half-a-second studios LTD

The Selfcare Library is a database of material that has the core aim of helping people to make complementary healthcare choices for 12 common conditions at launch, with more to be added early 2012 and beyond. In a fast-moving sector, where new evidence is being found on a daily basis, the bespoke CMS allows for the SCL team to add treatment options, supportive references and a rating to give an indication of how strong the evidence is for any particular option and thus allowing users to make informed choices about their supportive healthcare decisions.

Intrinsic to this process is the selfcare pathway that asks users to assess their selfcare requirements by means of a set of online questionnaires that use an algorithm to process the results before suggesting treatment options based on the preferences indicated in the results of the questionnaire. It is in this way that the selfcare-library takes a proactive approach in assessing the needs of the user and enables them to collate selfcare information tailor made to their individual needs and preferences.

Delivery of the information has been both web and tablet-based with the iPad/iPhone application being able to be updated directly via the webserver, that is to say if the SCL team update the web server all external content delivery of SCL will automatically updated.

Our team's key role in SCL - beyond the graphic design - was to develop a CMS capable of tracking changes to a library of content that had contibutors from the University of Westminster, the College of Medicine and even the Department of Health. Crucial functionality was to allow the SCL team to add new conditions in the future as well as all the treatment options and supportive references with an interface that was not daunting for less computer-experienced members of the team.

It has been our priviledge to work on the Selfcare Library, and with website, iPad/iPhone app, supportive PDF and Android capability in development - has certainly been our largest project to date. We look forward to continuing to help SCL deliver the next generation of healthcare material.

Keziah Jones is a Nigerian funk singer/song-writer signed to Because Records in France. He approached us to come up with a completely new creative direction for his forthcoming album "Captain Rugged" set in the slums of downtown Lagos. The website needed to have all the energy that this unique city has and be a fun place for fans to visit and interact with the new release. We were also invited to consult on how to best make use of the new social media environment that is key to the ongoing success of anyone in the entertainment industry in the modern age.

Captain Rugged is a superhero and superheroes need comics! We therefore looked to create a comic book world in which he could operate. The story would also need to operate within a digital environment so had to work both on the web and also in an iPad/iPhone application. The type of animation used was chosen to maximise the impact within these sets of criteria.

Keziah Jones has an incredibly loyal and durable fanbase - but we wanted to find ways to get Keziah's music to a new generation of fans. To this end we have encouraged the use of the facebook group (linked in with other SM such as twitter and last.fm) to connect users who are only hearing the music for the first time. The response has been awesome and has helped Keziah connect with his fans on a whole new level and in a whole new way.

This project has been a great opportunity for us to work with an established artist and have creative freedom to create a whole world in which our superhero can operate, in combination with a website that can work effectively even under the most aggresive traffic. Later this year we will be offering the ability to broadcast gigs live via the web server and we look forward to helping Keziah Jones survive and thrive in the social media revolution.

fairy:FUNK

Arco-X is the name for a set of contemporary compositions orchestrated for a multimedia world with the grace of classical music and the groove of pop. It is the brainchild of Tony Cox who has been in the music industry for over 40 years and was the founder of the Sawmills studios in the 1970's. Our brief was to deliver a web presence that set the scene for this unique music.

One of the challenges of the website was to come up with a music player that both drove the overall design impact forward as well as being able to be used on iPads and iPhones - so no flash. To this end we developed a jQuery player (above) that allows you to play the music on a traditional stave but does not use any flash animation.

As with most of our websites the initial seed of the concept comes from the client. Tony wanted to use traditional music notation artistically reimagined in a cauldron-like rhapsodie - as if the notation itself was dancing in a dream.

Also key to the website was the contact form and a system for allowing download of the tracks after registration. Tony wanted to ensure that anyone who wanted to download the Arco-X mp3s had registered their email and what sector of the industry they were in before they could do this.

We have really enjoyed putting Arco-X together with Tony. It allowed us to do what we do best: combine a smart website that works across all platforms (even the dreaded IE6!) with a memorable and graceful graphic solution. The next stage of the project will be a marketing campaign and assisting Tony in starting an effective Facebook and Twitter presence for Arco-X.

ESCOP was founded in June 1989 as an umbrella organisation that represents national herbal medicine or phytotherapy associations across Europe, especially in their discussions with European medicines regulators.

In particular it produces state-of-the-art reviews of the therapeutic use of leading herbal medicinal products based on leading expertise across Europe. When ESCOP came to us in 2010 they needed a brand overhaul, new logo and a website that was able to collate all this material and distibute it digitally using an admin login area to upload the PDF, and automatically create the PayPal ® buttons that allowed the e-commerce functionality for the ESCOP monographs. Our system allowed for the admin team to do this quickly and easily, in combination with a system that only allowed 3 downloads of each particular piece of digital content.

Delivery of the information has been both web and tablet-based with the iPad/iPhone application being able to be updated directly via the webserver, that is to say if the ESCOP team update the web server all external content delivery of ESCOP will automatically updated.

Our team's key role in ESCOP - beyond the graphic design - was to develop a CMS capable of tracking changes to a library of content that had contibutors from all over Europe. Crucial functionality was to allow the ESCOP team to add new monographs with an interface that was not daunting for less computer-experienced members of the team.

It has been our priviledge to work on the ESCOP, and with website, iPad/iPhone app, supportive PDF and Android capability in development - has certainly been one of our largest project to date. We look forward to continuing to help ESCOP deliver the next generation of herbal academic material.