News

For Valour Site Preserves Legacy of Canada's Air Combat Heroes

Honour. Valour. The Victoria Cross was awarded to those who courageously faced grave danger in wartime, often paying with their lives. Launched in November 2010, the For Valour site (http://forvalour.manlab.com) tells the story of the seven Canadians that received the Victoria Cross, the highest military honour.

Manlab is extremely proud to have been involved in the creation of the For Valour online exhibit. This joint initiative between Canada's Air Force Office of Heritage and History, the Virtual Museum of Canada and Manlab combines photographs and other static information with dynamic, graphic novel style video retellings of the wartime heroics that resulted in these seven brave airmen being awarded the Victoria Cross. The site is designed to educate visitors to the site about the incredible adversity faced by these heroes in an engaging, contemporary fashion.

"Accounts of their bravery and accomplishments are recorded in many ways and in many places, among them the For Valour exhibit. It is a wonderful resource for Canadians to discover this country's military heritage and to understand why we honour our veterans so highly, " says Lieutenant-General André Deschamps, Chief of the Air Staff, in an Air Force article located here. "I hope Canadians will take a moment to learn about Canada's greatest air combat legends while also learning about the importance of the Victoria Cross and other symbols of great courage."

The videos were produced with careful attention to every detail by a variety of artists, including students from Assiniboine Community College. For a complete list of artists, producers and more, see the Credits section of the For Valour site.

The For Valour project would not have been possible without valuable information, artifacts and more from the Air Force Office of Heritage and History. The site would also have not been possible without the generous financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Virtual Museum of Canada.

For more information from Canada's Air Force, visit http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/v2/nr-sp/index-eng.asp?id=11206

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Bimaaji'owin - An Interactive Story of Survival

The name Bimaaji'owin represents survival in the Ojibwe language. Working in partnership with The Manitoba Indian Culture and Education Centre (MICEC) and with project funding from Canadian Heritage, Manlab created Bimaaji'owin, an interactive education adventure about survival, aboriginal culture, myths and language.

Developed using Storylab, Manlab's interactive fiction game engine, players interact with the story and control the characters using text commands. Storylab enabled Manlab developers and programmers to present Bimaaji’owin using a unique, modern-day version of old text adventure games of the ‘80s. The end result is an immersive environment that includes aural and animated elements.

The story opens with the player heading south through Manitoba on a York boat in hopes of returning to his family before winter hits. Things don't exactly go as planned: after a strange dream, the player finds himself fighting to keep the boat afloat in raging rapids. Once on dry land, he becomes lost in dark forest, where something might be prowling through the night...

Will he fall prey to what lurks in the dark, or can he find his way through the forest and reunite with the crew?

Bimaaji'owin launches in early 2010.

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Manlab Strikes a Pose on Google Street View - Updated

The city’s abuzz about Winnipeg finally making it on to Google Street View, and Manlab is no exception. In fact, we decided to make a bit of a splash on Google Street View as the car went by our office.

Senior Designer Oliver Oike happened to be trailing the Google Street View car as it headed west down Portage Avenue - you can see his Honda CRV behind the Google car - and phoned ahead to let Manlabbers know it was coming. The half-dozen Manlabbers that were at the office at the time made it outside just in time to be captured by Google Street View.

(In case you were wondering, the pose by our gang doesn’t spell anything.)

Update: The Winnipeg Free Press gave us a call yesterday and came down to snap a couple of photos for a short article in the paper. Fun!

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New Manlab Website OMG

No… really… here it is!

After SIX LONG YEARS, here we are online!

Built and maintained using Manlab's miUpdate Content Management System, this website will allow Manlab to:

• Share news (in a timely way – we promise)
• Share work.
• Let you in on the creative process of the studio.
• Let you get to know the team.
• Share ideas on many aspects of our industry.

Check back often to see what we're up to and how we're doing it.

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Manlab Supports GDC Manitoba Blue Sky 09 Conference

World-class speakers gather in Winnipeg.

From October 16-18, GDC Manitoba presented Blue Sky 2009, the Manitoba design industry conference and awards show. Five distinguished professionals from around North America were on hand to speak on the topic "inspiration." And did they ever inspire — feedback was unanimous: an unabashed success. Manlab is proud to have been a supporter of Blue Sky 09.

Oliver Oike, Manlab's Senior Designer, is President of the Manitoba Chapter of the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), the professional association for certified graphic designers in Canada. He has been actively involved in the GDC since 2003, when he joined the Manitoba Board in the role of Vice-President.

http://www.bluesky09.com
http://www.flickr.com/groups/gdcmanitoba/pool/

About the GDC:

The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) is a member-based organization of design professionals, educators, administrators,students and associates in communications, marketing, media and design related fields. Since 1956, the GDC has been an advocate, voice and resource for Canada's graphic design profession. We are a national certified body of graphic designers promoting high standards of visual design and ethical business practices for the benefit of Canadian industry, commerce, public service and education.