The site features an original design that leverages the dark undertones and religious/spiritual rites objects from the film itself to help create a perfect canvas to promote the film project. HQ created a system of photography, illustration and animation to round out the unique aesthetic of the site. Based on a graphic novel concept, this film short was created by director James Moran of Trumac Films to generate interest and support for the broader story and sequel opportunities around the main character, Deacon James (Johnathan Schaech).
An excerpt from the Lost Rites graphic novel showing Deacon James fighting it out with deity Ageria
Additional methods of connecting with fans and supporters include a custom-designed blog and a Twitter account that will help keep tabs on the post production, and screenings of the full film short at Film Festivals and COMICON in the future. Be sure to have a look at the teaser trailer posted on the site along with some of the behind the scenes photos. The film may be short, but it leverages all that Hollywood can offer including some great talent, advanced CGI and audio engineering.
Behind the scenes with James Moran (Director) and Johnathan Schaech (Deacon James)
We are proud to add this to our history of over 20+ film sites. Best of luck to Lost Rites, Trumac Films and Deacon James’ future as an on-screen character!
Twitter has gone ahead and updated their homepage quite a bit, which was quite surprising when I got there the other night and experienced it. Not that a user would ever really spend a great deal of time on the login page (nor could I imagine Twitter would want them to of course), but this new design actually kind of gives you a reason to do so. Which, if you think about it, potentially has the power to also help increase tweets even more by showing people info they may retweet or talk about before they log in. (Hello high activity ‘Fail Whale’)
Design-wise, it’s definitely a big improvement over the static page that was there before, as the newer dynamic version has ‘Trending Topics’ scrolling in real-time, as well as ‘Top Tweets’. It also has information for the daily wave of Twitter newbies (personal and business related) that sign up, in the form of Twitter 101.
All this before you log in is pretty cool, but to tell you the truth, I really don’t care if #JustinBieber is a “Trending Topic” like everyday, all day.
As Smashing Magazine puts it, “most college websites are horribly designed,” and I’d have to agree; but I’m also proud to say that my alma mater, Ball State University, made Smashing’s list of beautifully designed higher-education websites. I’m not really sure if the sites are listed in any particular order, but because Ball State’s pops up second, I’ll call it second place.
“Ball State University uses a sophisticated color scheme and typography combined with plenty of negative space.”
This might be one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen – One Bit Increment created an interactive website using handmade papercut shapes and figures, which were then individually photographed and animated in flash. You can also play along and move the animals like a video game. Visit the site, then check out the creation process here.
By the way, the scene transforms into nighttime when the sun sets in Los Angeles. The weather (wind and rain) is also driven by Los Angeles data retrieved from Yahoo weather.
“The Center for Advanced Visual Studies is a community for contemporary art in the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.”
OK, so it’s not a web or graphic design school, but still…WHAT. This website…it periodically reloads itself. The layout appears to be random. There are animated gifs. THIS IS A REAL PAGE. I’m baffled and sort of enthralled all at once.
Maybe that’s the point, aha! The website itself is meant as a “contemporary art piece,” (right?) a commentary on Internet and Art and Grid Systems and Whathaveyou. Whoa. It really kind of IS making me think. This reminds me of a recent episode of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, where Tom (who proudly declares, “I have no interest in art”) commissions an abstract expressionist painting, and finds as he really looks at it, that his opinion changes from derisive to admiring. “A piece of art caused me to have an emotional reaction. Is that normal?”
Related: a friend just reported that, while viewing the MIT site, his cat leapt from his shoulder to attack the computer screen.
Yesterday, Google released its template gallery for Google Sites. If you are unfamiliar with Google Sites, visit http://sites.google.com. (From the website: “Google Sites is a free and easy way to create and share webpages”). Basically, the Google Site templates are preset templates that include canned designs, and content setup for specific audiences (i.e. Family Sharing sites, Business Intranets, Classroom sites, etc).
Anyhow, I decided to test out the Google Site templates to write a review. So, I logged in to http://sites.google.com, navigated through the template gallery, and found the “Neighborhood site template.” I filled out the form and clicked “Create Site.” It gave me the usual “Please wait…” message. I waited patiently for a few minutes, and nothing happened.
I go back, repeat the steps, and try again. I get the same message. This time, it was 10:16am and I checked my email to give it more time. 10:20am, I came back to the window; no change in status. I got up, grabbed a coffee, came back, and drank ½ my coffee; no change in status. I decided to write a new article (this one). 10:51am, still no change in status. I gave it another try, and I get this error message “This location is already used by another site, please pick a new one.” I tried to locate the site from the assigned URL, and I get another page that said “Please wait…”
At this point, I decided to give up. This reminded me of when work halted because Gmail went out, and when I lost track of what I needed to do when Google Calendar went down). Now, Google says Docs will catch up to Office next year ? It seems that Google has had a lot of problems with the growth of its new products. Well, I say, make sure you back up all your important data that’s stored in a Google service. The funny thing is, despite these bad experiences, I still look forward to what Google has to offer, and continue to use their services.
P.S. I just checked the Google Site window again, and it still says “Please wait…”
I admit, quoting Janet Jackson is not the most original way of getting people to read this, but no truer words could be spoken when it comes to the current state of relationships between consumers and brands.
CINCINNATI, March 2, 2009 –– HyperQuake announced today the launch of a new Web site for Cassidy Schiller & Associates, taking a non–traditional approach to the business of providing tax and accounting services.
