BestofDemodern2018:ABriefYearinReview
2018 was long, exciting, and so eventful that we first need to take a moment to sort things out. But let's start from the beginning: January 2018! The new year was still young, and already four of us jetted off to Las Vegas to visit the CES and meet clients. True to the motto: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, we'll skip the stories about too much lobster, annulled weddings, and lost money!
In February, our second office in Hamburg was inaugurated. Don't get us wrong - we rented additional office space because in just two years, our team in Hamburg had grown so much that our beloved workplace in the Pianoforte Factory in the heart of the Schanzenviertel was no longer big enough to provide enough space for all employees. Therefore, we transformed a former insurance office on the Schulterblatt into a perfectly fitting office for us in just a few months - tearing down walls included.
March 2018 continued incredibly well. Our Ulm VR Experience, realized in collaboration with the Interactive Media Foundation GmbH, was awarded the iF Design Award in Gold. And that was just the beginning of a (for us) truly incredible award season.
In April, our office in Frankfurt opened its doors and has since enriched the city on the Main with our expertise in design, creative technologies, and user experience. Additionally, for the second time, CATCH, the Demodern Showroom, took place in our Cologne office. During an entire week, our guests could explore innovative technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, product configurators, or gesture-controlled installations.
CATCH went on tour, and in May, it was time for Hamburg. In addition to technologies like augmented and virtual reality, our visitors could exclusively view old Ulm from above with Birdly or talk to a rabbit in real-time. The live-acting VR experience "Eye To Eye", which we created in collaboration with Kolle Rebbe for PETA Germany, celebrated its world premiere in May at the re:publica '18 in Berlin. AND last but not least, we won SIX awards (44 awards were credited to our account by the end of 2018) at the German Digital Award for five of our projects. They were presented by none other than Jan Böhmermann.
Briefly about June (it was already too hot): So we decided to head south of Europe and attended the OFFF Conference in Barcelona to catch up on the latest in design and meet inspiring people like Stefan Sagmeister, who showed us how to be happy through song. Then we continued to the Cannes Lions Festival on the Côte d'Azur to prepare for the beach season. There was also a lot to see there: Google Lens, for example.
July was very hot, and we tried to make it more bearable with various barbecues, water fights, an ice train integrated into our Slack, and a small pool for our feet. Our air conditioning also did a great job. Speaking of which: work was also done.
In August, it was still hot, but beyond that, we expanded our storytelling expertise: Hannah started in Hamburg and Jason in Cologne - both in the position of Experience Director, to further enhance existing 3D, digital, and interactive activities with excellent storytelling skills. Our installation Buddy Mode was launched on Eintracht Frankfurt's Family Day (fans could take selfies with their favorite footballers) and three of our developers attended the SIGGRAPH Conference in Vancouver to present IKEA Immerse at SIGGRAPH Live! and beyond at their own stand.
In September, we traveled to Berlin to visit the IFA (International Consumer Electronics Fair) and particularly the magenta-colored stand of Deutsche Telekom. For us, the most important spots were first and foremost the interactive Telekom 5G Race, developed specifically for the stand, which was hard to miss on a six-meter-high screen. And not to forget the PINBALL Game: Yes, exactly, we brought the good old pinball machine back to life in digital form for Telekom to playfully and interactively bring the advantages of 5G and MagentaEINS closer to them or those who want to become them.
In October, we localized IOL Universe, the Virtual Reality Experience for ZEISS, in Mandarin. Our Experience Director Jason was invited to speak at a conference of the Pearson Business School at the Barbican Centre in London. His talk revolved around our Nike/11TeamSports Retail Experience and how we, together with Nike, created a new user experience for the brand's customers. Once again, the Demodern Showroom took place in Hamburg, and we experimented with Leap Motion in combination with Virtual Reality.
In November, Demodern Digital Agency became "Demodern - Creative Technologies". Why? Kristian and Alex see the renaming as an opportunity to better convey what we stand for: creativity in connection with technology.
In December, our annual Christmas party took place in Hamburg. Our Cologne and Frankfurt ladies and gentlemen traveled to the city in the far north of Germany, and we all celebrated together in the Bunker - a top location in the Hanseatic city - right next to the Millerntor Stadium in St. Pauli. Starting with the super cool location called Terrace Hill with a fantastic view over Hamburg, through a snowball fight under blacklight, to about 90 people who danced happily (and somehow a bit crazily), it was a mega event.
And not to forget: In the creative rankings of W&V and HORIZONT, we each reached 15th place.
Projects launched in 2018:
PETA "Eye To Eye" - Virtual Reality Live-Acting Experience
IM.PRINT - Audiovisual Art Experience
smart - Highend 3D Car Configurator in 3D
Gatorade Digital Brand Experience 2018
IKEA Immerse - Virtual Reality Interior Designer
Telekom - Interactive Games for the IFA Berlin
ARiZONA Rattlesnake - a small Augmented Reality race with track recognition.
AR Build Assist - AR Build Assistant helps users assemble products and furniture from furniture stores and makes the instructions easy to understand.
AR Fashion Assist - Customers can place, explore, and customize fashion products in 3D in their own living environment.
IKEA Conversational Sleep Assist - for IKEA Germany, we developed their first interactive conversational service assistant, which helps users easily find the right mattress.
Parador - Interactive Table for the digital POS
UJET Mobility App - Redefining urban mobility
PETA "EYE TO EYE" - Mobile VR Experience
What do we expect from 2019?
Many innovative new projects (some are already in the making and you can be excited) and a lot of Digital Entertainment.