We Are Magnetic

Great little music spot, where global weather conditions controls the video. You get to search the globe for the weather conditions of your choice and then just sit back and listen to the music! Lissie “Cuckoo”. Another innovative use of Google mapping.

Dimensions is a really great idea. Within the reporting of several recent global ‘events’, there seems to have been a marked increase in relating such catastrophes to their geographical coverage. This, I have to admit, is interesting and adds to the overall reporting, but it’s often a little hard to relate the impact of size from one’s own perspective.

The site – HowBigReally? – looks at overlaying the size of both current and historic events on top of a locational map of your choosing. Another great use of Google’s mapping toolkit.

Ever wondered what the coverage of the recent BP oil spill would be like if it had happened in Bromsgrove? Or how far the deepest hole ever drilled would reach if it had been started in Birmingham city centre?

Dimensions is another example of how a really sizeable idea can be really simple, but also give us great perspective.

Barclays have created a new way for today’s ‘youth’ to learn all about the wonderful world of personal finance. 56 Sage Street, developed by BBH (and B-Reel), takes the form of an online, scenario based, game play experience.

The site is a point and click game set in a vast city, where you’re free to explore and click on hundreds of destinations. With each click you’ll find work, places to stay, new challenges and contacts to help you make it. The aim is to work your way up through the cities financially focussed structures, eventually proving yourself to the man – and running the city. Along the way you’ll learn lots, improve your money management skills, oh, and open a Barclays account (they hope).

With the fact that you’re more likely to win the lottery than change your current account, banks are aiming to capture the youth market early, in order to sustain their future business stability. And what better was to grab this digitally savvy, experience led audience than a quality online game play adventure.

56 Sage Street takes things pretty far, with its shear size, great graphics and engaging interaction it is a fully immersive experience. Hopefully this site will leave its pedagogic impression on our future savers and spenders, bringing about knowledgeable financial management practices for all.

I’m loving Billabong‘s new site – I Surf Because created by the team at Design Royale. The site aims to engage the world’s surfing community into sharing their boarding experiences. It’s by no means a massive site, but contains some stunning photography and a nice link up with some YouTube content.

But the best thing about the site is its little ‘statement creator’ app, where the user’s taken through several steps to the creation of their very own surfing statement. It’s simple and quick to use, and with the beautiful imagery your thought is always supported by a great visual. All statements are entered into a competition and the winner gets to have the ‘ultimate experience’.