Brick Studios has had the recent pleasure of attending an AIGA studio tour at the Disney Family studio in North Hollywood. This was a two-hour long, casual look into the inner workings of how the Disney Family team transformed a parent-focused suite of sites into a successful, online family destination at Family.com. Although these sites are under the umbrella of Disney, this team has done a wonderful job of branding it with its own unique personality. The look is very friendly, and almost what you would expect for this type of audience. But what is truly impressive is what’s under the hood and all over the dash of this site.
First of all, the functionality of this site is smooth and elegant. Buttons are large, clearly defined and very intuitive. The search field is oversized to aid in the event of any confusion. The site also makes use of many great interaction cues such as vertical accordion side bars, pictorial sliders and the ever-so-obvious tabbed navigation.
The site also utilizes functionality that is usually reserved for younger audiences, like social networking and viral marketing cues. They have a bookmark cache of sharing links such as, Digg, Del.icio.us, Facebook and StumbleUpon, just to name a few, and the always intelligent “send to a friend.” It’s official - Moms are starting to catch on. At least that’s what the collective minds at Disney Family want to believe.
Photography on family sites are usual entrenched with the run-of-the-mill stock imagery. Not here. The photography editor spoke in detail about the vision the team had for creating a unique look that provided a narrative while still feeling genuine. Mission accomplished. There is a classic candidness that captures family moments throughout travel and day-to-day living. Simple themes such as “Little Princess” and “Forever Young” are encapsulated in family situations like a walk to school or a family trip. All with the spontaneity of a snapshot and the grace and composition of a professional shoot.
Finally, the illustrators within the Disney Family team are exceptional. They create a bulk of the visual assets the designers have to work with. Not only that, but they create these assets in true Disney fashion - with simplistic ease and true hand-crafted artistry. This approach is sprinkled throughout the site including an avatar section and games. There are a variety of games and crafts to choose from within the site, but by far the most interesting and engaging were the 3D Printables. These Printables are templates of various characters and objects that parents and kids can print out, cut and easily assemble into a three-dimensional sculpture. Needless to say, most of the cubes in the office were littered with them.
I have been to quite a few of these events hosted by AIGA, all with the typical tension of a social event that caters the out-of-the-bag cubed cheese and five dollar wine. However, Disney Family surprised me. Maybe it was the “family” part of the name or even the connotations that Disney bring, but from my own experience in marketing to broad audiences I know the task is never easy. I feel they have pulled it off with grace. Even Walt might be proud.
By the way, is he still cryogenically frozen?
by Jeff Jura
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