Clever Flashwork catches the bird

Produced by Ripe for the third time running, Swimwear 2004 had a clear vision - to extend the island experience to visitor's desktops. The result was a slick Flash site (and interactive CD) that packaged the entire experience inside a wooden island cabin, mere steps away from the tranquil Mauritian beach where the models were photographed.

Ripe created a rich 3D environment for the cabin in which site visitors have access to an extensive picture gallery, voting polls, an exclusive video clip collection, and an online adventure game offering great prizes. Of course Web favourites such as wallpapers and screen savers are standard on a site of this nature...

Content strategy and copy were carried out by Charles Miller, Design Director Craig Parker created and oversaw design and 3D work, Jason Strachan and Matthew Stephen carried out design and Flash programming.

Says Ripe's Creative Director Mark Winkler, "We're obviously delighted with our Loeries, especially given the level of competition in our categories. But we're doubly chuffed that the website has become such an integral part of the Swimwear brand. We've been seeing growing interest and responsiveness amongst users as the scope of Swimwear's digital work increases from one year to the next.

"As they say, clients get the work they deserve, having clients like Nashua, SASI and Netsport Marketing, who have trusted us with the design and development of the site for years, is simply fantastic."

Apart from record amounts of site traffic, the campaign also succeeded in signing up several thousand new e-mail subscribers. As such, the 2004 Swimwear site firmly delivered on its business objectives and in being a viable online marketing platform. Not a bad proposition, especially if it comes wrapped in award-winning design.

Swimwear enthusiasts will also be happy to know that this year's stunning SASI Swimwear site http://www.sasiswimwear.co.za went live recently. Produced again by Ripe.