AKQA Presents (2013)

Role: Concept, Development

Tools used: Objective-C, WebSockets

One of the biggest challenges when working for a design agency is traveling to a client’s office to present creative. More than once, we had worked for weeks on a pitch only to present it on a washed-out projector or through intermittent wifi. Plus, with so much of our work focused on mobile, something was always lost when presenting on a TV rather than on device.

I created AKQA Presents as a Keynote-like macOS app that could serve device-specific images over a local wireless network to iOS clients. When making a “slide”, users could specify one of three images — a “presenter” image (what would be shown on the computer or TV), an “iPad” image that would show for any iPad clients on the network, and an “iPhone” image that would be served to any iPhones running AKQA Presents.

The video below shows a MacBook in the background, hooked up via HDMI and running AKQA Presents. On the TV is the “presenter” image. The devices in front show blank screens until the 3rd “slide” where they come alive with device-specific images. All running from a local network generated by the MacBook.

I used this software for countless design reviews and new business pitches — it never failed to make an impression.