functionalaesthetics, das sind Chris Bleuel, Magdalena Cuber und Michael Ruß. Und eigentlich noch viele mehr, denn eine der Kernkompetenzen der drei Kommunikationsdesigner ist, immer die richtigen Leute zusammenzusammeln, um interaktive Projekte aus einer Hand umzusetzen.
Magdalena, wieso heißt ihr functionalaesthetics?
Chris und ich haben vor unserer Selbständigkeit in Berlin zusammen in einer Agentur gearbeitetund schon dort gemeinsam digitale Projekte realisiert. Wir hatten dabei immer dieselbe Überzeugung,nämlich dass jedes Produkt – sei es eine Webseite, eine Iphone-App oder ein Bedienelement einerWaschmaschine – nur gut ist, wenn Funktionalität und Design zusammenpassen. Bei vielen Produkten, die auf dem Markt sind, ist das nämlich nicht der Fall. Deswegen betrachten wir genau das als unsere Aufgabe: Lösungen zu finden, die sich allen Anwendern von selbst erschließen und Spaß beim
Bedienen bereiten.
Welche Art von Produkten realisiert ihr?
Wir machen eigentlich alles, was im weitesten Sinne digital ist, von Webseiten – Intranet und Extranetlösungen mit und ohne interaktive Funktionen - über Apps für Ipads und Iphones, Android-Programmierung für andere Smartphones bis hin zu Videoprojektionen auf Wände. Meistens sind die Projekte sehr komplex und enthalten mehrere dieser Komponenten. Ganz egal aber, um was es sich handelt, wir bieten von der Konzeption über das Design bis hin zur Programmierung alles an.
Immer die richtigen Leute dafür zu finden ist eine eurer Kernkompetenzen
Wir sind der Überzeugung, dass das Projekt immer im Zentrum steht und dass man solch komplexe Projekte nur interdisziplinär lösen kann. Wir gehen also immer vom Projekt aus und suchen dann die geeigneten Leute dafür zusammen. Diese Teams, die dann meisten aus Konzeptern, Informationsarchitekten, Strategen, Designern und Programmierern bestehen, arbeiten dann beim Kunden vor Ort. Wir selbst, das Kernteam – Chris und ich seit Anfang des Jahres, Michael ist vor drei Monaten dazugekommen. Wir würden das gar nicht schaffen.
Wieso seid ihr damals ins betahaus gezogen?
Räume zu mieten war bisher absolut überflüssig. Wir arbeiten ja oft wochenlang bei einem Kunden, brauchten deswegen eine flexible Lösung, die nicht unnötig Geld verschlingt. Das betahaus war das perfekte Angebot: Hier haben wir einen flexiblen Schreibtisch, an dem wir an fünf oder sechs Tagen im Monat die Dinge erledigen können, die wir nicht beim Kunden machen.
Wie wird es weitergehen mit functionalaesthetics?
Wir wollen und müssen wachsen, denn die Nachfrage ist sehr groß. Es gibt einfach nicht so viele Spezialisten auf dem Gebiet der interaktiven Anwendungen. Deswegen wollen wir sowohl unser Netzwerk erweitern als auch das Kernteam vergrößern. Jeder, der dazu kommt sollte aber unsere Vision teilen, nämlich dass Projekte sich interaktiv und im Team am besten realisieren lassen. Außerdem war und ist uns extrem wichtig, dass wir alle auch weiterhin Spaß an der Arbeit haben und entspannt zusammenarbeiten.
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To be honest, I sort of fell into it. I was always working somewhere between content marketing and the music industry and around seven years ago a friend of a friend was searching for someone to help him curating music for his boutique surf spot on the beach in Costa Rica. The owner was a big music fan, but he just didn't have time to keep all the music up-to-date. So I got introduced to him, we shared similar tastes, and agreed that I would do the music for his space - curating it and updating it with new music on a regular basis.
This for me was a dream come true. I could finally work with music all day, and at the same time, I could help create an awesome experience for the guests. I saw people's reactions when they heard a song they liked. I saw them dancing, getting a little closer to each other at the bar and that for me was really rewarding.
This was the moment when I realized that there is something special about this idea and I got interested if there is actually market out there. I did some market research, and a lot of interviews with different hoteliers people in the industry trying to get more feedback. And the idea started growing more and more.
Interesting is the story of the last years winner in the category “Creative”. Hamburg based headraft literally took music experience to the next level by creating the world’s first AR Music Video for the German band “die Fantastischen Vier”. Designed for their song “Tunnel”, the cited app unfolds a virtual story world once the track starts playing, giving fans the opportunity to go on an interactive journey with the band rather than being a passive viewer.
Applications are now open! Finalists will be awaited by a curious jury of five leading industry experts. Among others, Kathleen Cohen who was already taking part in the first year will be in the panel of judges again. With a 25-year multiplatform career history under her belt, she is one of the most regarded in the field. As a digital experience expert, she has successfully implemented projects for DreamWorks Interactive and IBM Innovation, to name a few.
Needless to say, the yearly AUREA Award is definitely the place to be. Apply and become a member of the community bringing together all the promising products and solutions in the AR/VR sector.
Well, both. Currently we offer the following two options: shorter publicly available Brand Playlists and long-form private Soundtracks for spaces. For both of them we work closely with the client to understand how sound fits into their brand DNA and what their audience is like.
We believe that the guests’ experience with a particular space doesn’t have to begin and end with their stay. The idea of the Brand Playlist is to be a public brand playlists designed to engage the customers before, during, and after their visit at a space. It’s always accessible for them and serves as a new, dynamic marketing channel.
The Soundtrack is slightly different. It takes sometimes up to weeks of work and is designed by a world-class artist, DJ, or tastemaker. For it we first work with you to develop a deep understanding of your business and style. Then we match you with the perfect artist, DJ, or tastemaker to create unique, always fresh playlists, custom tailored to match your brand.
In both cases, we update them regularly based on guest habits and clients’ needs.
The way we engage with the music community is something really important for us and honestly, what makes us different than other background music providers. A lot of the background music providers out there have internal teams of maybe five or six DJs that do all of the music for their clients. We aim to connect with the local scene and always work with local DJs. There's some kind of magic in finding the exact right artists for the brand.
And on the flip side of it, when we hire artists, we make sure that the project is also inspiring for them and that they would be interested in participating. We always make sure to pay them well. The whole project creates for them a new income stream that they wouldn't have otherwise.
Yes! This was really fun. The objective with the betahaus "betabeer sounds" playlist was to showcase the community side of betahaus. There are so many cool, interesting people in the betahaus community and we thought a playlist could be a perfect way to not only help bring the community together but also show the diverse funkiness of the communities of Berlin and Neukölln, which is why Hazy Pockets, a longtime local Berlin DJ known for his eclectic mixes, was perfect for this project.
This playlist moves from bluesy 60s rock into surf and tropicalia, picking up momentum into Motown and onwards through some laid back disco tunes. Perfect for the betabeer events betahaus hosts monthly!
Oh, there are just so many! Like the Imren Grill for instance where you can find the best homemade Turkish food or Das Gift and Gordon which are both run by great music people. Kohelenquelle in Prenzleuer Berg is my favorite local bar (or rather kneipe). To satisfy my techno / electronic records needs I always go to Hard Wax and one of my most special places is the Zions Kirche steeple, which has an awesome view of the city and a great Weinerei close by.
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