We just launched a new homepage for BBC Ice Cream. I did one of these “look back” posts when we launched the third version of the Star Trak site, so hey why not one for BBC too?

DECEMBER 11, 2005: “SPINNER”

This was the first official BBC Ice Cream site. The homepage was just a spinner toy thing that let you pick which side to go into. Little-known fact: If you click the spinner (instead of one of the two sides) it’ll spin and randomly send you to whichever side it lands on. Littler-known fact: you can still spin the spinner.

AUGUST 27, 2007: “BBC WORLD”

I brought out the pencils and sketched what a BBC world would look like. (and later uploaded that original sketch on ARTST.) This was also the day the BBC Blog launched, which has been tremendously popular. Of all Fishbucket-created sites, this gets the most traffic by far. Since we added google analytics in November 2007 the site has had nearly 15 million visits.

AUGUST 27, 2010: THE NEW STYLE

So, to commemorate the three-year anniversary of the last major update, we set out to simplify and streamline the homepage. We’re now showing the current season front and center, and styling the page to correspond with the blog. Expect this style to change seasonally instead of every 2-3 years!

Thanks (as always) to Loic and Phillip!

This was a fun project, totally outside of the usual Fishbucket fare. I made a bunch of short videos for Rye Rye, which she debuted at her HARD NYC performance this past weekend.

I started with a bunch of images, live clips, found footage, iTunes visualizers (including the excellent Disco Brick, which in my mind I kept calling Disco Rick, but I don’t think they’re related,) and some good old-fashioned video rescanning. I then created some flash animations to add to the mix and brought all of these pieces into After Effects for layering and editing and messing-with. There were 14 videos in all, each with a different look.

Here’s the intro video:

and a logo animation for use between songs:

And some views from the crowd:

MADNESS!!

It’s lookbook time again! This time we had to present the two sides separately. BBC gets its elegant black background while Ice Cream is nutty.

Plan out your Autumn/Winter 2010 purchases now!

Way back in the olden days of january 2006, we built a fun little site for comedian Liz Miele. Today we relaunched the site; same basic style with refreshed pictures by Chris Vongsawat. Check it out, but beware: it may make you hungry for donuts!

This just in: Fishbucket just got a little more legit.

Sometimes work gets to be a little too much fun. This is a good example.

Just launched a new Flash game for B.o.B. Help him collect beautiful girls all over the world!

We’re pleased to announce the third incarnation of the Star Trak site. But first, a few steps back in time…

APRIL 22, 2002: STAR TRAK

The beginning. This was a three-person team-up: Heather on management, Nirav on development, me on design. We were all working together on a steadily-sinking ship, and this was our after-hours gig. And, it turns out, this is the project that basically started my career. (BIG thanks go out to Loic here for supporting us from the beginning!)

SEPTEMBER 22, 2006: STAR TRAK 2

This is where we took a decidedly, um, unintuitive turn. The plan was to make a fun experience where “content” and “usability” were kind of pushed to the background. And I must say, in that sense it was a huge success! (some people at the label may disagree here.) The site had multiple themes that came up randomly, and a great collection of sound effects by Chad.

and, that brings us to…

JANUARY 29, 2010: STAR TRAK 3

Today’s version brings back CONTENT in a big way, while keeping some of the multi-theme aspects from version 2. Artist pages all have their own custom look, and the rest of the site has this “red/crowd” theme to start. Expect more themes in the future to promote specific albums/events for the label. (at least that’s what we’re planning!)

Content is overflowing here: direct feeds from partner sites, links to buy music, twitters, a growing collection of videos, (I think it’s about 100 to start?) and yeah, plenty of content. and perhaps a few throwback references to the old days, who knows?

STAR TRAK 3.0

SITE BY FISHBUCKET
Design & animation by Stephen R. King
Additional development & assistance provided by Christopher Najewicz & Will Olbrys

And, thanks to Mike Millions for the label-side assistance and great suggestions. Follow him!

So, now that this site is up, it doesn’t mean it’s time to kick back and relax at Fishbucket. Full lineup of great projects around the corner. ON TO THE NEXT ONE…

Oh hey look at that, GilbertArenas.com launched!

This site brings you into the world of Gilbert Arenas. The scene spans Gilbert’s entire life… starting with the park in LA where he spent time as a young boy, the apartment (and car) he lived in… University of Arizona, where he went to college… Oakland, where he played in 2001-2003… Washington, where he plays now… and into the future, when he envisions himself living on a tropical beach somewhere…

The site invites users to make bobbleheads of themselves. There’ve been some creative, um, creations so far, and it’ll be fun to see what people come up with!

As an added feature, after you create your bobblehead, you can embed it on your own site! Much like this little red man…

So hey yeah, go bobble yourself. And follow @gilbertarenas on twitter, he’s on a quest for 1 million followers!

GILBERTARENAS.COM
Executive Producer, Talent: Gilbert Arenas #0
Manager, Creative Director: Paisley M. Benaza

SITE BY FISHBUCKET
Concept, Design and Animation: Stephen R. King
Development: Jaybill McCarthy & Rich Joslin
Bobblehead Maker & Body Design: Tia Johnson & Sheryl Lutz-Brown

Here’s a fun site we just launched for Director/Artist/Party Promoter Vashtie Kola: VASHTIE.COM

We can’t take too much credit for this one, since it relies so much on the great illustrations by James Blagden, but hey.

And if you ever find yourself on the lower east side late on a friday night and want to hit a club, be sure to check out Open, her weekly party with Q-Tip and Rich Medina at Santos. I can’t guarantee that you’ll be photographed with a crazed look on your face, but I can guarantee you’ll hear great music without the usual club attitude and dress code BS!

I’ve had to keep quiet about this one for a while, but I’m proud to announce that the new site for N*E*R*D is now live!

This was a lot of fun. The style was inspired by oldschool Atari games, and the site even includes a game. You play as Pharrell, Chad or Shae and search a space station for Brain Power, so you can defeat the evil space gorilla. (obviously!)

N*E*R*D: The Site

N*E*R*D: The Game

BIG thanks to Matt Ringuette, my Atari connection and technical advisor on retro video games!