11.20.09
webpick of the week
Automotive, Branding
Part social network, part user-generated content, part Web tool, built on the Google Maps platform and integrating data from the EveryTrail-powered mobile app, the Nation of Go is a community, where gearheads (people devoted to cars and driving) aged 20 to 40 share their favorite drives.
The site is a mashup of Google maps and personal and social network media. BFGoodrich provides a collective community, where each user and piece of content is represented by symbols on a map. Powered by EveryTrail (a GPS travel community site), visitors are able to see and contribute to the vast amount of content available to them and search through it using filters and geographic locations. It's a community where people can connect and create content based on similar interests and proximity to each other.
The site launched as the central pillar in a campaign that includes YouTube, Twitter and Facebook presences. An active community is already filling the site with posting routes, photos and video.
• The two-word mantra offered by Martin Agency for the site’s look-and-feel was “polished grit”—in the end, it’s a just-right combination of reflective, somewhat glossy blue elements and brown, scruffy accents.
• The site was implemented using Adobe Flex on top of Google Maps, video rendering software After Effects and Final Cut Pro. Although typically, visual design is executed in Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator was used to great effect as the key interaction design and visual design tool. It came in especially handy when explaining the interaction design concept to the client with rapid parti diagramming and an engagement strategy diagram.
• There is not a CMS in the strict sense, but the content of the site is pulled from a custom backend provided by EveryTrail; the application communicates with the backend to save and retrieve data via an API.
• The BFGoodrich team is currently looking for more ways to enhance their online community.
www.martinagency.comwww.odopod.comwww.globalmotion.com