Amir: former Technical Director of Farts & Explosions for South Park; current UX designer for MSN.
The geek in question: Amir Bahadori
The job title: UX Designer II
What are you working on right now?
My team works with Fortune 500 companies to create entertainment experiences that we promote on the MSN homepage. We just did a website for LeBron James from the Cleveland Cavaliers — it was this 3D book that opened up and had articles and content about his life.
Essentially every project is its own universe. We take from our services and create an experience that people can come in and play with and spend some time with the brand, so there’s a bit of brand lift.
Ha! You said “brand lift.”
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Hoop has excellent taste in music
I first met Zune developer Hoop Somuah last summer, after a colleague on the Zune team suggested that he might make a good profile for the ViewMyWorld website. We covered all sorts of topics in his profile, including the ways that the small team felt like a start-up, and the ruffled feathered from a coding retreat that some regarded as a coup. More than six months (and a Zune release) later, I thought I’d catch up with Hoop again to see how things were going.
Hey, Hoop. So, what’s changed since we spoke last summer?
Last year was all about building the base for the Zune service. This year, we’re working on building cool stuff on top of that infrastructure. Last year we were much more hard pressed for schedule, trying to make the release date for Zune 2.0.
Summer and early fall of 2007 I worked harder than I have ever worked in my life — harder than college, even harder than when I had two jobs simultaneously.
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Graphic designer Iosefatu Sua has three designs among the available selections that reflect his Pacific Island heritage as a native of New Zealand.
The Zune Originals program lets consumers design their own devices. Professional artwork choices for new Zunes include graphics from two employees.
By Steve Birge
With more than a million Zune players sold, how can you pick yours out in a crowd? Thanks to the new Zune Originals program, you can give yours a personal touch by adding professional graphic artwork from its Artists Series. The back of the device can be laser-engraved with one of 27 designs created by internationally recognized artists, including two Microsoft employees.
Cutting-edge graphic art gives the device a strong statement of individuality, said Thomas Markert, Zune Entertainment creative director.
“Zune Originals at the top level allow consumers the ability to literally build their own Zune,” he said. “The consumer picks a color and then has engraved whatever they like on it, whether it’s five lines of text, a smaller design called a ‘tattoo,’ with or without text, or a design from the Artists Series. With that, the device is all yours, totally different than what you’d buy at retail.”
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