We’ve always been a little different from your average web design or graphic design agency. We have an unusual name for a start and we’re very much into making cool stuff.

2008 saw us working with an Auckland company, Mintshot, that was also into making cool stuff. We were fortunate enough to be offered the job of redesigning their web site as well as being offered the opportunity to develop a range of interactive games for them.

The first few games were variants of a popular “Find the prize and win it” theme. While the last two involved guessing a boarding pass number to win a flight to the gold coast and disarming a bomb to stop your prize from being blown to kingdom come (we really enjoyed this one ;)

All of these games were integrated into a live scoring system managed by a remote service that monitored to see if a user had won the prize. Basically, every time a user had an attempt, that attempt was checked to see if it was the lucky one … and a success or try again signal was returned (no cheeky random number generation stuff here).

Martian made all the graphics, the flash components, the animation, the visual effects, the 3d imagery and even the odd sound effect here and there … great fun indeed and truly a great way for us to push our boundaries.

I’ve updated our portfolio to include some of the flash interactive work that we’ve created and you can get to it right here.

About a year ago, 3 mates launched an innovative concept for a ‘world first’ business idea which aimed to reward Kiwi’s for interacting with New Zealand’s best brands. The web site was www.mintshot.co.nz and it got off to a rather explosive start! (watch the video here http://www.mintshot.co.nz/about-us).

Recently Mintshot were looking to make some signifcant changes to their site and enlisted the help of RND Group to develop the systems and programming as well as ourselves, Martian Design & Interactive, to put the creative together and build the front end.

Nick and the team from Mintshot had a pretty clear vision for what they wanted to achieve with their new site. Build the Mint Shop, increase the value of the Mint dollar, introduce new games and much much more … so after an initial meeting we got to work putting the wireframes together.

The whole process spanned about 3 to 4 months and during that time we were responsible for the look and feel of the majority if the website, creating the html for the site as well as creating all the flash based components and user interaction.

One of the really interesting parts of this project was putting together Mintshot’s new Instant Win game. The concept is quite simple, choose a point on a map where the prize is hiding and if you click on it, you win it. Again we developed all the imagery, built the flash game and worked closely with RND Group to hook the game into the all knowing brain that manages the Instant Win system. Lots of fun and since going live that game has generated massive interest.

The Mintshot redesign was a great project to be involved with and we’re certainly looking forward to working with Nick and team in the future … perhaps for Mintshot version 3 ;)

As a side note, the three parties involved in this project were all located in different cities. Mintshot in Auckland, RND Group in Wellington and ourselves in Tauranga. We kept a tight schedule of conference call style meetings using Skype as well as using some great web based tools which gave us visibility over the entire project … Basecamp for project management, Unfuddle for bug tracking and Harvest for time tracking. These tools are very affordable and really make it easy to keep on top of projects. With a good broadband connection, the right tools and lots of coffee, distance need not be a hurdle anymore.

I recently had the pleasure of doodling up a concept character for Alsco, a leading international laundry/textile service.

The project was obtained through a website that allows illustrators to apply for international projects.

Although Martian was a newcomer to the site we were chosen by the client out of a list of 37 international applicants - proof that a boutique design company in New Zealand can stand up and be noticed in the world wide market place!

The Alsco character is fun to draw and I look forward to working with Alsco on the projects they have planned for the future.

Contact me at tony@martian.co.nz to find out about having a mascot developed for your business.

Graham Potter of Life Code came to the Martians with a plan. To help kids that are either on the wrong track or about to step onto it. To aid in this he was going to need some tools in the form of Workbooks, which is where we came in.

Graham outlined the style of imagery he wanted and “sha-zam”, the 12 page MyMatrix Workbook and complimentary Facilitator Book were born. Well, not just like that, there was a fair amount of effort and designery doodling involved too.

A pilot version of the program is now running with sets of the Workbooks being distributed along with the rest of the program material to Social Workers around the North Island. If all goes well the program will go nation wide and Graham will have the chance to see his idea change some lives for the better. To find out more about Graham and the work he does visit: www.lifecodematrix.com

If Martian were ever to design a car chances are it would look quite a lot like the incredible Carver One (pictured).

There is no doubt that the Carver One is a truly stunning feat of engineering and something that has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. There is nothing quite like zooming around corners at almost 45 degrees! You can’t do that in your porsche … well … not unless you’re 2 seconds away from putting it into a ditch.

We’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to be working with Peter from Carver New Zealand and have thus far put together a nice web page for those wishing to advertise on the Carver One (www.carveradvertising.co.nz), some sign-age for the Carver One and are currently in the process of producing some great material for his display at an upcoming lifestyle show.