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Tag Archives "Star Trak"

The FADER: How The N.E.R.D Forums Low-Key Invented The Rap Internet

October 8, 2015 By steve Blog No Comments

star-trak-forum-2002Great article in The FADER about the old Star Trak forum, which we launched back in April 2002. (Huh? 2002? Did I read that right?) That forum was straight up crazy at times, but it turns out a lot of future big names in hip-hop were on there, collaborating and inspiring each other.

Article link: How The N.E.R.D Forums Low-Key Invented The Rap Internet

Yessurr.

 

Ten Years Ago Today: The First Star Trak Site

April 22, 2012 By steve flashback 6 Comments

Ten years ago today, the first Star Trak site launched. The project that basically started my career.

Rewind a few months before that: I was working at a small, sinking design company in Union Square, doing stuff for banks and doomed dot-coms and growing more cynical by the day. A coworker friend said she had this freelance project, and wondered if I’d be interested in working on it. It was a site for a new record label, run by some guys named “The Neptunes” who I had never heard of. (Not many people had!)

I looked them up (googled them? yahooed them? how did people search back then? I don’t remember.) Apparently they had an album coming out, and their group was called N.E.R.D. I asked around at record stores to find out more, but nobody had heard of them. After I spelled the name to a girl at Best Buy, she laughed and said “nerd?” I eventually found a European version of their album at a store on Montague Street. (The US version hadn’t come out yet.)

I set out designing the site, and loved every minute of it. Even though I had a day job, I’d stay up late working on it. I’d brew a pot of coffee around midnight on weekend nights and stay up until 4 or 5am (and only go slightly crazy.) I poured endless hours into it, making this elaborate Flash animation of a spaceship exploding. (I’d later actually learn how to use Flash, and realize in hindsight that I could’ve created those animations in a fraction of the time, if only I knew what I was doing!)

I built the site with Nirav, another friend & coworker at the day job. He built a forum from scratch, (these were the days before you could click an “Install Forum” button with your web host and get one running with your eyes closed.) That forum was quirky and odd and unlike any of the other forums we’d seen. Admittedly it was hard to use and easy to hack, (which the fans helpfully showed us on numerous occasions,) but it was fun.

So yes. Long story short, the site launched ten years ago today. That night I posted on some other sites to say it was up, and watched. I only had to wait a few minutes before the forum started filling up with posts. The quirky little site I’d spent all those nights and weekends on was a success.

Within a year, I parted ways with my employer and set out to work on my own, and the results of the past decade can be seen at a glance over here.

Big thanks go out to Loic, who directed that project (and many more since then)… Heather and Nirav, for all their work on that first site… Pharrell and Chad, and the whole Star Trak family over the years.

From the cutting room floor: N*E*R*D cartridges

July 14, 2011 By steve flashback One Comment

Fans of the 2009 N*E*R*D site should recall the large cartridge that the crowd held up on the intro page. Well, that was actually just one of many different fake cartridges that I created. Here’s the story of a concept that didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the site so it wasn’t used.

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…

Read More

BOOTS N’ WIGS

January 21, 2011 By steve announcements One Comment

Another fun project… BOOTS N’ WIGS is your go-to spot for pictures of BOOTS and WIGS. Uses a yearbook theme, so you can browse through the pages of this fantastic class of crazy people. Check that out!




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

Fishbucket Flashback: Kelis (2003)

October 18, 2010 By steve flashback 2 Comments

Part 2 in my Flashback series, the official site for Kelis. This was created to promote her album Tasty, with the hit single Milkshake.


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.”

new N*E*R*D site

September 24, 2010 By steve announcements No Comments

Hey look at that, late last night we relaunched the N*E*R*D site with a brand new look for their upcoming (at some point) album Nothing! Big thanks to FriendsWithYou, Mr. Mikey Millions and of course the Imperial CreativeDirector P.

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

Fishbucket Flashback: CLONES (2003)

September 17, 2010 By steve flashback One Comment

Digging through the vault… it’s kinda weird to look back at things I designed years ago. I’ll see what I can dig up and share. This one was a mini-site promoting the Neptunes compilation album CLONES, launched summer 2003.

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!

New Star Trak Site

January 30, 2010 By steve announcements One Comment

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…

Star Trak: Gorilla Style

May 23, 2008 By steve announcements No Comments

Just launched a new theme on the Star Trak site, in anticipation of the forthcoming N*E*R*D album. Roll over those squares for some hot gorilla action!

Team Ice Cream

February 13, 2008 By steve announcements No Comments

Like reading blogs? Tune in to the new Team Ice Cream blog to get your latest news about the Ice Cream Skate Team.

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Fishbucket, Inc. is a full service web design studio based in Brooklyn, NY. We specialize in producing innovative, immersive websites for brands and individuals in the music, sports and entertainment industries. Current and past clients include Billionaire Boys Club, Common, DJ Premier, Pharrell Williams and Pro Era.

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