Google’s Search app is one of the all-time, most downloaded free apps in Apple’s App Store.  Innovations of the app are specifically targeted to the things you need in a mobile setting—things like searching by voice when you can’t type, or searching with a picture when you can’t describe something.  Still, users often forget just how useful the app can be, especially when compared to a standard search in their desktop or mobile browser.

To help keep the app and its practical uses top of mind, we created a first of its kind mobile ad.  The experience, called Uncover Your World, speaks to the way the world around you becomes discoverable with the Google Search app.  With that insight developed, we wanted to marry the brains of the concept with beauty in a unique, visual display and user experience.

Google has an exciting tradition of representing its digital products in the analog world.  We explored varying modeling and crafting techniques but found that most wouldn’t give us the perfect combination of high detail, fast build, and unique art direction that we wanted for the project. We found what we were after in the up-and-coming technology of 3D printing.

We used a powder-based, color 3D printer that took our custom, 3D models and built them from hundreds of layers of fine powder and glue.  In that transition from digital to printed objects, we created a very unique visual: highly detailed, slightly grainy, and seemingly handmade.  When you see the objects in photos and videos, you know they’re real, but you can’t quite put your finger on how they’re made, and that’s what we love about them.

Check out the full “making of” video above and then read more about the project on our website.

We were published in the latest PRINT Regional Design Annual (Dec ’09) for our identity system. Since we don’t write a lot of letters, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll never see our identity system in person.  So what better place to show you some more detail than on our blog?

We spend most of our time in the digital world, so the Grow identity gave us a nice chance to work with a natural, homespun kind of feel. That’s why we loved the idea of hand drawn patterns and customizable iconography.

Each employee receives business card labels with his or her own custom icon.  The labels attach to any of the cards printed with 6 different patterns in 3 colors.

The envelopes match the same way. They come in 3 colors with 6 patterns printed on the interior, and each is affixed with an icon-specific address label.

To keep the look and feel of the identity consistent, we use the pattern on everything from our website to the tags on our Thank You campaign t-shirts. The stationery and template also make their way into our presentations and pitches.

I’m so excited to finally see our K-Y Intense collaboration with Mother New York go live! Just for kicks, I went through my sketches of the reaction room to see how close my original drawing compared to the final composition. I was both surprised and delighted that they were remarkably close. It just goes to show you that drawing your ideas out on paper before putting them into Photoshop is the best way to avoid making critical mistakes and help get your head wrapped around a project before even hopping on the computer! If you haven’t seen the live site, visit it at the K-Y Intense Satisfaction Lab, and enjoy a laugh or three.

Welcome to the Grow Interactive blog. We’re excited to finally have a place where we can share inspiration, advice and insight into the world of Grow.  So to start this blog off right, here’s our blooper reel from the production of our Thank You Begins with a T campaign. If you haven’t already seen the site be sure to check that out first. Enjoy!