ScreeeMachine - Monster Sound App

The screeemachine app was free to use, cross-platform, monster-sound-making app that enhanced the (soundless) 'Ani-motion' line of masks. See an example of the product here >

Overview

Videos of the masks were made with and a sound effect was added in post. Customers were, therefore, surprised to learn that the product did not include a sound.

Problem

How could we add a unique sound to each style of mask when they had already been manufactured and delivered?

Solution

It was determined that creating a sticker with QR code would be the best way to both direct customers to the app and retroactively apply to the clamshell package. I used a a link shortener to generate the QR codes since to prevent any problems that might arise from links changing in the future. I managed a pair of developers and handled the art direction, marketing, and front end work myself.

Sound Design

For the individual sound effects, I used the Adobe product Adobe Audition to create, edit, and compress the sounds.

Screenshot of Adobe Audition with waveforms
I used Adobe Audition to create all of the monster sounds and Illustrator to create the icons.

I designed and illustrated stylized icons for each of the masks to give the app a fun, contemporary look and feel. They were inspired by the actual sculpts but had a definite vector feel, which was the emerging style at the time. Flat design was evolving back towards a more skeuomorphic style.

 

This PDF describes the process and was used in the design phase.

Design

In addition to the sound design and app icons, there needed to be POP materials, email notifications, and a landing page for the product. I created the design and built it out for our Drupal theme. Using Mailchimp, we sent our HTML email to our customers, who were extremely happy to have a solution to the problem.

Results

To demonstrate the product, I wore the mask and a Bluetooth speaker beneath my shirt at our tradeshow appearances. With the app open on my phone, I simply had to press the play button for the desired sound. The concealed speaker was actually louder than a speaker would be if it were a part of the mask. The effect was... terrifying!