Heavenspot for Red Bull

Heavenspot, a digital advertising agency located in Silver Lake, California, has recently launched the website for Manny Mania, a skateboard contest presented by Red Bull, North America.

The event, hosted throughout select US cities this summer, includes heated jam sessions, the top pros from the industry and the craziest manny pads ever built. Lead by manual tech wizard Joey Brezinski, the contest series kicks off this May in Venice Beach, CA for a pro showdown at the birthplace of modern skating and continues across the country to New York, NY.

The website was designed to support the marketing initiative of the competition, as well as increase brand and consumer awareness. From an aesthetic standpoint, the site takes it cues from outdoor advertising while bringing another dimension of cutting edge design. The overall site concept tells the story of the competition by taking the user from Los Angeles to New York. Chevon Hicks, (Creative Director) says, "Most of the people at Heavenspot live and breathe skateboarding, so Manny Mania was a natural fit for the company. We were able to bring an authentic tone to the website because we were designing for a culture to which we already belong." In fact, Chevon states, he will personally be competing in the amateur round of the contest, so come out and cheer him on!

The imagery on the site creates a sense of depth while maintaining a consistent graphic approach. The photography is key to the site design and constructs an immersive experience, leaving the user interested in the event and wanting more. Atmospheric animations, rollovers, and a clever use of a dual navigation system allow users to choose to interact with the site or go directly to the desired content. Furthermore, the site contains an "about" section, rules, contest schedule, trick tips, photo gallery, contest information, media info and two blogs-one for Joey and one for his dog Manny.

As a richly animated Flash website subject to frequent updates, a CMS (content management system) was determined to be the most effective way to update the content. One of the key challenges in creating the site this way was developing it without content. All of the text and images were being loaded dynamically and not available in the beginning of the project. As a result there are a lot of variables that had to be taken into consideration and planned for. "We had to restructure our development process in order to accommodate the obstacles we encountered during the implementation," notes Seth Silver (Executive Producer). "Our developers learned to integrate their processes more seamlessly than ever. I was especially proud of our team members for their problem solving and adaptability in this project."

Work on the project began in early March 2007 and was completed in the beginning of May 2007. All design, animation and production was completed in Heavenspot's Silver Lake, CA, headquarters. Design & animation for the project was completed in Photoshop CS2, IllustratorCS2, Flash 8 and After Effects.

Heavenspot
Heavenspot is an award winning digital advertising agency specializing in multiplatform brand and marketing solutions for the 18-34 demographic. A leader in creativity and technology, the 5 year old company has developed a roster of top clients, such as New Line Cinema, Hasbro Games, FOX Broadcasting, ABC Family, Red Bull, Amp'd Mobile and more.

Heavenspot: http://www.dexigner.com/directory/detail/6118.html

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