Work was intense for most of last week. We launched 3 projects, finished 1 set of rich-media banners with another due early this week, and started 3 more projects. Knock on wood - we haven't seen a slowdown yet. We even hired a another motion designer to help handle all the motion graphics work we have. We counted 14 project in-queue for our little 8 person interactive shop. We only have 2 open spots left in our office now. Last year, we doubled in size. I don't anticipate that happening this year with the downturn. This year, we're going to focus on the business side of things and work on how to become more efficient.
The projects we launched this week were all for Cheetos.com which is contains a multitude of games and sites that all use Cheetos® or Chester Cheetah in fun ways. We did a few of the "games", but not the TV spinning part.
The first one, The Cheetos® Look-Alike Analyzer, has been my pride and joy the last couple of months. I designed it from the ground up and oversaw it through production, motion and sound development. On this website, you can upload a photos or capture your Cheeto via you computer's webcam, and have it analyzed to see what your Cheeto looks like. It also give you a valuation to see whether or not it's worth selling, and you can download "proof". If your Cheeto is truly up to snuff, you can send it in and it just might be added to the Official Look-Alike Gallery.
The second, is the 24/7 Cheetos® Eating Channel, which Mike was the Creative Director on. This one is pretty cool and addictive. It's exactly what the name says – people eating Cheetos® all day, everyday. You can also submit your very own Cheetos® eating video. It's like watching a real cable channel. We even broke it up into "shows" that have theme music.
The third is still yet to be released in it's entirety, but is a download-able application called Cheetos Office Tools. The fist of 3 mini-application has been completed in a Microsoft Office parody. The first application is a business card maker. You choose who you want to impress and the application gives you the best business cards to do just that. So what if you aren't really a model, a crown prince, or a cardiologist - just print them out and away you go.
That's what we've been working on like mad over the past few months. I'm hoping we'll get more work like this. I really enjoyed working on the Analyzer and the 24/7 site I find hard to turn off. People are weird and it's too fun to watch weird people eating.
(Dexter is doing great - btw)
