thundercats intro in total awe, debating wallpapering our apartment walls with TRON screenshots, and obsessing over UFOs. how one thing lead to another is neither here nor there, but it turns out we were all down with this new thing ... and it was taking us places.

what then ensued was the constant, rapid exchange of music for artwork, much the way a choir does their psalms and responses. there's no question in our minds now that big black delta was the only name you could use to sum up the music, what inspired it and everything we'd ultimately made together from that point forward. cut then to just a few days ago. cut right to the moment when we slung the cover you see above onto the proverbial coffee table. cut to us all looking at each other like we knew it was time. yep, ufologists were about to get some melody in their google.

additionally we shot and edited a short film to accompany the release of the song IFUCKINGLOVEYOU. it was shot over a couple of days around independence day in los angeles. the idea was simply to capture everything we got up to in the short time we had, be that searching the night sky for flashing lights, watching dan akroyd talking about UFOs on youtube or jonathan bates making strange noises on his studio floor. we hope the end result, if nothing else, makes you feel like all these things are related. not forcibly, but maybe with a little serendipity.
_link
bigblackdelta.com
_tags

jennifer lopez_website

microsite
hub site
microsite
microsite
_what
website for her new fragrance, love & glamour
_how
an intricate, long-form, campaign in the form of a series of flash microsites which when all completed, deliver a prize.
_features
  • original photography
  • original sound design
  • multiple flash driven user interfaces
  • 3D flash focal length code
  • sketch pad flash code
  • flash photo flipping code
  • cloud based video streaming technology
  • video post-production
_link
loveandglamour.com
_tags

KEO_website

home page
touch page
_what
website for the interactive media platform, KEO
_how
once again, it was big fuel (formerly apex exposure) that put us in touch with KEO.  they hoped we might fashion for them an ipad friendly website for their unique new device. a photoshoot was commissioned of the device and soon we were going back and forth with various designs for the site. 

KEO were keen to illustrate the various locations across america where the device would be installed and to provide a consumer facing breakdown of their device's features that would be elegant but yet fully compatible with mobile devices. it was also key to all involved that the site not only be optimized for search engines, but also be fully tied into facebook and various other social networking portals.
_features
  • javascript-driven UI
  • ipad compatible home page slideshow
  • custom product photos
_link
keoconnect.com
_tags

brooklyn brothers_poster

poster 3
_what
film poster for the feature film, the brooklyn brothers beat the best
_how
our talk at the IFP labs in tribeca, new york yielded some unexpected but very welcome results - several film makers approached us to assist them with ways to promote their films. one of the first was writer / director and actor ryan o'nan. he was about to send his new film the brooklyn brothers beat the best to the toronto film festival. the above poster is one of a few elements we worked work him and his production team to put together for the festival.

the film is ryan's ode to john hughes' trains, planes and automobiles (and stars some classic 80s movie alumni) and we created a poster to try to reflect that whilst offering its own more beat-up, make-shift aesthetic. it's the story of a lovelorn musician trying to get a band together and perhaps rekindle a little self-respect along the way. due to these musical themes within the film we also helped design a series of other elements which will be revealed by the film's production team along the way.

this is our first proper feature film poster and we're very excited and thankful to have been ushered into this new world by such great and talented people.
_tags

louis CK_website

home page
carnegie hall
ticketing
carnegie record cover
beacon theater streaming page
beacon theater home page
dvd cover
_what
website for the new york-based comedian + filmmaker, louis CK
_how
like most people we've been a fan of louis CK and his work for a while and so when the gregory brothers very kindly recommended us to him and his team a couple of months back, we were stoked. as if that wasn't cool enough, it turns out louis was looking for much more than a website. he was looking to revolutionize his approach to releasing his material to his fans. always up for trying new things, we set about pulling together a small dream team to get the task done.

everyone worked day and night on this from various locations both in the US and europe and its fair to say that the results far exceeded anyone's expectations. louis himself published a report on the whole project on the website, which you can read here.

you can read an in-depth article about our process and everything we learnt from working on this job here.

following the success of the beacon video, louis released audio downloads of the beacon + two additional shows. since then the site underwent further revision as we integrated louis' ticket sales into the site, all the while maintaining the highest standards of security and ease-of-use.
_features
  • amazon server integration
  • user-friendly purchase flow
  • user accounts
  • tech support backend
  • printable DVD artwork
  • HTML5 + flash video players
  • mp3 + FLAC audio files
  • gifting options
  • integration with independent ticketing solution
  • paypal + amazon payment systems
_link
buy.louisck.net
_awards
2012 webby awards honoree for best practice
_tags

jim gaffigan_website

download / stream page
options page
video page
_what
website for comedian, actor + writer, jim gaffigan
_how
show business journeyman jim gaffigan has done nearly every kind of work a comic can do but he'd never self-produced and released his own show. he knew of us through our work with louis CK and so approached us to build a site of his own. whilst the focus was on a similar model, we designed and built a more refined engine this time around.
_features
  • amazon server integration
  • user-friendly purchase flow
  • user accounts
  • tech support backend
  • printable DVD artwork
  • HTML5 + flash video players
  • gifting options
  • paypal + amazon payment systems
_link
jimgaffigan.com
_tags

asylum films_website

_what
relaunch site for london-based film company, asylum films
_how
since our original website work with asylum films, the company has expanded their roster of directors and the scope of their collective works. this meant that they needed a new website to expand dynamically to their growing needs.

we used a custom wordpress CMS as basis of ongoing self-management for their large pool of work & got about redesigning a brand new look for their front-end that was both fun to look at but clear to use. with this came the expanded ability to quickly find and share work.
_features
  • dynamic color driven work categories
  • animated GIF thumbnails
  • custom wordpress driven CMS
  • 'cinema mode' video playback
  • twitter & facebook integration
_link
asylumfilms.co.uk
_tags

what about dick?_website

home page
_what
website for eric idle's comic stage show, what about dick?
_how
westbeth entertainment were keen to release their film of eric idle's what about dick?, using the same platform we developed for jim gaffigan and louis CK. expanding on the visual style originally established in the posters they'd created to promote the show, we quickly put together a reskinned platform for them. this we then fine tuned to suit the appropriate marketing approach for this unique, star-studded film.
_features
    amazon server integrationuser-friendly purchase flowuser accountstech support backendHTML5 + flash video playersgifting optionspaypal + amazon payment systems
_link
whataboutdick.com
_tags