Chris Furniss

Amazon Marketing Services - Amazon Pages & Amazon...

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:51:36 -0800

Amazon Marketing Services Logo

Landing page for when you first log in to AMS

Registering a brand

Empty Amazon Page

Select a hero widget type

Edit your hero widget

Add a product

Product added

Add products with merchandising widgets

A fully customized Amazon Page

Amazon Marketing Services - Amazon Pages & Amazon Posts

Launched in November of 2012, Amazon Marketing Services is a suite of self-service tools allowing brands to market themselves at Amazon.com. Along with my creative director Jason Galep, I was the lead user experience and visual designer for the overarching group of services, as well as Amazon Pages and Amazon Posts.

Amazon Pages is a self-service tool which allows a brand to establish a presence at Amazon.com by choosing a template that is optimized for performance, uploading a custom hero image, selecting from a suite of merchandising widgets and integrating Amazon Posts. Amazon Posts are a way for brands to message to their customers, while being able to crosspost to various social media channels and get analytics back on performance and sales.

In addition to helping define the business case and product as a whole I…

Designed the overarching design patterns (affordances and interactions), leveraging and expanding upon new design patterns from the Amazon.com retail site
Designed components for uploading and cropping images
Designed components for selecting and customizing widgets
Designed components for building custom pages the Amazon.com retail site
Created the style guide for custom elements on Amazon Pages
Created brand assets such as logos
Conducted competitive analysis and research
Wrote copy and served as editor for the staff copywriter
Created clickable prototypes, wireframes and full-fidelity designs and presented to stakeholders
Conducted user research
Supported a team of more than 10 developers in Seattle, New York and Edinburgh
Received two Amazon inventor awards

Two weeks after launch, Amazon Marketing Services saw over 3500 registrations.

Additional design help from the ADX*UX team for other features of AMS such as Analytics, Ads and the marketing site

Media Coverage

AdWeek (11/20)

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/amazon-unveils-brand-pages-145368

Amazon Unveils Brand Pages

Retailer plans to allow partners to cross-promote messages to Facebook

You no longer need to wonder what it would look like if Facebook and Pinterest had a baby, with Amazon serving as a surrogate. That’s because Amazon is rolling out its own brand pages for marketers to set up social shop, as first reported by Techcrunch on Tuesday. As might be expected, Amazon Pages takes the most popular—and widely imitated—features from Facebook and Pinterest and wraps them in Amazon’s merchandising design. The top of an Amazon Page is home to a Timeline-esque image that can include a product image, which users can click to add to their Amazon shopping carts.

TechCrunch (11/20)

http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/20/amazon-offers-amazon-pages-for-brands-to-customize-with-their-own-urls-and-amazon-posts-for-social-media-marketing/

Amazon Offers ‘Amazon Pages’ For Brands To Customize With Their Own URLs, And ‘Amazon Posts’ For Social Media Marketing

Just in time for the holiday shopping blitz, it looks like Amazon is opening a new chapter in its role as an online marketplace for third-parties to sell their goods. The company is quietly pushing a service called Amazon Pages, which lets companies set up their own pages on Amazon.com as “custom destinations,” complete with www.amazon.com/brandname URLs and dynamic designs with large photos and social media links. Along with this, it is also offering Amazon Posts for companies to market themselves across Amazon and Facebook, and Amazon Analytics to measure how well all of the above is working.

Inc.com (11/20)

http://www.inc.com/flash-steinbeiser/amazon-makes-ecommerce-painless-for-small-businesses.html

Amazon Launches Brand Pages

The online retailer announced Amazon Pages today, which lets retailers create web stores and market through the Amazon network.

Happy holidays: Amazon announced today that it is offering a comprehensive web retail service, called Amazon Pages. With Pages, retailers can make customized e-stores that remain autonomous from Amazon’s main site. Businesses registered with Pages will also have access to Amazon Post, a social media dashboard connected to Pages and Facebook, and Amazon Analytics, a web metrics tool that monitors Amazon Post sales and social media trends. Amazon broke the services down like this: When a retailer registers their company through Pages, they gain access to a simple site-building tool that lets them create a custom webpage.

Branding ADX logoI created this logo for my design team at...

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:25:26 -0700

ADX Logo

Global Sales Conference 2012 Logo

Global Sales Conference 2011 Logo

Branding

ADX logo
I created this logo for my design team at Amazon. ADX stands for Advertising Experience and this mark is utilized in email signatures, presentation documents and more.

Day 1 - Display Advertising Global Sales Conference 2012

I created the logo for the 2012 Display Advertising Global Sales Conference for Amazon.com. This mark was used for posters, t-shirts, stickers and embossed notebooks.

All In - Display Advertising Global Sales Conference 2011

This logo was created for the Global Sales Conference for 2011. The logo was utilized for stickers, t-shirts, presentation decks and poker chip keychains.

Recent projects for Amazon.com 5 Days of Gifting Concept pitch...

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 12:16:00 -0700

5 Days of Gifting

Customer Reviews ad patterns

ASPCA messaging refresh

Amazon Smile lobby art installation

Recent projects for Amazon.com

5 Days of Gifting

Concept pitch for an advent calendar style destination page on Amazon.com for payment providers. I created a clickable prototype and designed the logo lockup as well as all of the visual elements on the page.

User Experience documents

Clickable prototype (opens in new window, install Axure plugin when prompted)

Customer Reviews ad patterns

Was integral in defining the style patterns for the customer reviews ad unit, leveraging existing Amazon.com style patterns to help build trust of these ad units when shown off-Amazon.

View the Customer Reviews style guide here (pdf)

ASPCA messaging refresh

The ASPCA was having trouble reaching Amazon shoppers and asked us to help. I came up with three initial concepts to adjust the overall messaging to mesh better with the Amazon audience.

Amazon Smile lobby art

I created an art installation for the Wainwright building on the Amazon campus in Seattle, WA. It showcases the Amazon family of brands and acquisitions. An Amazon tenet is frugality, so the budget was set at around $200. Materials included plywood, aluminum, holiday lights and recycled frames from Goodwill.

Chris Furniss Is...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:16:00 -0800

an artist, graphic designer, UI/UX designer, painter, cartoonist, podcaster, blogger, video game enthusiast, husband, father and all around geek from Seattle, WA. Currently rocking socks off at Amazon.com.

Click “click to zoom” to see larger works.

Dive deeper into Chris’ portfolio, cartoons, photos, paintings and etc on his Facebook page or follow him on Twitter.

The Weekly Geek 2002 - Jan...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:05:00 -0800

The Weekly Geek

2002 - Jan 2012

Creator/Host/Editor-in-chief/Producer

Created and developed a radio show focused on video game news and reviews, celebrity interviews and geek culture. Transitioned to a podcast and blog in 2005.
Managed a writing staff of over 10 writers over the course of the blog with topics such as video games, food, music, comics, toys and more.
Nurtured a small but engaged community with podcast downloads reaching 4k per week on average year over year.
Coordinated all show content and manages the majority of community involvement, contests, and review product solicitation.
Recorded and edited all audio. Designed all merchandise and website graphics, managed all social media and relationships with PR.
Covered industry events such as E3, PAX and Emerald City Comic Con.
Produced around 300 episodes in total.

Kindle with Special Offers I designed some of the very first...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:02:00 -0800

Kindle with Special Offers

I designed some of the very first sponsored screensavers for the Kindle with Special Offers device for Amazon.com as well as helped establish style and beauty guidelines. Here are some examples from a campaign for Chase.

Dewalt Father’s Day Sponsorship on Amazon.com Created the...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 12:00:00 -0800

Dewalt ad 1

Dewalt ad 2

Dewalt early iteration

Dewalt early iteration

Dewalt Father’s Day Sponsorship on Amazon.com

Created the design and led the pitch process for the Dewalt Father’s Day 2011 Sponsorship on Amazon.com. This was a high profile marquee pushdown unit with interactive products and never before used parallax scrolling effects that resulted in a 300% year over year lift in sales.

View the creative pitch document here (pdf)

The 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus With the help of my good friend...

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 11:50:00 -0800

The 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus book

Zero Suit Samus Flies A Kite

Metroid 25th Anniversary

Samus' Daily Regimen is Intense

Zero Suit Samus Gives a TED Talk

Zero Suit Samus Googles Herself

Zero Suit Samus has a Tire Swing

Zero Suit Samus Goes Hiking

ZSS in the 3/12 issue of Nintendo Power

The 31 Days of Zero Suit Samus

With the help of my good friend Ross Rosenberg, I created a daily drawing series where Ross would give me a title, and I would draw my own interpretation of that title. The subject was the character of Zero Suit Samus from the Metroid series. The series has sold over a hundred prints and has been featured on popular gaming site Kotaku.com and in the March 2012 issue of Nintendo Power magazine.

The series has been collected into a book, published in Summer 2012 via a successful Kickstarter campaign.

View the whole set here.

Press Coverage

AdMash In 2011, my primary project at Amazon.com was to oversee...

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 08:18:00 -0800

AdMash

In 2011, my primary project at Amazon.com was to oversee the creative process behind the creation of AdMash, a website and Kindle app where users can vote on upcoming screensaver ads to be featured on the Kindle with Special Offers. I oversaw the project from start to finish - wireframes, design iterations, development implementation and launch. V2 designs were also created as part of that process. This was a largely self-driven project and increased the user engagement with the Kindle with Special Offers to the point where there is a regular user base of thousands of voters a day.

See it live at Admash.com

Download the Kindle app

User Experience Documents

Press Coverage

Amazon intros new $114 ad-supported Kindle with Special Offers - CNET

Art of the Table Website redesign I redesigned the website for...

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 17:32:16 -0800

Art of the Table

Website redesign

I redesigned the website for local Seattle restaurant Art of the Table, integrating a Wordpress content management system for their weekly rotating menus. The menus weren’t being archived before, and now restaurant goers can peruse past menus to get a feel of the place. I also integrated various social media features including a more prominent newsletter signup box, facebook, twitter, flickr and rss integration.

Recent Works No Contest Created for the Fangamer VERSUS Attract...

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 13:32:00 -0800

No Contest

Fantasia

Weapons

Stiltzkin, The Adventurer

Townsfolk Problems

Channel Marquee Sign

Recent Works

No Contest

Created for the Fangamer VERSUS Attract Mode show at PAX 2012. Purchase a print.

Fantasia Poster

Created for Silver Screen Society’s month of Fantasia. Purchase a print.

Weapons

Featured in issue 2 of Scroll magazine, this piece is a tribute to Dragon Quest IX. Purchase a print.

Stiltzkin, The Adventurer

Created for Zac Gorman’s upcoming Final Fantasy IX zine. Purchase a print.

Townsfolk Problems, With Link!

Created for the Gamecity 6 Zelda Zine 1. Purchase a print.

Channel marquee sign

Created for the purpose of wedding decor out of plywood, aluminum flashing and LED lights.

Microsoft KIN Front-end XAML (Silverlight), design integration,...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:48:00 -0700

Microsoft KIN

Front-end XAML (Silverlight), design integration, icon design

I worked as a UX Design Integrator for the Microsoft KIN project in 2009. Primarily I created the front-end XAML code for the home screen, application screen, inner circle screen, settings application and feed reader application. I was also involved in major design decisions for the unique layout of the home screen. I also designed the hardware icon that appears in Windows when you plug the phone in via USB, and created a few design directions for the feed reader for v2 which pushed the idea of social connection further.

See a walkthrough of the KIN UI on Engadget here.

Shipped products: KIN one, KIN two

Shop Pampers Now on Facebook Design, Front-end code Proctor...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:40:00 -0700

Shop Pampers Now on Facebook

Design, Front-end code

Proctor & Gamble and Amazon.com launched an e-commerce store within Facebook in the Fall of 2010 using Amazon Webstore technology. I acted as design lead on this project. I created wireframes (and oversaw all the information architecture), the design, and custom Webstore 1.0 HTML and CSS and widgets. While focusing primarily on Pampers products, Facebook users are able to shop a vast array of P&G products directly within Facebook using their existing Amazon.com account. This was the first time a project like this had been attempted at Amazon, and it got a lot of press.

Designed the UX, UI and front-end CSS/HTML for the Shop Pampers Now store on Facebook
Created custom Amazon Webstore widgets
Developed an efficient procedure for importing inventory via a product master list
Wrote user research questions and adapted the store based on feedback

User Experience Documents

Pampers store UX flow document (pdf)

Press Coverage

Amazon Starts Selling Stuff Through Facebook - TechFlash
Pampers Provides Gateway to E-Commerce on its Facebook Page - the First Procter & Gamble Brand to Offer Facebook Shopping Capabilities - MarketWatch
P&G to sell Pampers through Facebook page - Associated Press
Longtime P&G Digital Guru Joins ARF in Newly Created Role - Advertising Age (paragraph 8)
Amazon Launches Facebook e-Commerce Store - ReadWriteWeb
Amazon and Pampers Bring Diaper Shopping to Facebook - Mashable

Cold Heat Design created in Photoshop, CSS, XHTML, Movable...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:32:00 -0800

Cold Heat

Design created in Photoshop, CSS, XHTML, Movable Type

Cold Heat was a company who created soldering irons, glue guns and heated pet beds. I redesigned their existing website for Portent Interactive, giving them a more contemporary, high-end gadget feel. I saw the design from wireframes to completion, utilizing semantic CSS and XHTML and the Movable Type content management system.

This new design also informed the design of Cold Heat’s email marketing campaigns.

Gears of War Designed with Photoshop, XHTML, CSS While working...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:45:00 -0800

Homepage

Stats page

Photo gallery main view

Photo gallery detail view

Gears of War

Designed with Photoshop, XHTML, CSS

While working for Microsoft Game Studios through Aquent, I was the de facto webmaster for gearsofwar.xbox.com. Based on an initial homepage design received from an external firm, I designed all secondary pages including interface design for the Xbox Live integrated stats browser and photo gallery. I also coded the front-end for all pages on the site, and assisted developers working in ASP.NET.

Shipped products: Gears of War homepage, Gears of War blog, Gears of War Xbox Live integrated stats page, Gears of War Xbox Live integrated photo gallery, Gears of War 2 (Xbox 360)

Lighting Universe Print ads created in Adobe Illustrator I...

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 22:11:00 -0800

Lighting Universe

Print ads created in Adobe Illustrator

I created this print ad for an online lighting retailer which was run in New York Home and Better Homes & Gardens magazines. I also created numerous other local newspaper and magazine ads and maintained the front end of the website.