As Google Friend Connect goes out of private beta, I thought I would provide some comments on Google’s new attempt to change how people interact on the web. I had a chance to integrate Goggle Friend Connect into my latest project, Billboard For The People, and gain some insight into where this service holds value, and how I think it should evolve in the future.
It is with great pleasure that I announce the launch of my latest project, Billboard for the People: A Public Celebration of Progress. Deroy Peraza, over at Hyperakt Design Group had the brilliant idea of channeling all of this positive energy surrounding the election of Barack Obama into a grassroots effort to congratulate our president elect with a massive billboard in New York City.
The idea is pretty simple…
Step 1: We all donate some money over at BillboardForThePeople.com. If you are feeling inspired and generous, and can toss in some serious coin, fantastic! However, even if it’s just a few dollars, every little bit counts.
Step 2: We tell all of our friends about this initiative, and hopefully raise $25,000 by December 15th… Be sure to Digg it, join on FriendConnect and Facebook, etc, to help spread the word.
Step 3: We install a beautiful congratulatory billboard in Manhattan designed by Deroy Peraza, and the good folks over at Hyperakt, just in time for Obama’s inauguration, and welcome him into the White House with style.
Saturday was the opening of The New Hope exhibit in Geneva, Switzerland, which I had the honor of doing a piece for with Hyperakt Design Group. After gaining international attention for an Obama poster designed by Deroy Peraza at Hyperakt, the studio was asked to do a full series inspired by Obama’s message of hope, to be exhibited at the Flux Laboratory in Geneva. I contributed a Flash-based interactive piece called Kids Vote 2008 which explores kids’ perspectives on the election through an interactive cloud of comments on the two presidential candidates. While the piece is currently being projected at the Flux Laboratory, it can also be experience online at:
I was responsible for the interaction design and front end development of this piece, and with a two week deadline, was left with little time for sleep over the past two weeks. However, with the site live now, and on display in Geneva, all the hard work feels pretty good.
While it is a little too early to hear any direct feedback from the show in Geneva, Kids Vote 2008 has already started to get some attention around the web, with a “Fresh Picks” feature on the website Moluv, a mention on the Communication Arts website, and a blurb on E-Creative.net.
Check out the project, and let me know what you think.
UPDATE
Kids Vote 2008 was featured (briefly) on Swiss television last week
Also, Hyperakt has put up a flickr set of photos from the show in Geneva. Seems like people at the show responded well.