Back in December 2008, I was brought onboard to redo the official site for N*E*R*D. Another company had been working on it, but the band wasn’t happy with the direction they were going in. I was soon on a call with Pharrell, who was detailing his concepts for the new site: an old-school Atari theme.

This got some wheels churning. As luck would have it, a friend I’ve known since 3rd grade is a big Atari fan and has a pretty large collection. We arranged for him to send me a package of games, controllers and a system. I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d do with them, but hoped that the gear would spark some ideas.

And they did! I love those old, classic cartridges. The labels, the graphics, the way they were all worn down from years of use and abuse. I didn’t have an Atari growing up, (we were a Commodore family,) but it took me back.

I then looked to the album artwork, which also had great illustrations:

My next step seemed obvious…

I started laying out the different labels, naming them (some with titles that still make me chuckle,) and got to cutting and pasting (literally this time, not digitally!)

The results:

One thought was to have each cartridge associated with a section of the site, and the homepage would let you select which cartridge to put into the system. (roll over for example.)

In the end I was really happy with the results, but this “real retro” style just didn’t fit in with the “8-bit retro” style of the rest of the site. The cartridges are currently lined up next to my desk, trophies of a concept that didn’t make the cut.

BOOTSNWIGS.COM
Site by Fishbucket
Additional development by Will Olbrys
Creative direction by Fam-Lay

Click for more screens.

This was the first all-Fishbucket venture: design by Steve, development by Chief. When I look at some things from the past I think “huh? what was I thinking?” But when I look at this today I think “hey, I still like that. This one wasn’t bad.”

N-E-R-D.COM
Site by Fishbucket
Artwork by FriendsWithYou
Project management by Mikey Millions

Angled lines and grids, oh my! Click for more screens.

There was an easter egg in this site involving the Neptunes and a sheep, but that’s a post for another day!

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…