• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, March 21, 2011

Ari Elkouby, Associate Creative Director at Proximity Canada, was tapped as a judge for Applied Arts' 2010 Interactive Awards issue. Simply put, Elkouby was one of ten judges who decided which interactive work made the cut inside Canada's visual communications awards issue. More than 40,000 creatives throughout Canada read Applied Arts. 

When the time came for a bio and picture of each judge for the March/April issue, Elkouby took a nontraditional route that hopefully inspires future creatives looking to make the book.

Elkouby's bio picture is an Augmented Reality code that drives readers to FewWereChosen.ca. Next, users tilt the bio pic/AR code toward their computer's Web cam. That's when the magic happens.   

Throngs of interactive creatives begin to fall from the screen, bouncing off the magazine, representing those who submitted work that didn't make the book. A nice way to bring the awards' theme "Many Were Called. Few Were Chosen," to life. Watch a demo here. 

"The idea started with a vision of what the experience could be in the form of a concept drawing," said Elkouby. "From there, a team of developers and animators who specialize in augmented reality work were engaged to bring the idea to life. We wanted to emulate as accurately as possible the number of people who try to make it into the book each year, which meant creating dozens of 3D models, all styled to reflect the creative professionals who work in the advertising and design industry in this country." 

The initiative took four months to complete. Jury judges change year-to-year, but judges have returned for multiple go-rounds before. Who wants to wager that Elkouby makes a return appearance down the road?

"The hope of the magazine is that this experience will inspire those reading the annual to question the conventional and inspire innovative thinking," said Elkouby.