BBC Dimensions

Nice example of data visualisation done by BBC using Google Maps:
http://howbigreally.com/

Lemon needs a Junior Designer!

We're hiring again. This time we're looking for junior digital designer.

This is a great opportunity for an individual with real drive and commitment to constantly develop their creative skills. Primarily you will support the team with your skills in flash and motion design to deliver big brand work for our clients, but you will also get a chance to experiment with new technologies through our Labs projects.

If you are looking for a position where you will have an opportunity to grow quickly, receive direct mentoring from an experienced creative and have the opportunity to work on experimental projects with cutting edge technologies then this is the job for you!

The ideal candidate will have at least 1 years experience working in a digital agency and should be able to demonstrate (through a portfolio) their ability and skills in flash and motion design.

Specific skills required:

• Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator
  
• Basic After Effects skills
  
• 3D and/or craft skills is a bonus
  
• At least 1 year proven experience as a flash designer in a digital agency
  
• A graphic design or related degree
  
• Meticulous attention to detail and an understanding of the quality our clients expect
  

THIS POSITION IS NOW CLOSED

We're hiring!

We need a new digital producer to join our small but perfectly formed team.

Are you passionate about digital, obsessed with producing work to excellent standards and have a determined attitude that means you always deliver to deadlines?

We need a talented and enthusiastic producer with a can-do attitude. You must be comfortable with taking the lead, owning projects and will enjoy the challenge of growing our accounts. You will be a natural problem solver, highly organised and calm under pressure and have excellent client-facing skills, coupled with a proven track record of delivering digital projects to time and budget.

Experience managing digital banner campaigns, microsites, social networking and mobile apps is a must and ideally you will have at least 2 years experience working within a fast paced digital agency environment.

Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Day to day management of digital projects / accounts
  
• Supporting the team in retaining accounts and building new client relationships
  
• Interpreting client briefs and requirements
  
• Scheduling and assigning relevant resources
  
• Briefing in designers and developers within the Lemon team (both in-house & external freelance network).
  
• Co-ordinating the delivery of multiple projects at one time.
  
• Quality control of all work that leaves Lemon and reporting back to the team where applicable.

Specific skills required:

• At least 2 years proven experience as a digital Producer (or similar) in a respected integrated or digital agency
  
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  
• Good understanding of the technical and creative production process
  
• Meticulous attention to detail and an understanding of the quality our clients expect
  
• Ability to multi-task, prioritise and work to deadline under pressure
  
• Basic hands-on experience with Photoshop, XHTML, CSS, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, Flash and other is advantageous

If you are interested please apply to sarah@lemondigital.com

NO AGENCIES PLEASE!!! I will ignore you...

Augmenting Reality

After augmented reality was made available for web platforms such as Flash, it became quite popular to build such AR capable apps. It looks as if what started as a revolutionising way of interacting with virtual interfaces is now as repetitive and pointless as QR codes came to be.

But have we explored all that AR can bring us? As for most "new" technologies, it's not what it does, but how we use it.

In my simplistic mind I separate AR projects like this:

By definition AR is the act of augmenting or enhancing reality. But when all this means is printing a piece of paper and looking at a 3D model on a monitor, it just makes me think: why not just put the 3D model in the monitor in the first place? The answer to which would be the interaction capability provided by the ability of physically handling the virtual model. But then again, it all depends on what you do with it.

Rubbish

If you just want someone to visually explore a 3D model/environment, making them go through the trouble of downloading and printing something is just not the best way. Don't take me wrong though, it's really amazing! But it gets old pretty fast. Also the fact that you have you to keep changing medias can be quite confusing for the user.

If you can eliminate the printed tracker you start making things easier for the user and ultimately creating a fun experience.

Fun

This example, done by Total Immersion, doesn't make use of any printed tracker instead it uses face tracking. This allows you to instantly engage with the AR experience. Only negative side here is that you have to download a special plugin since it doesn't support flash. But they have several other examples that definitely show that not using a printed tracker is the way to do it. For example:

It's definitely amazing and really engaging. But what can be done with it?

Functional

Even though the AR tracking is what makes it really fun to interact with, AR shouldn't be limited to it. This is a nice example of augmenting reality with no real need of tracking in order to convey a powerful message.

Fun and Functional

This card game offers extras and a new interaction with the cards. What's really good about this example is that it doesn't need a tracker, instead uses the actual card.

I'd say there's much to be explored and, as some of these example show, we'll probably still be seeing a lot more of AR.

Project: Starbucks

Word of how great we are at localisation has crossed the water!

For the past week Prash has been burning the midnight oil with BBDO in New York to complete a series of localisations for Starbucks. We were tasked with design and localisation amends for 5 international sites.

Check out the site and make a pledge.

Project: Sony 3D TV ads

Over the past few weeks we've been busy producing a global ad kit for the launch of Sony's 3D HD TV. It’s been fun, especially for Rodrigo as it features his fellow countryman, Brazilian footballer Kaka.

We were commissioned by creative agency Anomaly to concept and build standard and rich media formats for the campaign. The concept centred around the 3D viewing experience with Kaka coming out of the TV and into the viewers living room.

Below is the final video used in all rich media formats. Lemon were responsible for delivering all post production, re-creating the ball in 3D, adding 3D elements to the scenario as well as visual effects to give maximum impact. The final interactive banners can be viewed in our portfolio section on the website.

Sony 3dTv Banners / Post Production from Sarah Evison on Vimeo.

Bye bye bowling

Today is a sad day. Anne has left to go back to Germany and finish her studies. Boo...so we took her out last night for a bit of bowling and apparently a LOT of food! We'll miss you Anne, you've been awesome.

More pics on Flickr