News

Bimaaji'owin - An Interactive Story of Survival

The name Bimaaji'owin represents survival in the Ojibwe language. Working in partnership with The Manitoba Indian Culture and Education Centre (MICEC) and with project funding from Canadian Heritage, Manlab created Bimaaji'owin, an interactive education adventure about survival, aboriginal culture, myths and language.

Developed using Storylab, Manlab's interactive fiction game engine, players interact with the story and control the characters using text commands. Storylab enabled Manlab developers and programmers to present Bimaaji’owin using a unique, modern-day version of old text adventure games of the ‘80s. The end result is an immersive environment that includes aural and animated elements.

The story opens with the player heading south through Manitoba on a York boat in hopes of returning to his family before winter hits. Things don't exactly go as planned: after a strange dream, the player finds himself fighting to keep the boat afloat in raging rapids. Once on dry land, he becomes lost in dark forest, where something might be prowling through the night...

Will he fall prey to what lurks in the dark, or can he find his way through the forest and reunite with the crew?

Bimaaji'owin launches in early 2010.

Manlab Strikes a Pose on Google Street View - Updated

The city’s abuzz about Winnipeg finally making it on to Google Street View, and Manlab is no exception. In fact, we decided to make a bit of a splash on Google Street View as the car went by our office.

Senior Designer Oliver Oike happened to be trailing the Google Street View car as it headed west down Portage Avenue - you can see his Honda CRV behind the Google car - and phoned ahead to let Manlabbers know it was coming. The half-dozen Manlabbers that were at the office at the time made it outside just in time to be captured by Google Street View.

(In case you were wondering, the pose by our gang doesn’t spell anything.)

Update: The Winnipeg Free Press gave us a call yesterday and came down to snap a couple of photos for a short article in the paper. Fun!

New Manlab Website OMG

No… really… here it is!

After SIX LONG YEARS, here we are online!

Built and maintained using Manlab's miUpdate Content Management System, this website will allow Manlab to:

• Share news (in a timely way – we promise)
• Share work.
• Let you in on the creative process of the studio.
• Let you get to know the team.
• Share ideas on many aspects of our industry.

Check back often to see what we're up to and how we're doing it.

Manlab Supports GDC Manitoba Blue Sky 09 Conference

World-class speakers gather in Winnipeg.

From October 16-18, GDC Manitoba presented Blue Sky 2009, the Manitoba design industry conference and awards show. Five distinguished professionals from around North America were on hand to speak on the topic "inspiration." And did they ever inspire — feedback was unanimous: an unabashed success. Manlab is proud to have been a supporter of Blue Sky 09.

Oliver Oike, Manlab's Senior Designer, is President of the Manitoba Chapter of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), the professional association for certified graphic designers in Canada. He has been actively involved in the GDC since 2003, when he joined the Manitoba Board in the role of Vice-President.

http://www.bluesky09.com
http://www.flickr.com/groups/gdcmanitoba/pool/

About the GDC:

The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) is a member-based organization of design professionals, educators, administrators,students and associates in communications, marketing, media and design related fields. Since 1956, the GDC has been an advocate, voice and resource for Canada's graphic design profession. We are a national certified body of graphic designers promoting high standards of visual design and ethical business practices for the benefit of Canadian industry, commerce, public service and education.

Manlab team keeps getting bigger (and better)

Four new team members added

As we get busier, Manlab continues to grow. The team has brought three new team members on board in the past 12 months…

In January 2009, Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson was brought on board as Copywriter, a job previously held by, well, nobody. Ben has worked in corporate and non-profit communications positions, and writes the weekly wine column for the Winnipeg Free Press. He holds a BA and a MA in English (writing stream). Incidentally, he and Senior Designer Oliver Oike went to high school together and have worked together at Pizza Hut.

In May 2009, Web Developer Keith Otto joined Manlab, albeit at first in a temporary role – as a placement student. Keith was finishing the Web Design program at Assiniboine Community College in Brandon (a program that also produced Manlab Interactive Developer Curtis Wachs and former Manlab Programmer Ryan Trembath).

Keith attended the Skills Canada competition in Prince Edward Island in May 2009, and received a silver medal in Website Development. The Manlab overlords were so impressed that he was hired on after graduation.

June 2009 saw Bob Choy join the team as a Database Engineer. Bob's specialty is in infomatics, and if you're not sure what that means, you're probably not alone. Bob is an iPhone developer and has his hands in many things Mac-based. Manlab President Dan Choy says "he's [my] older, wiser, and geekier brother." His words, Bob - not mine.

Kevin Guenther is Manlab's newest addition, joining our team in early November as a Designer. His adventures in design started with his ambitions to become an illustrator. Since then, he caught the design bug and has been building a strong portfolio working on his own and with other organizations ever since.

He's already had to take some time away from the office, however, as his wife gave birth to Ava, their daughter, in November.