Method

Congratulations to NBBJ on their new site redesign and launch! Method collaborated closely with the international architecture firm to help re-articulate their vision, resulting in this new online presence.

Overhauling NBBJ’s previously outdated and difficult-to-use Flash website, Method helped implement a new digital strategy to help them communicate their strengths and brand vision in more interesting and relevant ways.

With a more visually-oriented and modular layout, the new NBBJ.com tells the NBBJ story through bold thought leadership and impressive case study history that focuses on three main navigation items: work, impact, and ideas.

Method is proud to have worked with NBBJ to launch an all-new platform to help translate the firm’s architectural expertise, individual brand, and unique ideas. It was a pleasure working with them, and we’re so excited to see how well the design strategy has brought to life NBBJ’s inspiring and compelling story. In addition, we were pleased to help NBBJ craft a custom and unique CMS that is tailored to their workflow and is extremely easy for the NBBJ team to use.

Held globally, the TED conference is famous for bringing together top thinkers and artists around critical topics and fascinating themes.

Method is honored to have helped develop TED.com, opening up the conference’s acclaimed lectures and performances to a worldwide audience. From the very beginning of our work with TED, Method was inspired by the remarkable content presented in TEDTalk videos, which became a key feature in our design of the TED.com homepage.

Since launch, the site has become one of the most popular video sites on the web. In the first year, page views soared to 46 million. This week, TED celebrates one billion TEDTalk views!

To honor this milestone, TED and Mashable have curated TEDTalk playlists from notable members of the TED community. To get into the spirit, we made a list of the TEDTalks that have inspired, entertained, and educated our team.

What are some of your favorite TEDTalks? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @method_inc

Method’s Top 20 TEDTalks

Rodney Mullen: Pop an ollie and innovate!
Picked by: Patrick Ashmun, Client Services Coordinator

JJ Abrams: the mystery box
Picked by: Carolyn Weiss, Lead, Client Services; Ben Fullerton, Director, Interaction Design

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity
Picked by: Marc Shillum, Principal; Kaisha Hom, Designer; Mehera O’Brien, Director, Interaction Design

“When I was running a school, I showed this to all my students during the phase of the quarter at which they feel most insecure. Many of them thanked me after, saying they felt reassured and inspired again.” - Mehera

Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability
Picked by: Mehera O’Brien, Director, Interaction Design

Bobby McFerrin plays… the audience!
Picked by: Jeremy Juel, Interaction Designer

Hans Rosling: Stats that reshape your worldview
Picked by: Mark Roudebush, Interaction Design Lead

Kevin Kelly: The next 5,000 days of the web
Picked by: Reuben Steiger, Principal

“As one of the high-priests of early Internet culture, he calmly compares the Web to a brain in quantitative terms. About 5 minutes into the talk (given in 2007) he drops the epic quote: ‘So, in total, the Internet is roughly the size of ONE human brain. But your brains isn’t doubling in size every 2 years.’” – Reuben

Aimee Mullins: It’s not fair having 12 pairs of legs
Picked by: Grace Kim, Senior Interaction Designer

Alan Kay shares a powerful idea about ideas
Picked by: Ben Fullerton, Director, Interaction Design

Burt Rutan sees the future of space
Picked by: Ben Fullerton, Director, Interaction Design

Barry Schwartz: The paradox of choice
Picked by: Alexander Grunsteidl, Director, Interaction Design

“I read the book, but liked him actually talking about it in his own voice. Plus, his dressing style is representative of the spirit of TED. These ideas deeply affect my thinking about Interaction Design. Also, this is 2005 in the middle of the years we will look back to as having profound impact on how we act on and interact with our world enabled by broadband, wifi, iPhone, YouTube, Facebook, etc. etc. all emerging within a short timespan.” - Alexander

Nigel Marsh: How to make work-life balance work
Picked by: Derek Kim, Designer

Amy Cuddy: Your body language shapes who you are
Picked by: Melissa Martin, Senior Interaction Designer

Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish
Picked by James Lee, Insights

Brian Cox: Why we need the explorers
Picked by: Tomi Lähdesmäki, Design Lead

“Space is awesome, science is awesome and Brian Cox is awesome.” - Tomi

JR’s TED Prize wish: Use art to turn the world inside out
Picked by James Lee, Insights

Roger Ebert: Remaking my voice
Nikki Roddy, Marketing Associate

Marco Tempest: The magic of truth and lies (and iPods)
Picked by: Reuben Steiger, Principal

Reggie Watts disorients you in the most entertaining way
Picked by: Alis Cambol, Lead Interaction Designer

“Nobody has talked for this long and actually said nothing in the end, in the history of TED Talks.” - Alis

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders
Picked by: Kate Butchart, Client Services Lead

Having partnered with Method to launch ViewChange.org in 2010, Link TV came back to Method earlier this year to design an iPad news app that would allow readers to explore its rich library of international television news, raw videos, and documentaries.

With the Link TV team, Method helped to create the LinkTV World News, an app with an array of tools for news junkies who only want the most informative, relevant, and trustworthy information.

Launched in November 2012, we’re excited to report that in it’s first week, the LinkTV World News app reached #1 in the App Store “News” category! It has been extremely well received by the media, with major news sources and tech blogs raving about the app’s features. “LinkTV World News is basically an alternative video news outlet that can help you find stories you’ll likely miss if you spend most of your time on mainstream news sites and Youtube,” said NBC News.

For a deeper look at how Method designed the LinkTV World News app read the case study.

Download the app for free from the iTunes App Store!

NBC Politics launches their new app for the iPad and iPhone, bringing users inside the 2012 Presidential election through a collection of interactive tools, games, videos, reports and graphics.

Aiming to develop a news tracking app fit for individuals with different wants and interests, Method collaborated with NBC Politics to design a suite of tools and features to make news tracking a dynamic, interactive and personalized experience.

The app was designed to connect users with the political reporting team at NBC, allowing users to follow along the campaign trail to get real-time updates and highlights.

Housing many features and customization capabilities, the app gives individuals the power to track wherever, whenever and in the depth that they want it. Principal Ted Booth adds:

“We wanted to create a personalized and useful experience that allows people to actively participate in political dialogue in real-time while providing access to news and custom analytics tools all on mobile. We’re excited to deliver a political resource that allows people to engage at varying levels while crafting their own, unique elections 2012 experience.”

The resulting NBC Politics app, now available in iTunes, is informative and engaging, allowing various types of users, from political enthusiasts to casual followers, to understand, analyze, and participate in the political news cycle, starting with the 2012 election.

Learn more about our work with MSNBC here!

Designer/maker/seller of good design for the home, Heath Ceramics launches an all-new, redesigned website! Method worked with Heath to create a new online visual language and back-end structure that brings Heath’s brand offering and story into a cohesive online experience.

Focused on lifestyle and curating beautiful, as well as functional products, Heath needed to translate the essence of their company from their retail environments to an ecommerce experience that retained the same brand value.

Method saw an opportunity to integrate the stories and inspirations behind the products to create a digital showroom that would educate, inspire, and guide visitors. Method Design Lead, Adam Weiss adds:

“Heath Ceramics represents a lifestyle dedicated to creation, sustainability, and timeless classics. The Heath brand is larger than just ceramics; embracing this fact, Method updated the typography on the site and created a visual structure that complements – rather than duplicates – the eclectic and personality rich product and lifestyle content.”

The result is an all-new modular system that is organized around use cases as well as product categories. The site focuses on highlighting the aspects of Heath that speaks to their appreciation for lifestyle, aesthetic and functionality. Placing what Heath makes at the forefront of the web experience, the new site reiterates Heath’s look and feel, giving its customers the opportunity to explore and discover in a delightful and simple ecommerce platform.

Method had the opportunity to work on the identity and interface for Viggle, an all-new product from Function(x). Viggle is essentially a loyalty program for television, allowing uses to “check-in” to TV shows and accure points that they could then cash in for real, tangible awards.

Method worked to design Viggle’s identity and application interface. Since it’s launch in February, the app has been widely received, with Fortune 500 companies such as Verizon, Pepsi and Unilever signing on to reach customers via the Viggle platform. Ad-age reported on its recent success.

For more information on our design process for Viggle, read our case study here or try the app for yourself, now available for download!

Very pleased to announce that our work with AIGA has won the Communication Arts 2012 Interactive Annual and has also been selected to be featured in the March/April 2012 issue of Communication Arts Magazine.

For the past few months, Method has been collaborating with renowned Finnish textile and fashion house, Marimekko, to help roll out their launch in the US (including the recent US e-commerce site launch). We are excited to announce that the US flagship store will be opening in October 2011 in New York’s Flatiron District, in the “toy building” on the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway at 200 Fifth Avenue (next to Eataly!).

Even now, before the store has opened its doors, Marimekko’s bold patterns and colors have arrived to the Flatiron District! The storefront is featuring a custom piece of art designed by Marimekko designer and freelance illustrator Aino-Maija Metsola. For her piece, Metsola was inspired by culturally adapting Marimekko prints and colors arriving in the lives of New Yorkers. She drew reference from the Flatiron District and the artwork depicts an atmosphere of everyday life in New York with parks, birds, squirrels, people, magnolias, milk shakes and blossoming cherry trees. Vibrant and cheerful, the purpose of the artwork falls in line with Marimekko’s mission to bring happiness and joy to one’s every day. Marimekko’s goal was to maintain and respect the integrity of the beautiful area while lifting the spirits of those in the neighborhood.

In anticipation of the opening of the new Marimekko Flagship store in New York City, Method worked with Marimekko to direct a sneak peek video of the store facade being installed.

Watch the video that Method directed. We’ll see you at the Marimekko store in October!

Today’s Co.Design featured an article on how The Gap’s logo debacle shows how logos are no longer key to brands. I disagree.