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Previously on Fubiz

• Pattern Matters
• Quotes Posters
• Musical Genre Posters

Copyright Fubiz™ – Suivez nous sur Twitter et Facebook

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Previously on Fubiz

• Art of the Serpent
• Hikari No Tokei Installation
• Tape Art

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Previously on Fubiz

• Dennis Rito – Unlimitxt
• EvansHouse
• Aerial Photography

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Previously on Fubiz

• Pixar Office
• Meet Meline
• Design Week Vancouver

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Previously on Fubiz

• Design Week Vancouver
• Sonar Animation
• Hybrid Medical Reel 2010

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Previously on Fubiz

• Lissy Elle
• Tokyo / Glow
• Design Week Vancouver

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Previously on Fubiz

• Sonar Animation
• Hybrid Medical Reel 2010
• The Light of Life

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Previously on Fubiz

• Tokyo / Glow
• Hammock – Breathturn
• Design Week Vancouver

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Previously on Fubiz

• Tokyo / Glow
• Hammock – Breathturn
• Design Week Vancouver

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Previously on Fubiz

• Chris Gilmour
• Alizée – Les Collines
• Sonar Animation

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In last than 1 month Vancouver will be releasing the 2010 Winter Olympic. The event is almost ready and the venues are counting the days to begin breathe sports everywhere. And one of the biggest hotspots will be the Richmond Olympic Oval, a project by Cannon Design and definitely worth of attention by its beauty and design.

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The Richmond Oval was built to be a venue and is intended to function as a future venue for community events, not only for the Olympic Games. The way its concept was created is pretty impressive, and already receive the LEED Silver Certification, that certifies its concern about sustainability seeking a design solution that optimizes energy use, environmental health, and aesthetic value.

© nick lehoux photography

Every visit to the Richmond Olympic Oval is awe-inspiring. Much was said about the visual impact of Beijing’s Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. While the exterior of these buildings was stunning, the interiors were rather pedestrian. The interior of the Oval is majestic. The use of wood and the vistas across the Fraser River to the mountains are utterly worldly. The unique integration of art and sustainable technologies in water collection and recycling is inspired. The Oval will remain a jewel of a legacy from the 2010 Games.” Chris Rudge, CEO & Secretary General, Canadian Olympic Committee

You can check these amazing photos below, and if you want to see the Oval in action by yourself there’s still time, the Olympic Games will begin in February 12! For more informations visit: vancouver2010.com.

© nick lehoux photography

© derek lepper photography

© bob matheson

© cannondesign.com

© nick lehoux photography

© hubert kang

© hubert kang

© hubert kang

© cannondesign.com

Thanks designboom.com for the tip.

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A Georgia family found they were logged into other people’s Facebook accounts on their phones last weekend due to a flaw in AT&T’s data routing. The error, seemingly caused by AT&T sending the wrong data to customers, hasn’t been widely reported before.

According to an Associated Press report, Fran Sawyer and her two daughters visited Facebook on their AT&T phones and found themselves logged into accounts they didn’t recognise. The three sent a mail from one of the unknown accounts to their own Facebook accounts to prove there was an issue.

The report also cites a second incident in November, where a 25 year old man celebrating Thanksgiving in Vancouver, Washington, found himself logged into a young woman’s Facebook account – both were using AT&T phones to access the site. When he emailed the woman in question, she replied that she had mysteriously been logged into the man’s account, too.

The AP writes:

Generally Web sites and computers are compromised from within… But in this case, it was a security gap between the phone and the Web site that exposed strangers’ Facebook pages to the Sawyers. Misconfigured equipment, poorly written network software or other technical errors could have caused AT&T to fumble the information flowing from the Sawyers’ phones to Facebook and back.

AT&T spokesman Michael Coe said its wireless customers have landed in the wrong Facebook pages in “a limited number of instances” and that a network problem behind those episodes is being fixed.

Given that there are only two reports of the issue, we’d urge caution on worrying too much about this happening to you. It does, however, raise a new security spectre: regardless of how careful you are with your login information, a routing error at the phone network isn’t something users can guard against.

Tags: att, facebook

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It’s time for our best news of this week. We have a lot of graphic and web design, a bit of architecture, ads, tech news, awesome reads and other crazy stuff! So take a look at the links we’ve selected for your inspiration and to keep you updated about what’s going on out there!

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We want to give a big thanks to our sponsors:
Wix, ShutterStock, Taste of Ink Studios, W3-Markup, P2H.COM, VectorStock™, Billings, ThemeSnack and SiteGrinder. A special mention to Media Temple for the excellent service and support with Abduzeedo!

You can send me your suggestions via Twitter twitter.com/FabianoMe or twitter.com/abduzeedo, and include #abdz_best in the message.

Friday 01/15

150 + Creative Advertising Photos by Linus Schneider

Tweetdeck to allow users to communicate even when Twitter is down?

Entrepreneurs: It’s Not What You Do, It’s Why You Do It

Nike True City

PasteFire: This might just become your most used iPhone app.

Time to go in the Sea

Fantastic Information Architecture and Data Visualization Resources

Ajude o Haiti jogando FarmVille e Mafia Wars no Facebook

Progress Trackers in Web Design: Examples and Best Practices

Retro Vintage

Top Seven Fonts of 2009

NewsCred Relaunches, Looks To Become “Ning For Newspapers”

Logo Inspiration

Thursday 01/14

Does economic hardship increase innovation?

Sanjay Kothari Photography

Common Practices To Increase Returning Visitors

Stunning Abstract Black and White Photography

WooThemes Expands To ExpressionEngine; More Themes Coming

Megan Fox Ads for Emporio Armani

OfficePOD: The Prefab Home Office

The Evolving Online Finance Ecosystem

How and Where to Donate to Haiti (and Avoid Scams) [Relief]

Google Offers Satellite Images of Haiti, Post-Earthquake

A Gold Medal Win: the Vancouver 2010 Campaign

40 Excellent Websites Showcasing Expression Engine

Ateliers Ciudad de las Artes by Lucio Morini and GGMPU Architects

Wednesday01/13

See The Chinese Firewall In Action – Put On Chinese-Internet Tinted Glasses

The PS3 Hub

Wall + Roof Studio / Hutchison & Maul Architecture

Process of Redesigning N.Design

Juan Carlos Solon – Website & Blog Updates!

daniel libeskind: arduino tower

James Surowiecki, Author of Wisdom of Crowds, on Powering Crowdsourcing

Creative Advertising Photography by Fred Perrot

4 Fabric Inspired Vector Pattern Swatches for Illustrator

The Case Against Vertical Navigation

Tuesday 01/12

The Complete Guide to Getting the Most Out of Twitter

Microsoft calls Android ‘free like a puppy,’ we can’t decide if that’s a bad thing or not

GDrive Is Here-ish: Google Docs to Allow Users to Upload Any File-Type [Gdrive]

The Wright, Guggenheim Museum, New York

Doctype: Design Workflow and Amazon S3

Mobile Web Meets Internet of Things: Barcode Scanning

Não parece, mas é uma Starbucks

Flash Is Never Coming To the iPhone

Skip To Make Some Light

An iPhone Lover’s Take On The Nexus One

rafael vinoly architects: the new domino

ASettingSun+Johann+Bissonnette+Hecker

Google Brings Friend Connect, Social Features to Drupal & Joomla

Nakatomi Space

Monday 01/11

Study Claims That Newspapers, NOT Blogs, Still Dominate The News

8 Unconventional Ways to De-stress and Release Tension

eVolo Magazine #1

Peugeot RC1 concept car

iPhone Touchscreen Bests Nexus One, Droid in Accuracy Tests [Comparison Shopping]

15 Clever & Creative Billboard Advertising Campaigns

photorealist painter glennray tutor

The Starbucks Formula for Social Media Success

In Defense of Vertical Navigation

Stunning Under Water Photography

When lightning strikes the tallest building in the world

Passarella Death Squad T-Shirt Designs

A Basic Guide to Photoshop’s 3D Tools

This Will Be The Year Adobe’s 2 Million Flash Developers Come To The iPhone

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Months of research and strategic involvement bring us a clean & focused look for the familiar theme, giving the ancient Olympic brand a surprisingly ‘current’ feel. This look is perpetuated through an exceptionally executed campaign which seamlessly encompasses both traditional & new brand elements and some truly inspiring illustrations.   See for yourself:

Vancouver 2010 Olympic Logo

Illustrated Vancouver 2010 Website Homepage

Illustrated Twitter Account Page:@FollowtheFlame

Illustrated Twitter Account Page: @2010Tweets

Event Signage

Poster/Banner Designs: With Glowing Hearts

Poster/Banner Designs: Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom

Poster/Banner Designs: Ski Jumping

Poster/Banner Designs: Para Alpine Skiing

Poster/Banner Designs: Bobsleigh

Poster/Banner Designs: Biathlon

Remembering Vancouver 2010’s Design Director “My name is Leo Obstbaum, and I am a dreamer.”

The Design Director of the project: Leo Obstbaum passed away August 21st 2009 at the age of 40, he died of natural causes.

With the Vancouver Olympics as his last project, it effected me deeply to realize that his final designs will reach and touch the world. We only wish he could have been here to see it with us.

One of his very good friends Mark Busse wrote a detailed article about Leo after his passing. You should read the article over at GDC/BC Blog.

Need More Vancouver Info?

Vancouver 2010 Brand and Image

Olympic and Paralympic Games design has a long tradition of creativity and excellence. Each Organizing Committee tries to visually capture the Olympic and Paralympic spirit, while telling the unique story of the host region and country.

Vancouver 2010 Graphic Identity

The Host Country of every Olympic and Paralympic Games tells a unique story of culture and imagination through design and artistry. The Vancouver 2010 graphic identity seeks to unify and beautify the Games with a consistent look and feel throughout all its environments and communications.

Transmoflection – A video about the research put in

The Story of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Emblem

Olympic and Paralympic Games design has a long tradition of creativity and excellence. Each Organizing Committee tries to visually capture the Olympic and Paralympic spirit, while telling the unique story of the host region and country.

Vancouver 2010 Pictograms and Sport Illustrations

Pictograms are icons representing each sport and are found on maps, signage and other communications and creative applications. Every Olympic and Paralympic Games Host Country has added its own unique design to its pictograms.

Social?

@2010Tweets

@followtheflame

@code2010

Vancouver 2010 on Facebook

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Your Creativity.
Fuel Your Creativity 2009 cc (creative commons license)

A Gold Medal Win: the Vancouver 2010 Campaign

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With Glowing Hearts

Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom

Ski Jumping

Para Alpine Skiing

Bobsleigh

Biathlon

Illustrations Integrated into Vancouver Homepage

Illustrations Integrated into the Twitter Accounts

@FollowtheFlame

@2010Tweets

“My name is Leo Obstbaum, and I am a dreamer.” Remembering Vancoucer 2010’s Design Director

While doing research about the Vancouver 2010 Graphics I made a sad discovery. The Design Director of the project: Leo Obstbaum passed away at the age of 40. His final day, August 21st 2009 and he died of natural causes. It touched me deeply because after looking through so many different image threads and slides to see his deep involvement with the project and know he is not here to witness its outcome. One of his very good friends Mark Busse wrote a detailed article about Leo after his passing. You should read the article over at GDC/BC Blog.

Need More Vancouver Info?

Vancouver 2010 Brand and Image

Olympic and Paralympic Games design has a long tradition of creativity and excellence. Each Organizing Committee tries to visually capture the Olympic and Paralympic spirit, while telling the unique story of the host region and country.

Vancouver 2010 Graphic Identity

The Host Country of every Olympic and Paralympic Games tells a unique story of culture and imagination through design and artistry. The Vancouver 2010 graphic identity seeks to unify and beautify the Games with a consistent look and feel throughout all its environments and communications.

Transmoflection – A video about the research put in

The Story of the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games Emblem

Olympic and Paralympic Games design has a long tradition of creativity and excellence. Each Organizing Committee tries to visually capture the Olympic and Paralympic spirit, while telling the unique story of the host region and country.

Vancouver 2010 Pictograms and Sport Illustrations

Pictograms are icons representing each sport and are found on maps, signage and other communications and creative applications. Every Olympic and Paralympic Games Host Country has added its own unique design to its pictograms.

Social?

@2010Tweets

@followtheflame

@code2010

Vancouver 2010 on Facebook

Sponsored by

Advertise on Fuel Your Creativity.
Fuel Your Creativity 2009 cc (creative commons license)

Stellar Vancouver 2010 Illustrations

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Illustration by Fabien Barral commissioned by Brandever for
Backyard vineyards. Fabien says:

“The winery is located just outside of metro
Vancouver, BC, Canada, hence the name and the illustration! Brandever
always has amazing concepts behind their work, and I am so pleased to
have participated in one of them.”

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! by Dacosta!

purple mountain by MisterISK

Temptation by Alexey Bakhtiozin

Tom Middleton Flyer by SEKOND

Ice Cream Van by SEKOND

Merry Xmas!!! by Lorena Alvarez

adhika rahmani

Vancouver 2010 Campaign

Boobs by Jen Lu

Universe, I love You by hassmework

The Great Recycler by aphaits

The Dark Night of the Soul by Dmitrii Brigidov

Vincent by Dxtr

When life gives you limons! by Dxtr

Steven Bonner

bboy stance by PhillyPhats

The God of Creative Juices by cronobreaker

Le Bandit du Patinette by JrDragao

Mia Maestro by sqt

Rafael Barletta

Sergio Laskin

Cerebrum Apocalyptica by DUZA

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Previously on Fubiz

• Fubiz Interactive
• Best-of Fubiz 2009
• Vancouver 2010 Campaign

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Today Cisco announced new customers, features, and professional service options for the Cisco Eos social entertainment platform. The company also announced that it is providing a medianet (a media-aware IP video network infrastructure) to NBC during the network’s coverage of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Winter Games, February 12-28.

"Video is rapidly expanding from a lean-back experience confined to the living room, to a new breed of exciting video experiences available on any device or screen — anytime, anywhere," said Ned Hooper, chief strategy officer and senior vice president, Consumer Business at Cisco. "The network is the platform to make this happen, and as a result, we are enabling new experiences that allow consumers to easily capture and share their lives and connect with the people and content that matter most to them."

Cisco also announced today its data for Flip Video obtained during the 2009 holiday season, which highlights huge growth in video usage over the past year. The company says, "There were more than one million Flip Videos uploaded through FlipShare software in December 2009. These uploads represent three million minutes of Flip videos viewed, which is equivalent to more than six years of continuous video streaming, representing an increase of 395% from December the year before. In addition, there were 42,000 gigabytes of video streamed in December, up from 525% the year prior, indicating an increase in HD video usage."

Cisco says it will be sharing its vision and progress towards developing an "entirely new category" of video communication called “home telepresence”, while at CES. This uses consumers’ existing HDTV and broadband connection to deliver a unique natural video communication experience from the living room, according to the company.

"With Cisco’s best-in-class telepresence technology and networks such as Verizon’s advanced, all-fiber-optic network, we believe we will deliver a video communication experience to consumers unlike anything they’ve seen before," said Marthin DeBeer, senior vice president and general manager for Cisco’s Emerging Technologies group. "Home telepresence will make a difference in consumers’ lives by allowing them to enjoy natural video communications with family and friends wherever they are located. To ensure that early home telepresence users will have plenty of friends and family to communicate with, in addition to calling other home telepresence users, they will be able to place calls to PCs using a webcam and video chat service."

More details about Cisco’s announcements can be found here and here.

Watch for more WebProNews coverage of CES, with exclusive video interviews coming soon.

Related Articles:

> CES About to Kick Off the Year in Technology

> The Truth About CES

> Looking Back on CES

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Questionable Characters

Kyan Media

Crush + Lovely

The Flower Company by Babel Design

Carolina Torres

Radius ‘10

Made by Mighty

Helvetiq

CNN

The Incredible Journey

Had a nice day?

Wienerschnitzel Chili Cheese Fries Eating Competition

Vinseum

SpecWatch

Culinary Culture

Mama’s Sauce Business Cards

This Year I will

Sketchen

Vancouver 2010: Ski Jumping

Don Pendleton – Cubism

Music ID

DesignWorks

Predictions?

What do you think will be prevalent in 2010? I think these colors will play a roll in some way. Maybe just as secondary colors, but I still see big, bold, bright colors from the design industry.

Sponsored by

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Fuel Your Creativity 2009 cc (creative commons license)

PANTONE is blowing up in 2010

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There are different ways that we remember a website.

1. The Content
   We remember Smashing Magazine, Web Designer Depot, and other blogs because we go to those websites daily for their great content.
2. The Design
   Some websites have extremely creative designs. These websites are easy to remember as well.
3. The "Wow" Factor
   Sometimes, while looking at a website and browsing through its pages, we will see something that will make us say "Wow!" It could be a simple transition, a background change, a color switch, or even a unique animation that will cause us to remember the website. That is what I call the "wow" factor.

The "Wow" Factor

"It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."

- Coach John Wooden

I believe that the "wow" factor is very important in web design. It is what can set your website apart from the myriad of different websites in your industry. By the way, this doesn’t have to be anything mind-boggling or extremely complicated, just something simple but clever will do the trick. This will definitely leave a lasting impression on your viewers and will make them remember your website.

While there are plenty of websites that make use of this technique, I have gathered 10 well-designed websites with clever little details that made me say "Wow!"

Analog

Analog is a company of friends who make web sites. It’s a co-operative where imagination, design, and engineering thrive; good people doing good work. The website is very simple, but it definitely gets the job done.

The “Wow” Factor

Try pressing Alt+G and see what happens. Also, mouse-over the mugshots.

Face

Face is an intelligence-driven multidisciplinary design studio, based in Monterrey, Mexico whose work range includes design solutions, advertising, editorial projects and custom publishing, corporate identity and brand development. The site is very minimalistic, and at first look, it doesn’t seem to be exciting at all.

The “Wow” Factor

Mouse-over the navigation and you’ll be surprised.

Flourish

Flourish is a full-service design studio with a decided focus on the Web. With additional experience in brand identity, print design and photography. This is probably one of my favorite websites in the internet. It is well designed and it has some great details that really make you say "wow!"

The “Wow” Factor

When clicking one of the 4 red banners, the tree changes. Also, the featured projects slider is great.

HutchHouse

The Hutchhouse team have a mass of real life web design experience creating interfaces for simple brochure websites through to eCommerce, intranet and social networking sites. I love the giraffe illustrations in this website.

The “Wow” Factor

On the top right corner, try switching the theme and you will see the giraffes in different environments. They have a space theme, a night theme, a jungle theme, and a depth theme.

Komodo Media

Komodo Media is a tiny web design studio and blog created, inspired by and maintained by Rogie King.He specializes in illustration, identity design, jQuery, JavaScript and is somewhat of a CSS/xHTML freak. He is pretty good with databases, PHP and Flash, but his heart loves and lives in the design and front-end scripting world.

The “Wow” Factor

Most of you have probably seen this website already, but the "wow" factor is definitely the foliage-o-meter. I still haven’t seen any website do anything similar to what he has done.

Riot Industries

Riot Industries is the personal portfolio of designer Phil Renaud. He is a dual citizen, born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, which is basically Canadian Detroit. The website has a very nice texture to it, and the color palette really works well.

The “Wow” Factor

Mouseover any of the project thumbnails and the title will quickly slide out. Very neat effect!

Traffik

Traffik is a CMS for designers, built for business. Traffik offers supperior creative liberty compared to other CMS products. Finally a content management system that doesn’t hinder your CSS talents or your coding deficiencies!

The “Wow” Factor

At first glance, the website background just has a normal bokeh design. Try moving your mouse around it and the fun begins.

Work[at]Play

Work at Play builds digital experiences that are capturing the engagement generation. They specialize in building interactive social-networking applications, virtual marketplaces and unique digital content for the web. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Work at Play was recently recognized as one of the region’s fastest growing companies.

The “Wow” Factor

I really like the way that they did the work section. Try clicking on one of the projects and you will see a cool 3D, rotating effect.

Yaili

Yaili is the website of Inayaili de León a web designer from London, England. She takes a lot of pleasure in coding other people’s designs to make them work online.Her code is as beautiful as her designs.

The “Wow” Factor

The bottom area of her website is wonderful. Try dragging the different sections around. Also, the way that her work section is laid out is excellent.

Eric Johannson

Eric Johansson is a Swedish designer. I really enjoyed viewing his website. The whole design is very enjoyable and you will definitely remember this website.

The “Wow” Factor

Ok, this one is a secret. I won’t tell you what happens, but just drag the scroll-bar to the right to see something really cool, I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

Which of these websites made you say “wow?” I only showcased ten websites because I didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much content. What are some websites that you remember because of the “wow” factor? I’d love to have an interesting discussion about this subject so feel free to contribute to the discussion. Thank you for reading the article. You can follow the Design Informer on Twitter here.

No related posts.

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Previously on Fubiz

• Jr Canest 2009
• Flickafreak Showreel 2009
• The Road

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By Aquil Akhter

In the film and motion picture industry, nearly every major release utilizes some form of special effects. Some movies make minimal use of such effects, while others present plots and storylines that depend almost entirely on computer generated images. Examples of movies that have captivated audiences with special effects include the well-known science-fiction film The Matrix and the fantasy-based Lord of the Rings.

In this post, we’ve compiled a list of 17 unbelievable and implausible visual effects “show reels” from a variety of artists and professionals, demonstrating the virtually unlimited possibilities presented by complex computer effects and animations.

Visual Effects Show Reels

The Best of the Best 2009 Autodesk Show Reel
A compilation reel of visual effects and animation work created by artists from around the world using Autodesk Media and Entertainment software.

Visual Effects Reel 2009
This reel showcases the effects work that Chris Wombold has done in RealFlow and Maya, as well as the TD work he has done. Projects worked on include Tezcatlipoca, Rock in the Road, and the Lost Sheep.

Visual Effects for Transformers; 2012; LOTR….
The official show reel of Digital Domain, a special effects company that makes computer generated images (CGI) for commercials, movies and games.

CINEMA 4D Demo Reel Siggraph 2008
On this inspiring new demo reel you’ll see some amazing animation made using CINEMA 4D. It includes award-winning visual effects and titles for well known shows such as Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune.

‘2012′ Trailer HD
A trailer for 2012, Roland Emmerich’s fictional disaster adventure movie with breathtaking and eye-popping special effects that made this film an amazing experience on a large screen. The stunning visual effects include mass destruction scenes, tornadoes, tidal waves, earthquake scenes, volcano scenes, a spectacular shipwreck, and the destruction of the White House — absolutely breathtaking!

VFX Demo Reel – Vancouver Film School
A demo reel created by Vancouver Film School student Gianfranco Valle through the VFS 3D Animation and Visual Effects program.

Tree of Life
A visual effects piece involving advanced green screen tracking and compositing, with integration into a 3D landscape created with VUE Infinite. The soundtrack is from the film, “The Fountain”, and really adds an extra layer of depth to the project.

Digital Domain Company Demo Reel
A mind-blowing company demo reel from Digital Domain

Visual Effects Compilation
Beautiful and disturbing visual effects compilation by Simon Hannon (iggy35). Once you start, you cant stop watching this.

RvD2: Ryan vs. Dorkman 2
For Star Wars fans — the hotly-anticipated sequel to the original YouTube phenomenon.

A Visual Effects Reel – Vancouver Film School
An effects reel created by Vancouver Film School student Drew Marwick through the VFS 3D Animation & Visual Effects program.

Nick Campbell (GreyScaleGorilla) Showreel 2008 + Selected Works
This is not just a normal showreel feature, this reel sums up the (old) works of motion designer Nick Campbell (a.k.a GreyScaleGorilla).

John Adams Visual FX
This show reel features beautiful Visual Effects from the HBO miniseries John Adams.

The FX Movie
A tribute/parody to visual effects, including references to Star Wars and Quantum Leap.

Eric Acsell VFX Reel
A wonderful visual effects showreel from Eric Acsell.

The Incredible Hulk Visual Effects Featurette
Mind-blowing visual effects from the Incredible Hulk movie

Peter Banoub 3d and VFX showreel
A beautiful compilation of visual effects.

Conclusion

We hope you were inspired by the creativity and talent demonstrated in this showcase of visual effects. If you know of an interesting effects showreel or similar compilation, please share it in the comments below.

Further Resources

• 41 Diabolically Awesome Demo Reels
• 16 Killer Motion Graphics Demo Reels
• Spectacular VFX and Design Studio Roundup
• The Ultimate Motion Graphics Tutorials Round-Up

(ll)

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Last month, we wrote about Coca-Cola’s Expedition 206 campaign, in which the company uses social media to pick three individuals to travel the world in 2010, who in turn visit all 206 markets where Coca-Cola has a presence.

Along the way, the “Happiness Ambassadors” will take photos, make videos, send out updates on Twitter and Facebook and connect with individuals around the world.

Yesterday, at the World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta, GA, Coca-Cola announced the winning Expedition 206 team. Online voters from all over the world picked Tony Martin, Kelly Ferris and Antonio Santiago — Team The MIX — to go on the remarkable trip. Coca-Cola invited Mashable to the event and we got a chance to talk with the winners and some of the Coca-Cola team members who put the whole campaign together.

Big Brands Go Big With Social Media

We’re constantly seeing new examples of big companies — and big brands — embracing and using social media to connect with customers. Still, it’s impressive to see a company the size of Coca-Cola, not only talk the talk, but actually follow-through. At lunch yesterday, we got a chance to hear about the origins for Expedition 206 and it became very clear that Coca-Cola gets social media.

The idea for Expedition 206 was kick-started by Clyde Tuggle, the senior vice president of Global Public Affairs and Communications for Coca-Cola. This is interesting for two reasons: 1) this initiative started from the top — the higher-ups didn’t have to be convinced of the power of social media and 2) this blurs the traditional lines and roles that exist between PR and marketing teams.

Tuggle made it clear that Coke knows that they don’t own the brand — the consumers own the brand. Thus, who better to trust to spread the message of happiness than those consumers? Mr. Tuggle reiterated the importance of authenticity, accountability and transparency when communicating with customers and is committed to making sure those are key parts of the Expedition 206 adventure.

The Winners

Team The MIX, Tony, Kelly and Antonio come from different backgrounds but are ready to work together to share the message of “Open Happiness” with the world. Tony is from Washington D.C., but has lived in Germany for the last two years, working as a kindergarten teacher. Kelly is a university student from Brussels who was born in South Africa. Antonio is a university student from Mexico City and has also spent time in Peurto Rico. Between the three of them they speak eight languages — which should come in handy when traveling around the world.

All three winners are already well versed in social media. The team utilized Twitter and Facebook to garner votes for their team. It paid off too — 75% of the votes came from outside of the United States. Tony told me that they really want to push the boundaries of what they can do with the social web. Using video, photography, blog postings, Twitter, and social networks, the three will be sharing their adventure with the world as it happens.

After the media blitz ends, Tony, Antonio and Kelly will head back home to tie-up loose ends and will meet in Madrid on January 1, 2010 to start their 365 day journey around the world.

The Trip

With Expedition 206, Coke is really doing something unique. Not only are they letting the winners travel the globe to visit all 206 markets, they are going to utilize the social web along the way.

This is how it works: other than airfare, the team members will have to make their own way across the world. They have a schedule of stops, but they have to get their own food, find their own places to stay and meet up with the locals themselves. The team is going to be given per diem for food and local travel, but what they do and where they do it is pretty much up to the team members — and the people at home interacting with the Expedition 206 team online.

The team will be visiting the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the World Expo in Shanghai. They will be sharing their updates on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, and other social networking sites. You can follow the progress on those channels or see the real-time lifestreams at Expedition206.com.

Along the way, people at home can recommend places to stay or must-see attractions, restaurants to definitely visit — or avoid — and more. Who knows, if the team happens to be in your area — you might even want to meet up for a Coke or show them something cool in your area.

The whole trip is all about interacting with people around the world and sharing the idea of happiness and connecting on a personal level and making connections that can exist beyond just language.

The Future

Are campaigns like Expedition 206 the future of social media? We hope so. Although the scale of Expedition 206 is obviously larger than what most social campaigns can be, the idea of connecting people globally using social media and real-life contact is something we hope other companies embrace.

What do you think of Expedition 206? Will you be following the team’s progress as they make their way around the world?

Tags: coca cola, Coke, expedition 206

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It’s been an incredible journey so far… and I’ve enjoyed it immensely, and still am.

I started WDD out of my curiosity for blogging and my passion for design. I wanted to put my mark out there by pouring my design vision into the world.

Since WDD began, the blog has been visited by over 10 million people and that number is growing in leaps and bounds month after month.

Today, I’d like to share a few interesting details about myself and WDD, and I also have some very special birthday surprises in store…

Interesting (and not so interesting) facts

I normally don’t get too personal or share much of the behind the scenes going on here, but today’s a special day so let’s do something different… just for fun!

Here are some fun facts about myself and WDD that you may find amusing or completely irrelevant…

• WDD is run by myself, Walter Apai, out of beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia
• There are almost 250 articles published on the blog to date and over 16,000 comments
• WDD has been visited by over 10 million people in the past year
• The most popular post to date is: How To Choose The Right CMS
• The most linked to post to date is: Operating System Interface Design
• The most controversial post to date is: How Not to Design a Logo
• WDD has over 80k Twitter followers and almost 40k RSS subscribers
• The most difficult decision for WDD’s design was choosing the right background color
• In the past year I’ve received and sent over 20,000 emails
• Steve Jobs himself once sent me an email, too
• WDD has a mobile version available
• Most used software: Mail, Firefox, Tweetie, Skype, HootSuite, Photoshop, Transmit, Preview, iTunes and Stickies
• WDD has been redesigned multiple times, but the design changes have always been very subtle and gradual
• About 30% of articles written, approved and paid for, never get to be published
• The most traffic on a single day: 170k visitors
• Each week’s content is scheduled 1 or 2 weeks in advance
• I’m mostly criticized for not sticking to only ‘web’ design, yet web design is an extension of ‘design’.
• 55% of visitors use Firefox, 17% are on Safari
• 35% of visitors come from the USA, followed by the UK, Canada, Brazil and Germany
• WDD is published from a 24′ iMac and a 24′ Cinema Display
• Fortune 500 companies read WDD
• WDD articles are often used for teaching web design courses
• WDD is a Scorpio (and I’m a Pisces)

I’d like to thank the Academy…

Ehem, well, sort of…  Firstly, I’d like to thank all of you, the awesome readers who have supported the site throughout. Thanks for leaving those comments!  I mean, the nice comments, of course  :)

A second thank you goes to all the writers who have helped build the site up, as well as our chief editor, Andrew Lobo, who makes sure our articles are up to standard and that we don’t screw up by making horrendous spelling/grammar mistakes.

Last, but certainly not least, thanks to all the advertisers that have supported the site for the past 12 months and especially, a big thanks goes to Todd Garland from BuySellAds.com for getting great companies to advertise on WDD.

Ok, so that’s it for today…  well almost…. just ‘one more thing’…

One more thing…

We have some fantastic giveaways lined up for you as a thank you for your support. Here are some wonderful companies that are extending incredible prizes to celebrate WDD’s first year on the Web.

For a chance to win any of these prizes, simply leave a comment below about WDD (e.g. a general comment or what you have learned from WDD, how the blog influenced your design, your career, etc).

The winners and their prizes will be drawn at random and announced on November 18th, just one short week from today, so go ahead and leave a comment below (one per person only).

Woo Themes

Prize: 5 Developer Package themes
About: WOO Themes offers Premium WordPress Themes for all types of web publishers, providing top notch customer service.
Website: WooThemes

Flashloaded

About: Flashloaded provides top notch Flash components for Adobe Flash with outstanding customer service.
Prize: 5 Copies of 3D Wall
Website: Flashloaded

Smashing Magazine

Prize: 5 copies of the upcoming Smashing Book
About: Smashing Magazine is a great blog that has been delivering useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers since 2006.
Website: Smashing Magazine

Envato

Prize: 5 cash prizes of $100 to be used on any of the Envato marketplaces
About: The Envato Network has a number of awesome design blogs and runs many successful marketplaces for web designers, such as ActiveDen and Graphic River
Website: Envato

SitePoint

About: SitePoint is a fast growing online media company and information provider targeting the Web professional market, specifically Web Developers and Designers.
Prize: 2 copies of the book Principles of Project Management and 2 copies of The Art & Science of JavaScript
Website: SitePoint

Graphic Leftovers

About: A marketplace for designers, illustrators and other creative souls to sell their “leftover” artwork on the web.
Prize: 3 vouchers of $100 each
Website: GraphicLeftovers

Moo

About: MOO is a printing company. We print beautiful products, using images you’ve uploaded directly, or designs from our designer galleries.
Prize: 3 sets of cards
Website: Moo

Icon Dock

About: Icon Dock is brough by Nick La from N. Design Studios and Web Designer Wall. The site offers stock icons in vector and pixel format.
Prize: 5 Icon Sets
Website: IconDock

VPS

About: VPS Cloud Hosting – The Next Generation of Web Hosting. Build, test and deploy your website on the VPS.NET cloud in minutes and access limitless resources with instant scalability.
Prize: 3 Free VPS accounts for 6 months to the winners. For all WDD readers, 25% off first month with coupon “WDD25″
Website: VPS.net

Jeremy Tuber

About: Jeremy Tuber is the author of two great books for designers and freelancers
Prize: 2 copies of Being a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks and 2 copies of Verbal Kung Fu for Freelancers
Website: Being a Starving Graphic Artist

Once again, to participate in this giveaway, simply leave a comment below about WDD (e.g. a general comment or what you learned from WDD, how the blog influenced your design, your career, etc).

Thanks again for your continued support and here’s to another great year ahead!!!

If you find an exclusive RSS freebie on this feed or on the live WDD website, please use the following code to download it: k1sT2B

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I’ve been swimming for a couple of summers now, working ardently on my technique and cardio, and I’m still incredibly slow. So slow, in fact, that Michael Phelps could swim 500 m, get out of the water, order a hamburger, and read the morning news before I cross the same distance.

Speed putting, however, is another matter. Not that I, personally, would be any better at it, but perhaps some of you could beat Phelps in that particular discipline. And if you do, you could win a trip for two to the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games in February 2010 and a trip for two to the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in August 2010.

It’s a part of YouTube’s competition called “The Best of US Challenge“, where famous athletes go out of their area of expertise and try themselves at somewhat unorthodox activities. For example, gymnast Shawn Johnson tapped her ears, while doing a handstand, 54 times in 30 seconds, while sprinter Asafa Powell balanced a stick on his foot for two minutes and 30 seconds.

What you need to is record a video of yourself doing one of the feats described above (hopefully, faster and better than these famous athletes), and upload it somewhere between now and Sunday, November 15. Other rewards include T-shirts, video games and posters; if you’re interested, you can find detailed instructions on how to create and submit your video here.

Check out the video of mustache-sporting Phelps doing his record speed putting performance below.

Tags: competition, michael phelps, youtube

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In a mobile world where Android is currently king when it comes to new releases, we have the pleasure to announce that the Samsung Omnia II has become official in Canada. Bell has decided to make Samsung’s Windows Mobile 6.5 phone the official mobile device of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
(more…)

See: Samsung Omnia II Gets Launched [Bell Makes the Omnia II Official Mobile Device of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games]

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“Chambar Ale is the first of a new range of Belgian style beers produced by renowned Vancouver restaurant, Chambar. With a character that embodies the restaurant’s motto of ‘Civilized Debauchery’, Chambar Ale was crafted for pairing with great food and good friends. It’s a beer for those who love life’s finer things; a beer for the connoisseur.  With this in mind, the label design and production was critical to the beer’s positioning.  Designed by Glasfurd & Walker, the bespoke label is screen printed in 22ct gold, precious metal ink onto amber glass.”

Designed and sent in by Vancouver based Glasfurd & Walker. 

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According to the organization, Examiner will now provide localized content to those living in Calgary, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver. The company will also offer national content for all those not living in the five cities.

Examiner is growing up quickly since its launch in April 2008. Examiner now provides localized content in 162 U.S. cities, according to a company spokesperson. It plans to add 40 more markets in the coming months. With the expansion to Canada now under way, the spokesperson told me in a phone conversation on Wednesday that the company plans to bring its service to the U.K. and Australia by the first quarter of 2010.

Examiner’s foray into the Canadian market follows its strategy in the U.S. market, the spokesperson said. When it launched in the U.S., only five cities were covered. Today, local “examiners” are posting more than 15,000 stories per week.

Examiner is currently looking for Canadians who are “passionate about their interests and areas of expertise” to join one of the markets’ local sites. When Examiner chooses a writer, they provide training on how to write articles. All writers are paid based on performance and other metrics.

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Ambassador must be the word of the day. We just reported on Charmin’s quest to find bathroom ambassadors, Ford’s looking for Fusion ambassadors, and now Coca-Cola is looking for a few brand ambassadors themselves.

The Coca-Cola variety, however, are on a mission to find happiness in the 206 different countries that sell Coca-Cola products across the world.

With the Expedition 206 campaign, Coca-Cola is tapping regular people to be their “Happiness Ambassadors” and travel the world for the whole of 2010 and document their quest via blog posts, tweets, YouTube videos, TwitPics, and other social media mentions.

They’ve already narrowed down the playing field to 9 competitors, separated into 3 teams, and have just opened up the final selection process to you. You can visit the site, watch team videos, and vote once per day on your favorite between now and November 6, 2009. Here’s a video intro:

The winning three-person team will begin their journey on January 1, 2010 and attempt to travel more than 150,000 miles in 365 days, visiting each of the 206 countries where Coca-Cola is sold. On the way, they’ll get to experience the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, and the World Expo in Shangha. Their duty is to engage with local denizens and uncover what makes them happy, openly document and share their experiences online, and complete tasks in each country as determined by online voters.

It’s a pretty impressive undertaking, and one of the most unique and involved social media marketing and travel campaigns we’ve ever seen.

Image from IceNineJon on Flickr

Tags: coca cola, expedition 206, social media, social media marketing

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Canadian artists Corrine Hunt and Omer Arbel were the creative minds behind designing the Olympic medals. Although they clearly state that the entire process was collaborative, the original artwork was created by Corrine. I encourage you to watch the video of the making of the Olympic Medals here. You will notice they took pieces of the artwork to create unique and individual medals, no one being the same. The designs were laser etched into the metal surface, while the metal itself was formed from reclaimed electronic parts. This in and of itself is not only fascinating but also encouraging to see that all aspects of the creative and manufacturing process were considered.

The shape of the medals is also non traditional, it reflects the Northwestern landscape, rolling mountains and water.

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I grew up with shows like the Transformers, Thundercats and He-man – cartoons the likes of which many complain aren’t made anymore today. I remember the gratifying frustration of playing games like Zelda, Metroid and Mega Man in a time when strategy guides didn’t exist.

As a result of growing up in the 80s I get all warm and fuzzy inside every time I see neon color schemes, over the top shiny metallic typography and Tron inspired grid backdrops. At first I thought I was the only one with this absurd fetish but lately the web has me believing otherwise. Designers, illustrators and everyone in between seem to be picking up the 80s as a new trend for the coming years. So I did what I do best on Designfeedr, I scoured the interwebs and my hard drive for the hottest retro pieces the web has to offer.

Alex Trochut & Marta Cerda Alimbau

Barcelona based Marta Cerda Alimbau teamed up with Australia’s Alex Trochet to create these deliciously retro typography illustrations. I hear the illustrations were rejected by the client…what a shame.

• Alex Trochet
• Marta Cerda Alimbau

Sakke Soini

As the unofficial ambassador of retro illustration Sakke Soini knows like no other how to blend trendy elements (yes monkeys are considered a trend in design) with yesterdays color schemes and lighting effects. Sakke is currently working on a portfolio site, in the meantime you’ll have to make due with his Behance profile.

• Behance

Genaro de Sia Coppola

“Neon up your *ss” is how Genaro de Sia Coppola’s describes his own work on his DeviantArt account. Genaro’s bright neon and blacklight filled illustration style screams 80’s in a high pitched voice – now who would want his retro illustration any other way?

• DeviantArt

Sebastian Bentler

Germany based designer Sebastian Bentler has got his retro down. Funky washed out colors? Check. Lighting effects from another era? In abundance. Yesterday’s typography with a modern edge? Represented.

• Homepage

Joao Oliveira

Portuguese graphic designer and illustrator Joao Oliveira is currently studying communication Design and working as a freelancer. Joao has a style that looks influenced by the classic designers but isn’t afraid to dabble into more commercial and stylish regions of design and illustration when it suits his whim.

• Homepage

Adrian Unger

Adrian Unger is a twenty year old designer and illustrator living in the Greater Vancouver Region. His website Staydecent.ca is a project all on its own: Adrian uses the site to constantly experiment and remix to further learn and evolve his skills.

• Homepage

Will Consiglio

Will Consiglio, working under the name Theponderousmind, has an art style that is unmistakingly 80’s. I only have a link to his DeviantArt for you since info on the man is hard to find.

• DeviantArt

Nicolas Alexander

Nicolas Alexander is a French Canadian Graphic Designer working for MuchMusic in Toronto. On the sidelines he does freelance work in motion graphics and type illustrations, some of which have a very 80s inspired look and feel.

• Behance

kidplastik

Kidplastik is a designer based in Salt Lake City in the United States – I wish I could tell you more but the kid is rather low key as far as personal information goes.

• Homepage

James White

If Sakke Soini is Finland’s ambassedor of Retro Design than James White must be Canada’s. Floating somewhere between a designer, illustrator and artist James White always imbues his work with an unmistakable 80s look and feel.

• Homepage

Hannibal Chew

If the images below are any representation I think we can safely state that Poland based Hannibal Chew loves neon quite a bit. This 25 year old illustrator does not reveal much about himself unfortunately, nonetheless I’ve linked to his Behance for your viewing pleasure.

• Behance

Ed Price

Closing this showcase is talent designer Ed Price, living and working in Bristol in the United Kingdom. Ed has a mixture of styles going on in his portfolio that confirm two things – the man’s got skill and has his retro down like a pro.

• Homepage

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One more logo showcase, but in this one you really will need to look twice! Every logo is carefully picked with second thought and I think such logos are really hard to create. Get inspired, hopefully this article will help you to look different at logo creation – it’s not always just about typography, good looking font and nice animation.

You need to really deliver message to people and you need to deliver the RIGHT message – those are logos, which will be remembered. Of course it’s hard task, but this collection should help to get better!

1. Texas association of stolen children

Designed by Sibley/Peteet design

This one is my favorites logos and it is unforgettable! White playhorse which everybody knows and can recognize with black colored outline of child on the horse and black background which makes an illusion that child had disappeared. Amazing, what designers can create just from shapes and two basic colors!!!

2. Avid Technology

Designed by The Brand Union

Avid’s logo is composed of simple geometric shapes derived from the fundamental buttons of the digital audio and video solutions: volume up, volume down, play, pause, record and forward, signaling of the companies core audio and video offerings. Company’s name is spelled out in distinctive and abstract letterforms.

3.Bison, Vancouver

Designed by Seamoose

Logo design for rock band from Vancouver B.C. This logo is very intelligent solution in my opinion.All what designer did was take all the letters of the word BISON and make them look like a bison body. I like the way how the body details are found within the letters, as tail or horn. The version linked seems like a much easier execution.

4. Eight

Designed by Stylo Design

Really original and fresh logo design with variations of an 8 to made word eight. Even the placing of TM is placed in the right place to create an angle and clarity of the design.

5. One Degree

Designed by Landor Associates

This logo was created to drive public action on climate change. If everyone could change their behavior by just one degree, we could change the future of the planet. Both – number 1 and symbol of degree represents a person and meaning of conception.

6. Lets fix this

Designed by dache

This logo was created using different colored puzzle pieces locking together in the shape of a cross and represents how many parties can come together and fix their own problems in an online resource.

7. DJ Loop

Designed by mavleeb

Don’t need any explanation .Simple, smart and clear.

8. Friedman psychology group

Designed by Mugar Mihai

Butterfly, two faces, person with wings or maybe inkpot? Freedom of mind. Fantastic and awesome representation of the field it was designed for.

9. Guild of Food Writers

Designed by 300million

Logo for guild of food writers. Spoon within a true nibbled fountain pen. There is a meaning!

10. CSCN

Designed by Jovan Rocanov

The idea of this logo, which is designed for Consumer Society and Citizen Networks, of course was to show the protection of the consumers. There is combined a well-known symbol of the market such as the bar code (which graphically looks like the rain) with an ordinary umbrella (symbol of protection).

11. Push The Bottle

Designed by hemisferiod

Manipulation of the words within the clever graph representation.

12. Invisible Agents

Designed by AlexWende

They provide custom data driven web and application solutions and enables designers to incorporating their graphics into this solutions.

13. Piano Forest

Designed by JasonCho

You can see forest and piano keys and can see them together…So clever and clear!!!

14. Wiesinger Music

Designed by NEXQUNYX

This logo is the sort of simple excellence that can inspire. Great monogram. Smart solutions.

15. Logotomy

Designed by logotomy

Logo design for personal name. It speaks by itself and the opened forehead is what draws you into the surprise of a TM…

16. Tidy Tom’s

Designed by ohTwentyone

Great, captivating and very well balanced illustration! Quick recognition, and the strong horizontal and vertical orientation representing stability, integrity and spells out companies name.

17. Fold It

Designed by TKhoury

Can You Fold it? Do You see the integration of the F and I? Looks really slick and nice, great concept!

18. Frogami

Designed by chungdha

Origami frog and the word derived from origami and frog. Clever!

19. Shocked

Designed by Fogra

Powerful! Nice interpretation about socket and shock!

20. Foot

Designed by Houston-we

Foot with foot in the right direction. Surprisingly easy to be read!

21. Stephenson, M.D. Foot

Designed by WetDog

Logo for orthopedic surgeon specializing in feet.Nice mark – perfect and friendly for the name.

22. I Hate You

Designed by Sir-SiriX

Clever and well made logo, true power of typography. Playing with words we can reach stunning results, such I Hate You!

23. Horror Films

Designed by Siah Design

So simple logo but such great concept behind it. Could be a film reel, could be a mask. Fantastic!

24. Mill

Designed by North Design

The Mill is a post-production and visual effects company in the UK.! If the logo was seen only on its own it would not have the strength. Mill logo is hard to forget because of connection to The Mill – so strong and simple it is.

25. Antisocial network

Designed by mister jones

Logo for an anti-social network site, could not fit better. Don’t need any explanation, I think!

26. Summit

Designed by cerise

Logo for adventure wear brand.

I get associations with army wear, but concept is pretty good!

27. Uck

Designed by Karl-Design

Logotype Against Nazism and Racism. It is a bit provocative and says a lot really, but the logo is awesome!

28. Business-secret

Designed by Harshak Dmitry

Keyhole within a B. Unlock a secret of business! Nice and clever!

29. Shoeless

Designed by VikkiV

Excellent concept. Barefoot awoke an emotion to run to the beach.

30. Haggar Spring logo

Designed by Sibley Peteet Design

Made for spring line clothing collection. Fresh, nice and powerful!

31. Kite String Studio

Designed by eziemac

In origami style. Could see KS immediately. Great conception, nice look and smart!

32. Cafe Melody

Designed by Jure Klaric

Clean graphics displayed in this logo.full of mean, simple illustration… Nice coloring and typography, brilliant concept.

33. Sleep Records

Designed by Nima Jazireh

Very meaningful logo with great concept.

34. Round 5

Designed by junian Round 5, letters make up an icon.

I like the way how the fingers are found within a letters. Clever solution.

35. LocKey

Designed by Logomotive

A combination of the word Loc and Key. Smart logo.

Related posts:

1. 72 Creative And Smart Typographic Logo Inspiration
2. 25 Sources For Logo Design Inspiration
3. Logo Design Trends 2009 – Showcase
4. 12 Really Handy CSS Framework, Template And Snippet Sites For Smart Web Designer
5. 30 Logo Designs Using Gradient 3D Effects – Inspiration:Part 3

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Google's Street View is now live in Canada.

(Credit:
Google

Google announced on Wednesday that it has launched its Street View service to 11 cities in Canada, including Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa, among others.

Google Street View, which originally launched in May 2007, allows users to virtually navigate neighborhoods in 14 countries around the world. When the service first launched, it was only available in five U.S. cities.

Street View has come under some fire since its debut for the service’s alleged potential to infringe the privacy of those people found in its images. To address that issue in Canada, Google said in a statement that it “has gone to great lengths to ensure Canadians’ privacy.”

The company said that all the images in Canada’s Street View are already visible from public roads. Identifiable faces and license plates were blurred to ensure no one in the images could be identified. As with its other Street View services, Google’s Canadian Street View features a “Report a problem” link, allowing concerned users to request images be taken down.

Whether Google would ever be able to bring Street View to Canada was very much up in the air not too long ago. In September 2007, Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart wrote to Google saying that she was concerned that the service might violate her country’s privacy regulations. She believed that Street View could infringe Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, which went into effect on January 1, 2004.

For its part, Google said in the statement on Wednesday that it “consulted with Canada’s federal and provincial Privacy Commissioners in developing Street View and its privacy safeguards.” Evidently, that has helped the company bring Street View to the country.

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Let’s start with the Czech Republic, where coverage is a bit more limited in terms of total footage captured.  Indeed, most of the imagery is focused on Prague and a handful of nearby, smaller towns.  Then, perhaps one or two Street View drivers headed southeast and spent a little time driving around Brno.

It’s important to keep in mind that the Czech Republic isn’t a huge nation, however, so this still counts as a significant glance at the country.

Then there’s the Canadian coverage.  Calgary, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Quebec, Toronto, and Vancouver were all photographed, which means serious Street View fans have lots of opportunities for exploration ahead of them.  Although if you drag Pegman around, you’ll see that Canada, which is so huge, remains far from crisscrossed with blue Street View lines.

Anyway, the Street View privacy software appears to be working full force to protect license plates and people’s faces in Canada and the Czech Republic.  As you may have noticed in our screenshot, it’s gone the extra mile and made a statue of Sir Galahad anonymous, too.

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Google has significantly expanded its Street View coverage in the US and around the world since launching in 2007, but one country left out of the voyeuristic fun has been Canada.

That changes today, as the company is launching Google Street View in 11 different Canadian cities after bringing its service into compliance with the country’s privacy laws.

According to CBC, that includes automatic blurring of faces and license plates, as well as easy ways for users to request image removal. Other countries, like Greece, have requested similar modifications before allowing Street View.

For our uninitiated Canadian readers, Street View can used by dragging Google’s orange buddy icon to the steet where you’d like to see imagery, or by simply clicking the “Street View” link you’ll see for a specific location when pictures are available.

Google appears to be planning an event in Vancouver later today to officially unveil Street View. Meanwhile, Twitter search provides some amusing insight, as Canadian users for the first time get to discuss what Google was able to capture in their neck of the woods.

Tags: Canada, Google, google street view, privacy

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This move will leave about 600 people working in eBay’s German offices, so it doesn’t count as a complete gutting.  The fire vs. hire numbers add up to an obvious decrease in the total number of employees, however, so there’s no chance that everyone’s just getting transferred.  And that’s certain to create doubt about whether or not eBay’s customer service will actually improve.

But Deborah Davis, eBay’s vice president of customer service, defended the shift by claiming in a statement, "Creating a Centre of Excellence in Dublin mirrors the approach we are taking worldwide to focus customer support in key operational hubs.  Our goal is to improve service levels and responsiveness by better leveraging our expertise and knowledge."

eBay might be onto something, too.  Although there was some hubbub when the company chose to close a Vancouver customer service center in May and focus on a Salt Lake City facility, instead, we haven’t heard reports about anything catastrophic (or even unusually annoying) happening since.

It should be interesting to see how this turns out, then.  Shareholders should at least approve of the development as a cost-cutting measure.

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