May 13 2013

It’s been almost two and a half years since we started working with Bavaria, the largest independent brewery in the Netherlands, founded in 1719. Since then the Emakina Group has developed the brand’s 59 local websites, serving the public of no less than 49 countries! Soon we’ll simply count the countries for which we did not build a website (currently 144 in case you were wondering…).

The sites are based on a ‘glocal’ branding, having a very strong global identity while adapting to the local specifications of each market. Such adaptations go from editorial and copy-writing, through ensuring coherence with cultural codes, to respecting local regulations.

But it doesn’t end there! After we covered most of the Western world with localised sites, our latest versions targeted the Israeli and Kazakh market. Their respective sites needed to take into consideration a different alphabet and even direction of writing (in case you’re not a regular reader of the Old Testament, Hebrew goes from right to left).

An international project of such complexity involved the various agencies of the Emakina Group; including Design is Dead (which took care of the… design),  and Emakina.BE (strategy, development, and management).

The sites are ‘geo-targeted’, automatically presenting the local version from wherever you are. So in order to see the new versions, you simply need to buy a ticket to Tel Aviv and Astana. For the very lazy ones, we’ve added some screenshots…

Tweet

Apr 16 2013

Colourful computer animations and international internships – the only possible link between these two is Design is Dead! Our Antwerp-based agency is now adding to its expanding video portfolio the animated promotional clip of the Flanders Trainee Programme.

Flanders International, or the Flemish Department of Foreign Affairs, shapes the international policy of the Government of Flanders. It was looking a very non-institutional way for promoting  a programme, offering financial aid to Flemish graduates when completing an internship with an international organisation.

What better way to reach that audience than an entertaining online clip? The colourful Design-is- Dead-style animation guarantees a low threshold, high impact and enforced  share-ability!

*Text adapted from the Design is Dead News page.

Tweet

Apr 4 2013

Springtime brings us Fred & Ginger’s new online platform, filled to the brim with colourful kids clothes and a newly added mum-friendly web shop.

Every day a growing number of customers find their way to online shops and the new Fred & Ginger website  is right on trend! The FNG group continues its cross-channel story when online purchases can be picked up or returned and refunded in one of the 30 shops – the improved shop locator will tell you exactly where to go.

Behind these novelties, lie the creative minds of Design is Dead, a proud member of the Emakina Group. Their design for the Fred & Ginger’s site focused on creativity, playfulness, wonder and humour. The Antwerp-based agency also produced a stop motion video that adds movement to the collection and to the site, giving mums a direct link from the featured clothes to the webshop. In short: not a cliché catalogue but a young and playful representation fitting the Fred & Ginger collection.

*Adapted from a post on the Design is Dead News section.

Tweet

Dec 19 2012

Your Facebook account is no longer just a social network; it just became a highly convenient way for you to securely check and top up your BASE balance! Design is Dead (DID), a proud member of the Emakina Group, joined forces with ‘KPN Group Belgium’ to develop a new Facebook app, designated for this exact purpose. The transaction is done over a secured platform, allowing thousands of BASE clients to recharge their phones within just a few FB clicks.

Whether travelling for during these holidays or staying in Belgium, you can easily make sure your mobile is never out of credit. No more excuses for not calling Grandma to wish her a merry Christmas!

DID has been a strategic digital partner of the KPN Group Since 2004, developing apps, online, and e-services for the international telecom company. This included the outlining and building of this simple, user-friendly, and efficient app.

Tweet

Nov 14 2012

When Emakina’s creative hotshop Design is Dead was contacted by the Eristoff agency to create an interactive animation, its team went for an exciting off-the-wall solution. Literally.

In true Eristoff spirit the Design is Dead gang delivered the design and animation for an amazing interactive game for young nightwolves. The idea was inspired by a concept thought out by Famous and the iPad game development was done by Labs101. The close cooperation between the different agencies lead to great results.

 A breathtaking experience: iPad in hands, gamers in real time play on the walls of a building,
thanks to 3D mapping and interactive special effects

Read the rest of this entry »

Tweet

Feb 17 2012

Emakina is one of the big winners in the Interactive Media Awards, with 2 ‘Best in Class’ and 4 ‘Outstanding Achievement’ distinctions. The jury of this worldwide contest follows the highest standards of excellence in web design and development and honours individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement.

The Interactive Media Council (IMC) who created the awards is an international association of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals.

International Crisis Group and Evolta City, Best in Class

The ‘Best in Class’ award is the highest honour bestowed by the Interactive Media Council.

This year, Emakina’s The Reference receives the prestigious award for the International Crisis Group Website. The project successfully combines the serious nature of this worldwide organisation with its dynamic, open communication style, while emphasizing ICG’s values and strengths.

Panasonic Evolta City, a project by Design is Dead also received this highest honour, in the category  ‘Community’. The collaborative social media game brought together players from across Europe to build the biggest Zero CO2-emission City on the World Wide Web.

The jury declared both winners excelled in all areas of the judging criteria and achieved a perfect or near perfect overall score. Both sites represent the highest standards of professionalism, compliance, impeccable planning and execution.

Four Outstanding Achievements

The ‘Outstanding Achievement’ awards are the second highest prize bestowed by IMA. Emakina was selected four times out of the international pack of competitors.

The Schweppesonality campaign won in the ‘Lifestyle’ category. The Schweppes brand is working on a global rebranding, together with Emakina. Schweppesonality is an original activation campaign about the fans of the brand and their charismatic, unexpected and inspiring personalities, true Schweppesonalities.

SamsungWorld received the award in the category ‘Community’ and ‘Consumer Services’ website.  This new online meeting point for Samsung clients channels all opinions and discussions on Samsung and its products towards one, dynamic environment. Visitors exchange ideas and discover promotions, goodies and news items, in a tailor made CRM system.

50 Lawyers last but not least is the winning campaign for Test-Achats, in the category ‘Professional Services’. In a web centric campaign eco system, consumers were invited to file their complaints online and share their experience in social media. The original campaign showed TestAchats/Test-Aankoop lawyers in a military training camp, preparing to fight for the rights of their consumer clients.

Tweet

Jun 9 2011

On Wednesday, 8 June 2011, Emakina Group proudly launched what will definitely be one of the most amazing websites of 2011—the website of OFFF 2011! This is a true Emakina Group baby with intelligent and creative concept, design and architecture by Design is Dead, by extensive tweaking and tuning by Emakina.BE and intense PHP programing by Emakina.FR.

When we were asked last year if we were interested in concepting, designing, and creating the website for the OFFF festival 2011, to be held in Barcelona, we didn’t have to think about it very long. ‘Hell yeah!’, was the phrase, if memory serves. So we put three young, creative talents on the project and waited for the magic to happen, with a little (well, a lot of) help from their eager Design is Dead colleagues. That it did is easy to see: one look at their fantastic funky web creation proves that great and original minds were at work. Watch out Barcelona—Emakina and Design is Dead are coming!”

Tweet

May 19 2011

The agency Emakina has been selected by Facebook to join the Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant program (PDC). This program helps pair brands and organizations with the most qualified developers and resources to build advanced, brand-building Facebook Platform integrations.

As a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant, Emakina will continue to integrate the newest developments from Facebook, (functionality, applications, etc.) into the communications strategies they develop for their clients.

Before naming the agency as a member of the PDC program, Facebook examined various campaigns and applications developed by Emakina and assessed their skill in integrating Facebook technology into their communication strategies.

Emakina demonstrates real ambition in their social media strategies, developing solutions that integrate with Facebook, notably for Schweppes, ING, Powerade, the Route du Rhum, or for Buffalo Grill, with geolocation couponing using Facebook Deals.

Brice Le Blévennec, president of the Emakina Group, said, “We anticipate the arrival of a new generation of web & mobile applications, which innovate using the social graph – the mapping of all relationships between individuals. Being chosen by Facebook as part of the PDC program is a privilege which enables our agencies to work closely with one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the field of social business. We’ll have access to best practices and product guidance from Facebook, which we’ll use to propose the most innovative solutions in social marketing to our clients.”

For more information:
http://developers.facebook.com/preferreddevelopers

Tweet

May 16 2011

The tandem Design is Dead/Emakina.FR has won the prize ‘Official Honoree’ in the Netart category for MONA, the Museum of Neverending Art. This is a collaborative virtual museum that has been entirely been developed in HTML 5. It has been presented in San Francisco for the launch of Internet Explorer 9 Beta.

MONA, which is designed to be a virtual artistic play garden, has attracted 80 000 unique visitors in its first month. Surfers have contributed to the creation of 50,000 works of art, which has led to over 120 000 viewed pages.

“Microsoft had asked several agencies in the world to let their creativity flow. They all got carte blanche”, explains Frédéric Bojman, the Internet Explorer marketing manager at Microsoft. “The project presented by Emakina.FR and Design is Dead has very quickly attracted our attention because it allows surfers to play with the canvas, and because it illustrates all the technical qualities of Internet Explorer 9, and in particular its speed. And it’s even more interesting because the virtual audience has really played the game.”

This is not a first for Emakina: in 2010, Design is Dead had already won an Official Honoree prize at the Webby Awards for ‘deFilharmonie for Kids’.

Tweet

May 2 2011

A few days ago, Panasonic launched a new Facebook game called Evolta City. This clever and highly addictive game, concept & design by Design is Dead & development by Sevenedge, is a part of Panasonic’s campaign to promote its new line of revolutionary Evolta batteries.

Wondering how it works? In order to help Mr. Evolta build Evolta City, the first CO2-free city on the Web, you as a player collect power by inviting friends and taking a series of actions to boost their sustainability such as building eco-houses, buying electric cars or building windmills. Simple as that! Well, maybe at face value it is. But make no mistake: this Facebook game is much more than just another Farmville clone. Why? First and foremost, it is an exciting and fun game to play that will keep you busy for hours on end. In addition, the game is very easy to figure out, looks amazingly attractive (how could it not, thanks to our wonderful designers?), and is never ever boring due to the many options and challenges you encounter.

We are very proud to have delivered such an exemplary piece of online gaming!

Tweet

Apr 27 2011

The jury of the IAC Awards has just delivered its verdict in the States. Emakina Group has received three new distinctions, for MONA, Microsoft’s virtual museum, the repositioning of the Schweppes brand and the Facebook campaign for Powerade.

MONA, the Museum of Neverending Art is a collaborative virtual museum, imagined by Design is Dead/Emakina.FR for the launch of Microsoft Internet Explorer 9. At the IAC it won the prize for Best Arts Interactive application. This museum is designed to live forever and is a grand work of international collaborative art.

Emakina/Agency has won the prize of Outstanding Integrated ad campaign for its repositioning of the Schweppes brand. The agency has given the different ranges a new identity, has modernized the logo, has made a series of films and visuals for the entire range, has developed POS, event, activation, on-trade, off-trade and has put the new website for Schweppes Europe online, with a viral video campaign and an activation contest that used a lot of social media. Today, this new positioning is the guide for all communication agencies with which Schweppes works in Europe.

And last but not least, the Facebook application that Emakina.FR has made for Powerade, has received an Outstanding Social Media campaign award. This game offers users the opportunity to challenge their friends on a virtual field. It is designed to get the attention of sports and football fanatics and point out the benefits of a sports drink such as Powerade.
In less than 6 months, 98.000 players have registered for the application, called Football Challenge Powerade. On average, each player played 400 matches. And no less than 130.000 users have shared the campaign on their Facebook wall.

The IAC Awards are yearly awards organized by the American Web Marketing Association. They award the best creative Internet campaigns in the world.

Tweet

Apr 22 2011

It’s not that Design is Dead actually started a TV station online—but this is close enough (for now): they created the new website of deMENSEN, one of Belgium’s finest TV production companies!

A while ago, deMENSEN asked the online taskforce of Design is Dead to revamp their website. Their main demands? That the website be user-friendly; that it put their portfolio of TV programs—their core business—in the picture; and that its design be understated and sleek.
Needless to say, they gave them exactly what they wanted—and a little more, just a sprinkle of that Design is Dead magic. To put the focus 100% on the programs (which include Blokken, De Tabel van Mendelejev en Low Impact Man) they opted for large visuals and a simple but elegant design, topped by slide navigation for easy and intuitive use…as if the programs themselves were presented on a TV monitor. We think it’s safe to say you will not feel the need to zap away!

Tweet

Apr 21 2011

A singer-songwriter such as Milow only feels truly alive when he is on tour, playing his music. A life he wants to share not only with his many fans at home and abroad, but with the music biz pros and random visitors as well. So when he came to Design is Dead looking for a new website that would look and feel ‘real’, honest, and up-close-and-personal to do just that, they were happy to oblige.

Design is Dead presented a very accessible and user-friendly website designed as a continuous road trip, captured in a vintage design based on a snap-shot approach with sketches, notes, scraps, and warm colors and contrasts–but with quite a few perks. On the one hand, social media feeds such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube were craftily worked into the website design so visitors can ‘digitally’ go on the road with Milow and keep track of him wherever he goes, whatever he does. On the other hand, it provides those who seek it with lots of background information that cannot be found anywhere else, e.g., tour dates, releases, contact information, and more. Or, to quote from his last single: “It’d be only you & me.” At least, that’s how it feels!

Tweet

Mar 25 2011

A singer-songwriter such as Milow only feels truly alive when he is on tour, playing his music. A life he wants to share not only with his many fans at home and abroad, but with the music biz pros and random visitors as well. So when he turned to Design is Dead to create a new website that would look and feel ‘real’, honest, and up-close-and-personal to do just that, they were happy to oblige.

They presented a very accessible and user-friendly website designed as a continuous road trip, captured in a vintage design based on a snap-shot approach with sketches, notes, scraps, and warm colors and contrasts–but with quite a few perks. On the one hand, social media feeds such as Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube were craftily worked into the website design so visitors can ‘digitally’ go on the road with Milow and keep track of him wherever he goes, whatever he does. On the other hand, it provides those who seek it with lots of background information that cannot be found anywhere else, e.g., tour dates, releases, contact information, and more. Or, to quote from his last single: “It’d be only you & me.” At least, that’s how it feels!

Tweet

Mar 21 2011

Design is Dead proudly presents its new Creative Director: Bart Lommelen.

Bart Lommelen started working for Design is Dead in 2005, even before he graduated with high honours from Sint-Lukas in Graphic and Advertising Design. In 2008 he became Art Director at Antwerp’s finest agency. Now, he will be our new ingenious guru behind the scenes and on the set, guiding the creative process of our projects from concept and rough cut though pre- and post-production to the red carpet and the premiere.

“The example I’ve set myself for the task ahead is Quentin Tarantino. As a director, he is incredibly creative, quirky, and 100% dedicated to doing things his own way–without this stopping him from reaching a wide audience. That is what I want for Design is Dead: To ensure we stay a cutting-edge, rebellious online agency with its own creative look and feel and its own singular identity, all the while attracting clients from all sectors and walks of life.”

Tweet