Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Project Review: Launch City Part I

The "load screen" for the LAUNCH CD-zine with New Launch City in the distance.

The Main Navigation city[ three screens wide-scrolling]

The Twitch Subway found on the Right side of the city.

A Sushi Bar found under the Train overpass on the right side of the city.

A Chopper Shop in the Middle of the City.

"Hotel-10" is based on a vintage apartment off the 10 FWY just south of downtown LA.

"Hellman's Repair" across from the Hoth House on the Left.

Outside a main venue "The Hang" on the right side of the city.

The Diner on the Dock with a Submarine out from can be seen front and center in the city.

The 360 Lounge is back a bit near center right with Modern Japanese Architectural influence.





Launch City[10 years ago]: Part I

Client: Launch Media Inc.
Art Director: Myself
Project Date: 1999

10 years ago Launch Media was booming in the "Dot-Com" boost in the 90's, and I became a part of the team latter on in the production cycle.

After finishing up at Walt Disney Imagineering, I was hired by fellow Art Center Alumni Goutam Mitra who was Creative Director at Launch Media Inc., and they were about to need a huge re-design of there monthly CD_zine to coincide with a TV pilot for the same property.

I was tasked with a full redesign of the Launch City for the CD_zine as they were concurrently developing a real time product and televison show for a separate division. Being an Imagineer for a while, thematic design was my specialty, and I applied my skills to the new design for the city.

The interface was a single 640x480 screen that scrolled sideways, being three screens wide for the main map of the city with individual locations throughout. I developed individual styles and looks for ech location to assist the users ability to properly map where they were in a virtual city with over 100 locations.

What you see above are the exterior shots of some key locations in the city. Some were existing venues and some were used by advertisers on a monthy basis, so they could have virtual real estate and a location in this virtual city. A very novel and practil idea that will someday be visited again.

Cheers, THOM


P.S. The Post title takes you to a Wiki entry on Launch Media.

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