Inspiration blog - by PaperNotes

Inspiring presentation - Design outside the box - DICE 2010

Spotted at Twitter (via the Dutch @marketingfacts), this is a presentation on game design you must see. Also contains some interesting insights from the speaker on ClubPenguin and Webkinz. Very inspiring and extremely funny (especially at the end), so start watching!

Photostream (Dutch) Kids websites

Am currently working on putting together a photostream on Flickr, gathering all kinds of screenshots from kids websites. Mostly they will be Netherlands and Belgian focussed, but will also add other inspiring sites from other countries. Feel free to mail/comment if you know some...

The latest reviews I wrote on kids' websites @ Dutchcowgirls...

As you know, I write for the Dutch (online) marketing blog Dutchcowgirls.nl. On that site I try to write reviews on kids' websites regulary.

The latest ones I'd like to feature here, for my Dutch readers.

Okki.nl has been updated completely. With it's new visual style and approach, it targets at 6-8 year olds.

Okki is a magazine by the educational publisher Malmberg.

The site supports the magazine in two ways. First by focussing on recruitment of new subscriberes and secondly to strenghen the bond with existing subscribers.

Read the Dutch review (at Dutchcowgirls).

I also wrote about a U.S. focussed platform called WoogiWorld. This 'virtual world' is targetted at kids of about 6-12 years old and is all about education. Not only educational aspects as they learn them in school, but also learning about using the internet in the right manner, has been taken into the basics of the platform. Very interesting to see, I definitely got a lot of inspiration from their approach!

Read the Dutch review (at Dutchcowgirls).

Earlier I also reviewed the site LekkerBelangrijk.nl, a website founded by the Dutch "Voedingscentrum" (center for nourishment). In a very interactive way, kids get to know a lot about what they should and should not eat/drink and how much physical exersize is needed to lead a healthy life. Games and video are quite a big part of the content on this site, very interesting to take a look at!

Read the Dutch review (at Dutchcowgirls).

Please let me know if you're interested to read them in English (and which ones), feel free to leave a comment if you are.

Ola Waterspelen - the game

As you know, I don't write a lot about work, but this one I wanted to share... :)

With a full team we've been working on the OLA Waterspelen (Watergames) online game, which is ment to get kids enthusiastic about the brand and especially the mini events with the same name... Realtime, kids can enter a competition in swimmingpools all around Holland. It's a great concept by the big ice cream brand (probably the biggest there is in the world?).



Anyways, just wanted to share this game with you. The concept is an 'interactive boardgame'. A bit similar to 'ganzenbord' or 'monopoly', only then we added interactive elements such as minigames... Not only am I really proud of what the illustrator has accoplished, also the minigames are very well done and the game is fun to play as well...

You should play it to get the feel of it, so why not just try? Check out: www.olawaterspelen.nl

Anorak Magazine - creative mag for kids

Anorak Magazine has been launched in UK first and is now also available in US. Just love the creativity and style, this is definitely inspirarational for me! There website is set up very nice as well. Hope it inspires you too...

Discovered on Book by it's cover.

Moshi Monsters - great concept!

Came across Moshi Monsters and instantly fell in love! This concept is great. The website looks very good. Who wouldn't want to adopt a monster like this?

But before you can adopt a monster, you need to have a secret code. And the secret code only comes with a MoPod. Smart, isn't it? It's not a stupid thing you need to buy or get somewhere, but it's a nice gimmick.

Your phone will never be lonely with a Moshi Monster guiding it... I'm waiting for mine to be shipped in January (ordered Diavlo).

Thanks for sending this through Vinzl!

HotChalk - online platform for teachers, students and parents

A very interesting platform was launched in the educational area. It's called HotChalk and is ment for teachers, kids and/or students and parents.

Teachers can find their school in the database. When they join, they can create pages for their own class(es):

They can give their students assignments, put downloads on the site, give an overview of when they'll be having this class, the kids/students can discuss with their teacher about all kinds of topics related to the class, etc.

Teachers need to invite their students to the class' page. The students can only log in using a specific class code. So much is possible on this platform. Also parents can log in and see their kids' grades, for example.

Find this a very interesting initiative, can imagine this makes a lot of things so much easier.  Why would you use your agenda to write down your homework, when you have this?

Also spotted on Springwise.com a while ago :)

Taatu: another virtual world for youngsters

Habbo Hotel, which is quite a big virtual world here in the Netherlands, has got competition. For a while already, but I'm very curious how this world called Taatu is developing. It seems to be aimed somewhat older kids than Habbo and it's visual style looks a bit better as well.

The world map:

 

T

The bar and... creating your own loft:

Inspiration this brings to me. I'm very curious how virtual worlds for kids are going to develop! I'm very enthusiastic about it all. When the recently announced CBBC virtual world goes live, I'll be sure to show you more of that as well.

Thanks for spotting this, Henkie.

Move your bums, kids

Hadn't ever imagined that this would be reality... Already several times I came across initiatives to link gaming and exercising together. Now I saw one again, at Springwise and just wanted to share the whole concept :)

"Earlier this year, we reported on NexGym—a youth fitness franchise that keeps youngsters moving through video game-inspired workouts. It turns out they're not the only players capitalizing on kids' fitness by incorporating video games. Canadian Bulldog Interactive Fitness and Colorado's XRKade are getting in on exergaming, too." from Springwise...

Nicely animated site: Ciudad Zombie

Can't really read what this site is about, but Ciudadzombie.com is animated in a sophisticated way. After a tiny feast, you enter this crazy world:

It's not a very efficient way to navigate through a site, but for a site aiming to show your work and skills, I like it very much!

Depending on it's purpose, a website based on purely visuals can be very helpful and fun. Take kids for example, for them this can feel like playing a game. It's quite an 'intense' experience to visit a site like this. But if it is something you need to visit every day, that's a different ballgame. There is no way to navigate quickly, so it would be an absolute pain in the ass...