100 Strangers Photography Project - Personal Project

Please visit the website for all of the pictures and stories so far.

> Launch Website or Follow the project on Facebook

SOULCALIBUR Archive Website

With the SOULCALIBUR franchise being one of the highest rated fighting games of all time, Namco Bandai asked us to develop an online destination Hub Website for every Soul Calibur fan to be able to engage the deep history and story of Soul Calibur.

With the latest instalment due to be released in early 2012, we had 8 game titles worth of characters, screenshots and videos to include in this site. As well as this the site was to be multilingual with as many as 12 different languages for translations.

We utilised Flash and the Away3D engine to bring all this content to life and depict the rich visual excitement as can be seen in the games. Navigation menus hide away when not in use to let the content shine.

> Launch Project

Vodafone Smash'Em Cricket Challenge

> Play the Game

Turboboost Touchdown

Dick Smith were running a promotion with Intel for one lucky person to WIN a trip to the edge of space in a MIG Jet. To enter all you had to do was purchase an Intel laptop with an i5 or i7 processor. The challenge for us was to amplify the buzz around the "Edge of Space" promotion.

To do this we created a game that exists in the real world and online with model rockets launched into space. Players log in each day and plot coordinates prior to launch using their skill (and luck) in an attempt to guess where each rocket touches down.

The website broadcasts daily rocket launch videos and GPS tracks the exact touchdown coordinates. The site appearance and soundscape change depending on launch weather conditions.

> Launch Project

// Client : Dick Smith Electronics

Completed at Soap Creative

// Awards :
FWA Site of the Day (28/05/10)

// Results :
In just 60 days there was over 92,000 visitors, over 14,000 touchdown guesses
with an average time of more than seven minutes on the site. Most importantly, Dick Smith demonstrated that it's an innovative and fun brand. And Intel gave civilians of earth a taste for the turbo-powered takeoff its processors deliver.

Rexona Australia's Greatest Athlete

Is branded content worth the risk? Rexona took the bold step of creating real sporting content designed for its target market, resulting in Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete. Over 8 compelling episodes airing on Channel's 9 & 7, some of Australia’s most popular athletes went head-to-head. I was involved in the design of the website and online media for Seasons 1-3.

The challenge for the website was to maximise Rexona’s return on investment by expanding the audience experience beyond the half hour episodes. Rich video, forums, news feeds, stats, polls, quizzes and widgets were all part of a content delivery strategy that really delivered.

> Site is currently offline

Cornetto - No Boring Bits Twins Website

It was Summer 2009 and Cornetto was developing its latest 'No Boring Bits' campaign with the idea of not picking the boring twin (ie. Their competitors icecream this summer).

Naked Communications had produced a TV ad and it was my role to design and storyboard the interactive website which would also feature a number of games and links to a promotion titled "Don't Win the Twin". This was also then extended into designs for the online media.

The website featured a live environment that allowed you to browse and interact with whilst the 'boring twin' proceeded to do all the activities you wouldn't want to do on a hot summers day. This included cleaning the browser window from smudges, hanging out the clothes, washing the car etc.

> Launch Project

VHA Intranet Animation - Styleframe & Storyboard Design

3 Mobile (Hutchison) & Vodafone Australia announced their merger in 2009 to become Vodafone Hutchison Australia (VHA). They had developed an intranet for all their employees which would educate them in the changes that were being made and what effect it would have on their respective business.

For this website we were to create a motion graphics piece that would highlight the merger, their new branding identity and the companies new tone of voice in the mobile telecommunications world.

I was responsible for designing the styleframes for this motion piece which would then be animated by the very talented Jim Boswell at Soap Creative.

> Launch Project

LG Autobot Stronghold Game

LG's partnership with Transformers was brought to life in this non stop tower defence action game.

The brief was to integrate the core features of the new LG TV into a game and leverage the Transformers 2 partnership. Our solution was 'Autobot Stronghold' - a tower defence game (a popular genre within the target market) with the TV features used as upgrades for the towers.

The results since its launch have been spectacular with 53 Million Gameplays in total. The total accumulated time spent by all users playing this game is 772yrs 73days!!! Now thats some brand interaction. Click here for an in-depth look at the designs for this game.

> Launch Project

// Client : LG Electronics

Completed at Soap Creative

// Awards :
AIMIA Awards Finalist [AU]
ADMA Awards Finalist [AU]

// Results :
In just 2 years since its launch it has amassed a whopping 45 Million unique users with an average game time of 7min 33secs.

Lynx Primal Instinct Multiplayer Game

In order to successfully launch new body spray Lynx Instinct, we had to bring out the caveman in teenage boys across Australia. That may not sound hard, until you consider the target species’ nomadic nature. So we approached them in their natural habitats – ranging from MySpace, Facebook and YouTube through to gaming, men’s mags and cinemas – to send out the call on behalf of Lynx Instinct.

The result is an integrated campaign featuring a multiplayer game that is as popular as it is addictive. The lesson? These days, even going back to the Stone Age means embracing the power of digital.

> Launch Project

// Client : Unilever AU - Lynx

Completed at Soap Creative

// Awards :
IAB Awards: Creative Showcase Grand Final Winner 2009
IAB Awards: Best Product Launch
IAB Awards: Rich Media Winner
ADMA Awards Finalist [AU]
ADMA Awards : Bronze
MIXX Awards [US] : Silver

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Website

A rich interactive website and a thriving online community for the launch of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. Whilst there was a lot of people involved in the creation of this website, my primary role was the design of the primary UI elements. This then was carried across into all future designs for the site.

The game went on to become one of Activision's highest pre-ordered games in history and the platform created for the campaign continuing for future game releases.

For a full breakdown of all the details to this very large campaign, click here.

> Launch Project

3 Mobile Shop & Online Styleguide

3 Mobile required a new modern facelift to their existing online store and shopping experience. My role was to design this online store from the ground up, starting with wireframing and concepting before moving onto the design phase with user-testing and final development.

I also designed and developed an online styleguide that would serve as a creative and web development tool facilitating the creation of the 3 Shop website into the future.

The online store is no longer live since Vodafone's merger with 3 Mobile.

> View the online Styleguide

Splice Real Fruits - Dave & Amber Get Real

My primary role in this campaign included the design of the website, all online media as well as the start and Endcards of the series videos.

> Launch Project

Lean Pockets - Quesadilla Breaks Game

Quesadilla Breaks is a series of mini games that fill in the 3 minutes it takes to prepare a LEAN POCKETS® Stuffed Quesadilla!

The initial creative direction to the game was done by myself and finished off with some other senior designers at Soap. This was a really fun game to work on and an enjoyable game to play.

> Play the Game

Cornetto NineMSN OTP Takeover

This full-page Rich Media Takeover Ad was created for NineMSN's homepage in Australia and took across the creative direction that was shared in the campaigns viral videos and website into the media placement. The result see's Ninemsn's homepage being chopped through to reveal Cornettos goodnees from top to bottom.

ARIA Awards Website (2007-2009)

The ARIA Awards recognise excellence and innovation across all genres of Australian music. My role was to design and develop the website that could be easily updated each year with new branding and sponsors and present each years nominated artists for the public to see. The site was built in HTML and used Flash elements to bring the site to life.

Hitman Challenge Flash Game

Players could either play individually or join a team in order to gain the most points possible. Each day users would have 10 games in which to train. Your score accumulates over each game. The more times you play the bigger your score and the better chance you have of winning a trip to any music festival in Australia.

> Play the Game

Tourism Western Australia - The Real Australia Website

The Real Australia website aimed to showcase 14 destinations in one large site to help sell Western Australia to the UK market. After a successful launch they had a new direction in there branding and I was required to make these reflected changes to the site.

As well as the website design, I was also responsible for the design and flash animation of the rich media that promoted TWA's fantastic locations.

Willow Park Riding School

Clubbers Premium Lager

Living CSU Interactive CD-Rom

Hi there, my name is David Weir, I’m an Creative Designer at SMG Studio in Los Angeles, with over 15 years of professional digital design experience. My expertise lies in UI, UX, web design, animation and mobile games, however I am also experienced in print design and have done many projects for clients ranging from branding and identity work through to TV commercials. I also love photography and am currently working on a project titled '100 Strangers' - you can see the full project here.

I've received awards for many projects during my time at Soap Creative and Ludomade including IAB, Creative Showcase, FWA, AIMIA, MIXX, Webby's and more.
Outside of design I’ve also represented NSW and Australia in Karate and won two World Titles in 1997. I have a passion for golf, art, photography, woodworking, and the country lifestyle where my career all began.

If you have a projects you would like to discuss or just want to say G'Day, drop me an email and we can chat.