As Far As I Can Tell

Apples or Oranges?

The project I’ve been working on at work for months now has finally launched. applejacks.com isn’t my design, though I was the lead front end programmer. We had a variety of difficult issues to overcome during its development. The site is conceived as a “game” of sorts, to find out who changed the Apple Jacks to be shaped like jacks (which they normally aren’t).

One of the key things I worked on was a panel that the participants can use to log clues. By creating it in Flash we were able to have a multi-screen process that interacts with the server, but without reloading the current page. JavaScript talks to Flash, Flash talks to Perl, the chain reverses, and the user can continue to log clues on that page. My tasks were mainly JavaScript/Flash based, and the timeline was long-term enough that I was actually able to do things in a manner that I’m happy with.

The site is tied into a larger media campaign that utilizes TV ads and packaging to drive people to the web. While that’s fine, I’m a little freaked out by the way which the campaign is talked about at work. It’s being positioned as the creation of an “online community” and “tween phenomenon”. It utilizes viral marketing techniques and those annoying banner ads that come up over the content of the page you’re viewing. We’re partnered with the very evil DoubleClick for banner media, which makes me uncomfortable. In the same day I both installed software to get rid of DoubleClick style cookies on my personal computer, and added DoubleClick tracking codes to this website.

While I’m at work I’m able to hide my head in the sand and focus on the technological challenges at hand. Once the project is over though, I’m reminded that it’s really just a website to trick kids into eating more sugary cereal; hardly something to be proud of.

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In freelance related news I’ve completed a photography website for Scott Gruss that I started a few months ago. By client request its ultra minimal to match his work. I co-designed the visuals and did all Flash programming and interaction design.

View Comments (7)

# January 26, 2004 10:08 PM


 

Comments

So…lemme get this straight…..they are called Apple Jacks, but they don’t taste like apples and they don’t look like jacks? Why not call them Oak Feet?

Posted by: josh on January 26, 2004 11:34 PM

Simon, I’ve seen the site and let me be the first on to say it’s GRRRRREAT!

Posted by: tony the tiger on January 26, 2004 11:42 PM

Yep Josh, that’s actually the brand message of Apple Jacks. The idea is that kids “get it”, and adults just don’t understand. I guess that puts us clearly in the adult category.

Posted by: simon on January 27, 2004 12:04 AM

Simon, nice work. Particularly the site for Scott Gruss. I’ve always thought Flash works beautifully and the best for photography sites and portfolios. The minimal clean design is also good, because it shouldn’t detract from the photos. However, like many other photo sites (and this may bec because of theft, etc) I wished the photos were larger. Kudos!

Posted by: Naz on January 27, 2004 11:10 AM

Whenever I view a portfolio photo site I wish the images were larger too. I was asked numerous times by the photographer on this site to make the images smaller. I’m not sure if it was concern about theft or what. He really disliked seeing his work on a computer screen in general. I think he wasn’t very used to the way that different monitors can affect a photograph.

Posted by: simon on January 27, 2004 3:01 PM

Good work on the tech stuff. Be proud of that. And don’t worry about the company trying to get hip to wired tweens or whatever. It’ll probably fall flat on its face like the Raging Cow phenom from a year back.

Posted by: miguel on January 27, 2004 3:05 PM

Found your site through blogspot and wanted to say hi

Posted by: Shannon on August 9, 2004 5:27 AM

As far as who can tell?


Chicago, IL

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