Bright Spark Digital Limited

I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know no way of judging the future but by the past." Patrick Henry, US Founding Father

"

Case Studies

Virgin Media Electronic Programme Guide

The Brief:

Virgin Media required a version of their EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) that would operate within a web browser. Usually accessed through a television as part of their cable tv offering, the browser version was needed as a sales tool to demonstrate the service via electrical retail outlets.

The Solution:

Replicating an existing system proved to have both benefits and challenges. Working within a closed system allowed us to choose one browser to work with, meaning we didn't have to concern ourselves with multiple browser support.

After a rigorous research phase whereby we mapped out the existing system and got to grips with all the functional details, we decided to develop our EPG using HTML/CSS for the frontend with the backend built using a combination of .Net and Javascript. One of the biggest challenges we encountered was fullscreen video playback in the browser, without the use of Flash. This proved to be a tricky task which we eventually overcame by using a Windows Media Player plugin for Firefox. Much time was then spent testing a number of different video encoders to determine the best playback option for the HD content we were dealing with.

As we came towards the end of the development phase, then came the job of finding a suitable PC to install it on. This would usually be a simple process, but in this case the PC would have to be small enough to fit inside a V+ set top box. The answer came in the form of 'Fit PC', an incredibly small (but suitably powerful) machine that was perfect for the job at hand. Once installed, the final box couldn't be told apart from the real thing, and was then taken off to be added to an installation at the UK's first ever 'Best Buy' branch at Lakeside, Thurrock.

All in all, it was an incredibly interesting project to undertake, and something very different to what we're used to tackling. Phase 2 now awaits, with more content and extra functionality top of the bill.

 

Stella Artois E-Card Campaign

The Brief:
We were approached by InBev to create a strategy for their 2009 global Christmas campaign. Stella Artois wanted to build on their Christmas heritage and connect with a million consumers worldwide.

The Solution:
The result was a campaign called 'Send a Card, Save a Tree'. The campaign offered consumers around the world the opportunity to send an augmented reality Christmas e-Card.

In celebration of every e-Card sent, Stella Artois secured the future of a tree located in the threatened Atlantic Rainforest, with the goal of saving one million trees before Christmas Day, representing one million e-Cards sent.

The e-Card was developed using Flartoolkit, a Flash framework, and recreated the look and feel of the Stella Artois Christmas TV commercial.

 

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Global Website

The Brief:
Brought on board by advertising agency Partners Andrews Aldridge for our experience within the luxury sector, Bright Spark took Creative and Technical lead on the project.

The Solution:
With this site we really set out to capture the essence of the new forward-thinking Rolls-Royce brand. Visually, it's very simple and light on style, something that is at the heart of Rolls Royce's design approach. As is said about the design of the new Ghost, "It's natural, not styled".

The technical solution goes on to support the brand values of 'effortless and seamless' with the use of Ajax transitions throughout, not to mention some clever behind the scenes 'hidden technology', another key component of all Rolls-Royce models.

You can visit the site at http://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com

 

TwitCal

The Brief:
Create a simple to use calendar that would allow entries to be entered and managed via a Twitter account.

TwitCal came about as a result of Matt telling us that he didn't much like using any of the existing calendaring applications. A possible solution for Matt's diary dilemma was to create a calendar powered and editable via Twitter (something Matt was altogether happier using!)


The Solution:

One of the main objectives for the website was to enable the calendar to work with just a Twitter Account. Whilst here were already existing Google Calendar / Twitter mash-ups, our emphasis was on a stand-alone app that could use Twitter as its authentication, database and user interface.

With a nod to other Twitter apps, we kept the user interface pretty simple so that anyone familiar with Twitter would have an easy time using TwitCal. We wanted to make sure that everything from tweeting an entry to browsing the calendar was as simple as possible.

Once we'd taken a look at the Twitter Search API, we were soon able to retrieve calendar entries via JSON calls. As expected, international date formats proved a little tricky to handle but we worked up some compromises that suited our American friends as well as the rest of the world.

Authenticating users was pretty straightforward as Twitter had just announced their support for the OAuth protocol, an open standard enabling users to sign in to different websites using one trusted identity. This meant we could let our users sign in to TwitCal via Twitter. And so with a little help from some existing OAuth libraries, we soon had an working prototype.

Although we had a few hiccups along the way with changes to Twitter's API, the project was great fun to build and provided a chance to combine lots of Web 2.0 frameworks and methodologies.

You can try it out for yourselves at http://www.twitcal.com

 

 

Previous Experience

Jaguar LogoCenterparcs LogoITN Source LogoAnn Summers LogoBentley LogoBowers and Wilkins LogoTerrence Higgins Trust LogoDogs Trust LogoBritvic LogoDisney LogoUnilever LogoSony Computer Entertainment LogoTesco LogoPolarisoft Logo