T
he notion ofa ‘vanityproject’
in professionaltermscouldbe
frowned upontooeasilyon
the surface.If youGoogleits
general definition,you’llfindthat
Urban Dictionary.comusesa
home improvement analogytoexplainthe
phenomenon. But rather nicely,it alsoshootsa
hole through how it might betoapplyinsteadto
web design. While true that undertakingan
optional non-commercial projectforyourselfis
likely costly, when it’s do-it-yourselfit’snotallthat
‘vain’ at all. Plus, as our story thistimeillustrates,
some artistic narcissism andself-indulgencecan
be much more outward looking.
Several years ago now, theinteractive
production company makemepulsemusedon
how they might create such anopportunity
between the work it predominantlyperformsfor
clients and partners. Given theirfocusareasof
real-time 3D, WebGL and WebVR,Virtual,AI,Big
Data, plus Augmented and MixedRealitytoo,the
team understands that whencontentis interactive,
it’s engaging.
By creating emotional connectionsthrough
digital experiences, the resultsarememorable,
personalised and continuousacrosseveryscreen.
“There’s a rhythm to the wayweworkandthe
stuff we make,” begins AntoinneUghetto,CEOand
head of innovation. “So we gatheredeveryonein
the team to brainstorm on ambitions,projectsand
technologies. It was such a mess,butwemanaged
to find an angle and we createdwhatbecamethe
first of many makemepulse wishesside-projects.”
This in-house initiative wouldnotonlybea wayof
gatheringeveryonearoundsomethingthat
personal‘heartandsoul’couldgointo,butalso
investinthefuture.“Creatingthiskindofproject
allowsustobuildsomethingtogether,
empoweringtheteambuilding,”sayscreative
directorLouisAnsa.“Itis anopportunityforusto
experimentonbothcreativeandtechnicalsides
andtrynewmethods,newtechnologiesthat
resonateswithsubsequentclients.”
Fast-forwardto 2019 andmakemepulsewishes’
fourthedition.Wesatdownwiththeguysto
discoverhowNomadicTribecameintoformation.MAkEA WIShES
Meanwhile, of course, most will testify that the
previous ‘wishes’ projects hadn’t taken place within
a black box. Past releases were always for public
consumption and served as hugely influential
calling cards. Gradually becoming signature
makemepulse projects within the industry,
everybody had expectations for what was next.
“For the previous four editions of the
makemepulse wishes, we got many awards such
as Site Of The Day, Site Of The Month on FWA and
Awwwards among others, but that wasn’t all,” Ansa
continues. “This year, makemepulse is slowly but
surely shifting the company focus towards an even
more creative process.”
Adding more designer staff to its creative team
to support their development core, the company is
always looking to inject extra flavour and
storytelling talent. In line with this, they opted to
change the wishes process to use a smaller
technical team for kick-starting the project and
brainstorming the first ideas.MArkingtheLAteStinStALMentoFitS
in-house‘wishes’project,we discover
how agencymakemepulsewovea
nomadicnewyear story experience
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