K-Kash: A Case Study of Sorts

DECEMBER 2006 UPDATE:
Hey kids. I've noticed alot of peopel looking at this page. There are no K-Kash codes here and the new URL is http:/www.kkash.com.au . This page has nothing to do with K-Kash 2 which is running right now.

If you want a special KKash code try "TRUFFLEKING"

I just thought I'd post some of the prelim work we did for K-Kash. When I say we I mean Soap and when I say Soap I mean Rob, Brad and Ron who worked on the design.

The brief was to design a site that would be called K-Kash where kids could login enter codes to receive K-Kash $$$ and then spend them in an online store. They wanted it to be a vault of some sort like Scrooge McDuck and they also had the idea of a character called Pig Daddy and showed us a sketch of a Piggy Bank with a punk hairstyle. All in all a great brief with lots of scope.

Here is the inital document we were given as a starting point:

We then cam back with some initial sketches:

After getting approval to proceed we went into look and feel.

This was version 1. All vector and a big fat Pig Daddy. We were happy and though Pig Daddy was pretty cool.

Then the client wanted to go more bitmap as the kids these days are very cynical and would think the vector is too cute and therefore lame. The majority of K-Zone readers are male ages 8-15 so it needs to talk their language nit just be quicker to download.

Pig Daddy also went through a few changes before settling on the final one. It also involved me shooting Christian in a purple pimp suit and Pig Mask which was a lot of fun. Brad had a friend who ran a costume shop and got all the gear, faux bling and a pimp hat with purple feather.

Click here for a few more Pig Daddy shoot photos

Below is the 3 bitmap versions Pig Daddy went though before coming to the the final solution. We needed to find a design that was cool but also easy to animate.

Here is a version of Pig Daddy no one elsze saw and it's one I attempted. As you can see not worth showing.

So we ended up with a more photo real vault and a mix of all the Pig Daddy versions together. My fav is still version 2. Ron also spent a few days animating P Daddy. The moonwalk still cracks me up.

Here's the final vault which you can see on the main site now.

Along with this we also made K-Kash notes for the magazine inserts. We were told to make it look like real money. I didn't realise the amount of detail the guys put into these. Must have been heaps of fun :)

These were designed doubled sided and printed on clear plastic to make it even more like real money. The $100 were randomly insterted ointo issues of K-Zone for lucky kids.

Here is version 1 which didn't look to much like real money (we thought the client would get in trouble but it seems not)

And here we see the final versions.

And that's it. The sites been going for almost 2 weeks now and theres 18,000 members! They are pushing it hard in the mag and online and there are some awesome items for sale in the vault.

I had fun building the site and adding the 70 or so Piggy comments that P Daddy says. The site has already done 132GB of traffic in a month! so I'm not looking forward to the bandwidth fee for that one. Lucky we hosted in the USA or we'd be screwed.

Saddam Captured

DSC_2177.JPG, View my Flickr stream here.

My fav little Indo dude was still just as cute as before although a lot more cheeky.

8 Items or Less

At Coles last night the peopel in front of me bought (on top of a normal trolley full of groceries) 10x6 pack of condoms, 2 tubes of lube and headache tablets!

Now they looked like a normal couple but either they were planning a massive orgy or were going to smuggle drugs.

I wondered why they didn't topt for the 24 packs instead of buying so many 6 packs? Could have been that these were for other people and everyone kinds likes to have their own 6 pack.

Either way I was so tempted to take a photo of the shopping screen.

F.E.A.R and Night Watch

The guys at Soap complted this Night Watch and F.E.A.R comp page in my absence and the prize is pretty cool. Great work Brett.

Our flash team is now 3 with another flash dude starting in a week taking us to 4. Which I'm really excited about as not only does every one know their shit but we'll have the resources to really pump out quality work with a high level of finish. Oh and it means I get to rest more :)

F.E.A.R the game actually looks pretty good and adds something extra to the normal 3D shooters.

And a big thanks to Emery Frost for designing those rating labels for games and movies which are almost impossible to implement online without having them stick out like dogs balls. Even their specs show their utter lack of knowledge of screen based media. They require the warning labels to be no smaller than 2cm in height.. WTF!?

Subway Cancels Stamps!!!

Seems fraud is the cause for Subway to cancel it's stamp cards.

I'm going to cash in my remaining cards right away. And if Australia hasn't cancelled them I'm buying all mind on ebay now! haha eat that you "by the book bitch" manager at Broadway Subway :)

Back from Indo

After four sweat filled, wedding days, 1000 photos, three costume changes (just for me!) and some slight sun burn I'm back from Indonesia.

After getting back to Aus I was reminded of the worst part of flying: The Baggage Claim. On the plane you can avoid all the other idiots (passengers) with ease but put them all in the one area with the same agenda and you have chaos. They really need a public education system for how to claim your bag.

My system is simple: Stay back with your trolley even further back and move in for the kill once you see your bag. Don't stand in front of people who are already waiting them attack them with your oversized suitcase filled with clothes you didn't even wear.

Oh and if you fly Singapore Airlines in economy like me then make sure to steal a pair or headphones from business class. They fit better and have active noise reduction. Sure beats the $4 pair they give you normally. Business class never fills up so no one will notice.

Movies I cought n the flights were: Snatch, Madagascar, XXX2, Oceans Twelve, Dreamship Surprise Period 1 , Hostage and some others. The plane is a great way to watch all those movies you didn't really want to see in the cinema or could be bothered renting.

My last travel tip is to order a special meal. I go for the Muslim meal but just choose anything like low carb, Jewish, vegetarian or just make something up like allergic to pepper or something. The reason being is you get served first which means you've finished eating before the rest of the flight.

Off to Indo Again

After we just give birth to KKash (which seems to be going of with over 3000 users registered in 2 days) on Monday I'm off to Indonesia for Ervi's older brothers wedding. I've been told to expect 1500 people. Not 150 but 1500!!!!!

The eldest brothers wedding, the first in the immediate family, had 3000 people.

The wedding goes for 4 days (ill be in Indo for 5) although each day only has 3-4 hrs of wedding stuff. There is a spiritual (prayer) day, a ceremony day, then a day for the bride and a day for the groom.

There is meant to be a big celebration with a big drum that requires a special healer to be there in case anyone becomes "hypnotised/possessed" by the drumming. Can't wait for that one.

Hopefully I can get some dodgy DVD's from "Happy" but if everyone is busy with wedding stuff this might be tough. Sin City , Wedding Crashers and War of the Worlds will be top of my list.

It feels shit leaving work when there's so much to do as it's hard to take you mind off the work but these things have to be done.

Hunter Valley Weekend

Everyine at Soap and partners just got back from the Hunter Valley. This was the first time I had play proper golf and I quite enjoyed it. I did lose about 8 balls in the 9 holes we played but It was fun.

Will post some photos soon.

Oh and the place had the best breakfast spread I have ever seen! Except for the lack of waffles it had everything you could think of + spaghetti ?!? I haven't eaten so much food before 11am ever.

Will I get to meet the Hoff?

It seems almost unthinkable but I may get to meet the Hoff at this years ARIA Awards.

As part of the deal of doing the site we also get a corporate box for 20 people at the Superdome. With David Hasslehoff presenting at this years awards I have a good chance of getting a handshake!

Also with all the media attention he will gain I have no doubt Australia will rename October.... Hofftober to celebrate.

Haven't been this excited in a while about meeting someone.

MR T

Mr T enters a kebab shop and says "I PIDE THE FOOL"

Weekly Roundup

From this newsletter

"According to a July 2005 survey conducted by eBay, more than 724,000 Americans report that eBay is their primary or secondary source of income. "

That's amazing. 35,000 of them all from Beanie babies!

Funniest name from someone who emailed me this week:
Paul Pijnappel

I would change my name to pineapple just to make it easier to spell.

Lame Nerd joke of the week.
I was a parent folder once. had 3 sub folders. proud as punch i was . then one day gone! no note no nothing. they just got delteted. now all i have is backups.

Country who is sending me the most spam:
Russia with email subjects like this "Всегда в наличие на складе в Москве,"

They could be selling me penis creams or fairy floss machines for all I know (i need both)

Olympus: Choose What You Remember

This Olympus site is probably the best thing Ive seen this year.

Get Into It

We just launched Get Into It for the lovely ladies at 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment today which has ben a lot of fun to work on.

Brett our new flash guy worked on the majority of this with me just doing bits and pieces while i work on another site. All the content and the competition mechanics were built by Brett too.

BeatNik Burger

View my Flickr stream here.

It's My Beatnik Burger using no less than four different condiments.

Lenny, Guy and Michael

Lenny, Guy and Michael, View my Flickr stream here.

It's Lenny Kravitz with his clone Guy Sebastian and Micheal Jackson!

How to make fireworks exciting

I like fireworks as much as the next person but find the drawn out displays boring. After a minute of watching the same colourful explosions you get bored. Some like Sydney's New Years display go forever, with no real climax.

My idea would be to cram 5-10 minutes of fireworks into 45 seconds of extreme fireworks. People can go home and still experience the fireworks as they will be partially blind. We also want to see stuff catch on fire. And if possible have some fireworks land near the crowds so you feel part of it. (The ones out of LOTR were a perfect example of this)

No more looking down to stretch your neck only to miss a really big explosion. With my fireworks everything happens before the need to move or even blink. We didn't come to see an opera we want to see shit explode in the sky and say "WOW Did you see that green one!?!"

Movie Reviews

I've seen more movie in the past 3 months than some entire years. Combination of movie money, Fox screenings and free entry thanks to knowing somone who works at the cinema has increased my movie intake 5x.

Preview: (watched at Fox screening room)
In Her Shoes: 7.5/10
For a chick flick it's worth sitting through. If you want to take your girlie to the movies see this film as it's less painful than any other chick flick and you can stare at Cameron Diaz bum for half the movie.

Into the Blue: 7.5/10
Jessica Alba's bikini chewing bum! This was an enjoyable summer flick. It looks great and is paced enough to keep you interested

Night Watch:
Interesting Russian fantasy film. Like Matrix meets Blade meets Constantine

Cinema:

The Island: 7/10
A lot better than I expected. Scarlett Johannson is gorgeous. Worth seeing on DVD.

Wedding Crashers: 9/10
Haven't laughed that hard in a while. I have new found respect for Vince Vaughn

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: 8/10
The darm humour was great. I smiled the whole way through this. The Coll hospital and Burns Unit line was my favourite.

Land of the Dead: 5/10
Dawn, Shaun and 28 Days offered something new to the mix but this film doesn't. Lame acting delivering even worse dialog made this fall flat for me. The truck/bus was cool but that was about it.

DVD:
Melinda & Melinda: 3/10
Not exactly funny not exactly dramatoc this movie failed on both parts. Will Farrel raise a chuckle from me but that was about it. If you belived the blurb on the back of the DVD then you are an idiot. Please push a Qtip too far next time.

Team America World Police: 8.5/10
I only wish I could have watched more of the extras before having to take it back. I found this alot funnier than the South Park Movie. Fuck Yeah! It also made me want to research North Korea and Kim Yong Il.

The film I'm hanging to see is the all punch-fest Transporter 2. It looks to be a good action movie with all the BS you want and little to think about except how much it would hurt.

And Kung Fu Hustle 2 has been announced!

Everybody Gets A Free Sub Day

Everybody Gets A Free Sub Day, View my Flickr stream here.

have been collecting my subway stamps for over a year now (and everyone elses). I was saving for the day everyone in our office gets a free foot long sub.

Sadly I didn't read the fine print that stipulates you can only redeem 2 cards per day. I had already ordered 8 subs!!!

The manager on duty must have read her franchise rule book like a bible and she wouldn't hear any of my pleas.

Bannerblog.com.au is back from the dead

As well as losing Happy Snaps and this site I also lost Bannerblog. Which happened to be the most popular site of the three.

Luckily (as strangely) someone had a complete archive of the site. So all that needed to be done was repost all the data in MT and rebuild the templates.

The new site looks better thanks to Ashadi's revised design*, and we'll be adding news, and a user rating system.

*Although on 800x600 you'll have to scroll like a MOFO but that's your fault loser. get with the 90's and get a bigger monitor.

Tibetan Monk Office Chair

tibetan_monk_office_chair, View my Flickr stream here.

Here's a test from Flickr. The Damn API password caught me out.

Back to Flickr

After losing all my photo data on my Happy Snaps blog I've decided to put everything through Flickr. This was it's easier to organise and sort the photos aswell as post them up. View my photostream here

The only problem I'm having now is setting up the blog part of Flickr cause it doesnt like my lack of a CGI-Bin. Hopefully that wil get sorted.

Oportos WTF!

Check out this tray matt (click for larger version) I saw in Oporto's the other day. W.T.F!

AboutYou.com.au

I have no idea why this site has been created (wheres the brand trying to sell me something) but it's actually quite good.

Here is a link to my photos. They didn't like half of them but I guess it's the editors choice. If I didn't hear about the site on the radio while in a cab I would not have known about it.

Here's a photo they didn't like which is one of my favs

PSP Launched

After moving units again (this is my 8th place in 7 years since moving to Sydney) I vowed not to buy any non-consumable items until 2006. This means no new books, games, clothes and a PSP. The reason not to buy was all the smurfing clutter I accumulate every time I stay in one place longer than 6 months.

So far so good. I came close to buying Pulp Fiction on DVD and the visit to Outre gallery in Melbourne was a good test of willpower. Luckily if I really need something I can buy it for Soap and use that loop hole to continue my quest to buy less smurfing crap in my life.

My Tips for keeping the clutter down:
1: Read a book then give it away to a friend. Design reference books can be kept only if used more than once a year.
2: Magazines older than 3 months must be thrown away
3: After you copy a CD to your Ipod put the disc in a CD book holder then throw the case away. If you really like the cover scan it in and set it as your desktop.
4: Don't buy "collectable" toys
5: Men need only 3 pairs of shoes max! (Italian men and models are allowed 6)
5a: Women need no more than 8 pairs of shoes. And that's already being generous. The boxes for those shoes must be thrown away.
6: Keep the boxes for items of high value > $1000 or fragile items. The boxes for your toaster can be disposed of with ease.

The first thing I'm buying in 2006 is a PSP and maybe some shoes