I never thought I would have a good reason to blog about a music video – until now that is! Music director Chris Milk teamed with Google developers to produce the interactive experience “The Wilderness Downtown” for Arcade Fire’s song “We Used To Wait.” Built in HTML5, the site integrates Google Maps and Google Earth to provide a customizable experience for each user depending on where he/she grew up.

ABC News described the site as “an interactive media experience.”

“Windows pop open and closed in a choreographed fashion, and video, graphics, and text can be combined in real-time,” ABC’s Jeremy Hubbard wrote.

The project’s complexity becomes apparent after viewing the credits, with more than 50 producers involved at numerous different companies, including @radical.media, B-Reel and Magoo 3d Studios.

While the site’s interactivity is no doubt impressive, I would argue that there is an unfortunate technology gap between the capabilities of most users and what the developers were trying to achieve. Without Chrome and/or a fast Internet connection, a user’s experience will be degraded at best. Furthermore, if a user’s childhood street hasn’t been documented in Google’s Street View, then they also can’t experience the site as others could.

Personally, I wasn’t a fan of the option to write a letter to your “old self.” The chosen font was horrible, and there was an obvious time lapse between my input and its response. I also get easily annoyed at pop-up windows, so it actually took me a second to realize this was part of the “experience” rather than an ad that I should quickly close.

Regardless, there is a ton of buzz about this project as a chance to see “a glimpse of the future of entertainment.” So check it out for yourself and see whether or not you agree with their assessments.

HT: Poul Madsen

Periscopic

Periscopic is a “socially-conscious information visualization firm.” Located in Portland, Oregon, Periscopic has launched numerous innovative projects, including Flash-based tools for Xerox and interactive data visualizations for Chipotle, among others. What I appreciate most about this company are the behind-the-scenes videos that they have created detailing their projects with each client. These insights give potential clients and employees a great perspective of the company. Just like last week’s company, Periscopic is also hiring (see below).

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Periscopic.

A) My name is Dino Citraro. I’m a Partner in Periscopic, and I’m also the Chief Operating Officer. My business partner is Kim Rees, who is also the Chief Executive Officer

Q) What makes your company unique? (ie what’s your elevator pitch?)

A) Periscopic is a socially-conscious information visualization firm helping companies and organizations promote data transparency and public awareness. From endangered species, to politics, to social justice, it is our goal to use technology to visualize solutions that engage the public and deliver a message of responsibility and action.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) We drive innovation and creativity by challenging ourselves to think beyond traditional presentation methodologies and communication devices. There are many ways of looking at the world and we try to start with the non-traditional ways and see what they reveal.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) We’re proud of all the work we do, but lately we’ve been very excited about the attention that two of our data visualizations have been getting. The first is a piece we did to promote the health and status of Sockeye Salmon. The second is a new piece that was developed for a really great organization called Project Vote Smart. It’s a voter education tool designed to help make voting easier. We have a feeling it will be making a big splash.

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) Organizations are really starting to understand the need for engaging ways to present complex information, and we’re hoping that allows us to open satellite offices in additional geographic areas, specifically the east coast of the U.S. Air travel is pretty easy right now, but all that jet fuel is hard to feel good about.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) Periscopic would be an ideal place to work if you like organizing large amounts of complex information, have a natural desire to solve problems, have a healthy amount of patience, and want to help good organizations make an impact on the world.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) I don’t have any funny stories, but here’s a look at the day-to-day operations:
- We start each day off with a company meeting to discuss all projects and anything that is on anyone’s mind. The meeting ends with Show and Tell. Anyone can participate.
- There aren’t any foosball tables, skateboards, scooters, or band posters in our office. We’re kind of nerdy.
- We have 6 recycling bins.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) You have to really like details to work in this field. Much of what we do centers around research, planning, and strategy. Though we work hard to make our experiences fun and engaging, it’s a very precise and calculated process. Studying library sciences might be a good place to start. Also, make sure to take a logic course and do well. That’s probably helped me more than any other bit of education I’ve gotten.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) We are. Specifically relating to Flash, HTML, UX/UI, and project management. If you’re in Portland, Oregon, please say hello.

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) You can find out more info about us here: http://www.periscopic.com. Also @periscopic on Twitter. There are others, but those two are good places to start.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every other Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, September 10th!

Last week, the European Journalism Centre and the University of Amsterdam organized “the first round table on data-driven journalism.” While their proclamation as ‘first’ may be debatable, there is definitely an increasing interest in this topic, as I just highlighted a similar seminar by The Poynter Institute back in July. I saw quite a lot of buzz about it (including a write-up over at Journalism.co.uk) so Mirko Lorenz, a free-lancing information architect mainly working for Deutsche Welle and organizer for the EJC, and I swapped some emails to learn more about what is being discussed around the world in regards to information visualization for journalistic purposes.

Q) What do you mean by data-driven journalism?

A) The short and more/less accepted definition is: Data-driven journalism (DDJ) is a process, where large amounts of data can be filtered for patterns and facts, visualized and form the basis for reporting and storytelling (including Multimedia pieces).

DDJ is not “computer-assisted reporting”. This is a technique, that was and will be used by specialists, e.g. in investigative journalism. The difference might be put this way: In CAR you dig for certain facts, in DDJ you try to make the data flow from unfiltered to highly filtered – making people see the truth or the point of a issue (which might include CAR).

DDJ is not exactly database-journalism, again: It’s about making data flow, not just piling it up. The difference may be subtle, but I think its relevant.

Lastly, DDJ is definitely not content farming or just news aggregation. Both techniques have their roles and I do read TechMeme, but our hope is that data-driven journalism will become a basis for new income streams in the future.

From a multimedia journalists view look at Mediastorm’s “Never coming home” or “The Sandwich Generation“. Both stories are basically driven by numbers and statistics. So, it’s very important to connect the numbers with good narrative.

Q) In Journalism.co.uk’s post, it mentioned that you have a “vision of a newsroom where journalists would work together with designers and developers.” Can you expand on this?

A) Frankly, I do not believe in the idea that journalists must learn how to code. And this became quite obvious in several presentations in Amsterdam. Surely there will be journalists/coders (like Adrian Holovaty), but not as the norm. If data-driven reporting gets bigger, we will need “teams of specialists”, where every member does what he really can do best. The murky zone here is that journalists will have do develop a new view on using tools, digging in large piles of data and trying to make sense of it. But this just asks for a curious mind, not a deep knowledge in code.

One thing though that is only partly understood is how to implement working with data in newsrooms. The common approach at The Guardian or the New York Times is to bring developers and editors closer together. And it is wise to minimize the scope: Whether blogging or working in a big newsroom, focus on the story and search for tools or hacks that help you tell it better. Do not launch into renovating the whole CMS.

Q) Is this possible everywhere or just in large newsrooms? Do you think writers are going to have to adjust, or programmers, or both?

A) Both sides have to adjust: Programmers working in newsrooms should understand the story and work accordingly. Journalists must develop a feeling for what can be done – at best, they have formed a basic knowledge how to instruct a developer. Right now, what we can learn from the practitioners is that it is best to form small teams – this seems to be the way in both small and large media organizations. The speakers at the data-driven journalism roundtable in Amsterdam basically all told the same story on this.

Quite a bit of the Guardian’s successes in the data-journalism field (MP Expense scandal, Afghanistan War Logs) can be attributed to their ability to move quickly. It took them just roughly two weeks to have a crowdsourcing platform, where about 400.000 documents of MP expenses from the UK could be reviewed by readers. It is still accessible and is elegantly simple. As a result they quickly had about 40.000 readers helping the editors to sift through the pile of documents. Check it out: One click and you have access to documents. No address harvesting, no content farming – just a novel and easy way to engage readers.

Alan McLean from The New York Times stressed the need that writers and developers are working closely together, at best desk by desk.

Once media organizations accept that data and the web are a platform for reporting and not just distributions, McLean labeled the possibilities in this space as “almost too easy”. They seem to have a running joke at the NYT, giving high five once they did a new visualization or data story yelling “Journalism saved!”

Another, very uplifting presentation came from Tony Hirst, who is a lecturer at the Open University in the UK. He demonstrated how you can connect to spreadsheets on Wikipedia and then use tools such as Google Docs, Yahoo Pipies and Google Maps to display data very quickly and easily. No coding, really. But you have to know the recipe. Tony is just great in showing what you can do.

Q) Do you think this conference lived up to its expectations?

A) I really think so, judging from what speakers and people from the audience said, plus positive articles and quite a few re-tweets. The point here is that these trailblazers for the first time had an opportunity to talk to each other and share experiences. That was the main idea that led us to invite for this invent: Bring the “lone wolves” to one table. One other indicator: Almost no one we had invited declined, if so that was for reasons such as being on long-planned holidays.

When starting the planning for this event we had some fears that we might get only 12, 15 people in total for this. It turned out differently, with 16 speakers and about 40-45 guests. We actually had to turn away quite a few that were interested to come.

Q) Lastly, what place do you think conferences have in the innovation process?

A) This one was good, but when these conferences get too big, the impact goes down. The “round-table format” had the effect that like-minded people talked about shared experiences, more like a university class. This worked well. In tech the interests in possible directions can diverge very quickly. This might be especially important for innovation in journalism, because our work is affected by so many intersecting crafts: Writing, visualizing, video, photos, now code – journalists must be very careful to stay on track.

The unifying goal is storytelling. So (I hope) this comes as a relief – whether you do classical reporting or get stories from data, the story is still the center piece of it all.
Other posts that might interest you:

• Michelle Minkoff brings us wealth of interviews with “data delvers”

September brings us 20 more multimedia-related jobs, internships, and fellowships. Actually, several of these listings inquire about multiple positions, so there are over 50 opportunities to choose from! Happy job hunting everyone.

Interaction Designer at Google in Seattle/Kirkland, WA

As an Interaction Designer, you will work closely with engineers, product managers, and researchers throughout all stages of the product cycle. Your work will involve complex business concepts which require rich interaction design problem-solving skills. Designers are critical thinkers with a good design sense, a strong technical background, and an eye for making things better. Your work can have an impact on the web experience of millions of Google users.

Read more about this opportunity.

2011 Kiplinger Fellow, March 9-16 at Ohio State University in Columbus, OH

In one intensive week, March 9-16, you’ll learn how to use social media to build a following, develop sources and more effectively cover your beats. We’ll talk Twitter, deep web searches, digital footprints, SEO, the backchannel and more ..

(Fully paid; deadline to apply is November 30, 2010.)
Learn more about this opportunity.

Developer / Engineer / Hacker at Carrot Creative in Brooklyn, NY

If your idea of fun is hacking on API’s and learning a new programming language then this is the job for you. Carrot Creative is looking for a Web Developer to add to the team. Your tasks will include:

* Never getting anyone coffee
* No monotonous data-entry
* Contributing equally to an already talented staff
* Challenging yourself
* Importing / Exporting

Read more about this opportunity.

Director of Web Strategy and Technology at California Watch in Berkeley, CA

The Center for Investigative Reporting is the country’s oldest nonprofit investigative reporting organization. It is dedicated to producing high quality, in-depth content for print, radio, television and the web. CIR reports on important national and international stories, as well as regional issues through its new California Watch project, now the largest investigative team in the state.

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, CIR is growing rapidly. Our web and technology needs are expanding accordingly and we are now seeking a Director of Web Strategy and Technology to lead CIR’s web/multimedia strategy, build our technology infrastructure, and develop and manage partnerships that will enhance CIR’s web presentation and projects and expand our reach online. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of innovation and strategic use of emerging technologies, the vision to think big and the ability to clearly convey and implement the vision. We are seeking someone with hands-on experience with web development and coordinating and launching new products.

Experience in online journalism and a proven track record of building innovative web and technology strategies for media is preferred. Applicants should have 3-5 years management experience.

Read more about this opportunity.

Deputy Mobile Editor (Interactive News Writer) at Wall Street Journal

WSJ.com seeks an editor to help guide development and publishing for our mobile platforms, including the iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry and e-readers. The ideal candidate has experience as a journalist, strong writing and editing skills and solid news judgment. The position involves both daily hands-on editorial work publishing to mobile devices and project planning. Candidates should have at least four years of post-college journalism experience, including familiarity with online publishing. Knowledge of mobile technology and trends, attention to detail and copy editing skills are desired. Please contact David Ho if interested. (Dow Jones position #01006763)

Learn more about this opportunity.

Consumer Blogger for SmartMoney.com and the Wall Street Journal Digital Network (Reporter)

We’re looking for a strong reporter who writes with voice and flair, has a passion for being an informed consumer and an eye for the quirky as well as the serious. The ideal candidate knows how to develop sources and break news, is familiar with the Web and social networking, and enjoys interacting with his or her audience. Please contact Jonathan Krim if interested. (Dow Jones position #01007699)

Learn more about this opportunity.

Assistant Small Business Editor (Interactive News Writer) at Wall Street Journal

This journalist will help manage the online small business sections of WSJ.com and SmartMoney.com. The ideal candidate is interested in Web production, and able to conceive online news packages and tools that will better serve entrepreneurial readers. This individual would also help edit reporter and freelance copy for WSJ print and online, and assist with rankings projects designed to attract small-business owners to WSJ.com. Please contact Colleen DeBaise or Jonathan Krim if interested.(Dow Jones position #01002309)

Learn more about this opportunity.

34 new journalists for newsroom and digital teams at Newsday in Melville, NY

“The Long Island paper Newsday will hire 37 people, including 34 journalists, according to an internal memo obtained by MediaJobsDaily.

In the memo, Newsday editor-in-chief Debby Krenek explains that the paper will seek to grow its hyper-local coverage of Long Island towns, by adding more beat reporters while also increasing the number of pages focused on local news and opinion by 2,600 for the year.”

Read more about this opportunity.

Interactive Designer & Producer in Dallas, TX

We are an interactive shop that does all aspects of interactive design and advertising. We are currently in need of someone that can not only help us develop our design strategies but help us grow our brand development and interactive services.

Read more about this opportunity.

Three Internship Opportunities at The New York Times in New York, NY

Front-end Interactive Designer: full skill-set of client-side technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript/Prototype. Experience with Ruby on Rails is a plus.

Motion Design Storyteller: working knowledge of AfterEffects and Photoshop in producing motiongraphics. Final Cut a plus. We are looking for someone to help grow the motion design side of storytelling. So applicant must have a strong sense of timing and narrative and have the ability to implement a variety of creative styles.

Interactive Flash Journalist: Advanced programming knowledge and experience in Flash and ActionScript 3. Experience with Photoshop and Illustrator is a plus.

Read more about this opportunity.

Web Producer at Washingtonian.com in Washington, DC

Washingtonian.com seeks a savvy web producer to join the online editorial team at the website Washington lives by. The producer will play a key role in maintaining our growing roster of blogs and databases, bringing magazine content to an online audience, building web packages, and building out additional website features. We’re looking for someone with a sharp and creative eye for detail, whether it’s the color in a Photoshop image or the font in a logo, but this is not a writing position.

Learn more about this opportunity.

Graphics Editor at The New York Times in New York, NY

The New York Times is looking for a designer/programmer/editor to join the Graphics department, which produces maps, diagrams and data visualizations for all publishing platforms, including the printed newspaper and nytimes.com.

The Times has long been a leader in the field of information graphics, both in print and on the Web. Candidates should enjoy finding new, innovative ways to marry information design with data and interactivity to produce multimedia pieces that visually explain the news.

Candidates should demonstrate excellence in the concept, design and execution of features like interactive maps and charts and the pages that display them. The position requires fluency in Flash, HTML/CSS and JavaScript, and applicants should demonstrate a desire for continuous learning of new programming languages and interactive techniques.

Read more about this opportunity.

Picture Editor/Multimedia Producer at msnbc.com in London, UK

Msnbc.com is seeking an experienced Picture Editor/Multimedia Producer for our London office. We are looking for an individual who can collaborate with internal teams, parent companies and content providers. The Multimedia Team supports all sections of the site by editing compelling photojournalism and video on a daily basis and on bigger projects. Proven news judgment, high ethical standards and interpersonal skills are necessary. A successful candidate will have broad knowledge and curiosity about news of all kinds and show a keen eye for spotting interesting and newsworthy visual content. An innovative spirit, passion for digital media, and the ability to solve problems in a fast paced, sometimes hectic environment are highly desirable.

A BA degree in Photojournalism, Multimedia Journalism or other disciplines that emphasize visual storytelling and multimedia production and/or editing is required. Strong candidates with equivalent experience or education will be considered. A minimum of four years experience editing visual content for print media or online news is essential. Further knowledge of video editing, field photography, and broadcast production are welcome—the job will require some video editing.

Must be organized and able to manage daily and long-term projects simultaneously. Must be a self-starter but be able to work in a collaborative team environment. The ideal candidate will be flexible with their time as this position will include some night and weekend shifts. The candidate must have demonstrated the ability to quickly master digital content management and production software.

Learn more about this opportunity.

Web Developer/Designer at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ

The Web Developer/Designer plays a key role within the engineering communications team, helping tell the story of the engineering school and its people through creative use of the web and digital technologies. The web developer/designer manages the engineering school website and serves as the lead developer of new web features and specialty websites for the school. He or she works with experienced journalists who make up the communications team, including the senior new media editor, to maximize the online presence of Princeton Engineering and develop creative ways to meet the schools communications goals.

These responsibilities require a strong mix of personal and technical skills as well as experience with creative presentation of dynamic content in a news-driven environment.

Read more about this opportunity.

Three Web Interns at The Center for Public Integrity in Washington, DC

The Center for Public Integrity’s web department is looking to hire two or three web-savvy interns beginning as soon as possible and working through the end of the year. Interns will be expected to work 10 – 15 hours per week at a rate of $10 per hour.

Basic responsibilities will include:
* Loading content to the Center’s website;
* Basic web-based advertising (Google Ads);
* Assistance with photo research and editing;
* Maintaining archives of multimedia content;
* Assistance with compiling analytics;
* Other duties as assigned.

Additional responsibilities may include:
* Assisting with multimedia projects;
* Assisting with project management of major investigations.

Read more about this opportunity.

Assistant Professor or Instructor/Lecturer in Visual Journalism at University of Alabama in Tuscalosoa, AL

The Department of Journalism, University of Alabama, announces its search for a tenure-track assistant professor or a renewable contract instructor/lecturer in visual journalism who would join the faculty in August 2011. The successful candidate is expected to have a strong professional background or teaching experience in one or more areas of visual journalism. The new faculty member would teach classes in several of the following areas: Beginning visual journalism; intermediate and advanced photojournalism; newspaper, magazine and online design; and multimedia video production. An interest in emerging media’s role in building community is also welcome, given the department’s community journalism emphasis at the graduate level.

Read more about this opportunity.

Software Developer at Zerofractal in Miami, FL

Required Skills:
- Java or Javascript developer
- Open Source Workflow

Optional Skills:
- PHP or Ruby on Rails
- C++ or Objective-C
- Macintosh Experience in Cocoa Development

Experience: At least 3-5 years

Learn more about this opportunity. (Our Studios – Jobs)

Motion Graphic Designer at Zerofractal in Toronto, Canada

Duty:
- Creative person willing to brainstorm and conceptualize ideas.
- Manage projects from concept to production with proven communications design work.
- Coordinate and manage projects within a team environment.
- Be able to develop and finish artwork/videos in multiple formats.

Learn more about this opportunity. (Our Studios – Jobs)

UX/UI Designer at Mashable in either San Francisco, CA or New York, NY

Mashable is in search of a remarkable UI and UX designer to pair gorgeous visual design with seamless user experiences.

Is this you? Do you have:
- Innate understanding of good aesthetics
- Outstanding abilities in UX and UI design
- A master of information architecture and user flows
- Unwavering dedication to phenomenal user experiences
- Working knowledge of HTML / CSS

Read more about this opportunity.

Flash Developer at Trigger LA in Los Angeles, CA

TRIGGER, a creative agency specializing in interactive entertainment and youth brand marketing, is looking for a full-time Flash Developer for a mid-level position with an opportunity to create high profile sites, online games and mobile applications for top entertainment clients in a fast-paced working environment. You *must* have at least 2 years working experience to be considered.

Read more about this opportunity.

Also make sure to scan through our listing of August job opportunities to see if there are other openings that may be of interest to you.

We gather employment opportunities as we come across them on our Facebook discussion board. Are you an employer and want to feature a job opening? Post it there and we will automatically include it in next month’s round-up. Or, feel free to email us your listing at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com.
Other posts that might interest you:

• October brings a wealth of multimedia job opportunities
• Job and internship opportunities, July 2010
• Job opportunities, May 2010

Whew! We made it to September. August was quite busy for us as we moved servers and upgraded our bilingual capabilities. The good news is that we now have a dedicated server to speed up page load times for you. Our bilingual capabilities have also improved so that all of the comments and sharing tools are specific for the language selected. Furthermore, we are able to translate more portions of the site so that almost the entire site can now be viewed in Spanish rather than just the posts.

Thanks for all of the inspiration that you provide via tweets, emails, blog posts and other sharing tools. I try to spend as much time as possible scouring the web and my social channels to find the most innovative multimedia projects. However, sometimes I need your help to make sure I am featuring the best of the best, so please reach out and email me your suggestions to innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. I love hearing from my readers (it is so much better than the overwhelming content I get from most of the listervs I am on!).

Top Five Posts:

1. 70 multimedia company websites to peruse for inspiration/internships/jobs
2. Everynone, NPR and Radiolab produce “Words,” a story about a world without words
3. Job and internship opportunities, August 2010
4. Innovative Individuals: Adam Westbrook
5. USA Today launches multimedia special marking five years since Hurricane Katrina

If you have had a busy month, make sure to scroll through the rest of August’s posts to make sure you didn’t miss anything.
Other posts that might interest you:

• Best of II, June 2010
• Best of II, March 2010
• Best of Innovative Interactivity, October 2009

Carolina Photojournalism Workshop’s 2010 project, Little Switzerland

UNC Chapel Hill photography professor Pat Davison and his students recently launched their latest multimedia website documenting life throughout North Carolina during 2010′s Carolina Photojournalism Workshop. This past spring students spent a week working to improve their storytelling skills by producing stories about residents of Little Switzerland, a small rural town in the mountains of North Carolina.

Read on to learn more about this project:

“The Carolina Photojournalism Workshop was founded in 2004. Each year a small group of multimedia students travel to a different part of our state to produce a documentary website in a week.

Over the years, the workshop has become an indispensable learning experience for our students. There are no distractions; students work from dawn to dusk everyday, pushing themselves and their colleagues to become better journalists. Students work closely with some of the finest professionals in the industry, staying up late into the evening performing nightly edits.

In May 2010, during the seventh annual Carolina Photojournalism Workshop, 19 students worked tirelessly for seven days to produce a diverse collection of stories that document life in and around the small mountain town of Little Switzerland. The base camp was Wild Acres, a beautiful retreat located on Pompey’s Knob, a mountain just off the Blue Ridge Parkway at an altitude of 3,300 feet. From a makeshift newsroom we could see for miles out over the Blue Ridge Mountains, with many of the highest peaks in the Eastern U.S. within view. On the first night students drew story ideas out of a hat and for the next six days they worked to produce finished stories. The workshop concluded with an impromptu viewing party for producers, story participants and the community, which was a truly special way to end the week.

Past workshops have been recognized with awards by the Webby Awards, National Press Photographer’s Association, College Photographer of the Year, Atlanta Photojournalism Seminar, Horizon Interactive Awards and the Society for News Design.”

My favorite story of the ones I watched was “One of the boys” by UNC student Caitlyn Greene.

I hope you get a chance to watch some of their stories – I strongly believe that this year’s site is the best yet!
Other posts that might interest you:

• UNC launches latest multimedia project, “Living Galapagos”
• University of Miami students personify United Nations Millennium Development Goals in documentary project “My Story, My Goal”
• French journalists document quirky Parisians in “The Everyday Walk of Fame”

This week we are pleased to bring you an interview with Paul Kühne, president of Zerofractal. The company was founded in 2000 and is an award-winning animation and interactive design studio specializing in broadcast design, 3D animation/VFX, architectural visualization and interactive design/development. They now have locations in Bogota, Miami and Toronto, and are currently hiring for two positions (see below).

I was highly impressed with this company after checking out their website and flying around this beautiful beach-front house to explore their portfolios projected on different objects in the scene. Take some time to look through their “Animation Studios” portfolio and you’ll know what I’m talking about!

Q) Please briefly introduce yourself and your role at Zerofractal.

A) I’m Paul Kühne president of Zerofractal, with more than 15 years on new media.

Q) What makes your company unique? (ie what’s your elevator pitch?)

A) What makes us unique is the multi-disciplinary approach to our projects and the creativity that derives out of it; we are a very diversified group with diametral different points of view towards the solution that our client requires and that gives us a unique source of ideas that ultimately are applied to the final result of our jobs.

Q) How do your employees drive innovation and creativity?

A) I would say that research, inspiration and curiosity are the most important elements that will drive any individual towards giving the most of himself.

Q) What company portfolio piece are you most proud of?

A) www.virtualvacay.com

Q) How do you see your company expanding in the next five years?

A) Getting into proprietary content creation, using all the knowledge we have accumulated during these past 10 years of work as a team.

Q) Why would your company be an ideal place to work?

A) freedom of creativity, no boundaries, no restriction, the only must is excellence.

Q) Will you divulge any funny stories that can give us an insight into the day-to-day operations at your company?

A) Our unique multidisciplinary approach sometimes drives us towards accepting extremely unique projects, one time we proposed to a client to fabricate a “jail-type” tray to deliver some gifts to the press as a press-kit for a new TV series; a couple of weeks before the final delivery day we found out that the plastic material was not taking the paint and it was falling and peeling. We hand-painted one-by-one of the one thousand trays with metallic paint, giving us a aluminum coat over every object of the office, computers, people, hair, etc; but we finally deliver it and the client loved it.

Q) What recommendation do you have for people either entering the workplace or looking to transition to this type of work?

A) Learn something new every day with your own time, don’t wait for the knowledge to find you or to receive it at a class room, go and get it.

Q) On that note, are you currently hiring?

A) Yes, we are looking for developers and motion graphic artists. (Job descriptions can be found under the “Our Studios” tab on the website.)

Q) How can we learn more about your company?

A) Our site, www.zerofractal.com, twitter www.twitter.com/zerofractal, there is a fan/group page in FaceBook, too.

Want to recommend a multimedia company to be highlighted in this series? Please email us at innovativeinteractivity@gmail.com. A company will be featured every Friday, so look for the next company spotlight Friday, September 3rd!
Other posts that might interest you:

• Introducing new series: “Company Spotlight”
• Company spotlight: Story4

As much as I love interactivity, sometimes a static infographic is just as impressive and might arguably tell the story even better than its flashy counterpart. I really enjoyed spending quality time with this infographic and I hope it proves that there are countless ways to visually tell a compelling yet complex story!

Graphic by Jess Bachman via Scores.org

You may be wondering how I am selecting companies to feature for our new series “Company Spotlight.” Well, I’ll let you in on a little secret: For the last six months I have been keeping track of every multimedia company I have come across on a massive Google Doc.

While I will try to feature as many companies as possible, there is no way to conduct Q&A’s with all of them. And what good does a massive list of resources do when it sits in my private docs? Thus, I decided to publish a portion of my list for you to peruse on your own in case you are looking for an internship, a job, or sheer inspiration.

Before you get discouraged by the lack of multimedia jobs in the online journalism sector, check out these companies to see if they are hiring. Or, if you are an entrepreneur, check out the competition before forming your LLC!

I’m sure that I haven’t found all of the companies out there, so please add those I have missed in the comments below. Thanks in advance for your input!

Multimedia Companies:

1105 Media (US; multiple locations; headquarters in Chatsworth, CA)
49th Parallel Productions (CA, US)
Bombay Flying Club (Vejle, Denmark)
C-Change Media (US)
Chance Multimedia (Denver, CO, US)
Charm FX (US)
Cortina Productions (McLean, VA, US)
Duckrabbit (Kings Heath, England)
Ewen Media (Minneapolis, MN, US)
Fauna Corporation (Canada)
Garapa (São Paulo, Brasil)
Honkytonk (Paris, France)
Horizon Productions (Durham, NC, US)
Kauri Multimedia (Spain)
Marble Media (Toronto, ON, Canada)
MediaStorm (Brooklyn, NY, US)
Mission Media (Baltimore, MD, US)
Momenta Group (US)
Narrative (Paris, France)
New Media Campaigns (Carrboro, NC, US)
Not on the Wires (UK)
Panos Pictures (London, UK)
Point Multimedia Designs (Asheville, NC, US)
Rare Form Films (Santa Monica, CA, US)
Reactive (multiple locations: Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; London, UK; Auckland, New Zealand)
Remain in Light (San Francisco, CA, US)
SapientNitro (multiple locations: 14 in US; 8 in Europe; 7 in Asia; 3 in Australia)
See Here Studios (San Francisco, CA, US)
Seegull Media (Indianapolis, IN, US)
Sojournposse (headquarters in UK; Barcelona, Kathmandu, Colombo, Kuala Lumpur and Cordoba)
Story4 (Felton, CA, US)
Studio .fu (London, UK)
Talking Eyes Media (Montclair, NJ, US)
Tellit Multimedia (Chicago, IL, US)
The Warehouse Multimedia Studios (Goodlettsville, TN, US)
TK Multimedia (New York City, NY, US)
Weyo (Norfolk, VA, US)

Interactive Agencies:

Applied Works (London, UK)
Behavior Design (New York, NY, US)
Bowtie (US and Mexico)
Curious Sense (Durham, NC, US)
Domani Studios (New York & Chicago, US)
Foursaken Media (US)
Immersive Media (Calgary, AB, Canada)
Interactive Media Lab (Louisville, KY, US)
MediaBOOM (Guilford, CT, US)
Osmosis (Westport, CT, US)
Red Piston (Windsor, ON, Canada)
Red Storm Entertainment (Cary, NC, US)
RPA: Rubin Postaer and Associates (US; multiple locations)
Second Story (Portland, OR, US)
Sensory Minds (Germany)
Smashing Ideas (Seattle, WA and Portland, OR, US; Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK)
Swarm Interactive (Chapel Hill, NC, US)
Grow Interactive (Norfolk, VA, US)
Tracermedia Interactive (Columbus, OH, US)
Trafik (Lyon, France)
WHITEvoid (Berlin, Germany)
Zerofractal Studio (Bogota, Colombia; Miami, FL, US; Toronto, Canada)

Information Design / Data Visualization Companies:

5W Infographics (Washington, DC and New York, NY, US; Madrid, Spain)
Berg (London, UK)
Infograficanimata (Rome, Italy)
Interactive Things (Zürich, Switzerland)
Kicker Studio (San Francisco, CA, US)
Multitouch Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain)
Periscopic (Portland, OR, US)
Pitch Interactive (Madison, WI, US)
Reactable (US)
The Barbarian Group (New York, NY; Boston, MA and San Francisco, CA, US)
The New Mediators (US)
XPlane (Portland, OR and St. Louis, MO, US; Madrid, Spain; Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Other posts that might interest you:

• Xplane visualizes our digital state in “Did You Know 4.0″
• MediaStorm founder Brian Storm advises journalism community to partner and collaborate
• 10 March multimedia must-reads

Dimensions produced by Berg for BBC

Many times I struggle to comprehend the magnitude of an event, such as the flooding in Pakistan. News reports state that the flooding has affected one-fifth of the country – well, is that a lot or a little? In attempt to answer this question, Berg and BBC producers developed “Dimensions” to help users visualize the scale of major events. By overlaying the affected area in relation to my zip code, I can now see that the flooding stretches from Orlando, FL, to New York City, NY. Now that I can directly compare the size of the flooding to roughly U.S.’ east coast, I can say for certainty that flooding in one-fifth of Pakistan is a huge issue!

The prototype of the site is currently up for the next couple of months over at HowBigReally.com (cleverly named might I add). The producers noted that if the prototype is successful, it will be integrated within the BBC site as a complementary storytelling component for historical stories and coverage of large-scale events. Until then, data enthusiasts get to play with it and make recommendations for improvement.

They were especially excited about this idea because “it used the central premise of digital media – that of connection. Connecting by juxtaposing two datasets: Historical plans, events and routes with where you are,” Max Gadney wrote over at the BBC Internet Blog.

I was curious to learn more about the project so I followed a link to the blog of Berg, a London-based design consultancy that developed the prototype for BBC. Their write-up included a great “tour” of the site’s elements, as well we some more reasoning on why they think this project is particularly compelling.

Here is the original concept that they brainstormed a year ago:

“We want to bring home the human scale of events and places in history. The Apollo 11 Moon walk explored an area smaller than Trafalgar Square; the distance between your WW1 trench and the enemy could only be as much as from your front door to the street corner.

Dimensions is a feature on websites that juxtaposes the size of historical events with your home and neighbourhood. You’re hearing about the span of the base of the Great Pyramids, or the distance of the book depository from JFK, or the extent of the Great Fire of London… Dimensions overlays this map on a satellite view of where you live.”

I would encourage you to check out the site and provide helpful feedback to the developers so that this can be rolled out to BBC readers in the near future. Personally, my suggestion for improvement would be to alter the design so that the window to insert a zipcode doesn’t hide content within the map. I think moving the horizontal bar right below the map would be much more visually appealing for the user. Yet another suggestion would be to add more data, because I had so much fun seeing where the Apollo moonwalk would have happened in my neighborhood and how big the BP oil spill was had it occurred over land. Keep them coming!
Other posts that might interest you:

• Michelle Minkoff brings us wealth of interviews with “data delvers”
• France 24′s “The Fall of the Wall” web documentary: storytelling falls short despite interactive interface
• Honytonk and 31Septembre introduce interactive documentary