Remember that Twitter moment of Kanye’s? Sorry, I’ll be more specific: Remember that #DONDA moment of Kanye’s? One supposed aspect of Kanye’s creative coup d’état included whotdat.biz—a site that claimed to have the ability to pull the contact information (digits, e-mail, address) of any site. It had everyone fooled, including The Washington Post (LOL). It turns out the site was a hoax, hosted by Long Island City’s tech finest, OKFocus.
A creative agency headed up by Jonathan Vingiano, Ryder Ripps, and Jules LaPlace, OKFocus has had major clients like Google, Smirnoff, Nicola Formichetti, and M.I.A. as well as emerging creatives like Item Idem (see Peters Mountain Works SS12), SSION, and most recently Tanlines. And while these endeavors are super impressive, I'm REALLY into their pet projects Overlayer, Is the L Train Fucked?, My Cat and I, and their labs Pixel Comic Sans and OKHover. Wanting to know a little more about the method behind the madness, Brayden and I dropped by their office (with a view).
Gillian Tozer: What are some of your most memorable projects to date?
Jonathan Vingiano: WhoDat.biz, Tug of Store, Where’s the Pixel?, and Overlayer
Ryder Ripps: My most memorable projects are ones that got attention as fast as they were built.. Most notably, WHODAT.BIZ, TUG OF STORE, WHERE’S THE PIXEL?.
GT: What are the essential elements of a successful project brainstorm session?
JV: A pen and paper.
Jules LaPlace: All of us laughing together and saying, “Yes, we have to do this.”
RR: I agree with Jules. I get ideas by challenging myself to think of simple solutions to stupid problems.
GT: What's the best idea you've dreamt and executed as OKFocus?
JV: TUG OF STORE: Seeing it pan out exactly how we imagined it was so awesome. The project was very strong both technically and conceptually, which kinda sums up what we do.
JL: my cat and I, yeah!
RR: ItemIdem: a portfolio site as an e-commerce site where projects are valued by their level of concept. The site actually works: users can add projects to their “concept cart” and leave with a bespoke .pdf. By being hyper-aware of the nuanced aesthetics that distinguish an e-commerce site from a portfolio site, people are left asking, “what's for sale?”
GT: What's the best/worst idea you've dreamt and not been able to execute as OKFocus?
JV: Last spring, we created a mapping application for iOS. After downloading the beta of iOS 6, we wanted to do something because Apple Maps was so terrible, especially in the beta. We all like working wi
A creative agency headed up by Jonathan Vingiano, Ryder Ripps, and Jules LaPlace, OKFocus has had major clients like Google, Smirnoff, Nicola Formichetti, and M.I.A. as well as emerging creatives like Item Idem (see Peters Mountain Works SS12), SSION, and most recently Tanlines. And while these endeavors are super impressive, I'm REALLY into their pet projects Overlayer, Is the L Train Fucked?, My Cat and I, and their labs Pixel Comic Sans and OKHover. Wanting to know a little more about the method behind the madness, Brayden and I dropped by their office (with a view).
Gillian Tozer: What are some of your most memorable projects to date?
Jonathan Vingiano: WhoDat.biz, Tug of Store, Where’s the Pixel?, and Overlayer
Ryder Ripps: My most memorable projects are ones that got attention as fast as they were built.. Most notably, WHODAT.BIZ, TUG OF STORE, WHERE’S THE PIXEL?.
GT: What are the essential elements of a successful project brainstorm session?
JV: A pen and paper.
Jules LaPlace: All of us laughing together and saying, “Yes, we have to do this.”
RR: I agree with Jules. I get ideas by challenging myself to think of simple solutions to stupid problems.
GT: What's the best idea you've dreamt and executed as OKFocus?
JV: TUG OF STORE: Seeing it pan out exactly how we imagined it was so awesome. The project was very strong both technically and conceptually, which kinda sums up what we do.
JL: my cat and I, yeah!
RR: ItemIdem: a portfolio site as an e-commerce site where projects are valued by their level of concept. The site actually works: users can add projects to their “concept cart” and leave with a bespoke .pdf. By being hyper-aware of the nuanced aesthetics that distinguish an e-commerce site from a portfolio site, people are left asking, “what's for sale?”
GT: What's the best/worst idea you've dreamt and not been able to execute as OKFocus?
JV: Last spring, we created a mapping application for iOS. After downloading the beta of iOS 6, we wanted to do something because Apple Maps was so terrible, especially in the beta. We all like working wi