Like most people you’re probably using Google Maps these days. So you may not have noticed that Whereis.com have released high-definition photographic images of the metropolitan centres across Australia. It’s impressive and considerably better quality than what Google Maps currently offer. Below is example in the difference in resolution:

Fitzroy Pool: Google Maps - Maximum Zoom













Fitzroy Pool: Whereis.com (beta)













Fitzroy Pool: Whereis.com (beta) Maximum Zoom













Whereis.com still have a few issues to iron out before the final release. Not surprisingly it’s much slower than Google maps, and it often produces JavaScript errors and then totally shuts down.

Worth checking it out at: www.whereis.com

Tim Fouhy, Managing Director

Labels: Technology, Web Culture and Trends

Watching this excellent Vodcast from Cool Hunting a few weeks back revealed an amazingly talented artist/storyteller Jonathan Harris who uses primarily Web technologies and the internet as his medium of expression.

His most accomplished interactive work (in my opinion) is the 2007 Webby nominated ‘We Feel Fine’. Described by the artist as ‘an exploration of human emotion’, it’s a Java Web Application which searches weblogs on the internet for postings that relate to feelings and emotions, and harvests the words and images. You can then search or filter the information to narrow the results, by type of emotion, for example ‘happy’ or ‘sad’, location, sex, age and time, and then view the snippet of the weblog.

Not only is it an excellent concept, but it’s beautifully executed both from an interface design perspective and from a code perspective.

A similar concept, with a specific focus on depicting the romantic lives of American teenagers is called the Dumpster. It also visualises content harvested from the internet, but more specifically ‘a fixed collection of 20,000 romantic breakups that occurred during 2005’. It’s also interesting in that it uses a playful and interactive visual interface to access the content, making for a fun and engaging experience.

Jonathan Harris’ most recent work, called Universe, is also a Web application and described as “a system that supports the exploration of personal mythology, allowing each of us to find our own constellations, based on our own interests and curiosities….Using the metaphor of an interactive night sky, Universe presents an immersive environment for navigating the world's contemporary mythology, as found online in global news and information from Daylife”.

Wow, super-cool. I hope by exploring these sites you’ll also be left inspired and encouraged to share your stories with the world.

Actually, all this reminds me of a project we did a few years ago for the Australian Drug Foundation, called Somazone, which gives young people a space to share their stories with others, dealing with issues such as sexuality, health and drugs.

Carl Panczak, General Manager, Sydney

Labels: Design and Usability, Technology, Web Culture and Trends

For well over a decade AGIdeas has ‘inspired, provoked, challenged and amazed’ members of the design community. And for past five years I’ve seen proof of that in the gusto of post-agideas designers in our team. While the vast majority of the week is dedicated to the creative side of creativity, there is always a small stipend toward those of us in the business side of things. This comes in the form of the Business Breakfast Forum.

‘2 hours that could change your business’ is what the glossy brochure chortled. It posited some impressive statistics on how design has influenced change (particularly around profitability) and piqued the interest of just about every Project Manager and Account Manager at Reactive. ‘We too believe in the power of design!’ we rallied. This breakfast was made for us, so we booked our $70 tickets and waited for the big day.

Our facilitator Harold Mitchell kicked off the proceedings, once again reiterating the promises made in the brochure. Indeed, the forum made such a strong start that within three minutes of Richard Murray’s presentation I had already forgotten that the breakfast had run short on coffee.

Well prepared, intelligent and energetic, Murray (of Williams Murray Hamm) regaled us with brilliant examples of creative and successful design. Using several case studies Murray was practically breezy about how design can create profit for clients. He demonstrated some truly creative thinking on the part of his firm by showing us the brief, the market research, the solutions and the results. And my, they were impressive results. For example, Murray tells us that within one week of shelf-life his firm’s re-branded Sainsbury’s Organic range had practically paid for itself. By taking us through this classic process Murray demonstrated how a good brief, proper research and creative thinking can reposition products in the marketplace, create buzz and provide a significant profit increase for the client.

After such striking examples of how design can change the world the audience was pumped, and perhaps the next speaker Scott Strong (Ford Motor Company) provided a little too much of a change in pace. Strong - more subdued in his approach than Murray - talked more generally about the importance of a design culture in a creative organisation. He noted the importance of good people, a good working environment, good research and so on. While Strong was earnest in his approach, his understanding of the audience seemed limited (in that there was an element of ‘preaching to the converted’. - Surely all design agencies believe in good people and a solid design culture?). Small details – like the rendering of fonts, choice of imagery and quality of the design in Scott’s power point display indicated also that his presentation was a little off target. I started to wonder if there was a coffee cart set up outside the building.

A surprise finish to the forum Masaaki Kanai (of international retailer Muji) presenting in Japanese (through a translator). Having been assured by Mitchell that this wouldn’t take up any more time than was scheduled (and being a big fan of Muji products) I went into this unusual approach with an open mind. I could see the benefits of having a translator – it would allow the presenter flexibility (and enable us to ask questions directly to the speaker). Speaking in rather long intervals (necessitating a pre-prepared script for the translator) Kanai spoke about the role of design at Muji (the mantra of which is ‘no brand quality goods’). More specifically he explained Muji’s philosophy around design, and how design can influence cost (for example designing textiles in their natural colours will reduce the cost by eliminating a dying process). This tidbit made a nice bookend to Murray’s presentation on how design can influence profit – but it was only a very small point to be considered in his presentation. Ultimately Kanai gave us a rather long advertisement for Muji (which is ironic given they don’t yet have a store in Australia).

The moment the formalities were over I cut my losses and bolted out of the building in search of that coveted cuppa. While I never really expected that this two hours would change our business, I did expect a little more – more of the kind of thing that Murray provided.

Next year I hope to see more curatorial thought to the breakfast forum. (and more coffee of course!)

Pepi Ronalds, Studio Manager

Labels: Design and Usability, Reactive, Web Culture and Trends