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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, 2010

    Vancouver’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.

  • Ice Pilots NWT Shortlisted for Rockie Award’s Best Cross-Platform Project

    April 15th, 2010

    When 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.

  • A United Front

    April 1st, 2010

    The 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.

  • ‘Vomby the Zampire’ selected for Digital Development Lab

    Winter 2009

    We 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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    Address
    128 West 8th Ave
    Vancouver BC
    Canada V5Y 1N2

    Flash Developer

    The Flash Developer is a mid-level position that requires an original thinker who can translate visual solutions into dynamic interactive experiences, while integrating solutions across multiple platforms. Attention to detail, combined with a strong working knowledge of OOP, AS3 and Flash animation techniques is essential.

    The Flash Developer would work alongside passionate, world-class designers, writers and developers to create unique and highly visual projects. An ideal candidate will have a deep understanding of best practices in Flash development, a highly evolved sense of motion in animation, and feel comfortable working in teams on high profile, and public facing work.

    Required Skills:

    • Object Oriented AS3 programming
    • Belief in reusable, flexible code
    • Ability to translate static illustrations and graphics into moving animations
    • Strong knowledge of Flash animation techniques
    • Strong communication skills
    • Experience in optimizing code for performance/download times
    • 3+ years experience in an agency environment
    • 3+ years experience working with Actionscript
    • Basic design skills are a must
    • Strong problem-solving skills
    • Proficient working in a Mac environment

    Nice to Haves:

    • XHTML/javascript/AJAX/CSS/PHP
    • Experience in Flash 10/Flash CS4
    • Experience with Flash Develop 3
    • Related degree

    Responsibilities:

    • Collaborates with other Designers, Developers, Art Directors, and Creative Directors to ensure final deliverables are consistent with client expectations and overall project goals.
    • Works closely with Creative Director to ensure that all projects meet Switch Interactive’s standards of excellence.
    • Builds and maintains a team rapport with creative team personnel, production designers and project managers.
    • Researches trends and issues in the industry, exhibiting the vision and skills necessary to push interactive design solutions at Switch Interactive.
    • Stays current with new technologies through exploration and education.
    • Understands how to work to budget and timelines and is responsive to Project Management and Art Directors in adhering to these.
    • Provides quality assurance on creative deliverables.
    • Participates actively in morning job status meetings.
    • Above all, helps create an atmosphere of teamwork, encouraging shared knowledge among team members, new skills training, and adherence to all internal ‘best practices’ processes and procedures.
    • Translates static interfaces and illustration into a motion driven experience
    • Acts as a knowledge base for all things Flash.

    To respond to this posting please look at our interim site at www.switchinteractive.com, review our work, and tell us why you think you’d fit in. Send us examples and/or URLs and be specific about your role on each job. We’re a small team so every person is hand-picked and the more you show/tell us, the more we’ll know if we’re right for you…and vice versa.

    Respond to developer@switchinteractive.com.

    Updated January 29, 2010