Instrument

Instrument is a digital creative agency in Portland, Oregon.

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I/O Coming Soon

We are thrilled to be a part of the Google I/O conference for the third year in a row. In past years, we have helped drum up anticipation, get people digging into code, keep attendees informed and decked-out, and to celebrate great development. 

This year, our involvement starts at a high level with a brand new logo for I/O 2013, unveiled Friday to announce this year's registration date. (Mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 13, 2013 at 7:00 AM PDT.) This logo marks an evolution for the I/O conference, a new identity directly related to the essence of technology and the audience, the developers.

See it in action also on the Coming Soon page at: google.com/io

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NEW WORK: Google Oscars 2013

Over the past year, Instrument has worked with Google to show users different ways of using their products through the lens of various sporting events, including the Olympics, March Madness, and the Super Bowl. When the Google Search team approached us about doing a site for the Academy Awards, we were excited about deviating from sports and diving into the world of movies and celebrities. 

In just 6 weeks, we worked with Google to design and develop a one-stop shop for all things Oscars & Google. A user can learn more about all the nominees via celebrity knowledge cards on Search, see who would win if Search determined the winners, and explore a custom-skinned Google Map that shows where movies were filmed and the nominees were born. Watch carefully as you scroll along; there are some fun surprises along the red carpet.

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Students from Allen Hall Advertising at the University of Oregon took a tour of Instrument and other Portland agencies last week. This is a video of their experience.

Their journey through tweets here.

Nice work guys!

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NEW WORK: NIKEFUEL MISSIONS

The winter makes it hard for us to get out there and stay active. So we got together with Nike to come up with a game that will help do just that: NikeFuel Missions. These Missions are linked to extreme weather elements that you have to beat in order to get to the safe haven, The ARC. It might come off as a breeze at first, but get deeper in and see if you are able to fight off the elements as they get tougher. 

NikeFuel Missions has been launched in the United States, Canada, Japan, China and Taiwan. Check it out on your computer, phone or tablet (phablet too). Now go grab your Nike+ device, visit nike.com/missions, and make it to The ARC. Don't forget to check the leaderboard to see how you measure up against friends and family. 

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We're coming back from a 3-day weekend but continuing the vacation vibes with a Teepee Session this Friday 1/25 at noon. 

This time we welcome the summertime sounds of REIGN THE ARCADE. 

Check out their “Velvet” EP on Bandcamp and don't forget to bring your lunch to the show!

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Last week we all worked out of the outpost because of some office improvements that were being done. The rest of our satellite offices (and other Instagram's tagged #instrumentoutpost) are here.

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Sharing moments captured at our company holiday party this past December. More photos on Facebook here. 

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NEW WORK: GOOGLE ZEITGEIST 2012

In our most recent efforts with Google Search, we concepted, designed, and developed their 12th annual Year-End Zeitgeist. For those who aren't familiar, www.google.com/zeitgeist is Google's annual site that showcases the top searches of the year (Zeitgeist means "the spirit of the times" in German). On the site, you can play with the interactive map that shows where some of the hottest search terms spiked around the world, watch the year in review video, and explore 838 lists from 55 countries.

Our team worked hard, fast, and smart to ensure the Zeitgeist site was beautifully designed and developed, from desktop to mobile, tablet to phablet. Be sure to check out and explore the world's biggest moments as seen through the search lens in 2012. 

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Teepee Session #13 is this Friday 12/14 at Noon. It comes to us from Jon Black aka Fort Atlantic. Take a listen to “No One Will Know” here.

Jon has been making music as FA since 2009 and recently moved to Portland from Birmingham, AL. Fun fact: He packaged his most recent EP inside an NES cartridge! 

Bring your lunch (and your friends) this Friday and enjoy Fort Atlantic.

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Be one of the first to play NikeFuel Missions, the first game powered by your everyday movement. Watch the video and get the latest updates here. Coming soon! 

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"FIRST WEEK" WITH JAKE SZYMANSKI, DIGITAL STRATEGIST

Jake recently moved to Portland from Minneapolis before starting his first day at Instrument just two days later. We could imagine that a new city and a new job would be exciting, daunting and full of discovery. So we asked Jake to tell us about his first week here in his own words. 

Click the photos to learn a bit about his story from Day 1 (Hint: Start with the beer photo). 

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When Urs Hölzle approached us about building a website for his beloved data centers, we learned what he had originally planned was a coffee table book. So we decided to give him both. After launching “Where the Internet Lives” two weeks ago, we immediately got to work binding, stitching and gluing a physical book version of the site. This is the result.

See how we made the book here: http://goo.gl/5envT.

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Want to take a look inside our workspace?

The good folks at Visual Supply Co. featured us on their blog today. Take a photographic tour, images processed with VSCO Film. 

Photo by Kim Oanh van Zoen & David Kaven

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Photos from "Instruments of Death" Halloween party can be viewed here.

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NEW WORK: WHATBROWSER.ORG

We work a lot with Google to help them make the Internet a better place. Over three years ago, we worked with the Chrome team to launch WhatBrowser.org, a neutral educational website where users could learn about browsers and what type or version they're using. This site included a custom browser detection system and a system for handling translation into 43+ languages.

But the Internet changes constantly and the landscape of browsers and devices has changed dramatically over the years. The Chrome team asked us once again to re-envision the site, focusing particularly on mobile and tablet detection. 

Behold, the new and improved WhatBrowser.org! 

Major props to the team that worked incredibly hard to concept, design and develop the site. It's definitely way more complicated than it seems, but the message is clear: Use a modern browser. It makes the Internet faster, safer, and more fun.

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New Yorkers came out to Times Square on October 16th to "show their color" with Beats By Dre and got on the big screen for millions to see. 

Our team was on the ground overseeing the street video crew as well as high above Times Square taking charge on the social front with the campaign and contest. Here is the recap video of the event. More details to come! 

In the meantime, click here to see what all the buzz is about. 

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NEW WORK: GOOGLE DATA CENTERS GALLERY

Launching a website is sometimes a quiet success and other times roaring chaos. We do this all the time, but building and releasing a project to the world doesn't get old, with excitement and stress, joys and trials.

And it definitely doesn't get old when a project hits all the marks of a great project: an awesome idea from Urs Hölzle (one of Google's first employees), a wonderful client, cool concepts and great words, beautiful designs, challenging development, and an amazing team working on it. 

We're very proud to announce the launch of that very project--the latest from our Google team at Instrument, the Google Data Centers Gallery.

This website gives unprecedented access and transparency to Google's Data Centers, showing off the tech, people, and places that make it all come together to create a big slice of the Internet. 

Many thanks and congrats to our team members for a successful launch. 

In the press:  - Wired - Google Throws Open Doors to Its Top-Secret Data Center - CBS This Morning - Behind the cloud: A tour of Google's secretive data facilities