We’re pleased to announce the third incarnation of the Star Trak site. But first, a few steps back in time…

APRIL 22, 2002: STAR TRAK

The beginning. This was a three-person team-up: Heather on management, Nirav on development, me on design. We were all working together on a steadily-sinking ship, and this was our after-hours gig. And, it turns out, this is the project that basically started my career. (BIG thanks go out to Loic here for supporting us from the beginning!)

SEPTEMBER 22, 2006: STAR TRAK 2

This is where we took a decidedly, um, unintuitive turn. The plan was to make a fun experience where “content” and “usability” were kind of pushed to the background. And I must say, in that sense it was a huge success! (some people at the label may disagree here.) The site had multiple themes that came up randomly, and a great collection of sound effects by Chad. Still fun to flip those tiles!

and, that brings us to…

JANUARY 29, 2010: STAR TRAK 3

Today’s version brings back CONTENT in a big way, while keeping some of the multi-theme aspects from version 2. Artist pages all have their own custom look, and the rest of the site has this “red/crowd” theme to start. Expect more themes in the future to promote specific albums/events for the label. (at least that’s what we’re planning!)

Content is overflowing here: direct feeds from partner sites, links to buy music, twitters, a growing collection of videos, (I think it’s about 100 to start?) and yeah, plenty of content. and perhaps a few throwback references to the old days, who knows?

STAR TRAK 3.0

SITE BY FISHBUCKET
Design & animation by Stephen R. King
Additional development & assistance provided by Christopher Najewicz & Will Olbrys

And, thanks to Mike Millions for the label-side assistance and great suggestions. Follow him!

So, now that this site is up, it doesn’t mean it’s time to kick back and relax at Fishbucket. Full lineup of great projects around the corner. ON TO THE NEXT ONE…

Here’s something that Fishbucket cofounder Chief has been working on lately: Snow Brawlin’, a wintertime iPhone snowball fighting game. (similar to the much funnier-named Nut Chuckin’ from earlier this year.)

Chief is dominating the scoreboard:

Get in on that! Brawl some snow and/or chuck some nuts. (There are free versions available too, if your snownut budget is running low.)

Back By Popular Demand… the long-awaited third Clipse album is available now.

Here’s a handy link to buy it on iTunes. They got it for cheap!

Oh hey look at that, GilbertArenas.com launched!

This site brings you into the world of Gilbert Arenas. The scene spans Gilbert’s entire life… starting with the park in LA where he spent time as a young boy, the apartment (and car) he lived in… University of Arizona, where he went to college… Oakland, where he played in 2001-2003… Washington, where he plays now… and into the future, when he envisions himself living on a tropical beach somewhere…

The site invites users to make bobbleheads of themselves. There’ve been some creative, um, creations so far, and it’ll be fun to see what people come up with!

As an added feature, after you create your bobblehead, you can embed it on your own site! Much like this little red man…

So hey yeah, go bobble yourself. And follow @gilbertarenas on twitter, he’s on a quest for 1 million followers!

GILBERTARENAS.COM
Executive Producer, Talent: Gilbert Arenas #0
Manager, Creative Director: Paisley M. Benaza

SITE BY FISHBUCKET
Concept, Design and Animation: Stephen R. King
Development: Jaybill McCarthy & Rich Joslin
Bobblehead Maker & Body Design: Tia Johnson & Sheryl Lutz-Brown

Looks like XXL released their list of the top 100 hip-hop websites, and two of them were created by Fishbucket! (that’s 2%, if you need help with the math…)

Here’s the (partial) list:

• (some websites)
• bbcicecream.com
• (some others)
• thinkcommon.com
• (and some more)

Check the full list at Nah Right

Just got Wale’s debut album last night, good stuff. (get it on iTunes!)

Here’s his appearance with The Roots on Jimmy Fallon last night. This song must be the first to refer to two Fishbucket clients in one line:

“And I be with P so I got BBC shit, even if I didn’t I would ball like Arenas”

(via BBC Blog)

Here’s a little Flash piece we did for the homepage of illusionist Jason Bishop. This dude defies gravity!

thejasonbishopshow.com

Fishbucket headquarters has moved. We’re still based in brooklyn, but we’ve gone from Gowanus, with this view:

to Dumbo, with this view:

…so, while the Kentile sign is still straight-up classic, we have to admit that the move has been a View Upgrade.

Here’s a fun site we just launched for Director/Artist/Party Promoter Vashtie Kola: VASHTIE.COM

We can’t take too much credit for this one, since it relies so much on the great illustrations by James Blagden, but hey.

And if you ever find yourself on the lower east side late on a friday night and want to hit a club, be sure to check out Open, her weekly party with Q-Tip and Rich Medina at Santos. I can’t guarantee that you’ll be photographed with a crazed look on your face, but I can guarantee you’ll hear great music without the usual club attitude and dress code BS!

New single available now, check it out:

Beastie Boys – Too Many Rappers (feat. Nas)