Making Moves…Again

Less than a year ago, CloudKid made the move from its humble beginnings in Watertown, MA to the mean streets of Brighton.  It was our goal to create a colorful and fun environment where CloudKid could live for a couple of years. The good news is that the new studio has been better than we imagined – it has enabled us to expand our team, have a conference room for brainstorms and meetings, and foster a truly collaborative environment. The bad news is that we have already outgrown the space.

The amazing news is that we found an even better new office just three buildings down the street! While no one likes moving, we’re pretty excited about it. The space has been fully renovated, artists Brian Butler and Fish McGill have painted a series of epic murals, and three thousand pounds of Ikea furniture was assembled yesterday. The next week is going to be a whirlwind, but we should be ready to rock by the middle of August. We’re confident the new new CloudKid HQ will create a truly inspirational environment for all CloudKids.

Yeah, we can’t wait.

 

CloudKidHQ News

Escape from Greasy World: Done!

Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve wrapped production on our multi-level game, Escape from Greasy World!  As we mentioned back in June, Escape is a Fizzy’s Lunch Lab math-focused game for the US Department’s Ready to Learn STEM grant.  Everyone’s collective hard work over the past five months has really paid off — the game looks amazing. We can’t wait to share the real thing with you when it launches in September!  In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek to whet your appetite:

Production

The Boat

It has been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. That may be true, but here at CloudKid, we go pretty nuts for lunch. And when it comes to our favorite place to get some lunchtime noms, there’s no doubt about it: it’s the BoatHouse Deli in Brighton, MA … otherwise known as “The Boat”.

At first glance, The Boat is slightly suspect. After all, it is a deli hidden deep inside a nondescript gas station. The term “gas station sandwich” conjures up all sorts of horrifying images — slimy pre-made subs tightly wrapped in plastic, sitting for days next to a greasy rotating hot dog warmer. Happily, the BoatHouse Deli is nothing like that terrifying vision. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Once inside The Boat, you are greeted by a veritable cornucopia of delicatessen deliciousness — freshly baked breads, crispy veggies, tasty meats and cheeses, warm soups, toasty slices of pizza, and a great selection of sandwiches made to order. The friendly staff expertly crafts every sandwich with an extra helping of TLC (and if you’re lucky, special sauce). A testament to their patience and friendliness, the ladies of The Boat have even humored a certain member of CloudKid who wanted to create and name his own custom sandwich. It’s called The Dinghy … order it at your own risk.

So if you happen to be on this side of the Charles River and are jonesing for a sandwich, sammy, san-doozle, or Adam Sandler, check out The Boat. Deli-cious!

CloudKid Shenanigans CloudKidHQ Shout-Outs

The Importance of Character

Here at CloudKid HQ, we believe that great characters are the foundation for awesome children’s projects.  That’s why we’re so excited about the recent coverage on the research of our very own educational advisor, Alexis Lauricella.  As Alexis’ study, “Toddlers Learning from Socially Meaningful Video Characters,” concludes, social relationships that children develop with a character impact their ability to learn from media. In the case of her study, toddlers who saw a sequencing task performed by the beloved Elmo were significantly more able to perform the task themselves than two control groups.

In addition, we recently read a study out of the University of California, Riverside on the importance of social relationships with media characters.  The study, “Media as Social Partners: The Social Nature of Young Children’s Learning From Screen Media,” had equally telling results.  Similar to Alexis’ work, this paper cites the social nature of learning from screen media, concluding that there is a direct correlation between a child’s relationship with on-screen characters and their comprehension of information presented.

Studies such as these help reinvigorate our passion for the fact that kids media begins and ends with character. Hope they do the same for you…

Children's Media Kids Media

Whistle While You Work

Whether you’re struggling to hit a deadline, fending off burrito coma after lunch, or just plain ready to rock, the perfect mix of songs is sometimes all you need to power through the day. That’s why, here at CloudKid, we love to make awesome iTunes playlists for the whole studio to enjoy.

We usually start off with a theme: Saxy Time (sultry songs featuring the saxophone); our Inspiration Mix (songs guaranteed to get your blood pumping). Everyone at the studio sends in their favorite songs within the theme, and the rest is smooth sailing. Or sometimes just Sailing, by Christopher Cross.

CloudKid’s latest mix is the brainchild of our animation director, Mike Annear. It’s called Whistle Trax, and is comprised of songs that feature whistling (naturally). Here are a few whistlin’ ditties that really tickle our fancy.

Patience — Guns N’ Roses
Walk Like An Egyptian — The Bangles
(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay — Otis Redding
Jealous Guy — John Lennon
There It Go (The Whistle Song) — Juelz Santana

CloudKid Shenanigans CloudKidHQ

The Real Experts

As much as we try to remain young at heart here at the CloudKid HQ, it’s always nice to be reminded about who the real experts in our field are: kids!  A recent study by Latitude Research, titled “Children’s Future Requests for Computers & The Internet,” was a refreshingly delightful reminder of this fact.

Latitude asked kids from around the world (aged 12 and under) to draw pictures of something they’d like the internet or computers to do differently.  The results are pretty inspiring.  Here’s a small sample of some of our favorite ideas, but do yourself a favor and look through the whole study if you get the chance.  Warning: you may wind up wanting all of them, or maybe they’ll even inspire you to go make them a reality.  Either way, enjoy!

Children's Media Kids Media

Meet Jack, the Candy Pumpkin!

CloudKid is quite a magical place to work.  Colorful pictures and artwork adorn the studio walls; cheerful sunlight streams in through the windows; inflatable dinosaurs peek out from every corner of the room.  An amazing assemblage of people bring their talent and creativity to the office every day.  It’s too bad that none of us care about that stuff nearly as much as we do about our ever-present candy bowl.  His name is Jack.

Jack undoubtedly began his life in a distant plastic factory.  The hands of fate (or more specifically, an 18-wheeler delivering a Halloween shipment to Target) brought him to Watertown, Massachusetts.  One evening, our very own Dave Schlafman was doing laundry in his basement when Jack caught his eye — a dusty plastic pumpkin sitting on a half-forgotten shelf, glinting in the light of a single flickering fluorescent bulb.  Sparing Jack from a lifetime of lonely subterranean gloom, Dave decided to bring him to the studio here at CloudKid.  As for Jack’s name, it probably has less to do with the fact that he’s a jack-o’-lantern, and a lot more to do with the fact that Dave is obsessed with Jack Shepherd from Lost.

Before long, Jack became filled with all sorts of delicious candy, which was devoured by various members of the studio at an alarming rate.  Over time, the procurement of new sweets for Jack has sparked many heated discussions at CloudKid.  For example, who ate all the red Sour Patch Kids?  Why do they even make grape Jolly Ranchers?  Wait, you like those?  How many licks DOES it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?  A fierce Airhead versus Laffy Taffy debate is currently raging, and the verdict isn’t in yet.  We’ll keep you posted.

When Jack’s head is filled to the brim with heaps of sugary sweetness, we’d like to think that he’s the happiest he’s ever been.  Rumor has it that if you drive by CloudKid on an especially eerie moonless night, you’ll see Jack glowing softly orange in the darkness, giggling quietly to himself, and eating all the red Sour Patch Kids.

CloudKid Shenanigans

Avatar Creation, Done Well

Avatars are increasingly becoming staples of interactive experiences for kids (and adults… at this point most of us have probably at least created our own “Mii” or “Simpsonized” ourselves). The obvious draw in this trend is creating a personal tie to a larger experience. There are some amazing online avatar creators, however, that are focussing on making the creation itself a worthwhile experience.

From non-profits to start-ups to major corporations, avatar creators that can stand alone as meaningful, and more importantly fun, interactive experiences are starting to pop up in a number of contexts. The best part about these is that they remind us that a little bit of smart design goes a long way. Be it a simple pay-off animation, a well-timed sound effect, or a clever mechanism for swapping out features, these avatar creators prove that when crafted carefully, even the shortest of interactive experiences can result in a lot of fun.

Below are links to a few of our favorites that we’ve played with so far. Enjoy!

Build Your Wild Self

A New York Zoos and Aquarium Site Feature

 TinkaMAKER

A precursor to the soon-to-be launched “Tinkatolli” site

Toy Story 3 Toy Creator

Promotion for Toy Story 3
Children's Media Kids Media

Always the Bridesmaid…

The Daytime Emmy’s took place on June 17th in Los Angeles. The Fizzy’s Lunch Lab team was well-represented, but we unfortunately didn’t bring home the bling – SciGirls, a PBS Kids Go! show, won in our category. While we were bummed, a good time was had by all and we received some great news after the ceremony – Fizzy’s was green-lit for Season 3. Huzzah!

Some highlights of the trip include: walks along Venice Beach, meeting Grover, hanging with the army of PBS nominees, lunch with Bob Boyle, a visit to The Hub, and last but not least, Jamba Juice.

Pictured Above: Matt Moore (Interactive Director), Dave Schlafman (Exec. Producer), Evan Sussman (Exec. Producer), Joe Pleiman (Freezer Burn)

News

Remembering the Big Man…

TheBigMan

CloudKid lost a friend this week with the passing of sax legend, Clarence Clemons.  The “Big Man” died last week after complications from a stroke. He is best know for his rockin’ (yet smokey) sax-contribution to Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band, and he is prominently featured in CloudKid’s  musical playlist, Saxy Time. We think Born to Run best illustrates his brilliance.

NPR recently featured a story about the life of Clarence and the history of the sax. Whether or not you’re a true Saxy Time fiend, this one should not be missed. You can listen to the On Point segment here.

CloudKid asks that you take a moment of silence for one of the most influential horns in history.

CloudKid Shenanigans