So the end of another eventful year and the beginning of one that promises to be even more packed with exciting moments.
But let’s take a brief look back at some of the key events that promise to shape our hopes for Tapocketa…
The Locksmith - Research Funding
As many of you know, early in the year we secured research and development funding from the BFI and the National Lottery through Creative UK for our interactive mystery, The Locksmith. This has allowed us to work with technical experts to explore ways of bringing the story to life through augmented reality - an exciting new arena for us.
Working with creative technically-minded people has seen the spawning of some inventive storytelling concepts that exploit the unique traits of the medium. Make sure you join our list (if you haven’t done so already) to be kept up to date with its progress.
The Gala
We attended the Creative Enterprise Gala at the Barbican Conservatory in London in May. It was a chance to meet other Creative Enterprise Fund beneficiaries and members of the Creative UK.
Eleanor and Trevor at the Gala, with Chris Filip of Creative UK and the Barbican Conservatory
Eleanor and Trevor Go Virtual
As part of the Business Support Programme, we had a one-to-one (actually two-to-one) workshop with Limina Immersive, in Bristol. This gave us extra insight into the world of virtual reality and immersive media and the way it is being used to tell a broad range of stories. We were enthused that virtual reality is experienced by a wide demographic, especially when it came to exhibitions, which is an area we are looking to explore initially.
It was our first tryout with virtual reality and our chance to see innovative ways of storytelling through this emerging medium.
An image from Notes on Blindness VR
One story that really caught our attention was Notes on Blindness. Originally a film of the same name, real life audio extracts from the tapes of professor John Hull, who lost his sight in 1980, are put to carefully choreographed visuals that aim to convey the sensory concepts explored in the audio. It was deeply affecting and gave us an insight into how virtual reality can put you right into the heart of the story.
Female Founders
It’s wonderful that this year saw Eleanor chosen to become part of the Female Founders programme. Female Founders seeks to address the imbalance women encounter when growing their businesses and coaches those selected in how to progress their companies and make the most of their skills and IP (Intellectual Property).
Eleanor with some of the other Female Founder cohorts
Eleanor has so far attended workshops in Birmingham and Leeds as well as one-to-one sessions with Erica Wolfe-Murray. Erica has worked closely with some of the world’s biggest brands and has a wealth of experience in advertising, graphic and product design, PR, documentary production and licensing. She is already having a profound effect on the progress of Tapocketa and we are excited for the future with her on our side.
Galdo’s Gift online
After a core change at Apple Books (sorry about the pun) which altered the functionality available to books on its platform, we took the decision to remove Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie® from the Apple Store.
We really wanted to have Galdo’s Gift in a form where it could be experienced by more people, regardless of their platform. So a lot of work has gone into creating an online version of Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie®, with all the functionality of the original.
Now in the final test stages, in the new year we will be assessing opinions from many sources, including from those on our list, to look at the many opportunities for Galdo’s Gift’s online future.
Under the Sea
We have been working with a talented author in San Diego to bring her story of adventure and discovery to life. This will be an interactive tale for children and we will reveal more through the year to you. But for now I will leave you with a sneaky glimpse of one of the early images we have created for the book.
A sneak peek at a character from the new book - more in the new year
New Launch Coming Soon
We have been animating third party artwork for a wide variety of clients for a few years now. We’ve always been in a bit of a quandary about how we square the wide variety of visual styling this creates alongside the visual styling of our own artwork and animation. It has meant that we have tended to shy away from showing this client work concerned that it would disrupt the clarity of our in house style.
A selection of the imagery we have animated over the years
That’s why we have decided to launch a new company in the new year dedicated to the varied work we create for clients using their imagery. We look forward to sharing more with you soon.
2023 promises to be another eventful year with some exciting prospects and we look forward to sharing it with you.
Our very best wishes to you for Christmas and the New Year.
Eleanor & Trevor xx
