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…

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

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!

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!

bbcicecream.com/lookbook

Pharrell & Chad photos: David Shadi Perez Styling: Billionaire Boys Club
All other photos: Takashi Kamei Styling: Carri Munden
Flash animation: Fishbucket
(And, of course, always-impeccable website creative direction by Loic & Phillip!)

coming this spring!

Full site WILL launch in 2009. We’re really excited about this one, and it’s been tough keeping it quiet all this time, but it’ll be worth the wait!

BBC Season 8 Lookbook

Anyway, now I’ll have to add another karaoke association in my head… Just launched a blog for Brian Raftery, who wrote a book about singing Karaoke. However you pronounce it, go check it out.

And this Fishbucket homepage has kind of evolved into more of a bloggy-type page than it used to be. Blogs Blogs everywhere! Will this newer Fishbucket style mean more frequent updates? I wouldn’t bet on it. But I wouldn’t bet against it either. Please be careful betting.