After several months of effort and a lot of continent shuffling, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Web2.0Summit Points of Control Map!

This is really a first iteration of the map, with additional functionality to be added in upcoming releases. We hope you enjoy!

Here are a few behind-the-scenes notes:

The team at Blend included and Joe, Nate on the development side. Karla and I did the design and illustration. We worked primarily with John Battelle and Janetti Chon from the web2.0 team. Their vision and broad knowledge of the current state of the web is what really enabled this map to become what it is.

Deciding on the relative size and placement of the companies was a challenge. There are a lot of diverse players. So much so that an apples-to-apples comparison of any one data point seemed to miss the full picture. Instead we took a hybrid approach, considering things like revenue, number of active users, and relative influence. In the end it is all an estimate, but hopefully a reasonably defensible one.

Visually there were a number of influences. We were inspired by old explorers maps, with their vague details and exotic inset illustrations. To help underscore the game-like fun that we were going for, we looked to strategy board games like Risk or Age of Empires. The chiclet icons were obvious game pieces that nod to the web-centric nature of the map. In the end we blended a whimsical hand-drawn style with interactive elements in a way that encourages exploring the state of the web for fun.

Obviously, we are not the first ones to try and visualize the web in some way. Here are a few other interesting takes on things:

Web Trend Map – Both a cool interactive map of the latest trends and a subway map style poster.

2007 Online Communities – How things have changed!

2010 Social Networking Map – A recent “tribute” map in a similar style to the 2007 version above.

I really like the style and creativity gushing from this cool animated film. The site offers a great gallery of artwork with a behind-the-scenes, sketchbook view of the visual development. You’ll definitely want to check out the brief video clip from the film, although I’ll warn you in advance, it leaves you wanting to see more.

More Lebensader here: http://www.lebensader-film.com/

Or, I pulled over a couple teaser sketches below:

Karla designed the old version of our site nearly four years ago. I think that’s about 127 in web years. I always thought it aged very well. However, we have been growing and changing as fast as web technology. It was time for a refresh. We hope our new site can better communicate all we have been up to, and give visitors a better understanding of what Blend is capable of. Just like moving into a new house, we are still unpacking, shuffling content around, and getting things situated where we want them. Check in often to see what is new at Blend!

Blend’s new site: http://www.blendinteractive.com

The process was fairly easy:

1. Download and print the template page
2. Write all the letters in their appropriate boxes
3. Scan and upload the completed template back to the site
4. Preview the result and download my completed font

There are a few tricks to getting a nice result. I used a black Micron08 pen, slightly tweaked the vertical placement of the letters in Photoshop, and made sure the four registration dots on the template made it intact through the whole process.

Of course, this is an auto-generated font. Despite all the clever scripts running in the background, you have to expect some kerning foibles and the like. There are limited special characters, and no options for ligatures or other custom refinements. It is what it is. If you want a more structured font, try FontStruct. Or for complete control, buy a copy of Fontographer and go to town.

When it is all said and done though, it is hard to go wrong with a custom font in 15-30 min. For free. I can see great potential for drawing up some fun and stylized fonts with this utility. But even beyond possible design uses, there is something strangely satisfying about being able to type in your own handwriting.

Check it out at: http://www.fontcapture.com/

The site allows you to delve deeper into what people are talking about on Twitter. You can compare how often topics are mentioned over time, see when a topic popped onto everyone’s radar, and even where in the world a topic is trending! Note the “pre trend watch” where the site predicts the next topics that will make it to the top 10. Overall, this site can do some pretty cool stuff. I think Joe, Nate, and Tim might have broken a few laws of physics to make it happen (something about downloading and parsing the whole internet in real time…), but cool none-the-less.

Check it out here: http://palmtrendtracker.com/

This one has been turning for a while, but at long last we have launched Mid Market Innovators! This site, co-sponsored by Sun Microsystems and Intel, is a place to find articles and advice from leading authors in business and technology. There are also a series of webcasts schduled to give visitors the chance to interact with FM authors around these same topics. There is a lot of functionality built into the site, and the design turned out fairly well… if I do say so myself.

Check it out at: http://www.midmarketinnovators.com/

This project actually went relatively smooth. Considering we took this from nothing to a live site in about two weeks, the campaign has gone off pretty well. Chris knocked out the dev side of things, with Tim filling in around the edges.

Check it out at: http://www.h2ovisions.com/

I designed this mini conversational marketing site for Intel (Tim rocked the development end of things), and it seems to be performing fairly well. After all, who wouldn’t like $5000 in free tech gear? The contest is still open, so get in there and win some-o-them tasty microchips!

www.needatechmakeover.com