Alameda Flea Market. Enjoyed it the more than I have in recent years. Thanks Mara!
year 10, day 4
October 4th, 2009year 10, day 3
October 3rd, 2009“E.W. Strange House”, in my hood. Love the crows, the mummies, and the vulture…though it kind of freaked me out.
year 10, day 2
October 2nd, 2009Had hoped to have more energy to go to reggae happy hour, but am so happy to have had leftovers-dinner and ice cream with Kat instead. Comfort.
year 10, day 1
October 1st, 2009This was a good day. Filled with friends, pints at the Mad Dog, Indian Oven, red red wine and Project Runway with girlfriends. Good start to the new year in my new San Francisco apartment.
surprise compliment from Gary Yentin, 9/22/09
September 22nd, 2009Out of the blue I got an email and really fantastic phone call from Gary Yentin. He said he was surprised to find out about my skill range, and then said he was further surprised to see these videos, and called me a genius (and said I am too modest about it all). ;p
Thank you Gary for reaching out to me like that–it was so thoughtful, and you easily could just have said nothing. What a great person you are. 
The product and videos were so fun to work on, and it really means a lot to have them be noticed and appreciated. And I am so happy the future-client at Sony had such a great response, too.
Gary’s email posted below……
“Hi Mini
The client from Sony found your great videos
http://vimeo.com/5237240 – Yule Log for iPhone, Director’s Cut Demo
http://vimeo.com/5237298 – Capitol Records Holiday Yule Log iPhone App,
Demo
And wanted to make sure once we rebrand it Sony that we can make similar demo videos
You definitely caught their eye
Cheers
Gary”
Zippo Virtual Lighter featured in Apple’s new iPhone Commercial!
September 22nd, 2009There’s an app for just about everything, and if you look closely at 24-seconds in, you can see there’s a Zippo Virtual Lighter app.
Full commercial can be seen on the Apple website here:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/gallery/ads/#nature-large
iPhone Commercial Still, Zippo Virtual Lighter
Virtual Zippo Lighter, Mobi Award Winner!
September 17th, 2009I am so pleased to find out that the Virtual Zippo Lighter app just won a Mobi award! And not only did it win, but my lil’ old Virtual Zippo Ligher app beat-out Coke and Paramount!
BEST MOBILE BRANDING WINNER: VIRTUAL ZIPPO LIGHTER
http://www.dm2pro.com/articles/20090902_3
Company Name: Virtual Zippo Lighter
Company Name to Receive the Award: Moderati
Agencies: Moderati
Brand: Zippo
Links to Creative: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH8QxlkfcOw
Based on the success of the Apple App Store, Moderati decided to create an iPhone app with Zippo, the famed lighter brand, as a new tool of brand awareness for the company. Moderati successfully conceived and actualized the transcendence of the iconic brand from the physical world into the mobile entertainment landscape. The App is the only one of its kind in the App Store with a fully interactive lighter simulation. The Virtual Zippo Lighter operates just like a real lighter, but without anyone getting burned. The application takes advantage of several features of the iPhone and iPod Touch developer platform, including the accelerometer to enable movement of the flame in response to motion. Realistic sound effects highlight the action of the lighter when it opens and closes, and the vibration feature lets you know when the flame is upside down. It opens with a flick of the wrist and lights with a turn of the flint wheel and the truly windproof flame sways as the device is moved back and forth. Audiences the world over, in as many as 76 countries, can experience the famous “Zippo Moment” for free, by holding their cell phones aloft and swaying to power ballads at concerts.
Moderati deployed a targeted, multi-stage campaign that generated cross-market adoption and far exceeded initial goals in garnering brand recognition, resulting in an unprecedented 5 million downloads and media coverage in over fifty consumer, advertising and entertainment trade publications and blogs including Adweek, Wired, and Ad Age. The Zippo Virtual Lighter quickly became a global phenomenon and ranks in the top 20 iPhone apps of all time according to Comscore. The Virtual Zippo Lighter reached 100,000 downloads within its first week and was #2 on Apple’s list of Top Free iPhone Apps within two weeks of being launched. The app has maintained a spot on the list of Top 50 Free iPhone Apps since its inception in October and has now been downloaded over 5,000,000 times.
Image, Mini Kurhan 2008
for Benefit Cosmetics
April 28th, 2009See, told ‘ya I still had the picture! AND, without even checking, I can tell you with certainty that the font used in the image is El Ranchero.
Viva La Rebel, Benefit display at Sephora SF
Graphics for mobile wallpaper
April 26th, 2009In 2002, the mobile content world primarily consisted of ringtones. I was one of the first designers to create mobile “wallpaper” imagery (in addition to animated screensavers, and animated ringtones). Most of the content out there was for customers who like generic clip art, and I wanted to create images for customers who enjoy a little more creativity, edge, and youthfulness. One of my very simple designs (op-art pink bubbles) was a top-selling wallpaper, and that was always so gratifying. I enjoyed coming up with fun graphics, and always thought that mobile wallpaper is very similar to graphic t-shirt design (I’ve always wanted to print my “Domino!” image on a shirt–one day, one day…).
Domino! was inspired by my love for the game
Read the rest of this entry »
Nick PhoneTones™, mobile app and website
April 26th, 2009Nickelodeon hired Moderati to create a kid-friendly ringtone and wallpaper application. Given access to a database of Nickelodeon logos and graphics, I was able to come up with an innovative design for mobile and web. Nickelodeon’s characteristic “Splat!” logos inspired me to create an animation which dripped down the Intro screen transitioning into the Main Menu screen. At the time it was very unique, and I was really happy with how it turned out (and so were our contacts at Nickelodeon).
Nick PhoneTones, sized for different screens
Read the rest of this entry »