For one of PixelLab Interactive’s more complex projects, Mezza Financial approached us to create a new music community-based web application. The proposed project included six different user types, fully customizable profile pages, personal online stores, music uploading and downloading, charts and ranking systems, full address book and mail functionality, and more. Music Reach was to put fans and professionals in the same online location, and to outshine competitors with an elite user interface design, and never seen before, all-inclusive functionality.

Investigating Ingenuity

First, PixelLab staff sought to identify the weaknesses of current music networking web applications. We conducted research by interviewing, musicians, managers, listeners, and bands to determine what types of functionality would be useful, and what types of functionality should be tossed away. PixelLab’s goal was to create a flexible web application where all design features contributed invaluable usability to the online experience. Upon collecting a long wishlist of site features, our developers began plotting out the enormous task.

Refining Complex

The second step in this project was to completely explore the project’s full design scope. The PixelLab team spent days analyzing the smallest details to investigate all potential conflicts. This project included multiple divisions of e-commerce, various user types, and user-specific options, and therefore a huge array of site combinatorics. The team then defined the work into three main phases to help compartmentalize these tasks.

Dissecting a Juggernaut

As designers perfected the optimal user interface, developers began completing their phases and each phase’s subordinate parts. Tasks were completed methodically to ensure infrastructural integrity. Then, after finalizing the interface design, our programmers began piecing the programming megalith together. After diligent programming and integration, the team completed the project with a scrutinizing, cross-platform bug testing to weed out any potential irregularities.

Music Utopia

When Music Reach was completed, the music industry was provided a total solution to online music, event, and merchandising sales. With our help, Mezza Financial was successful in appealing to the niche categories of the music industry, and in creating an aesthetically enjoyable, buzz-worthy collective of online music communities.

The web is all about content, but sometimes it’s difficult to find. PixelLab was approached to create a niche “stock” site for photography and written articles relevant to Los Cabos, one of the most beloved resort destinations in Mexico. The idea was that when people publish information about Los Cabos, they don’t necessarily want to fly there to obtain the required media (well, maybe they do, but such travelling is time and cost prohibitive). As new media gains popularity, such repositories of high-quality, tailored content will become increasingly important, so the new site needed to be attractive and professional, naturally.

Replicating Tranquility

When one thinks of an idyllic Mexican resort, one thinks first of complimentary tequila, and then second of sunsets, beaches, and heavenly pleasantness. PixelLab decided to focus on the second consideration, and went about developing a clean, relaxing, leisurely layout – a website almost as pleasing as Los Cabos itself. From navigation to functionality to aesthetic allure, this scenic repository was to mirror the feeling one gets from a stroll down the beaches of Baja.

The Creation of a Marketplace

Tranquility, however, rarely makes money. The site’s behind-the-scenes marketplace had to effectively liaise between providers of content and buyers of content. Simplified account creation, organization, and media navigation were crucial development goals. As the site came together, the client’s enthusiasm grew, and upon soft launch preliminary invitees have been thrilled with the result. Now, photographers and writers on the ground (or on the beach) in Los Cabos can efficiently present their content to magazines, travel agencies, websites, and other buyers located around the world.

Looking to wow its clients for the holidays, PixelLab needed to do something creative, something worthy of Mr. Claus himself. PixelLab needed to let its clients know that they were more than clients – that they were appreciated as friends and neighbors. As with any good business, however, it was also important for PixelLab to convey something enticing about the brand and its service offerings. An impression needed to be made, but it needed to be sincere.

The Wow Factor

Instead of the traditional messages of good tidings, PixelLab decided the best way to show genuine appreciation was to make something unique and engaging; it needed the “wow” factor. Well, what could be more “wow” than an augmented reality Christmas card? Using symbol recognition technology, the developed cards would link with a custom website. Upon opening the card, the recipient would be instructed to A) turn on his/her webcam and B) visit a special URL. Once on the page the recipient holds up the card to the webcam, and suddenly on the computer screen a seasonal rendering is produced, complete with falling snowflakes and winter wonder. The card can be moved around, tilted, and brought closer or further to the screen, with the augmented virtual image moving in tandem.

A Confluence of Talents

As with many of its promotional material, PixelLab brings together numerous skill sets to create an impactful whole. The Christmas card combined web design, web analytics (to track user response), info graphics, print design, copywriting, 3D design, and the augmenting video design… all for an unforgettable and unprecedented effect.

The interactive card was sent to roughly 450 treasured contacts, of which roughly 80% ended up viewing the special scene awaiting them. Receiving extensive commendation and praise, PixelLab was able to sell its abilities without any “salesyness” whatsoever. The card spoke for itself, and was a tremendous success.

One of PixelLab’s clients requested a web application that was able to create software for mobile devices. Their goal was to provide members of their creative team, those who lack programming knowledge, the tools to transform their mobile ideas into custom solutions to be offered to clients. To put it simply, PixelLab was asked to create a program that could be used by novice computer users to create other programs, like a plug-n-play machine that builds other machines. This program was named Mobile Guides.

The Duality of Design

From our designers’ standpoint this project required a melding of two different design interfaces. First, PixelLab was required to invent a functional back-end interface that was comprehensive yet comprehendible. This interface would be used by staff to simply, quickly, and efficiently create the custom applications.Then, a front-end interface was to be designed specifically for end users. PixelLab levied the task and created a well sewn conversion process between the actions of the application creator, and the reactions of its user.

Programming a Rosetta Stone

After consolidating the client’s application requirements, PixelLab programmers began assembling the application builder to include industrious customization controls, natural menu organization, and a flexible ad management interface. While the program alone was an ambitious project, the PixelLab programming teams also had to ensure that the exported application was compatible with all mobile platforms. In the end, the Mobile Guide software receives the commands of the application creator, translates them into different programming languages, and exports bug-free software packages. You could call it our Rosetta Stone for the application world.

Web Production Simplified

Our client was thrilled with the end result. Their dreams of mobile development were harnessed, and the goals of their client base can now always be reached. Mobile Guides delivered a custom solution that reduced production costs, increased profitability, and granted more power to the client’s creative teams.

As a new company in the world of new media creation and marketing, PixelLab needed to overcome the “newbie” stigma. Yet, without portfolio work to show prospective clients, how would new business be won? Without new business, where would the portfolio work come from? The Catch-22 had to be broken. PixelLab needed to produce something impressive, something to demonstrate the professional, cutting-edge talents of the team… something to create an impactful first impression.

Walking the Walk

Flashiness and technical impressiveness wouldn’t be enough. PixelLab needed to demonstrate its cohesive, brand-oriented production abilities. It needed to demonstrate the poetry and deeper meaning behind a piece of promotional marketing collateral. Furthermore, the piece needed to illustrate the ability of PixelLab to move beyond great concept (i.e. talking the talk) to great execution (i.e. walking the walk). After the brainstorm had moved along its thundering path, an idea had taken root in the newly nurtured soil. The concept was simple and to-the-point: use motion graphics to demonstrate a meaningful metaphor about the creative process through the formation and combination of pixels (an obvious brand connection).

Impact Creation

In the world of digital design, pixels are the elemental building blocks – arranged well and something magical is born, arranged poorly and you have a mess on your hands, or even something radioactive. PixelLab’s proposed “trailer” video would emblemize how, with the right pieces, the whole can be much greater than the sum of its parts. As each pixel forms, it endeavors to find its place in the chaotic environment of creation. Through this process, structure is built and order is attained, resulting in a gleaming finished product… PixelLab’s logo.

Booming with Polish

The concept worked and was executed beautifully. Appearing more like a big-budget Hollywood production than a start-up design agency promo out of Waterloo, Ontario, the 24-second clip booms with energy and polish. Well-received by early clients, the trailer successfully conveyed the talent and professionalism of PixelLab, and helped the agency win the hearts and minds of some of its first clients.

Solace Beeswax Candles approached PixelLab to redesign their website to capture the atmosphere of their product, and to boost the functionality of their online store. PixelLab analyzed the product and determined that the candles required a virtual environment that amplified the natural benefits of beeswax candles.

Art & Design

To achieve this goal PixelLab’s art department developed a sketchbook prototype of the proposed design. Elaborating on the environmental qualities of the candle, PixelLab inked a serene mountainside landscape parted by an active, rolling river and a receding skyline of trees. After the sketch was confirmed with the approval of Solace, the concept was then transferred to the graphics department.

Graphic artists created a digital recreation of the sketch and infused the drawing with the soothing colours of an autumn sunset. A slight touch of animation was added to simulate burning candles, and the overall effect of this first design phase accented the beeswax website into an articulated transmission of the real world experience.

Web Development

This initial concept framed the remainder of the site’s development. Upon developing the artistic theme of the site, the structure of the site was expanded to frame the advertising copy into an easily accessible interface. Understanding the product’s niche market, PixelLab sought to help boost sales by making the online store the touchstone pillar of the design. As users navigate through the site’s content the store is always on deck to quickly facilitate orders.

The Final Product

The site’s thorough development process results in a well-centered messaging that ignited the online sales of Solace Beeswax Candles. Customers are buzzed by the immediate warmth of the page, and stung with a pollinated desire to purchase the experience embodied by the design.

SESTAR Technologies is a humble company with grand vision. Seeking to be “a world leader in the development and dissemination of sustainable technology for the benefit of humanity,” the company needed a fresh, inspiring website. Seeking something without fancy features or complex functionality, SESTAR handed PixelLab a Word document with some product descriptions, a logo, and said… “begin! This green tech company seemed intent on ensuring that PixelLab would follow through with the company’s principle of “do more with less.”

A Website for an Advancing Planet

PixelLab first needed to develop further the SESTAR brand. Having only a logo to guide them, the team produced several concepts for the site identity characteristics. Green is the new red, and when it comes to eco-companies, the color is instantly relatable to the audience. With green tones decided, PixelLab designed the site around a large, beautiful panorama of lush hills against a picturesque skyline. Across the photo, a clean and powerful statement – “Technologies for an Advancing Planet.”
From a technical perspective, SESTAR didn’t require anything fancy. Set up essentially as an effective and attractive corporate brochure, the website needed only an effective content management system (CMS). As the visual design came alive, a CMS was produced allowing SESTAR admins to quickly and easily edit the content, products, and corporate details of their website.

Designed with SurfPlasma in Mind

With a website as stunning and sustainable as their technology, SESTAR can now present itself as a company with its head in the clouds but with feet firmly on the ground. Whether promoting biodegradable bags, eco-friendly conducting film, solar powered organic photo cells, or “SurfPlasma” (yeah, we were curious also), the company’s site helps the rest of the world move into the future.

Case study not available.

Brewed in blue, Ury is the loyal mascot of Ursponsored.com. Read on to learn about Ury’s adventure from an unemployed 2D stargazer, to the world’s most versatile, online Master of Ceremonies.

Lights

Billed as “The World’s Largest Stage” UrSponsored requested an iconically neutral, yet friendly mascot that embodied the site’s spirit for film production. PixelLab designers quickly got to work at deciphering this enigmatic task, and after some time spent fiddling with gradients and colour swatches, the designers all stopped to marvel at the sight of a roughly sketched, companionable, genderless being, whose body extended from a giant play button.

Camera

Instantly amused by the creature’s odd yet cordial appearance, our designers enthusiastically introduced the newly born Ury into the third dimension. Piece by piece they transformed the little blue critter out of its ugly 2D shell, and began the painful-to-watch chore of molding, contorting, and reattaching Ury’s 3D limbs to his (her?) portly body. Thankfully, Ury was unusually proud of the weight gain, and our designers rejoiced as the budding star danced in the limelight of life.

Action

With their hero poised to introduce the world to the Ursponsored world, PixelLab designers noticed one small problem with the charming incarnation. Ury was a little – to say it politely – naked. The designers rummaged around the prop room and pulled out a tie, briefcase, boxing gloves, mallet, soccer ball, and video camera, all of which garnered Ury’s unfettered enthusiasm. Relaxed, our designers applauded another job well done, and to this day Ury can still be seen dancing throughout the Ursponsored universe, introducing new users to the world’s largest stage.

Blue Beamer is an innovative piece of software which enables its operator to use any cpu-based device to send out a programmable Bluetooth signal to people passing in the vicinity. The signal can appear on a mobile phone, for example, and present the owner of the phone with a prompt to download a special app, or view a customized advertisement, or even allow them to connect to the web like a wireless hotspot. The possibilities of the technology are endless, so PixelLab started working to create a worthy visual identity.

Rupturing Forth

Using the visual style of its Johnny Robot mascot as well as the GoKart software identity, PixelLab set its illustrators to work. Central to the appeal of the Blue Beamer technology is the ability to take a very basic CPU device and turn it into a powerful, revolutionary, and uncontrollably awesome appliance. For this reason, the image needed to encapsulate an almost werewolf-like “transformation” of the hardware. The illustration thus presents a somewhat simple, aging grey box, with a high-tech, beaming satellite dish rupturing forth from its innards. Like Sigourney Weaver’s alien bursting through the confines of its unfortunate host, the highly developed satellite dish is now free from its former constraints. The raw power of this transformation necessitated the installation of advanced tempered steel alloy brackets with which to clasp the device to the ground.

Visceral Effect

By taking old technology and turning into something exhilarating, Blue Beamer has many exciting applications. Every element of the iconic design was specifically employed to convey the tremendous potential unleashed by the software. Its vivid and illustrative identity conveys both power and transformation, letting prospective clients know that they’re dealing with something exceptional. This project highlights the importance of visual characterization, which allows Blue Beamer to quickly grab the attention of prospective clients.