W+K London

October 24, 2014

A Spore Fund collaboration: Khurangbin’s Music Video ‘The Infamous Bill’

Launched earlier this year, W+K’s monthly Spore Fund invites the whole agency to submit an idea or creative project that has nothing to do with work, in the form of a one-page proposal and budget plan. The winner is announced at our monthly agency meeting.

When talent assistant/PA and bassist Laura McGrath won Spore Fund last month, she put the grant towards a music video for her band Khruangbin’s song ‘Infamous Bill’, enlisting her friends and W+K creatives Jason Scott and Joris Philippart to direct the film.

Shot in the style of an abstract, slow-motion Western, the film tells the story of Bill, a mysterious outlaw with a bullwhip. Speaking of their inspiration behind the film, Jason and Joris said, “We wanted to capture the darkness of the character and use this to create intrigue and mystique that complements the band’s Texas roots and their Tarantino-esque sound.

Intrigued? Listen further at soundcloud.com/khruangbin‎.

October 22, 2014

In Your Hands at Wired 2014 Next Generation

Culture

Little things can have a significant effect on our lives. Take the fact that human touch is really good for us.

Neuroscientists have proven that little incidental touches are vital for happiness and wellbeing to humans. Did you know that holding hands can decrease symptoms of depression? That a cuddle can help a premature baby gain weight? Or that a little pat on the back from a teacher can double a student’s confidence to speak up in class?

Being the curious bunch we are, we stumbled on to these findings recently and we were astonished how something so simple, and something we can all have access to, can make such a difference. We were even more surprised to discover that ethnologists recently found out that us Brits touch each other the least out of any other country in the world. Which means here in the UK, we're the most touch deprived.

So we decided to make an interface to try and change that, through the simple act of holding hands.

The really great thing about holding hands is that it’s one of the most effective ways to release the happiness neurochemical oxytocin into the body.

Using a simple Makey Makey, a team of W+Kers including Luke Tipping, Joseph Haigh and Daniel Smith built a giant conductive controller that only works when users hold hands with a playing partner. With this experiment, it really does take two to play the game.

We hooked the In Your Hands controller up to a game and debuted the project at the Wired 2014 Next Generation event in London last weekend, alongside projects from Google and MIT. Next Generation aims to excite and inspire curiosity in 12-18 year olds with talks, workshops and interactive exhibits themed around technology and creativity.

The results of our In Your Hands exhibit were fascinating, with Wired guests queueing up to take a spin on the controller and getting competitive in trying to smash their previous high scores. The best thing about the day was feeling a buzz in the atmosphere, thanks to all the oxytocin flowing through players' systems, as well as a constant flow of high fives. Great stuff.

Que2

Get a glimpse of the day here:

Thanks to Wired for having us, and to all the W+K guinea pigs we tested the controller on.