Back by popular demand: Company Name Generator

You can give it a try by clicking here.

Back in 2006 I was desperately looking for a name for my studio. At a certain moment I became convinced that that choice could only be made by chance. Or at least, I could the random() function in Action Script help me decide on a studio name.

So I made this simple application that helped me visualize random studio names. And when it was finished I had many happy moments clicking away at the application, looking at the marvelous words flash was producing for me.

The most important thing I learned from this experiment was that the choice of a studio name should NOT be left to chance for me. In fact: the answer was there right in front of me. Not in the words generated by the application, but in the process leading to the production of this application. My studio name became… Slightly Overdone.

Since then I heard that some other people had a lot of fun with the application too. So I brought it back and I enhanced it a little, so you can put your own activity in there. Now you can look for a name for you bakery, grocery store, plumbing business or even a lemonade brand, and I’m sure it’s also very suited for inventing names of Icelandic volcanoes. Have fun, and let me know if you get anything really cool from it.

Start looking for your answers too by clicking here.

HADHI: Moving Fairtrade

Early this year I was contacted by two charming women, that own a fair trade design shop in Antwerp. They asked me to make a fair design website, and so I did. The design is Slightly Overdone and was constructed on the existing HADHI-logo and the stylish product shots, all taken against a black backdrop. The first version of the site launched in april this year, but I didn’t get to posting something about it on this blog.

Early this month the shop moved to a great new location in the Nationalestraat nr. 76 in Antwerp. De site got updated and we added a lot of wonderful new items to the online catalogue. So now is a perfect time to present this website once again.

A Facebook share-button below every product, makes it particularly easy to inform your friends about the things you like. Remember: That could come in handy when they go out for Christmas-shopping.

Unfortunately the website was recently replaced by a simpler version that is more friendly to iPad users and online buyers.

Winning prize “Ga Voor Geluk 2010″

Left to right: Jan Toye, Grieke Forceville, Jan De Coster, Marc vande Gucht

The organisation “Ga Voor Geluk” (Go for happiness) awarded a prize of 10.000 euro to our project Prevention 2.0 this year.

Tonight we received the gigantic cardboard bank cheque at the Palm Breweries. Thanks a lot! The funding is very welcome!

Read more about the price and the project on Belga:

http://www.belgamediasupport.be/publishingweb/pressrelease/detail.do;jsessionid=C17980090B5379B8FECC8E63BDE6AB3A?pressId=14140&searchKey=1&languageId=EN

Presenting Prevention 2.0 at IASP Conference in Rome

Left to right: Jan Mokkenstorm (113Online), Grieke Forceville (CPZ), Jan De Coster (CPZ), Veronique Hoste (University of Ghent)

After several national conferences, and the E-mental Health Congress in Amsterdam last year, I was invited to present the Prevention 2.0 project at the European IASP Conference in Rome, early September. This has given the project a lot of momentum now, and maybe it’s time for a small recap below:

We have to be aware that the flow of messages and information on the internet also includes distress calls, often from people who think of suicide and are seeking help. These people don’t always benefit from the direction of the flow, but need special attention. A calmer flow.

Web 2.0 makes the internet a platform where users can interact with each other. Project Prevention 2.0 responds to this. It arose from the concern that people, especially young people, share their suicidal thoughts through internet social network sites and forums, but do not always receive good responses. Moreover, seeing or reading about suicidal behavior can lower the threshold for other vulnerable young people and raises the risk of imitation. Web 2.0 also provides an opportunity for the young audience, especially young girls who are at risk for suicidal attempts, to get in contact with the Suicide Line without them actively searching for us. The sooner we intervene in the suicidal process, the easier we can guide someone to help-seeking-behavior.

More here:
www.preventiezelfdoding.be

Build a kick-ass flash pinball game in 20 easy steps

Last summer I was commissioned by Tequila/Agency to build a hyper-realistic pinball game, to fit in their launch campaign for the new Nissan Juke. A small SUV city car.

You can see the result on this link http://slightlyoverdone.be/jukeballdemo/.
As cool as the end result looks, by my humble opinion, the process of getting here is even cooler (and it’s not even completely finished). Below you can see a small collection of images documenting the production process.

20 easy steps to build an online pinball game

Step 1: Find a really cool vintage pinball machine

Step 2: Get lots of technical info on pinball machines

Step 3: Get your pinball machine to a studio (and find a hammer)

Step 4: Check out inner workings for fire-hazards

Step 5: Clean dirty parts for better electric contacts

Step 6: Learn to trust your pinball machine

Step 7: Disassemble upper parts, and document every part

Step 8: Further disassembly until every part is removed from the playing field

Step 9: Get tracing paper and trace positions of different parts on the playing field

Step 10: Make cardboard versions of upper parts

Step 11: Make paper template of playingfield

Step 12: Make vector version of template

Step 13: Marvelous design by An Gielens from Agency/Tequila based on this template

Step 14: Get some lighting in your studio

Step 15: place a blue key on the playing field

Step 16: place a greenkey on upper parts

Step 17: make some close up shots of the ball interacting with the machine

Step 18: fit a print of the real design on the machine

Step 19: Shoot your pinball machine, and place the design on the blue- and greenkeys. Get a book on Actionscript 3 and make a flash version of the machine.

Step 20: Finally ask the development guys from Agency and Tequila Belgium to build a kick ass interface and website around the game.

Go play this game here: http://slightlyoverdone.be/jukeballdemo/

I know what I did last summer
Design and Concept by Tequila/Agency Belgium
Campaign made for launch of Nissan Juke in September 2010

Posterdesign Alcoholhulp

VeronikaPot.com: A logo in negative space and a website that senses the mood of it’s content

When Veronika asked me a while ago to make an online portfolio for her photographs, I was glad I could also take a shot at designing a logo and accompanying graphic identity. Making both the design for the website and the identity at the same time could be a great way to make a very harmonious online experience.

For a person that expresses herself mainly trough lenses and film, only a logo that exists in negative space would be a meaningful addition to the site. It doesn’t interfere with the photo’s, but becomes part of the frame. There was also no doubt, her sounding name would have to be part of the logo.

A logo in negative space also makes it possible to change the background of the site to almost any color without losing meaning. But what color suits the photo’s we are seeing on the site. Could one color be enough? Or two? Maybe the background color could depend on what you are seeing in the photograph. That is how the changing background came to be.

The background samples various colors in the background of the photograph, and then adjusts to a suitable color, making the best possible frame for the photo. The color contributes to the image, certainly on large displays.  And it’s all dynamic

Content management is done with the Flickr API and YouTube, so the pictures and video’s can be arranged, added and removed at will, without a lot of work.

But enough about the site now. I welcome you to take a glimpse into the soul of this wonderful photographer on www.VeronikaPot.com

baby creations

One could argue whether babies can be considered the product of a purely creative process Communication about the birth of babies however is a very creative process, and a lot of fun in the last days leading to the big day, when new life arrives!

For someone who is as passionate about communication and design, as me, these websites and other creations, are an intricate and necessary part of becoming a father.  And beside all this, my son and daughter are the coolest little things on earth, bound to bring lots of new inspiration in the following years.

www.debaby.be

Round & shiny

There is something about these round & shiny things…

AGFA Healthcare Isometric Adventure

A few weeks ago AGFA Healthcare asked me to design a range of icons, representing different devices and procedures in medical visualizations, for use in their presentation. It turned out to be an interesting exploration of the isometric style. I can not show you the actual presentations from AGFA, but as a personal spin-off I made wallpaper designs with a selection of the icons.