vincent bidaux  freelance web and application design

On december 2007, we started the Seronet project. Seronet is a Drupal based social netwxork for HIV Positive people. It belong to Aides, wich is a kind of French Act-Up (there IS a french Act-Up nevertheless).

These designs were the proposed design during the first step of the process. The two last views has been chosen. I then had to convert it to a Drupal Theme, with PHP Template and CSS.

You can see  the website live htere : www.seronet.info

Proposition 1

Proposition 2

Proposition 3

Chosen design : unlogged version

Chosen design : logged version

We started this project in May 2008. It is a Drupal complete redesign of the old Joomla-based Odit-france.com website. The old design was simple and effective, but the back-end was a total nightmare, thanks to very limitative CMS Joomla. We brought Drupal and its extensively managable backoffice to get the contract.

These graphics are the first step of my Artistic Direction process. After having discussed with the client about what he feels, wants, has in mind, I work on two or three different tracks. I gather any kind of elements, colors, screen captures, photos, words, that fits with the idea and combine them into a grid. The client can then point out the one he prefers, and can also go deeper into the grid, saying he prefers this cell to this one, that hge does not want this element to appear in the final designs, etc… This step also alows you to include a lot of people in the design process. Get the feedback by email, don’t be limitative: at this moment of the project, anybody can say anything.

As a designer, you still have the occasion to test and propose elements that weren’t chosen during this phase. If you want to defend an idea, do it, explane it, show it in action.

The two grids below are not soi different, as for this project the client really said he wanted a “Web 2,0 look”, with gradients, glossy buttons, bright colors, shades… I had to explore between the “plastric-toys like colors” and the more “journalistic-serif-style”.

During the second meeting, the first one has been chosen.

Here is the version of the website we had to redesign : (this is the Joomla website BEFORE the Drupal redesign)

The website BEFORE the redesign

Sony knows how to invest in a brand, on the long term. They’ve kept the Trinitron brand and patent at the top of the shelf from the 60’s to 1996, then they started to focus ont their new HD and flat panels brand for the next 20 years. Very soon after their first attempt, the Wega line, Sony released the now already famous Bravia line. Bravia stands for Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture.

All the Bravia comunication has been since based on the “real colors” concept (Bravia slogan is Colour like.no.other, with TV spots following this idea of a “real thing”, presenting extraordinary scenes without any use of CGI. And each time, it’s a success. It’s a success because images and music are beautiful, and also because Sony don’t try to hide any info before the launch of its commercials. As it is always filmed in public, and always quite a big event, pictures and videos are leaking on the internet monthes before the release of the real ad. And it doesn’t spoil anything as we’re still waiting for the final edit to unleash Sony’s vision of the ad.

First Ad, Balls. The launch of the BRAVIA brand was supported by an advertising campaign featuring 250,000 brightly-colored rubber balls (remember, it’s real, not CGI) bouncing down a San Francisco street.

The second Ad, Paint, shot in 2006, involved a building in Glasgow, almost 150.000 litres of paint and 150 explosions. Still real.

The third one, released mid-2007, known as Play-Doh, involved the participation of the public to animate tons of playdoh rabbit puppets in Manhattan. Still no CGI.

The last released one has been filmed in Egypt and is called Pyramid. It features tons of cotton reels rolling down a pyramid to cover it with color flows.

So, what’s next? We have had balls, paint, rabbits, cotton reels… We will get foam, and it’s in Miami this time. Tons of pictures have leaked on the internet and it looks amazing nd very funny.

Update: the commercial has finally been released… it’s called Foam City, and it’s not a Bravia one! It’s just a Sony one, for new cameras. But it’s totally Bravia spirit. Check it out:

This serie of ads is now pretty cult. There are numerous spoofs all over the web, and some are pretty funny. I can’t list them all, but as a gamer, this one made me laugh. It has been done in the Battlefield 2 game, and it’s collaborative, as every character featured has a real human player behind.

• About Sony Bravia, on Wikipedia
• The Sony Bravia official home (EU)
• About the mythical Sony Trinitron line, on Wikipedia
• Leaked pictures gallery

About the soundtracks:

• Balls: Heartbeats, written by Swedish duo The Knife and performed by José González.
• Paint: music from Rossini’s opera La gazza ladra.
• Play-Doh: She’s a Rainbow by the Rolling Stones.

Pathetic lives, prolific imaginations.

I have been lazy updating my Netvibes Universe, but now that it’s done, you have a chance to check my information and entertainment sources. Check it here.

“Il n’est jamais trop tard pour n’en avoir rien  foutre” is French for “It’s never to late to not give a shit“. I stole this line from Raf, who is bulding his life around this moto. He has a second one which I forgot about but it’s surely hillarious too.

You have a Netvibes, or a Google Reader? Export your OPML file and please share your sources with me.