‘Mind the Banner’ was an interactive art project on the world wide web curated by SHIFT and commissioned by NTT Data Corporation of Japan.
SHIFT is an bilingual (English/Japanese) online magazine launched in November 1996, that addresses the links between Japan and the rest of the world — focusing mainly on art, design, fashion, music and multimedia.
In 2001, after a reorganization of the company under its new name, NTT Data Corporation commissioned SHIFT to develop an online project that would help promote their organization internationally.
The aim of the project was to use the standard banner ad space on a website as a space for art. Long before the days of subservient chickens and dancing elves, this project planted the seed that would soon become an Internet phenomenon, setting the stage for the next generation of interactive viral marketing.
The first theme of the project was “Love Your ?” and 10 creators from around the world were selected to develop banner ad art with this simple brief.
The participants were Tomato Interactive, The Designers Republic, Me Company, Kyle Cooper, Futurefarmers, Hi-Res!, Ages5&Up, Namaiki, Exonemo and our very own Arnaud Mercier (as Elixirstudio).
Long before the days of subservient chickens and dancing elves, this project planted the seed that would soon become an Internet phenomenon
Arnaud responded with a personal movie entitled “Journey On” which recounted his arrival to North America. Using his own photographs of the journey as the base, the movie tells the story of his journey and uses a Flash animation overlay to visually translate the strange inner-feeling one experiences during a big life transition — when fear and doubt mix with the excitement of the discovery.
See the micro movie, Journey On