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COMMUNICATION ARTS INTERACTIVE ANNUAL 19

Hub Strategy Ellen Weinstein Paolo Marchesi Ale Paul Visual Dialogue Exhibit

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By Angelynn Grant

here’s a bit of an Alice in Wonderland feeling about Visual Dialogue. When you ring the bell in their neat but narrow entry in Boston’s South End, on a tree-lined street of nineteenth-century brick buildings with brick sidewalks, you don’t expect the door to open to the bright and expansive studio within. But it’s the ﬁrst sign that, when it comes to this award-winning brand identity and design ﬁrm, small is big.

When originally built, their 1,900-square-foot row house would have had a store on the ground level and living space above. A sustainable renovation revived that configuration, perfect for a modern non-commuting lifestyle. The open floor plans throughout contrast white surfaces and eco-harvested whitewashed wood-paneled walls with dark stained hardwood floors—a nifty way to visually expand the rooms. The first floor is the studio space with windows through which one hears snatches of sometimes colorful chatter from the neighborhood and shelving with integrated storage that cleverly hides clutter, muting visual noise. “I always appreciate the pictures you see of the Eameses where their workspace is just chock full of stuff,” notes Visual Dialogue founder and principal Fritz Klaetke (pronounced “Klet-key”). “But for me, I need the blank slate because we’re always visually creating things. I need that almost Zen-like, ‘take a deep breath, look at the ocean’ feeling. I guess it was in my blood because my dad was an architect and we lived in a Mies van der Rohe house in Detroit. So that typical high-modernism, minimalism was just ‘oh, this is how it should be.’” Klaetke and his partner, marketing strategist Susan Battista, live in the three upper floors with their daughter Ava Detroit. From the house’s tiny footprint, the residence levels open up as one climbs the continuous winding wood staircase (built on top of the original risers) into modern yet comfortable spaces looking out at leafy treetops and the Boston’s Prudential Tower. Their renovation has been celebrated for both its style and sustainability in Dwell and on Planet Green channel’s World’s Greenest Homes.

Captions written by Fritz Klaetke. Right: “What is contemporary Italian? Well if you’re James Beard award-winning chef Barbara Lynch, it means a stripped-down identity to match the modern lunch-counter interior of Sportello, and a subdued color palette makes the food on your plate pop. Va bene!” Jesse Hart/Fritz Klaetke, designers; Fritz Klaetke, design director; Aaron Carmisciano/Jesse Hart, developers; Lori Nix, artist; Barbara Lynch Gruppo, client. “Gastro pub? Fine dining? Why not both? We created a web experience that takes the visitor inside the cozy elegance of Post 390, where the dishes match the mood.” Fritz Klaetke/Kimber Lynch, designers; Fritz Klaetke, design director; Jesse Hart, developer; Michael Piazza, photographer; Gabe Davis, video director; Himmel Hospitality Group, client. 46

Interactive Annual 2013

Communication Arts | www.commarts.com

INTERACTIVE ANNUAL 19: WEBSITES/MICROSITES

Bear 71 “A beautifully-directed, emotional, cinematic experience that tells an important story.” —Scott Prindle Overview: This multiuser, interactive narrative follows the life of a female grizzly bear in Canada’s Banff National Park from the moment she’s tagged and collared by park rangers to the moment of her untimely death. The story, narrated by Mia Kirshner, is told from the bear’s perspective and site visitors watch it unfold through thousands of trail-cam images and videos. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) project observes and records the intersection of humans, nature and technology, and speaks to how we coexist with wildlife in the age of networks, geolocation and shared digital information. • A simultaneous social narrative campaign was launched on Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook and brought signiﬁcant viral traffic and attention to the site. • Visitors can explore the bear’s natural habitat as an abstract landscape constructed from thousands of stylized data points. • Users are asked to activate their webcam. The camera is active but invisible to the user until they launch the surveillance screen. JB McKinnon, writer Leanne Allison/Jeremy Mendes, directors Dana Dansereau/Loc Dao/National Film Board of Canada/ Bonnie Thompson, producers David Christensen/Loc Dao/Rob McLaughlin, executive producers Jam3, project design and development National Film Board of Canada (Montréal, Canada), client

Interactive Annual 2013

bear71.nfb.ca

“This site made a big impression on me. It breaks many user experience best practices (things move everywhere, there is little direction), but the result is an effective immersive experience that makes great use of multimedia content. It succeeded in engaging me and in making me feel emotional about the topic.” —Sophie Henry

Comments by NFB Digital Team: What was the most challenging aspect of the project? “Blending a non-linear visual experience with a linear story and creating a visual metaphor for the intersection of landscape and technology, in order to create a canvas for us to unfold the bear’s story. Jam3 built a tool that allowed the NFB team to design all aspects of the piece from sound to imagery to videos and to create the nuances of the look and feel of the landscape.”

In what ways does the content resonate for the develoment team? “It’s a strong emotional story delivered in a linear format married with a non-linear visual user experience and a soundtrack that includes Radiohead, Sigur Ros and Atlas Sound. But the real beauty of the project is that it uses technology to question how humans use technology and documents the duality. It actually uses the viewer’s webcam to turn the tables on issues of surveillance; in addition to the thousands of authentic trail-cam images of wildlife, a live webcam ‘surveillance wall’ allows users to observe each other.”

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INTERACTIVE ANNUAL 19: WEBSITES/MICROSITES

Clouds Over Cuba “This atmospheric interactive unfolds the Cuban Missile Crisis in real-time (50 years later) and inventively syncs with mobile to continue the story across devices.” —Dave Curry

Overview: To bring awareness to the events surrounding it, this site offers a detailed retelling of the weeks leading up to the Cuban Missile Crisis. At its core is a 25-minute documentary covering the crisis from its 1959 beginnings when Castro overthrew Batista. The story is condensed into a digestible, engaging format that includes 40 minutes of expert interviews on 15 related topics, the entirety of JFK’s secret ExComm recordings revealing the secret discussion that led to the deal that ended the crisis, and a 10-minute What If? ﬁlm that offers an alternative scenario had the crisis escalated to nuclear war. As the immersive story unfolds, contextual material comes and goes, inviting users to delve deeper into history. • Concepting began in May, production started in July and the site launched on October 16th. In all, there were 6 months of concept and production time (during the heaviest production period, upwards of 70 people were working on the project). • The ability to drop content into a dossier for later viewing allows for a vivid, detailed experience without becoming overwhelming. • A real-time calendar offers users the ability to subscribe to a calendar of events, with real-time alerts (50 years later) and deeplinks to content. Brian Williams, art director Wade Alger, writer Matt Gase, design director Joe Alexander, creative director Bartek Drozdz, interactive technical director Erich Joiner/Ben Tricklebank, directors Nicole Hollis-Vitale/Kristen Little, agency producers Kristen Koeller, interactive producer Dustin Callif/Oliver Fuselier/Steve Humble/ Erich Joiner/Brian Latt, executive producers Joy Kuraitis, integrated production director The Martin Agency/Tool of North America, project design and development The Martin Agency (Richmond, VA), ad agency The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum, client 104

Interactive Annual 2013

cloudsovercuba.com

“A good example of how visual and interaction design can be at the service of content. The application also has interesting features to help users take their experience across platforms.” —Sophie Henry

Comments by Brian Williams, Wade Alger, Erich Joiner and Ben Tricklebank: What was the thinking behind the navigation structure? “One of our goals in structuring the site the way we did was to give viewers a detailed yet concise retelling of the events of the crisis, and surround them with a wealth of contextual material they could engage with as they liked. We were careful to make the content feel rich and thorough, not overwhelming. “The main timeline is tied directly to the ﬁlm so users navigate the video by date—not just through a regular scrub bar. We also created layers that can be drilled into to explore sub-content

linked with particular moments in the documentary. The timeline moves in sync with the dates in the videos; the playhead will slow down and speed up to reach a date when it’s mentioned in the video and if the timeline is dragged to a speciﬁc date, the video will jump to that date.” Did you meet with any out-of-the-ordinary obstacles during development? “I wouldn’t call them obstacles per se, but we took on things that we don’t often do, like sourcing archival footage for a 25-minute documentary and accompanying 40 minutes of expert interviews; creating a ﬁctional alternate history scenario that’s feasibly grounded in reality; and identifying nearly 200 related pieces of content. The research and organization was overwhelming at times but completed with the hope that visitors would appreciate having the content at hand.”

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R DESIGN VERVE SOCIAL CAUSES & THE WEB JON REINFURT SARAH WILMER BILDER BRANDIN AN MILLER MILTON GLASER 50 YEARS OF TV GRAPHICS 50 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL COVERAG TER TYPE 50-YEAR TIMELINE TIM MANTOANI NOUMEDA CARBONE STEVEN WOHLWENDER EG ETA & ˇZINI C ´ MARK HOLTHUSEN DAVID&GOLIATH SAM WEBER EVOLUTION OF INTERACTIVE MED ZO PETRANTONI FERNANDO DECILLIS EIGHTHOURDAY STAMEN DESIGN BOONEOAKLEY JOH RIX PRINCIPLE FEMKE DE JONG SEAN WILLIAMS HUCKLEBUCK DESIGN STUDIO KATE BROOK JASON HOLLEY FRANK STOCKTON THE WHITE ROOM SHAUN FENN TIM FLACH SUSTAINABILIT STAUFFER SID LEE LISEL JANE ASHLOCK MATTHEW TURLEY MOLHO ENERGY BBDO ZACHAR T DESIGN IN PORTUGAL FIRSTBORN RACHEL MATTS CHRISTOPHER WILSON POMME CHA DSUNNY ODOPOD JOHN CUNEO ENTERPRISING DESIGNERS KAREN KLASSEN BRYCE PINCHA MARK ZIBERT ANNA+ELENA BALBUSSO AKQA LOTTA NIEMINEN TIMOTHY DEVINE FUNNEL HUG HADDON HAT-TRICK DESIGN KAKO EOLO PERFIDO JUSTIN ALLEN LAFONTAINE YULIA BRODSKAY AEL OSBORNE MCGARRAH JESSEE TRONIC STUDIO JAMES DAY CHRISTIAN NORTHEAST SHANNO REED YOUNG DELICIOUS DESIGN LEAGUE DISEÑO EN BUENOS AIRES ERIK ALMÅS UNDERWAR +MCVOY JILLIAN TAMAKI NATE DUVAL ELIZABETH WEINBERG NIVARD THOES MUCCA DESIG TOWN PARTNERS CHICAGO FACTORY DESIGN LABS LAUREN GREENFIELD MIKE BYERS MARE SO ROANDCO HELLO DESIGN PENGUIN MARCO VENTURA WAX YUTA ONODA TYPEJOCKEY E ROSEN CHRISTOPHER WILSON MOMA TIM JESSELL TAIWAN DEBBIE POWELL CHRISTIA WYK LUCID INC. SARA REMINGTON TOOL OF NORTH AMERICA COLORADO POSTERS JUST RIA DESIGN RANCH RAQUEL APARICIO WAYNE LAWRENCE FRÉDÉRIC TACER MARC & CHANTA N ZINA SAUNDERS COMMERCIAL TYPE CHRISTOPHER WAHL DUNCAN/CHANNON ARTS AN ATION JUNGYEON ROH RYAN HEFFERNAN ANDREW ZUCKERMAN HELMS WORKSHOP JUNIPE METHOD ËLODIE; DEEPLOCAL TY COLE NICOLETTE CECCOLI NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CA CHEN DESIGN ASSOCIATES DROGA5 EDWARD MCGOWAN JILLIAN FREY PETER DAWSON LEDA QUES TOKY CHRIS BUZELLI SHINE RIKKA SORMUNEN MATT CHASE DAVE MEAD KAREN KLA BREAKAWAY STEVEN WOHLWENDER SWEDISH DIGITAL NICK LU ERIN DREWITZ JORDAN GRA K POIRIER DAVID STROHL ISOBEL ELIXIR JIM KRANTZ UNITED AIRLINES INTERNATIONA R DESIGN VERVE SOCIAL CAUSES & THE WEB JON REINFURT SARAH WILMER BILDER BRANDIN AN MILLER MILTON GLASER 50 YEARS OF TV GRAPHICS 50 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL COVERAG TER TYPE 50-YEAR TIMELINE TIM MANTOANI NOUMEDA CARBONE STEVEN WOHLWENDER EG ETA & ˇZINI ZINIC C ´ MARK HOLTHUSEN DAVID&GOLIATH SAM WEBER EVOLUTION OF INTERACTIVE MED ZO PETRANTONI FERNANDO DECILLIS EIGHTHOURDAY STAMEN DESIGN BOONEOAKLEY JOH RIX PRINCIPLE FEMKE DE JONG SEAN WILLIAMS HUCKLEBUCK DESIGN STUDIO KATE BROOK JASON HOLLEY FRANK STOCKTON THE WHITE ROOM SHAUN FENN TIM FLACH SUSTAINABILIT STAUFFER SID LEE LISEL JANE ASHLOCK MATTHEW TURLEY MOLHO ENERGY BBDO ZACHAR T DESIGN IN PORTUGAL FIRSTBORN RACHEL MATTS CHRISTOPHER WILSON POMME CHA DSUNNY ODOPOD JOHN CUNEO ENTERPRISING DESIGNERS KAREN KLASSEN BRYCE PINCHA MARK ZIBERT ANNA+ELENA BALBUSSO AKQA LOTTA NIEMINEN TIMOTHY DEVINE FUNNEL HUG HADDON HAT-TRICK DESIGN KAKO EOLO PERFIDO JUSTIN ALLEN LAFONTAINE YULIA BRODSKAY AEL OSBORNE MCGARRAH JESSEE TRONIC STUDIO JAMES DAY CHRISTIAN NORTHEAST SHANNO REED YOUNG DELICIOUS DESIGN LEAGUE DISEÑO EN BUENOS AIRES ERIK ALMÅS UNDERWAR +MCVOY JILLIAN TAMAKI NATE DUVAL ELIZABETH WEINBERG NIVARD THOES MUCCA DESIG TOWN PARTNERS CHICAGO FACTORY DESIGN LABS LAUREN GREENFIELD MIKE BYERS MARE SO ROANDCO HELLO DESIGN PENGUIN MARCO VENTURA WAX YUTA ONODA TYPEJOCKEY E ROSEN MAY/JUNECHRISTOPHER WILSON MOMASEPTEMBER/OCTOBER TIM 2012: JESSELL TAIWAN DEBBIEJANUARY/FEBRUARY POWELL CHRISTIA NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012: 2013: 2012: ILLUSTRATION ANNUAL 53 JULY/AUGUST 2012: PHOTOGRAPHY ANNUAL 53 DESIGN ANNUAL 53 ADVERTISING ANNUAL 53 TYPOGRAPHY ANNUAL 3 WYK LUCID INC. SARA REMINGTON TOOL OF NORTH AMERICA COLORADO POSTERS JUST RIA DESIGN RANCH RAQUEL APARICIO WAYNE LAWRENCE FRÉDÉRIC TACER MARC & CHANTA can order back issues of Communication Arts online at www.commarts.com, by phone at (800) 258-9111 in the US and Canada N ZINAYou SAUNDERS COMMERCIAL TYPE CHRISTOPHER WAHL DUNCAN/CHANNON ARTS AN or (650) 326-6040 in all other countries. ATION JUNGYEON ROH RYAN HEFFERNAN ANDREW ZUCKERMAN HELMS WORKSHOP JUNIPE METHOD ËLODIE; DEEPLOCAL TY COLE NICOLETTE CECCOLI NATIONAL FILM BOARD OF CA CHEN DESIGN ASSOCIATES DROGA5 EDWARD MCGOWAN JILLIAN FREY PETERCommunication DAWSON LEDA 179 Arts QUES TOKY CHRIS BUZELLI SHINE RIKKA SORMUNEN MATT CHASE DAVE MEAD KAREN KLA

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