Working with Woods Witt Dealy (who came up with the new overall brand message) we changed their online strategy. Previously the brand and all of its info was spread out across multiple domain names, making it hard to find information and even harder to find the product. It was decided that the campaign elements should live on facebook, where the fans were already congregating. This has turned out to be very successful for the campaigns so far, and being able to view the reactions of the audience has been great from a data-nerdy standpoint.

That left the main website open focus on the biggest request from the fans: “How can I get my hands on this stuff?” We made sure the site did two things and did them well: helped a user FIND Cheerwine if it was close, or enable the to BUY some if it was not. We integrated facebook into the products section so people could share their favorites, and a section was created to showcase and relink facebook campaign elements, in case a wayward user went looking on the main site for something they heard about on the radio or saw on a billboard.

Check out some screenshots of the site and a facebook campaign, or just check out the live sites: Cheerwine.com or facebook.com/Cheerwine

Every year around this time, anyone whose parents describe their careers as “Oh, I don’t know, something with computers” picks up and ships down to Austin for SXSWi (South by Southwest interactive, aka spring break for nerds). In a horrendously broad stroke for the uninitiated, the conference tends to lay out what will happen in the next year of digital media, if you’re hanging out in the right places, listening to the right people. Twitter started here, and that’s supposed to be pretty big.

The problem with this usually lies in the signal-to-noise ratio. With so many companies wanting to lead their space, and so many people spouting their opinion as fact, there is frequently conflicting information in panels, and it’s easy for an attendee to just go numb to all the different inputs. This year was a bit different, and a large group of presenters from the keynote speakers to panelists had one topic on their minds: Games.

But not the readily thought-of types of games – not the big-budget console games and not Angry Birds. The commotion was about bringing games into real life. The biggest push came from Seth Priebatsch’s Saturday keynote on what he called “the game layer” (this is a much nicer term than “gamification,” which i’m afraid is going to win the buzzword battle). Implementing the game layer simple in theory: take game mechanics and apply them into real world situations. This isn’t new; Foursquare has been doing this for 2 years. Other companies, too. But it was the success of Foursquare and its competitors that made people take notice, and it was the futurespeak of Priebatsch that opened the eyes of many to the possible applications (here’s his TED talk on the topic).

Nadya Direkova of Google gave a fantastic solo presentation on applying sixteen existing game design patterns to specific problems, using real-world numbers to support claims of engagement when possible. Her talk was a perfect complement to Priebatsch’s, acting as a “want to know more?” kind of panel. The big takeaway that she wanted to stress (and I completely agree with her) is that the game layer is about much more than “points and badges”. Be careful when you implement and do it in a well-thought-out manner.

That’s going to be the trick of the next year or two, as more companies try and use the game layer. Games are complex things. They take time and involvement on both sides, the creator and the player. Do it wrong, and you’re likely to just make people bored. We’ll see this as me-too’s begin to crop up and promote their series of points and badges without much thought or plans for the future. On the other hand, do it right, and you’ll actually create something people are excited to use and, in the best cases, actually works to improve the life of a player (See Jane Mcgonigal’s talk on the benefits of gaming). So if I can give a professional opinion here to marketers particularly, it’s this: work with people who made games before this push. Work with gamers. Be open to mechanics and methods of engagement you might not think of as being game-like, and hear them out. It’s not a bad thing to be a me-too, but it is bad to look like Foursquare with not much idea why.

In all, though, it’s a very exciting time to be a designer, particularly one who has a strong eye on gaming (ahem). On the same note it’s an exciting time to be a developer, as these gaming patterns haven’t yet been templatized, and games by their nature require a bit of custom work, so the room for experimentation is wide open. Finally, it’s an exciting time to be a game maker: the audience has never been so ready and willing.

But a powerpoint deck with bullets just won’t do. Not for this audience. Stoned & Dangerous is a trade-oriented site with a consumer-friendly shine, designed to draw in media folks by putting a soft sell on the hard facts. Pop your face on a bride’s body and dress your scene. Each category delivers a small fact about how much cash is being spent about it (85% of betrothed buy a new vehicle, for example). These facts are added in without slowing down the experience, keeping the pace of the application light and fast for the time-challenged audience.

Check out some screenshots after the jump or try it live!

EDIT: The New York Times also has a write-up of the piece as well!

This is the first time my work has ever been used as an award. I think I kinda like it. Check out the fullscreen versions below!

A few years ago when Flash sites were all the rage and the possibilities were open to complex designs also being functional, I was at FLY and came up with this design as a pitch to Anchor Blue to add ecommerce functionality. It was a pitch, so of course the possibilities were stretched but looking back on it now, it seems that it has a place here in 2010, trend-wise.

Natural wood textures? Check. Distressed but not too distressed type? Check. And with the fervor over HTML 5 and more live type options than ever before (thanks again, typekit!) a design like this without having to use flash is actually feasible. And so, I unearth it from its time capsule to share with you.

Stop squinting! Click on the thumbs and get you some full-res action!