“I love creative toys. This is a simple and fun idea delivered via an easy-to-use interface that invites you to create and share masterpieces.” —juror Bryan Finke

“It’s interactive. It’s fun. And, the tight, intuitive interface with advanced functionality demonstrates the level of interactivity that commercially-focused sites ought to be incorporating. Much better than solitaire!” —juror Deb Koch

Overview: This site brings out the artist in everyone. With its endless variations, viewers can attempt to equal Picasso’s prodigious artistic output. And remember, Pablo couldn’t e-mail his drawings to friends.

• 700k total file size
• E-mail feature allows users to send personal drawings to others
• MySQL database stores xml data used to archive user’s drawings
• 6 months, 15 people

Comments by Ruder-Finn Interactive:
“Conceived as an online initiative to foster the burgeoning online arts community, Mr. Picassohead is an engaging interactive tool that allows users around the world to create and share original artwork using abstracted Picasso-like art elements.

“Ruder-Finn Interactive wanted to create its own online art community that would epitomize the concept, ‘one world, one gallery.’ The idea leverages the global nature of the Internet, and promotes global awareness without being explicitly global (using translated sites). The concept is most prevalent in the interface design and the viral aspects of the game.

“The project’s main challenges were to successfully foster creativity and encourage participation on a global scale without any active promotion. If Mr. Picassohead was to succeed, it was going to be through grassroots blogs and word-of-mouth (e-mails sent from friend to friend).”