One of our favorite efforts was working on SacredAgent with a great team. We have spent nearly two years with them and are proud of most of the current beta release. Here is an unveiling of very early artwork/exploration never before seen. Visit the other SacredAgent pages to see varied implementations of these ideas.

We have a detailed explanation of SacredAgent on the titled sections of our site, so we won’t re-explain here, except to say it is designed to be an interactive environment where tailored wisdom would be presented to the user via agent technology and in an actual digital environment. The key, for us, was an interactive and physical environment.

The initial brief which initiated these images was for a compelling reason to structure the experience as a video game, rather than a typical website (Oprah’s was the model they were considering), and then to provide sufficient material for investor presentations to pursue the more expensive option. Also critical was helping the principal find what this world needed to look like.

This early period ended with a successful fund-raising campaign and we began sprinting on creating this world. We tried to blend reality with surreality in a believable and appreciable way. These images, while not exactly represented in the final product, were a big reason why we won the full project visual design contract and also represent a huge step to working efficiently with the project’s principal as we were able to quickly generate new iterations to enhance the brainstorm process.

As stated in an earlier post, Sulky loves and pursues original ideas. Robbi is one of ours. He is also a symbol of Sulky’s founders as young ambitious boys of innocence. But that could dream. Here is a process-behind-the-finished-image presentation.

At Sulky, all tools necessary to persuade are utilized. Regarding still work, the above images are important reference examples. To begin to understand Robbi’s world above the clouds we used pen, paint, 3D software/renders, and photo-real textures/compositing to discover the final look. The individual images are representative of a typical progress for a finished image of this level.

This image serves as a guide to Robbi’s world – Robbi’s story. An important character in Robbi’s story is a struggle against gravity – a pursuit of transcendence, seeking to limit boundaries and borders. Hard edges and arbitrarily conceived limits are wholly absent in Robbi’s world. Where one saw weakness, Robbi authored strength. Where one saw limits Robbi introduced impervious possibility. Where others claimed triumph, Robbi staked his vision just beyond. Where some sought derision, Robbi introduced passion, opportunity, and accomplishment. All while seeking the perfect wind to brush his face.

Sulky is actively interested in original content and authorship of stunningly beautiful and compellingly narrative intellectual property. We have some content we’ve been developing in-house that we work on whenever we get the chance – meaning when we’re not working on ideas for clients. Here’s a peek at some Sulky-original work.

The above images are a carefully released glance at some production artwork for a scene designed to be a set for a piece of a motion project. This asset will be used in a shorter motion piece and subsequently in live-action compositing for a larger-scope application. Every visual element in this piece was shot, lit, painted, produced, etc. by Sulky Bros.

We will use this blog to publish progress updates and behind-the-scenes peeks, all to show beautiful art that will be well employed. Some will be client work, some will be internal projects to show our free-time pursuits.

Today My Robot Nation launched as a prominently featured and heavily promoted app in the Google Chrome Store’s relaunch. It looks fantastic being featured at the top and is doing very well. It is truly a pleasure to have incredible clients like Mark and Sarah and the robots at My Robot Nation. Their vision and effort looks to be well worth it.

One of the next big tech advances is the availability of 3D printing. One of the obstacles is the limited general knowledge of 3D software, therefore the shortage of public-accessible content. As a result there is not much content being created suitable for the general public. My Robot Nation is brilliantly poised on many fronts, two of the chief being the deployment of WebGL, giving everyone access to a very powerful engine capable of customizing and generating 3D robots that can then be printed (in 3D) and delivered to your door.

To see more about My Robot Nation and to start your own Nation, visit: http://www.myrobotnation.com

My Robot Nation

Corporate Brand Visual Development

Nokia

Series 40 Dictionary App Interface Design

Mobile app development firm Mobifusion was recently awarded a large production contract from Nokia to develop several dictionary interfaces for Series 40 phone applications, available via the Nokia app store. Mobifusion wanted to impress the juggernaut mobile company, so they asked Sulky to develop some ideas of what this interface would look like.

The beauty of the Series 40 operating system is it’s simplicity, so we tried to support this as a delicately crafted concept throughout the design process, relying on quickly rendered assets and dynamic-friendly treatments to keep the app responsive. We also allocated and utilized space and area efficiently to make the screen present itself as spacious and accessible. We explored a number of layout concepts and themes, some of which we show here.

Of the design, Nokia USA released: “The new apps you are producing for us are really snappy. I love the way they work. I’ll be sure to make them Hero Apps and they will be demo’ed at conferences and trade shows.”

Mobifusion

iPad App Interface Design

Mobile app design is foundational as a vigorous channel for art direction and concept firms to establish themselves. The compact and intimate form (holding the experience in your hands) demands a new approach to concept and interface consideration.

Mobile publishing powerhouse Mobifusion (currently with 124 iPhone apps and 69 iPad apps in iTunes) has traditionally handled design duties in-house. After seeing Sulky work, they offered us an opportunity to re-visualize a foray into a commonly seen and immensely popular app category – the recipe app. The brief was for a dynamic, creative, and simple interface with elegant touches throughout in both art and experience thoughtfulness. The app was to be the most thoughtful and considerate reference for cooks, stuffed with tools and with heavy perspective given to the preparation and cooking processes.

We decided early that experience was paramount. We wanted to host the interface with as many familiar and tangible elements as possible, boosting feelings of familiarity and common awareness from the user, while maintaining a high level of class and simplicity. Heavy emphasis was given to the recipe, the usability of lists specified by a recipe’s plan and demand, and the convenience of planning schedules featuring meal planners for organization.

Specialized Crane & Rigging

Corporate Site Redesign

One of the larger and more successful crane companies in the United States, Specialized Crane sought Sulky to help author a more sophisticated and high-level visual style that stood out in an industry of very similarly simple brand presentations.

To figure out what this would look like we started with the objects themselves. We see cranes as engineering masterpieces and have always been impressed with their feats. Being thus attracted to the machines that make the company, we started with a few on-the-job photograph sessions, capturing the cranes at work. From here we began to build a visual language and image design that would be the benchmark of the initial campaign effort – the site. Treating the cranes like characters worthy of a detailed bio, we built their personality and capacity with beautiful photography and an elegant site that speaks to the exceptional and simple customer process Specialized has created.

Hemphill Speedy

Corporate Site Redesign

When Hemphill Speedy wished to utilize beautiful and compelling design and imagery to define their brand as a valuable tool in increasing market presence, contemporary with their sister company Specialized Crane, they asked Sulky to figure out what they should look like and how their story should best be told.

Narrative played a substantial and durable role with the visual development of Hemphill Speedy’s initial brand design phase. Their employment in the connection of two points, of providing critical machinery in an incredibly unique and dynamic, and sometimes dangerous, way, being the provider of tools and infrastructure to support the fueling and progression of our country – were all invigorating concepts that beg to be abundantly conveyed.

We worked with several photograph sessions and began to develop a visual language that would be flexible in implementing online, in print, and to support the sales staff with company collateral. Heavy post-production and narrative development brings even a simple truck portrait into the Hemphill Speedy visual family – as distinct and presentable as they are. Thus far, Sulky has provided photography, image post-production and design, interactive design, and brand/visual development to be utilized in upcoming projects.

AccuScore

2011 NFL Season Forecast Graphic

If you have seen or heard ESPN, or any of several other major outlets, discuss forecasts for seasons, games, or outcomes in any of the major sports, you’ve witnessed the work of Accuscore. Accuscore aimed to augment it’s positioning by employing powerful informational graphics – beginning with the 2011-2012 NFL Season.

Sulky was commissioned to concept and design a graphic that would provide game-by-game results for the entire NFL season. A 30,000 ft. overview, with each team’s schedule, culminating with revealing the forecasted Division Champion. A daunting proposition including a tremendous amount of information in an industry with well-established, and often imitated, graphic norms. So what would this new and never-before-done offering look like?

We concepted the structure, the hierarchy, and visual foundation for the graphic while planning for subsequent forecast product offerings.