LOKA Fejsmix
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Actionscript, Adobe Flash, Design, Lonely Duck, Mobile, Portfolio, iPhone
We at Lonely Duck recently produced a digital campaign for the new flavour of Loka, Krusbär Päron. The campaign focuses on the fact that two flavours are mixed. With this in mind we were given a brief of a digital solution where users can engage in mixing. And what is more engaging than mixing yourself with someone else. So that’s what we did. The Loka Fejsmix, which is a face mix, but since we’re targeting a young swedish audience the spelling is a bit swenglish.
The resulting web campaign was a face mixing application running both on Facebook and on Loka.nu. Here the user could choose to mix a face, either from the web cam or from the pc. Up to this date 5000 mixes has been made. In order to create a nice final result the lighting a color of the different photos should be similar. The final result could then be posted on Facebook, emailed and if the user wanted to, competing for a place in a dynamic banner and the chance to win a bunch of Loka:s. To make other users on Facebook aware of the origin of the mix the wall post is branded, Loka style.
Since we at Lonely Duck has some extensive knowledge in iPhone development we also created an iPhone App for the campaign. This app named LOKA Fejsmix can be downloaded for free here The idea is the same, mix two faces, but in the context of a mobile phone. For the user this makes everything from the face marking process to the spontaneity of creating the mix a bit different. With a face mixer in the pocket, there is no place where a nice face mix can’t be done. The similarities between the two entities is that the finished picture when shared on Facebook gets a unique url on the loka.nu website. Here others can see the mix and also continue to share the mix. The app has up to this date been downloaded more than 7000 times.
Looking back on 2009
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Lonely Duck, Portfolio, Work
Things is going really well for us at Lonely Duck. During 2009 we have produced some great apps and different web solutions for major brands. Some of which hasn’t seen the light of day yet, but expect some great releases early in 2010.
Recently we also got some recognition for our work with The LIST when the Spinn PR Awards gave it a gold in “Word-Of-Mouth Campaign Of The Year” and bronze in “Digital Campaign Of The Year”.
So for 2010 things are looking great. We already have a couple of projects started and a couple more will begin in January. It is looking like we are getting up into the Flash saddle again and perhaps even combining it with the iPhone. We will also get a new co-worker with some awesome programming skills.
That’s about it for now. Perhaps next post will come with a new design of this blog and a new-years resolution to update it more often. Day-To-day thoughts about Interaction Design, iPhone & Flash dev can be found on my Twitter
Another app signed and delivered + some thoughts
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Lonely Duck, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
Earlier this week we released a new app. It was the Jabra STONE, an app promoting the newest hi-end bluetooth headset from Jabra. The app is free to download on the app store and allows you to simulate stone skipping. Of course in the app this is done by throwing the rounded stone shaped bluetooth headset over calm black water.
It is always interesting to see how an app does sales wise on the App Store and how people find their apps. We at Lonely Duck have always worked with the notion that most people don’t browse through the back catalog of App Store to find that special app that they crave at the moment. Often it is the highest rated apps or the newst that gets all of the attention. And if people don’t discover your app during the short time the app is fresh, chances are it will get buried under the massive amount of app released each day. Of course the top lists on the App Store is a great booster to any app, but that’s a tough place to get in. We believe that viral / real world word-of-mouth might be the most successful way to gain reputation on an app.
As observed on the release of the Jabra STONE a small Japanese blog posted a video on the app with subsequently lead to an enormous upswing in downloads from Japan. This was not something that we ourselves had any part of and if we had it wouldn’t feel nearly as cool. We believe in people and when most iPhone app review pages charges a couple of $ to give a good review they are really hollowing out their own integrity and it just feels fake.
We believe in the power of the people!
Need some iphone work done?
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Design, Lonely Duck, Mobile, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
If you are looking for someone to bring your iPhone ideas to life, look no further. At Lonely Duck we are currently working hard creating new exciting iPhone applications and will soon start to create the same for Android. Check out our work so for at http://www.lonelyduck.com/iphone. Within a couple of weeks there will be even more cases on display
Recent work
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Actionscript, Design, Lonely Duck, Mobile, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
Well, so much has happened since the last post I’ve made on this blog that I don’t know where to begin. Anyway, I have now moved to Stockholm and I really like it! An awesome city full of creative inspiration. It also feels great to work more closely with my coworkers at Lonely Duck.
Back to the interesting bit. We have been working with a couple of different projects since April and I thought a couple of them deserves to be mentioned. Back in August we released Darkroom Music a retro themed full flash video website for the digital music company Darkroom. The sits lets the user experience the digital music creations of darkroom while full screen videos makes you wanna move even more. The site lets you share or embed the music of Darkroom through Facebook and other social sites.
Apart from a couple of various flash projects we at Lonely Duck have continued working with the iPhone and have recently released two apps. The one that we invested most time in is Tower Attack, a game that takes the Tower Defense genre and gives it a little twist. The goal is to plot the ultimate way to make it past the towers, make sacrifices on the altar of altruism and synchronize the attack. The goal is to let the grey alien with the mysterious briefcase reach the castle. See a couple of screen shots and read more here!.
During my vacation I found the lack of an app that contains drinking songs quite frustrating so we decided to fill that gap. The app is simply called Snapsvisor and contains 99 schnapps songs sorted in various categories. The user can choose to create his/her own songbook that will come in handy during festive occasions. Read more here!
So this was a short summary of sorted highlights since last time. We´re currently working on a number of exciting projects both for the iPhone and the web and I will present the final projects when it is possible.
Take care!
The bird is the word
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under 2d, Actionscript, Adobe Flash, Lonely Duck, Portfolio, Work
Lonely Duck just released the new website for Peacock Advertising Agency. A full flash website featuring their clients, news as well as prior and current projects, all with a whisper of box2d physics. Check it out at www.peacock.se!
Also, to everyone out there, happy easter from us at Lonely Duck.
Newly hatched
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Actionscript, Adobe Flash, Design, Lonely Duck, Mobile, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
Just prior to easter Lonely Duck released a project that we´ve been working on. The project is a digital facelift of 7-Eleven. To do this we have created an iPhone application and a brand new website. The application helps people locate the nearest 7-Eleven store and even throws in great offers exclusive for people using the app. It is of course free to download but sadly it only works in Sweden. The app has in only 1 week entered the top 10 free apps in Sweden. Happy easter!
Follow-up on the hype
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Lonely Duck, Mobile, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
As i wrote in the last post we recently released our first iPhone application. It has been an exciting couple of days with reading reviews and following the stats and today it finally happened, our app passed the iBeer application and is current #2 among entertainment applications and #22 on top paid apps here in Sweden. We even got a review. The application formerly known as Full Metal Throttle Chopper now goes by the name Motorcycle Engine, to make things a little easier. With this update the engine sound and some minor glitches were adjusted.
Following the iPhone hype
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under Design, Interaction Design, Lonely Duck, Mobile, Papers, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
Lonely Duck has entered the realm of iPhone development. It is an exiting new world full of opportunities and challenges. A couple of weeks ago we landed our first client project for the iPhone and it will be out later this month. During this time we also created a game with the appealing name Full Metal Throttle Chopper. Basically the application works as the throttle of a motorcycle, with a realistic engine behavior and both speed and RPM gauge. Just twist your cell phone to rev the virtual throttle. Tilt it to shift and off you go. As if these features isn’t enough, solely the tag line will make you buy it:
Ever wanted to leave the office in the middle of the day, gear up and go riding on the open highway? The sun in your eyes, all troubles left behind, a free spirit roaming the badlands with nothing but freedom and opportunities ahead.
Or maybe you just want peoples’ attention at parties? Whichever dream you hope to fulfill Throttle Chopper is the app for you.
Reflections
When you are a person interested in different types of interaction methods and interfaces the iPhone is truly a toy. People will be interacting through location, proximity, acceleration, sound and touch. So much can be done, but what applications has been at the top of the paid apps list? iFart, iGirl and iBeer! Is this saying something about the current state of the world, about financial crisis or depression. I´m not at all qualified to say, but it´s clear that iPhone apps are going through a maturing process. The market is flooded with simple applications that are claiming to do ONE thing, this thing of course differs between applications, but they do this one thing and at the moment that is all it takes! These applications will be downloaded and used a couple of times for kicks. They bring an instant payback for the buyer by doing exactly what the say they do. So what would the lead word of the first generation iPhone apps be, I guess, Simplicity.
Box2d: Bringing 2D physics to screens everywhere
Posted by Fredrik | Filed under 2d, 3d, Actionscript, Adobe Flash, Interaction Design, Lonely Duck, Portfolio, Work, iPhone
What I´m going to write about here is physics in Flash, AS3. And since I like keeping it old school it is 2D physics. Lonely Duck has just finished a small game that you will soon be able to catch in a banner near you. The physics are handled by Box2D, a physics engine ported from C++. When doing physics in AS3 you have a number of different engines to choose from. Even though you are planning to use physics with lets say Papervision3D or any other flash 3d environment you can still use a 2D physics engine, if you keep your objects in one plane with interactions along 2 axis. This means that you won´t be able to support 3d interaction (e.g movement in x,y,z) but in some cases this isn´t really needed.
Anyway, I first gave APE (Actionscript Physics Engine) a go. It was really easy getting started with and the setup of the 2d world and the objects I was going to use worked as expected. After a while (about 50% done) I however found that it was lacking some fundamental stuff that I really wanted. Things like collision detection, a way to avoid tunneling issues and an environment with a more complex collection of different joints and springs. The answer was as I already mentioned Box2D, and even thought the fact that is was a port from C++ first scared me a little (different ways of organizing code, positions and values are on a meter basis, which means that one meter is equal to 30 pixels) now feels great to have started with. Not only because it could be used in many upcoming AS3 projects, it is also possible to use Box2D when developing applications for the iPhone.
There are a number of popular apps out there that uses Box2D for the physics.
These have all been done through porting box2d from C++ to Obj C. Which means writing their own renderers and touch listeners for interaction. Good times however, now there is a released port of the Box2d testbed with working interaction from the touch sensors and the accelerometer. Check out this post explaining things a little bit better here.
Take care!
Lonely Duck HQ
Westin/Johansson Casa
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