September 28, 2005
castleBERDskillz
Gabe Swarr and I first met Marc Deckter when we had a booth at the San Diego Comic-Con a few years back. When Marc whipped out his sketchbook, we were both immediately taken with the utter uniqueness of his work. Sheer genius or sheer insanity, we wondered? Often times it's one and the same. Marc's latest project, which also happens to be his USC Master's thesis, is called castleBERDskillz.com.
Marc explains the concept: "CastleBERDskillz is a secret magical world inhabited by singing birds, cautious deer and playful bears. It's an interactive environment, so you need to click around and see what you can find! There is no story - it's just a place to visit and explore." The layering of sounds and how those audio elements mesh with the visual environment is truly impressive. It may not be to everybody's taste, but if you enjoy hilarious cartooning that would make any mental institution proud, then you'll easily spend an hour or so exploring castleBERDskillz. A few navigation tips: Multiple clicks will yield different results. Press the space bar and left arrow keys for more variety. To return to the main menu, click on the 'M' on the right side of the screen.