Feb 17 2012

Emakina is one of the big winners in the Interactive Media Awards, with 2 ‘Best in Class’ and 4 ‘Outstanding Achievement’ distinctions. The jury of this worldwide contest follows the highest standards of excellence in web design and development and honours individuals and organizations for their outstanding achievement.

The Interactive Media Council (IMC) who created the awards is an international association of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals.

International Crisis Group and Evolta City, Best in Class

The ‘Best in Class’ award is the highest honour bestowed by the Interactive Media Council.

This year, Emakina’s The Reference receives the prestigious award for the International Crisis Group Website. The project successfully combines the serious nature of this worldwide organisation with its dynamic, open communication style, while emphasizing ICG’s values and strengths.

Panasonic Evolta City, a project by Design is Dead also received this highest honour, in the category  ‘Community’. The collaborative social media game brought together players from across Europe to build the biggest Zero CO2-emission City on the World Wide Web.

The jury declared both winners excelled in all areas of the judging criteria and achieved a perfect or near perfect overall score. Both sites represent the highest standards of professionalism, compliance, impeccable planning and execution.

Four Outstanding Achievements

The ‘Outstanding Achievement’ awards are the second highest prize bestowed by IMA. Emakina was selected four times out of the international pack of competitors.

The Schweppesonality campaign won in the ‘Lifestyle’ category. The Schweppes brand is working on a global rebranding, together with Emakina. Schweppesonality is an original activation campaign about the fans of the brand and their charismatic, unexpected and inspiring personalities, true Schweppesonalities.

SamsungWorld received the award in the category ‘Community’ and ‘Consumer Services’ website.  This new online meeting point for Samsung clients channels all opinions and discussions on Samsung and its products towards one, dynamic environment. Visitors exchange ideas and discover promotions, goodies and news items, in a tailor made CRM system.

50 Lawyers last but not least is the winning campaign for Test-Achats, in the category ‘Professional Services’. In a web centric campaign eco system, consumers were invited to file their complaints online and share their experience in social media. The original campaign showed TestAchats/Test-Aankoop lawyers in a military training camp, preparing to fight for the rights of their consumer clients.

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Jun 9 2011

On Wednesday, 8 June 2011, Emakina Group proudly launched what will definitely be one of the most amazing websites of 2011—the website of OFFF 2011! This is a true Emakina Group baby with intelligent and creative concept, design and architecture by Design is Dead, by extensive tweaking and tuning by Emakina.BE and intense PHP programing by Emakina.FR.

When we were asked last year if we were interested in concepting, designing, and creating the website for the OFFF festival 2011, to be held in Barcelona, we didn’t have to think about it very long. ‘Hell yeah!’, was the phrase, if memory serves. So we put three young, creative talents on the project and waited for the magic to happen, with a little (well, a lot of) help from their eager Design is Dead colleagues. That it did is easy to see: one look at their fantastic funky web creation proves that great and original minds were at work. Watch out Barcelona—Emakina and Design is Dead are coming!”

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May 19 2011

The agency Emakina has been selected by Facebook to join the Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant program (PDC). This program helps pair brands and organizations with the most qualified developers and resources to build advanced, brand-building Facebook Platform integrations.

As a Facebook Preferred Developer Consultant, Emakina will continue to integrate the newest developments from Facebook, (functionality, applications, etc.) into the communications strategies they develop for their clients.

Before naming the agency as a member of the PDC program, Facebook examined various campaigns and applications developed by Emakina and assessed their skill in integrating Facebook technology into their communication strategies.

Emakina demonstrates real ambition in their social media strategies, developing solutions that integrate with Facebook, notably for Schweppes, ING, Powerade, the Route du Rhum, or for Buffalo Grill, with geolocation couponing using Facebook Deals.

Brice Le Blévennec, president of the Emakina Group, said, “We anticipate the arrival of a new generation of web & mobile applications, which innovate using the social graph – the mapping of all relationships between individuals. Being chosen by Facebook as part of the PDC program is a privilege which enables our agencies to work closely with one of the most dynamic and innovative companies in the field of social business. We’ll have access to best practices and product guidance from Facebook, which we’ll use to propose the most innovative solutions in social marketing to our clients.”

For more information:
http://developers.facebook.com/preferreddevelopers

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May 16 2011

The tandem Design is Dead/Emakina.FR has won the prize ‘Official Honoree’ in the Netart category for MONA, the Museum of Neverending Art. This is a collaborative virtual museum that has been entirely been developed in HTML 5. It has been presented in San Francisco for the launch of Internet Explorer 9 Beta.

MONA, which is designed to be a virtual artistic play garden, has attracted 80 000 unique visitors in its first month. Surfers have contributed to the creation of 50,000 works of art, which has led to over 120 000 viewed pages.

“Microsoft had asked several agencies in the world to let their creativity flow. They all got carte blanche”, explains Frédéric Bojman, the Internet Explorer marketing manager at Microsoft. “The project presented by Emakina.FR and Design is Dead has very quickly attracted our attention because it allows surfers to play with the canvas, and because it illustrates all the technical qualities of Internet Explorer 9, and in particular its speed. And it’s even more interesting because the virtual audience has really played the game.”

This is not a first for Emakina: in 2010, Design is Dead had already won an Official Honoree prize at the Webby Awards for ‘deFilharmonie for Kids’.

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May 2 2011

A few days ago, Panasonic launched a new Facebook game called Evolta City. This clever and highly addictive game, concept & design by Design is Dead & development by Sevenedge, is a part of Panasonic’s campaign to promote its new line of revolutionary Evolta batteries.

Wondering how it works? In order to help Mr. Evolta build Evolta City, the first CO2-free city on the Web, you as a player collect power by inviting friends and taking a series of actions to boost their sustainability such as building eco-houses, buying electric cars or building windmills. Simple as that! Well, maybe at face value it is. But make no mistake: this Facebook game is much more than just another Farmville clone. Why? First and foremost, it is an exciting and fun game to play that will keep you busy for hours on end. In addition, the game is very easy to figure out, looks amazingly attractive (how could it not, thanks to our wonderful designers?), and is never ever boring due to the many options and challenges you encounter.

We are very proud to have delivered such an exemplary piece of online gaming!

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Apr 27 2011

The jury of the IAC Awards has just delivered its verdict in the States. Emakina Group has received three new distinctions, for MONA, Microsoft’s virtual museum, the repositioning of the Schweppes brand and the Facebook campaign for Powerade.

MONA, the Museum of Neverending Art is a collaborative virtual museum, imagined by Design is Dead/Emakina.FR for the launch of Microsoft Internet Explorer 9. At the IAC it won the prize for Best Arts Interactive application. This museum is designed to live forever and is a grand work of international collaborative art.

Emakina/Agency has won the prize of Outstanding Integrated ad campaign for its repositioning of the Schweppes brand. The agency has given the different ranges a new identity, has modernized the logo, has made a series of films and visuals for the entire range, has developed POS, event, activation, on-trade, off-trade and has put the new website for Schweppes Europe online, with a viral video campaign and an activation contest that used a lot of social media. Today, this new positioning is the guide for all communication agencies with which Schweppes works in Europe.

And last but not least, the Facebook application that Emakina.FR has made for Powerade, has received an Outstanding Social Media campaign award. This game offers users the opportunity to challenge their friends on a virtual field. It is designed to get the attention of sports and football fanatics and point out the benefits of a sports drink such as Powerade.
In less than 6 months, 98.000 players have registered for the application, called Football Challenge Powerade. On average, each player played 400 matches. And no less than 130.000 users have shared the campaign on their Facebook wall.

The IAC Awards are yearly awards organized by the American Web Marketing Association. They award the best creative Internet campaigns in the world.

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Apr 22 2011

It’s not that Design is Dead actually started a TV station online—but this is close enough (for now): they created the new website of deMENSEN, one of Belgium’s finest TV production companies!

A while ago, deMENSEN asked the online taskforce of Design is Dead to revamp their website. Their main demands? That the website be user-friendly; that it put their portfolio of TV programs—their core business—in the picture; and that its design be understated and sleek.
Needless to say, they gave them exactly what they wanted—and a little more, just a sprinkle of that Design is Dead magic. To put the focus 100% on the programs (which include Blokken, De Tabel van Mendelejev en Low Impact Man) they opted for large visuals and a simple but elegant design, topped by slide navigation for easy and intuitive use…as if the programs themselves were presented on a TV monitor. We think it’s safe to say you will not feel the need to zap away!

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Apr 21 2011

A singer-songwriter such as Milow only feels truly alive when he is on tour, playing his music. A life he wants to share not only with his many fans at home and abroad, but with the music biz pros and random visitors as well. So when he came to Design is Dead looking for a new website that would look and feel ‘real’, honest, and up-close-and-personal to do just that, they were happy to oblige.

Design is Dead presented a very accessible and user-friendly website designed as a continuous road trip, captured in a vintage design based on a snap-shot approach with sketches, notes, scraps, and warm colors and contrasts–but with quite a few perks. On the one hand, social media feeds such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube were craftily worked into the website design so visitors can ‘digitally’ go on the road with Milow and keep track of him wherever he goes, whatever he does. On the other hand, it provides those who seek it with lots of background information that cannot be found anywhere else, e.g., tour dates, releases, contact information, and more. Or, to quote from his last single: “It’d be only you & me.” At least, that’s how it feels!

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Mar 25 2011

A singer-songwriter such as Milow only feels truly alive when he is on tour, playing his music. A life he wants to share not only with his many fans at home and abroad, but with the music biz pros and random visitors as well. So when he turned to Design is Dead to create a new website that would look and feel ‘real’, honest, and up-close-and-personal to do just that, they were happy to oblige.

They presented a very accessible and user-friendly website designed as a continuous road trip, captured in a vintage design based on a snap-shot approach with sketches, notes, scraps, and warm colors and contrasts–but with quite a few perks. On the one hand, social media feeds such as Twitter, Flickr, and YouTube were craftily worked into the website design so visitors can ‘digitally’ go on the road with Milow and keep track of him wherever he goes, whatever he does. On the other hand, it provides those who seek it with lots of background information that cannot be found anywhere else, e.g., tour dates, releases, contact information, and more. Or, to quote from his last single: “It’d be only you & me.” At least, that’s how it feels!

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Mar 21 2011

Design is Dead proudly presents its new Creative Director: Bart Lommelen.

Bart Lommelen started working for Design is Dead in 2005, even before he graduated with high honours from Sint-Lukas in Graphic and Advertising Design. In 2008 he became Art Director at Antwerp’s finest agency. Now, he will be our new ingenious guru behind the scenes and on the set, guiding the creative process of our projects from concept and rough cut though pre- and post-production to the red carpet and the premiere.

“The example I’ve set myself for the task ahead is Quentin Tarantino. As a director, he is incredibly creative, quirky, and 100% dedicated to doing things his own way–without this stopping him from reaching a wide audience. That is what I want for Design is Dead: To ensure we stay a cutting-edge, rebellious online agency with its own creative look and feel and its own singular identity, all the while attracting clients from all sectors and walks of life.”

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Mar 16 2011

We’re very proud! The jury of the Summit Emerging Media Awards (SIA) has awarded Emakina for its rebranding of the Schweppes brand. We’ve been chosen as the 2010 Visionary Winner, the highest award of the competition. The MySite platform by Truvo and the MONA campaign for Microsoft have also received prizes.

Emakina/Agency has received the Visionary Award (the equivalent of Best of Show) in the Consumer Integrated Campaign category. This award recognizes the outstanding repositioning work the agency has done for the brand identity of Schweppes.

Truvo’s MySite platform has won the Innovator Award (the equivalent of Gold). MySite is a toolbox with which advertisers can develop the brand experience of their company on the site of the Yellow Pages themselves.

The Museum of Never-ending Art (MONA) has won the Leader Award (equivalent of Silver) in the Experiential Marketing category. MONA is a participative virtual museum, made by the tandem Emakina.FR and Design is Dead. The museum opened its doors at the occasion of the launch of Internet Explorer 9 by Microsoft. The museum will continue to exist and will house an impressive collection of international collaborative art.

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Dec 9 2010

When Studio 100 and superchef Peter Goossens decided to serve their brand new TV channel Njam! with a digital sidedish, they evidently wanted their website rather ‘well done’ than ‘medium’ or ‘rare’. Design is Dead turned out to be the perfect ‘team de cuisine’ for this job! Check out this new creation from their star-studded kitchen: a fresh-looking, userfriendly webspot where you can browse recipes, top-chefs, videoclips, tips and tricks. Plenty of inspiration for healthy snacks, candelight dinners and Christmas feasts!

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Nov 24 2010

groupeReflect and Design is Dead‘s project ‘MONA’ or Museum Of Neverending Art was launched in the good company of its “making of” video, as requested by Microsoft. Instead of a dry technical tutorial on how MONA demonstrates Internet Explorer 9′s functionalities, we opted for a fun and narrative sequence demonstrating the concept behind MONA. An approach which Microsoft applauded. Buckle up for some Hillbilly-fun and the story of MONA’s birth!

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Nov 8 2010

This year, Emakina transformed it’s DMF stand into a real movie set : stage sets, makeup, traveling, lights, basically all the Hollywood glamor with professional directors, cameramen, editors, motion designers and sound engineers working all together to create live “The seas are rising – Squeetchy Bad”. Check the behind the scenes pictures on our Facebook Page.

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Nov 5 2010

And it happened … They hit the world where it would hurt the most ! Chaos ensued, the world became a different place, everything was about survival, flashmobs became ancient history, one single thing was in the mind of human kind : “Error 404″ … they had destroyed the Internet !

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