2013 has been a good year so far for us at LooseKeys and it just got even better, we won three Silver Communicator Awards. 

The first one was for “The Smarter Wallet from Lemon” for online video animation. Mike and I had a blast working with Lemon on these videos and it’s awesome to see one of them winning another award. Next up was the “Viadeo Company Pages” video in “Branded Content - Business to Business” category. That video was really LooseKeys first exploration into live action video, so it’s awesome that it won a Telly and now a Communicator Award. Finally, our Boxee TV video won in the “Branded Content - Business to Consumer” category. 

All three of these videos span multiple styles, which really shows off what this talented team can produce!

There were a lot of fun apps that came out this last year but there were five newish apps that I continue to come back to everyday.

Google +
The newest social network on the block, whether or not you’re a big fan of the Google + network, the iOS app is fantastic. With every update of the iOS app Google improves the UI and makes you want to use it.

Nike+ GPS
Earlier this year I started running and not having a Nike+ for my shoe I needed a GPS app to track runs. Until the Nike+ GPS version came out I was using RunKeeper. But the Nike app is easy to use, social and it looks great, oh and it’s integrated with Path so that’s a huge plus.

Cinemagram
Basically Instagram for GIF. Yeah this is awesome. I’m not using this app everyday but when I do I have fun seeing what I can make and all the original things other people come up with.

Path 2.0
Sure Path came out awhile ago, but this year version 2.0 came out and really got me back into it. Path is a little like Foursquare but Path is more like a private smaller network of your close friends. Not many people use the app but the ones who do love getting a glimpse of people’s lives that aren’t shared on Facebook or Twitter.

Lemon
Sure I did the video for Lemon but that’s not the reason why we love them. Lemon is just smart and with the end of year coming, I’m looking forward to seeing how much it helps get everything in order.

I have the opportunity to work with a lot of great businesses and startups. It’s incredible to see how many amazing ideas people have and how many of them take off. Sometimes they grow into huge giants like Groupon. 

Being part of Groupon before it took off is really neat to look back on. At the time, it was just another job. Daily Planet Productions ltd. was asked to create a series of videos that explained to other businesses how Groupon worked, I was one of the designers who created those videos. We had no idea how valuable those videos would be to Groupon and other businesses. Those videos helped the business grow and so did the need for these explainer videos. Explainer videos have now become an important element for startups to get their message across. 

When I work on new videos with LooseKeys, it’s always great to see one of the brands I built a video for thrive and become successful. When you play an important role in the beginning stages of a company, you can’t help but root for that company and be happy for their success. When their business does well, that also means more people are going to see your video. I’ve seen this happen first hand with a couple videos I’ve done lately. Both Lemon and Belly are services I’m a huge fan of and they’ve recently taken off. Since they’re becoming more well known, more people have seen the videos I’ve done for these companies. Which in turn, helps the LooseKeys name get out there even more, helping people become exposed to the work we do. And that leads to more work for LooseKeys and more opportunities to create videos for new and innovative businesses. 

I’m extremely excited to announce that three videos LooseKeys worked on this past year have won 2012 Telly Awards. What is BodyShopBids? won a Silver Telly for Animation in an Online Video. The videos for Lemon and Tuango both won Bronze Telly Awards for Use Of Animation for an online commercial.