I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at Engage 2007 in SIngapore by Contagious Magazine. This was a big deal for me as I’d not done much public speaking to a big audience. My talk was on The Art of Conversation – word of mouth, bespoke messaging, doing rather than talking etc and I think I tried to fill it with too many jokes. But afterwards I got pointed towards this blog post on “Not Dead Just Fucking Busy”- where I was actually quoted. So thanks for that. It’s not exact but you get the jist. Also probably the best thing I said all week to be fair.

I created, art directed and illustrated the new FON strategy and branding. The challenge was to give it a unique but compelling global proposition, so WiFi For Everyone was born. I wrote a book for them. Here are some excerpts for you to enjoy with a nice cup of tea.

I also created a series of ads which utilised a library of characters created just for the brand.

Charged with bringing Joost to life Matt Gibbins and I spent time really getting behind what Joost meant. It became a state of mind. A lifestyle to take part in. Joost is not a replacement for TV but a new way of getting the entertainment you want. Joost is setting TV free.

We created idents to make the branding feel much more filmic and special while reataining a sense of magic. Of course we still had to explain what Joost was so…

One of the most interesting things is when the What is Joost? film got leaked onto You Tube. People were actually using the comments area to ask each other for invites. This made the film a great word of mouth tool.

No Turning Back…

Joost is…
The hairs on the back of your neck standing up. You watch. Smile. Watch some more. Then tell your friends. It’s like the first time you liked someone.

Joost is…
You telling TV what you like.

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The Venice Project

Joost began life as The Venice Project – an invitation only closed beta. I helped develop the ideals behind the brand then created Behind The Scenes documentaries about these stars of internet to get the techie community gossiping.

This is part of the strategy to build the buzz around the project among tech enthusiasts. This isn’t about hype or stunts, but by getting their people talking directly to the community, just telling the truth. So I thought about what we wanted to reveal at this stage, planned some scenarios, and took a documentary film maker to Leiden and London to shoot them. The briefest bit of editing, and then we posted them on their website.

Here they are for your viewing pleasure. Look out for a few odd touches! My favourites are the blank phone conversation and trying to explain how Joost will work with figurines.