ml haynes design

Monopoly City Streets, promoted as “you versus the world in the biggest live game of Monopoly in history,” is the love-child of Hasbro and Google. A gargantuan MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game), City Streets takes play out of the virtual world, into the streets (quite literally) and back into the virtual world. Players buy streets and engage in “property empire building on an unimaginable scale.”

Off to a less-than-stellar start, the game failed — quite publicly — September 9 when 1.7 million people tried to register simultaneously. As Hasbro prepares to punch the “reset” button on the game, most insiders expect that an even greater audience will push the limits of the registration tool. The re-launch is expected to be this week; the blog is currently working overtime.

I’m not especially keen on playing, keeping up with Bay Area real estate is enough “game playing” for me. But I will be watching the lifecycle of this game/campaign. I’ve been waiting for a brand to pick up the Google Maps API and use it to enhance both the brand and the consumer’s experience of the brand. Pete Cashmore over at Mashable shared this insight into the creation of the game: “What the coverage doesn’t mention is the level of involvement Google had here: while in theory this could have been built on the Google Maps API with little input from the search engine maker itself, all reports seem to indicate that Google had a direct role in bringing the game to fruition.”

Let the game begin. Again.

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has issued an RFP for the rebranding of London. You can read the “call for entries” here and, in fact, request formal paperwork via the same pithy web page.

One firm — Moving Brands — of London has taken a novel approach to the challenge. They have opened up what has typically been a “top secret” process. They have asked the public to participate, and not simply as members of focus groups. They’ve put it all online and enabled commenting throughout. The site, built on WordPress with Twitter feed and YouTube embeds details progress on the project including the “plus” of working with Scott Thomas, Design Director of the Obama Presidential campaign.

Great insight into what branding — and rebranding — can be.

Having just re-wrapped my own online porfolio, I gave it one more go to make certain I’d left no template unturned. Today I discovered a few resources that would have come in handy last month (and the month preceding, if I’m truly honest). Thought I’d share.

Enjoy!

Creating A Successful Online Portfolio
The “less is more” message here cannot be stressed enough. I make it a point to stress this to the designers I work with and advise. Taking that medicine myself — not always easy.

48 Trendy and Fresh Web Interfaces from Deviantart
If it’s coming from deviantArt, you know it’s fresh. Always nice to have a choice sampling in one place.

deviantArt site
A great source for inspiration and amazing example of creating online community with purpose and passion.