As the launch date for Chimps Should Be Chimps approaches, we’re taking a look back at our development process. For our first installment, we talked to the story’s illustrator about research, favorite characters, and collaboration.

Can you tell us how you developed the artistic style for the character illustrations?

Natalie Sklobovskaya:   For Lulu and Poe, there were many ways I could have drawn them. They could have been a drawing for National Geographic or it could have been a drawing for some nature textbook, but we were dealing with a digital children’s book. So for that there needs to be a lot more research done both on how children’s book chimps are drawn, and how to draw a chimp, because I have never drawn chimpanzees before in such an intense fashion.

For the character design portion, I took trips to the zoo to learn how to draw chimps. I spent hours sketching and learning how they live, where they hang out and how they move.  I also tried to figure out how to depict them with regards to where on the gradient of animal to human they were going to lie. We wanted the reader to relate to the chimps. So within that it was a lot of push and pull, bringing in little characteristics of humans – you know, whites of the eyes, and maybe less furry or a little bit furrier… finding a good balance until it looks like something that’s friendly and real at the same time.
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Combining creative people with the right clients and challenges results in some pretty unique work – like our soon-to-launch iPad app Chimps Should Be Chimps. Working with Project ChimpCARE taught us about the problems surrounding chimpanzees in entertainment. We learned another big lesson from the app itself: that we can find effective ways to use the iPad and other digital technologies to convey important information in an engaging way.
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We humans are social creatures that thrive on face to face interaction and communication.   Tom Erickson, interaction designer and researcher in the Social Computing Group at IBM’s Watson Labs defines social computing as providing an online place, application or service that have some of that “life” to them. 
His new report provides a though-provoking analysis of what is “social computing,” how does it differ from “social media,” and what is its impact on the way we work, live and play.

Erickson’s report and interview discussions provide insight for digital designers and developers like Manning, but also important ideas for those in online marketing and communications.  He likens digital designers to architects and urban planners who are creating public spaces to encourage people to interact, communicate, and live together.  He suggests that we look at online spaces in terms of the interaction they support and promote.

It’s a compelling analysis well worth the investment of time.

Meet our newest Project Manager!

We’d like to formally introduce our newest interactive project manager, Laura Nash. Laura joined us mid-September after completing a cross-country move from Seattle, Washington. She’s got years of experience producing digital media from concept development through post-launch strategy. Her production background includes work for Random House, Disney Online, Penguin Books, and Discovery Networks. In her spare time, Laura loves directing and stage managing theater.

As Interactive Project Manager at Manning, Laura will provide leadership on individual projects as well as overall creative vision and direction. She is especially well versed in app development and promotion. Oh, and if you aren’t sold on her yet — Celine Dion once sang her Happy Birthday. You’ve got to admit that’s pretty cool.

Periodically, we like to challenge ourselves and test out an idea we’ve been kicking around. In this case, we asked ourselves, “What if we create a web app that uses the content of people’s tweets to determine what gifts they might like?” That’s the basic premise behind our Twitter gift idea generator: tweeSP.

We’ve just launched the site and so far we’ve been very pleased with the results of our little social media experiment. We’ve used tweeSP to find gifts ideas for friends and family, or just had fun seeing what presents are recommended for celebrity tweeters.

Many people question the value of Twitter, but here’s one example of how tweets can be used in an incredibly interesting and useful way. So take tweeSP for a spin and see if you get some interesting gift ideas for the last few people on your holiday shopping list.

PS – for those of you scratching your head over our name for this cool new toy, it’s a play on Twitter and ESP. Now aren’t we punny!

Launched in 2007, the COUNTRY Financial Security Index® is a bi-monthly measure of Americans’ sentiments towards their overall financial security. Survey results are released to the media and general public quarterly via the COUNTRY Financial Security Index microsite.

The focal point of the site is a Flash-based line chart that visualizes survey results nationally and in five select markets. Unfortunately, there was no way to compare one market to another on just one chart. Additionally, limits with the current graphic made month-to-month results appear incremental.

Manning was enlisted to solve these problems. We streamlined the design of the site to make it easier to read the data. The line chart was redeveloped to be more interactive and to make the X and Y axis scalable. Users can now see and share direct market-to-market comparisons. We also made it easier to embed the chart on blogs and other sites. Continue Reading →

What’s not to love about the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup season?  The Answer: The Chicago Sun-Times coverage of where the Stanley Cup Trophy has been over the summer.

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A big hand to the American Heart Association for using multimedia to promote their new hands-only CPR technique. Viewers get jazzed up on their microsite by creating their own sound track made up of hands clapping, finger snapping, and fist punching.

A new study validates the concepts that we have been employing to help clients connect with journalists using social media. Check out our post “Reinventing the Online Newsroom” which focuses on a project for the American Bar Association.  This study by Cision reports that about two-thirds (65%) of journalists say they use blogs to research stories and more than half (52%) use microblogging sites like Twitter.  The big issue for journalists is credibility, and companies and associations can enhance their own standing and outreach by using these tools to be a reliable source of fresh content.

I have been highly impressed by the use of multimedia during the recent catastrophe in Haiti. News organizations and the public have relied on Twitter, blog posts, photo and video sharing sites for news and images from this earthquake ravaged country. CNN has compiled a list of organizations tweeting about the Haiti earthquake.

And social media has become a critical component of the international aid effort. The American Red Cross has set up a cell phone donation campaign, where individuals can text Haiti to 90999 to donate $10, which will then be included in their next cell phone bill

As a side note, the LA Times is featuring an interactive Flash earthquake feature that provides interesting background on the location of fault lines globally, the types of faults and the different types of earthquake waves