The Story
Through Design™
Switch United is an independent Canadian studio that passionately explores interactive entertainment wherever it lives, online and offline. Specializing in multi-platform campaigns for entertainment and lifestyle related clients, the ‘creative sandbox’ recently amalgamated with branding leaders Fleming Design (est. 1983), bringing together a multi-disciplinary team passionate about great storytelling across mediums.
Whether it’s our recent work on interactive digital environments and multi-touch screens for the 2010 Olympics, our award-winning bicycle branding for Mountain Equipment Co-op, or our work bringing the vision of TV and film production companies to digital
platforms, Switch United remains focused on working at the intersections of motion and Flash design and applications, graphic design, environmental design, viral marketing and social media.
This scope and flexibility have provided the studio the opportunity to work with such industry-leading clients as OmniFilm, Brent Butt and Sparrow Productions, Nintendo of Canada, and Haddock Entertainment. The group was recently short-listed for the Banff World Television Awards’ Best Cross Platform Project for work on Ice Pilots NWT and won Judge’s Choice from Graphex for its MEC branding. If you’ve got a story to be told in an innovative way on multiple platforms, we’re up for the challenge.
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Applied Arts ‘Best in Motion’ Award Goes to Digital Gateway
June 14th, 2010Vancouver’s Olympics might be a fading memory but the 110-ft.-long interactive installation we created for the 2010 Commerce Centre at the BC Showcase is still getting ‘buzz’ via blogs, video channels, online articles, and more. Whether it’s the green architecture community, motion graphics experts, or themed event companies, our ‘people powered’ installation based on animated illustrations continues to interest people across a variety of industries. Most recently, the Digital Gateway won Applied Arts’ Photography & Illustration Awards in the Motion/Animation category. Get a glimpse of it in the latest print edition of the magazine or read about it in more depth on the Applied Arts Wire.
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Ice Pilots NWT Shortlisted for Rockie Award’s Best Cross-Platform Project
April 15th, 2010When it comes to the Banff World Television Awards (the Rockies), it really IS an honour just to be nominated. With over 900 entries from 43 countries, making the shortlist in this prestigious international competition recognizing outstanding creativity and innovation in TV is, in a word, humbling. Omni Film Productions and Switch United created a cross-platform strategy for Ice Pilots, Omni Film/History Television’s real-life series about Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways, that builds on the themes of the show while incorporating new content and new ways for fans and flying buffs to engage. In particular, the website includes an interactive Storymap that lets visitors contribute their own stories, videos, and photos about aviation North of 60. Supported by a robust social media campaign spearheaded by our partners at FanTrust, our cross-platform initiative helped Ice Pilots Season 1 become History Television’s most watched Canadian series ever. Rockie winners will be announced in June…and while we’re thrilled to be a nominee, we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed til then.
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A United Front
April 1st, 2010The big news: After 27 years under different names and different divisions, our eclectic little band of multi-disciplinary designers, writers, and programmers are coming together under one name. One common goal.
SWITCH UNITED (under partners Catherine Winckler and Blair Pocock) will continue on as a small experimental studio specializing in multi-platform campaigns for entertainment and lifestyle-related clients. We look to our recent work with interactive digital installations at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (see videos for The Digital Gateway and The Curious Tree) .. our 20 year history with Nintendo of Canada.. our award-wining bicycle branding for MEC . and our ongoing work with TV and film production companies including Omni Film and Brent Butt’s Sparrow Media .. and we know we’ve found our ‘sweet spot.’ We love bringing our love of narrative and our passion for design to multiple platforms. As of April 1st we’ll be doing it under the Switch United name. Stay tuned …
Note: Why April 1st? We figured if it was good enough for Apple Computers who started April 1, 1976 in Cupertino, CA (and we know how that story turned out!), then it marked an auspicious start for us as well.
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‘Vomby the Zampire’ selected for Digital Development Lab
Winter 2009We made it! This year we were one of the five teams chosen from 50 pitches for the second annual Digital Development Lab sponsored by CBC, BC Film, and New Media BC. Designed to support the creation of new internet activities and original interactive entertainment, the three-day lab will give Switch the opportunity to further develop our game meets storytelling world of ‘Vomby the Zompire,’ a young vegetarian misfit with a Vampire mother, Zombie father, and human brain best friend, brought to life through animation and 3D glasses accessibility. If the three-day lab with top mentors and fellow producers wasn’t enough, they actually pick a winner and a $10,000 development prize.
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Canada V5Y 1N2
- Phone Toll Free: 1.866.669.2296
Tel: 604.669.2296 - Email info@switchunited.com
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Ice Pilots NWT
Multi-Platform Campaign for TV SeriesFor Omni Film’s new docu-vérité series on History Television about the maverick people, WWII-era fleet, and extraordinary challenges at Yellowknife-based Buffalo Airways, we wanted to go beyond the typical show site. The themes of man, machine, and the North were rich with possibility…as was the notion to play with the Googlemap API to build an interactive Storymap that would serve as an enduring place where fans and flying buffs could contribute and share their own stories about aviation North of 60. The Season 1 show became History Television’s most watched Canadian series ever.
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The Curious Tree
Multi-Touch Digital Art InstallationWhen industry organization DigiBC was asked to showcase digital talent at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, Switch United was delighted to join leading Vancouver-based companies like Tangible Interaction to transform a 4′X4′ cube as a digital blank slate to help tell the story of the B.C. Pavilion. By touching the fully interactive panels, multiple visitors could bring each scene to life, making flowers grow, butterflies soar, kites fly, leaves fall, icicles drip, and creatures appear magically from the tree trunk. A whimsical soundtrack was custom-engineered to sync with each touch, bringing the kind of measurable ROI we love, such as a four year old’s comment, “Mum, can we go to the place where the beachballs grow on trees?”
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Mountain Equipment Co-op
Bicycle Branding & GraphicsCreating an overall design concept and direction for MEC’s new line of bikes was definitely a dream job. We proposed two design styles to differentiate the types of bikes – and appeal to very different kinds of riders. For the urban models, an illustrative, West Coast-style with hand-drawn graphics kept the look playful and non-technical. For the road/mountain bikes, strong lines and contrasting colour blocks accentuated the design and contours of the bike frames in this category. Recognized with a Judge’s Choice Graphex Award for their innovative branding, MEC bikes are getting rave reviews from riders and designers alike.
Hiccups
Branding + Multiple ProjectsFirst meeting with comedian, actor, writer, director, and producer Brent Butt of Corner Gas fame, we knew we were in for a treat as he asked us to explain the ‘inter-web’ and help him climb aboard. From setting his personal brand on BrentButt.com (setting up vlogs and blogs as new tools for self-expression), to working with Brent and partner Laura Lightbown to brand their new Sparrow Media Production Company, to introducing the new comedy series’ Hiccups to the world, Switch United is seriously ‘all things Brett.’ We adore the guy.
The Digital Gateway
Interactive WallSwitch United, in association with Tangible Interaction, transformed a dark, dingy corridor into a 110 ft. long interactive installation showcasing economic success stories in Canada’s West. Fifteen short-throw projectors and 45 IR sensors triggering Flash animations ‘painted’ the wall with sector-based vignettes as visitors to the 2010 Commerce Centre moved down the passageway. Original music by composer Terry Frewer, a themed environment created in association with 3DS, and a 22-page souvenir booklet completed the fully immersive, ‘people powered’ experience.
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Haddock Entertainment
Whether amalgamating the Da Vinci properties into a single site, or working on the online/offline integration of multi-platform campaigns for the critically acclaimed CBC series Intelligence (Seasons I and II), playing off the genius of creator Chris Haddock was an honour for Switch.
Brent Butt
There are just some clients you don’t want to rein in, direct or restrict in any way. We had too much fun introducing Canada’s #1 comedian, writer, producer, filmmaker, and actor to the ways of the web, creating a ‘cyber den’ for Brent Butt’s ramblings, cartoons, photos, videos, and more.
Microsoft USA
MRM Partners, San Francisco challenged Switch to create a viral marketing program that would create buzz for Window Media Center Edition. We responded with the tongue-in-cheek international comeback story of Milkman Mike, former Guinness World Record holder for the longest milk squirt out the eye!
Nintendo Canada
For over 20 years, Nintendo of Canada has trusted us with its national point-of-purchase, packaging, and design campaigns. We’ve worked on all their hardware launches from SNES to Wii, Gameboy to DS, and the majority of their software launches as well.
Inventa
We’ve been fortunate to have worked with some of the best corporate clients out there – from forward-thinking fashion retailers and Olympic event organizers to Inventa, one of the largest experiential marketing agencies in Canada – creating campaigns spanning print, environmental, and online media.
A&E
An interactive advergame was our solution to spread the word virally and help build an audience for A&E’s Driving Force reality show featuring drag car racing legend John Force and his beautiful drag racing daughters. Our ‘Force Family Quiz’ game let players build their own car and race against the ‘Force’ himself.
Peace it Together
Peace it Together brings together youth from Israel, Palestine, and Canada for a unique peace-building program centred on dialogue, conflict resolution, and filmmaking. Several years ago, Switch made this not-for-profit its charity of choice, initially assisting with a rebrand and continuing to provide strategy and design services as needed.
Inside Out
We’ve always done self-promo as a way to push our creative limits. Advergames, mash-ups, buzz, viral marketing, interactive installations…no matter what it’s called, we love to experiment. Inside Out alludes to our work at the intersection of environmental design, touchscreen technologies, motion graphics, and user-driven experiences.
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