Zeke Shore, an interactive, graphic, and motion designer currently living and working in NYC, is demonstrating the capacity for networking offered by the new Google Friend Connect service. Featured here are two interactive sites designed by Shore: Billboard for the People, building support for a congratulatory message to Barack Obama, and My Latest Work, an opportunity for visitors to view and critique a short film made by Zeke.
Billboard for the People
Billboard for the People: A Public Celebration of Progress, is an online movement started by Deroy Peraza at Hyperakt Design Group, New York. Peraza came up with the idea of channeling all the positive energy surrounding the election of Barack Obama into a grassroots effort to congratulate the USA’s president elect, with a massive billboard in New York City. The web site, developed by Zeke Shore, is designed to gather a community and raise $25,000. Google Friend Connect is being used to gather registrations for the online community, allowing visitors to connect with one another through their Google, Orkut and Plaxo networks.
My Latest Piece
“Gone” is a short film Zeke created while at Parsons School of Design that explores our reliance on consumption as a tool for self-identification and happiness. Zeke wrote, directed, scored, and produced the video myself, using stop-motion claymation, with post production in After Effects. Gone was screened at the Parsons Film and Animation Festival in the Spring of 2008. My Latest Piece provides a three step process: Watch the video (YouTube), sign in (Google Friend Connect), and leave a critique.
Click on the image below to play the video.
The Google Explanation
Google provides some explanation for the new service, which is available to a limited number of web developers during the current Beta phase. Web site visitors are able to sign in with their Google, Yahoo, AIM or OpenID account. They are able to interact with other visitors by making friends, sharing media, posting comments, playing games, and more. They are then able to invite friends from other social networks and contact lists to join your site or blog.
Click on the image below to play the video.