2015 in Review
It’s been another great year for the team at Agentic. We launched many projects, won a number of awards, spoke at several conferences and Phillip even managed to sneak in a month-long sabbatical.
One project we launched that we are most proud of is AgedOut.com. This was one of the more ambitious projects we have ever created. It infuses modern gamification techniques with the latest psychology of persuasive design. We designed it to help youth in care learn real world skills as they transition out of life with government supports so that they can fully participate in society. This has been a gap, causing of lots of negative consequences for youth, for a long time. Jessie Johnston, our Project Manager was an amazing liaison for our clients and rocked this project, making sure everything worked out as planned.
Some of the other campaigns that we launched were a microsite for ending forced marriage, a campaign site for unionizing rental car workers, an update for St Michael’s University “Best School Year Ever” and the new site for the Celebration of Light Fireworks Festival.
Of the creative digital media genre, we developed and designed PicMyEnergyMix.org, which provided utility holders in Colorado and Michigan an easy way to see where their energy comes from and enables them with information they need to change the energy sources to more renewable ones. We worked with Yale University once again, and with the Institute of Network Science to redesign their department website. This is the second project we’ve collaborated on with Yale, and we are pleased they decided to continue their relationship with us.
HighMuckaMuck and Our Living Languages (OLL) both won awards this year! HighMuckaMuck won a BC Creates Spark of Creativity Award and OLL won a prestigious Excellence in Exhibition Award by the American Alliance of Museums. We’re thrilled with both, especially Emily and Haley’s work on HighMuckaMuck.
We also continued to work with our existing clients, including a 5-year renewal as Interactive Agency of Record with Granville Island, and the great work of the First Nations Technology Council. FNTC has been a long time client and one that Phillip is especially proud of. This year, we launched the fnbc.info Knowledge Network and travelled around the province getting feedback from different First Nations communities.
This year marks the launch of a new version of YourLegalRights.ca, a one stop shop making Ontario legal resources accesible. This collaboration with another long-term client, Community Legal Education Ontario, was designed as a place for people to lear about their legal issues. We have made this site a showcase of responsive design and strategy.
Aboriginal engagement was a big part of another large project this year with the Adoptive Families Association, Ministry of Child and Family Development and the BC Federation of Foster Parent Associations. We have been working on a part of the Residential Review strategy that will be made public next year, so this year we have been consulting a wide range of stakeholders, including the Aboriginal community. Phillip and Marissa love going out to the communities and hearing face-to-face what people think.
Phillip also became certified in the Psychological Principles of Persuasive Design. Attending the course along with him was our Design Lead Emily Birr. It provided a fascinating insight into how psychology relates to designing online sites that can inspire action. The course was taught by Brian Cugelman, PhD. Brian discussed many different ways psychology impacts the way we see things online. We have incorporated much of his thinking into our work now.
Phillip presented at a number of conferences, including the Magazines BC annual conference in Vancouver, the National Conference on Adoptable Children in Long Beach and the Summit on Permanency in Ottawa. He also spoke at Capilano University to film students, and was invited to teach there this spring and through into 2016. Phillip is very excited at the opportunity to work with students directly.
Lastly, Phillip took December to focus on writing and thought leadership. Look for new things coming from him in the new year! Specifically, sign up for a webinar in February 2016 on “How Creative Digital Media Campaigns can Win Attention, Inspire Donors and Increase Supporters” featuring guest speakers Darren Barefoot and Julie Szabo of Capulet Communications.
Overall, we’ve done a lot of new things this year that we’re very pleased with! We look forward to helping all of our amazing clients in the new year.
- Author: Phillip Djwa