THE BURNKIT YEARS:
2005 to 2007
For 2 years I had the privilege to work with some of the most talented Designers I've ever met. We expanded our business, won a couple of awards & had some fun along the way – all with the beautiful city of Vancouver as the backdrop. What more can you ask for?
After watching the Burnkit promotional video & realizing we shared the same affection for bad Britney Spear songs (along with the appreciation of beautiful design), I reached out to Josh & Adam. A couple of email exchanges & meetings later, I made the dramatic move to beautiful Vancouver – a decision that lead me to amazing growth opportunities, great island trips & breathtaking mountain views.
Burnkit is one of those agencies with so much heart & equal amounts of talent that truly deserves international praise. I consider myself lucky to have been part of their history.
"Thanks Vixay. I'm going to miss who you are & what you contribute to what we do a whole lot. Thanks tons for managing some very complex projects over the years. Couldn't have done them without you."
– Adam Neilson, Partner, Burnkit
"Vixay, it's been a pleasure working with you. I truly cherished your personality, attitude & work ethic. If you ever change your mind..."
– Josh Dunford, Partner, Burnit
An Online Video Strategy That Hits The Mark
Date: 12.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Project Manager + Experience Designer
Project Manager Responsibilities: Defined, managed & controlled project scope & the change control process; served as primary day-to-day contact for the client; managed client relationship & expectations; kept project on track by clearly communicating project issues & resolution to the client & internal team; created project plan & SOW; directed team members & delegated work accordingly; responsible for invoicing.
Experience Designer Responsibilities: Analyzed industry best practices & competitive review; translated business needs, project requirements & technical specifications into meaningful interactive experiences; created detailed user experience documentation which included sitemaps & wireframes; presented & reviewed interaction designs with client stakeholders for approval.
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Aaron the avatar offered to help guide customers to what they are looking for on Canada's most visited retail website. Customers submitted a question, Aaron presented answers. If the customer was not satisfied of Aaron's response, the customer was given the option to post their question on the Community forum. The enhanced site also provided Future Shop employees the ability to offer expert advice via product review videos.
Burnkit was one of the first companies to have ever been invited by Future Shop to work directly on Futureshop.ca. We were involved in the creation, development & implementation of the avatar widget featured throughout the site, the casting & video production of Aaron (as well as his French counterpart) & the design of the Community forum.
"Your project management was critical to us getting the Avatar & community online. I would like to thank you for the very professional effort you put into this project."
– Robert Pearson, Director of E-commerce, Future Shop
"It's been great to work with you & getting to know you during the past year. You've been instrumental in the planning & deployment of our avatar & we all enjoyed your 'can do' attitude."
– Thierry Hay-Sabourin, Senior Manager, Future Shop
Avatar Buzz
Website Buzz
Coast Capital Savings Website
2008 NATIONAL CREDIT UNION INNOVATION AWARD – CREDIT UNION CENTRAL OF CANADA; 2007 OVERALL INNOVATION EXCELLENCE AWARD, INNOVATION AWARD IN THE SERVICE CATEGORY – CREDIT UNION CENTRAL OF BC; 2007 BEST OF SHOW, BEST IN PROVINCE & AN ACHIEVEMENT IN MARKETING EXCELLENCE – MARKETING ASSOCIATION FOR CREDIT UNIONS
VISIT COASTCAPITALSAVINGS.COM
Date: 07.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Project Manager + Art Director/Designer + Experience Designer
Project Manager Responsibilities: Defined, managed & controlled project scope & the change control process; served as primary day-to-day contact for the client; managed client relationship & expectations; kept project on track by clearly communicating project issues & resolution to the client & internal team; created project plan & SOW; directed team members & delegated work accordingly; responsible for invoicing.
Art Director/Designer + Experience Designer Responsibilities: Analyzed industry best practices & competitive review; translated business needs, project requirements & technical specifications into meaningful interactive experiences; developed & framed the creative concept for the website; created detailed user experience documentation which included sitemaps & wireframes; presented & reviewed designs & key milestone deliverables to client stakeholders for approval; designed & produced creative assets, templates & banners.
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Rethink partnered up with Burnkit to deliver an award-winning site that provided an enhanced user-friendly experience. The new site included improved features such as easier navigation, integration of online banking & information pages so customers could access product information without being logged off & of course the star attraction, Julie.
According to Wendy Lachance, Coast Capital’s Manager, e-Business Development, the awards confirm both what customers have been saying & results from the credit union’s web tracking. Since Julie joined Coast Capital’s employee roll, the credit union’s website has seen:
- An increase in online interaction with customers
- A 29 per cent increase in the number of pages viewed
- A 25 per cent increase in the amount of time users spend on Coast Capital’s web site
- A 43 per cent increase in the total number of pages viewed per visitor per month in 2006
- More than 30 per cent of visitors who interact with Julie click on the More button for more information about a product or service
- An extremely high click-through rate in 2006 of 2.9 per cent (four times higher than the industry average if 0.7 per cent for online video elements)
“Julie is a very helpful addition to our website, speaking to visitors & providing answers to all the most common questions about our financial products & services. She’ll tell you about products like free chequing & haggle-free term deposits while serving up some side-splitting humour, which is quite unique for a financial institution website.”
– Sheila Baker, Chief Information Officer, Coast Capital Savings
Online Banking Demo
Date: 07.2006 | Role: Project Manager + Art Director/Designer + Experience Designer
Project Manager Responsibilities: Defined, managed & controlled project scope & the change control process; served as primary day-to-day contact for the client; managed client relationship & expectations; kept project on track by clearly communicating project issues & resolution to the client & internal team; created project plan & SOW; directed team members & delegated work accordingly; responsible for invoicing.
Art Director/Designer + Experience Designer Responsibilities: Analyzed industry best practices & competitive review; translated business needs, project requirements & technical specifications into meaningful interactive experiences; developed & framed the creative concept for the website; created detailed user experience documentation which included sitemaps & wireframes; presented & reviewed designs & key milestone deliverables to client stakeholders for approval; designed & produced creative assets, templates & banners.
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View accounts, pay bills, transfer money – there are plenty of online banking activities Coast Capital Savings provides with its new & improved website. To demonstrate the ease, convenience & security of Coast Capital's online banking, Burnkit developed a Flash tutorial for 8 of the most common tasks; some featuring a "Try It" mode that allowed users to try out the activity without ever having to create an account.
"By including a tour of the new site Coast Capital keeps their members from feeling alienated & left behind. The best way to encourage use is educate & promote understanding."
– Brent Dixon, Developer, Trabian
2007 INTERACTIVE MEDIA AWARD FOR PUBLIC SERVICE/CHARITY – APPLIED ARTS
Date: 07.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Project Manager + Experience Designer
Project Manager Responsibilities: Defined, managed & controlled project scope & the change control process; served as primary day-to-day contact for the client; managed client relationship & expectations; kept project on track by clearly communicating project issues & resolution to the client & internal team; created project plan & SOW; directed team members & delegated work accordingly; responsible for invoicing.
Experience Designer Responsibilities: Analyzed industry best practices & competitive review; translated business needs, project requirements & technical specifications into meaningful interactive experiences; created detailed user experience documentation which included sitemaps & wireframes; presented & reviewed interaction designs with client stakeholders for approval.
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22 major international public art pieces were placed along the walkways, waterfront parks, pathways & major public spaces of Vancouver, BC. Burnkit helped promote the cultural festival by re-designing the Vancouver Sculpture Biennale site. Features included: A Flash slideshow highlighting each sculpture, a content management tool for managing news articles & calendar events & an interactive map.
"GREAT, great work on our new website for the Biennale. Thank you so much – you have all done so much work for the Biennale I thank you!!"
– Michella Frosch, Chairman, Vancouver Biennale
2007 WEB DESIGN WINNER – APPLIED ARTS
VISIT BENSEN.CA
Date: 06.2007 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Experience Designer
Responsibilities: Analyzed industry best practices & competitive review; translated business needs, project requirements & technical specifications into meaningful interactive experiences; created detailed user experience documentation which included sitemaps & wireframes.
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Bensen is a design & manufacturing group whose philosophy balances simplicity & honesty so that the designs may continue to grow in today's ever changing world – a perfect project for Burnkit.
"Bensen furniture has a nice flash website. The products look great & were shot well which always helps, but the subtleties of the page transfers & smooth tweening actions make the site easy to navigate, read & pleasurable to look at. It was made by Burnkit, a local studio in Gastown, Vancouver. It looks like a place I’d like to spend time at."
– Ryan Willams, Designer
2007 WEB DESIGN WINNER – APPLIED ARTS; 2007 CANNES LIONS SHORTLIST, FINANCIAL SERVICES – CANNES LIONS
VISIT STEADYHAND.COM
Date: 02.2007 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Experience Designer
Responsibilities: Analyzed industry best practices & competitive review; translated business needs, project requirements & technical specifications into meaningful interactive experiences; created detailed user experience documentation which included sitemaps & wireframes.
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Steadyhand Investment Funds Inc. is a Canadian mutual fund company. Steadyhand approached Burnkit to create a brand identity, site & stationary. Burnkit answered the call with the only way they knew how – brillant creative...and a little help from a 1600 pound bear.
"Great work guys. We’re delighted with the website & are getting a great reaction."
– Tom Bradley, President & Founder, Steadyhand
"That is the best web site I have ever seen. Great job."
– Mike Davidson, MD
Date: 06.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Art Director/Designer
An all Flash-based site to highlight HLA's architectural achievements & practice areas. A content management tool provided the ability to manage project photos, project details & career postings.
The HLA Group is a landscape architecture firm based in Sacramento that creates places of enduring value by adding beauty to their communities.
CAMPUS CRUSADE FOR CHRIST
Date: 05.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Project Manager
Burnkit was tasked to design print collateral for Campus Crusade for Christ – a new art direction for a new message. Pieces included: An invitation, conference program, case statement & thank you card.
"Thank you for all of your hard work & creative genius that made the Executive Weekend invitations possible! It has been a joy to work with you – I am the envy of all the other people in my office looking for designers."
– Jacki Thiessen, Marketing, Campus Crusade
"Just thought I'd say that I love the stuff that you guys are coming back with & once again, am very happy that we chose to work with Burnkit!"
– Jacki Thiessen, Marketing, Campus Crusade
SONY PLAYSTATION 3 EMAILS
Date: 08.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Art Director/Designer
To support the launch of new video game titles, emails were sent to Sony PlayStation subscribers highlighting special gaming features.
Solo Mobile
Date: 04.2007 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Project Manager
In partnership with Rethink, a site was designed to showcase sixteen 30-second spots with each ad connected to the next as part of one long conversation thread. Once online, users could take a quiz based on the spots for a chance to win 6,000 free seconds. Banner ads & a XML-driven Flash module featured on Solomobile.ca were also developed to drive traffic to the microsite.
Solo Mobile is owned & operated by Bell Mobility.
Sony Golf
Date: 03.2007 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Art Director/Designer
An invitation, set of email reminders & a registration site were developed inviting recipients to attend the annual SCEA VIP Golf Tournament.
"We think the latest mockup looks sleek. We like it."
– Elisa Sciaroni, PM, Sony PlayStation
Rouxbe
Date: 05.2006 | Agency: Burnkit | Role: Project Manager + Experience Designer
Rouxbe produces online culinary tutorials for aspiring chefs to improve their cooking skills. Burnkit helped establish Rouxbe's web presence & provided a Flash media player to showcase their instructional videos.
"We knew we picked the right company! You all have a vision that we love."
– Joe Girard, CEO, Rouxbe