Fi is an international interactive agency, with offices in several cities in USA, but also in London or Stockholm. Their website showcases case studies, and each one is a stunning example of interactive design. Even the webpage of the case study in itself is specially designed for each project, featuring pictures, texts, interactivity... There are a lot of details about the zonings, researches, architecture... Surely one of the most efficient way for an agency to prove talents and skills. And when your clients are called HTC, Nickelodeon, Porsche or Google, I guess it's hard to do a better job !

But let's focus on this Google Chrome case study. The aim was to promote the browser on different countries of south east Asia, by creating an immersive and strong user experience, unveiling the different functionalities of Google. And what's more immersive and multi-cultural than an old mythologic story like the Ramayana ? This old epic legend, written thousands years ago, tells the story of Prince Rama, whom wife has been kidnapped by devil Ravana. It's a very important story in Indian and asian cultures, which has spread around a lot of countries. I think we can compare it with the Odyssey in European cultures. In some words, an excellent background for an international campaign !

To tell this story (already known by the public), creative team used a lot of Chrome and Google products functionalities : Google Maps, Google Docs, Google Weather... These products are almost characters of the story. But the promotional aspect is balanced and the story keeps the central place of the experience.

The graphic design and illustration are really beautiful. The design mix up different visual cultures : fancy patterns and typography work, map design recalling video games (isometric view, beautiful textures work), illustrations recalling children books... And some important details : Different illustrations are used on Thaï version and Indonesian version, according to the visual culture of each country. Personaly I really like the indonesian version which reminds the puppet theatre of these islands.

A very nice project, combining creativity, technical skills and great graphic design. However, the experience would have been a bit more interactive, because globally it sticks to a linear scheme, where the user's role is secondary.
The case study on Fi website
The landing page to access the project. A password is sent you by e-mail to access the english version (the indonesian one is a bit hard to use if you don't read this language :).