A quick blog from Word 2007: some cool sites

Well, call me a luddite but its there and it seems easy so I thought I'd try it. I am guessing this is going to result in an unbelievable quantity of unnecessary mark-up, and I am going to have some problems with the (unrelated) image I am trying to upload but its worth a try! A shocking week this week but some interesting finds - we were basically collecting 'aspirational sites' – which is pretty subjective but I have kept a few that seem noteworthy regardless – mostly flash content and interesting brand and immersive experiences…

http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus - despite being on my Christmas list for at least 2 years I am yet to be able to say that I have the right equipment to be an active participant in this case-study online tool/community/product showcase/social network/interactive experience… a great site

http://demo.fb.se/e/ikea/dreamkitchen/site/default.html this is just a visually stunning matrix-style effect created for an ikea campaign. Audio effect is really well done too, I'm not sure I can stop spinning it long enough to see any of the products but certainly effective in its visual appeal.

www.vodafonejourney.com – north kingdom got a licence to spend money here and the result, whilst extremely corporate and cheesy, is still impressive even a couple of years on.

http://www.monocle.com/ - an RL site but a good example of video integrated into a well designed site. To quote a colleague 'nothing seems like an add-on' and it's also fantastically consistent with the printed magazine.

There are loads more that I could mention – we had about 60; some of the car sites offer interesting experiences like the standard but immersive www.audi.com, the more artistic http://sixjourneys.mercedes-benz.co.uk/r-class/home.php or the wackier www.fordvehicles.com/flex. Apple, Innocent and Absolut stake their usual claims with really strong presences true to their consistently impressive brands. Others worth a tip of the hat included Diesel's slightly sleazy and fully customisable product showcase, the slightly peculiar www.michelinman.com/forward full of bibendums wandering about a 3d world and the unbelievable (for a site that's about milk) gaming experience that is www.gettheglass.com.

Watch out - addictive property

I just tried Geni and I have to say that its the most addictive thing I've seen for ages on the web. So simple and easy, I found that within 10 minutes of starting someone had already added my great grandfather, and its still growing. I have to say i think the intuitive interface is what makes it at the moment but there is so much potential - presumably that's what got them $10m in six weeks of existence! Well done I say... perhaps we could add some video to the profiles?

update: 2 hours later I have 59 people on there and numerous clickable other trees to explore. And that even though i managed to break the habit after adding about 5 people. I know i'll be back but the question is what for and for how long will i be coming back? GenesReunited still keeps mailing me but i have to say I have long since stopped clicking the links... I'd have thought with the new spending money they'll think of something...