The last couple of months I worked intensely together with the digital mad men at Little Miss Robot. Some of you might already read this in one of my previous posts. We worked on a few amazing projects together: Suske en Wiske, Vacature iMag, Samsung Dance Wall, … just to name a few I am allowed to mention.

We noticed that working together opened up a lot of opportunities we would not be able to grab on our own. Besides that, we felt a perfect match in our vision on digital creation and innovation. That’s why, after 6 months of collaboration, we started talking about a more structured situation. One that matched our vision on a long-term strategy as well. Little Miss Robot made me an offer the Don Corleone way.. one I could not refuse!

I’m joining Little Miss Robot

I will be joining Little Miss Robot as a partner, where my main focus will be mobile concept & creation. A very exciting journey and I’m thrilled to be on board! This means my fight as a Gladiator ends here. An amazing year and a half where I have achieved and realized things I could only dream of as a young startup. Becoming the number 1 iPhone application with Jupiler Bartender was definately one of the highlights, along with the massive success of Suske en Wiske. I would like to thank everybody who was involved, especially the guys at BlueTalk, Famous, TCS Digital World and Little Miss Robot. Every end has a start and I’m and ready to kick-off!

… Transfer Completed
Thomas Joos | Mobile Concept & Creation
Little Miss Robot

After the immediate succes of their iPhone Application, Vacature is the first Belgian recruiter releasing their magazine on the iPad: meet iMag! This brand new digital version offers the same look and feel as the printed magazine and the website. Besides that, it is stashed with a bunch of iPad-only features of course! Be aware, this is not a simple one to one translation! Together with yours truly and the guys at Little Miss Robot, the Vacature Design Team worked hard to restyle the magazine, totally and fully iPad optimized!

With a detailed summary of design opportunies, do’s and don’ts, screen resolutions, user experience behaviour, typography and many other aspects we did our very best to guide the Design Team into the world of iPhone and iPad design. We helped them re-designing every page, both landscape and protrait, in order to aim for the best possible reading experience. With embedded movies, links and all sort of interaction we added digital value to the exisiting printed magazine content. For instance, every article offers extra pictures from Vacature’s top photographers. We created a unique video-driven cover and navigations system, whichs all result in a much better user experience!

Advertisement on the iPad

What’s also great about this magazine is that Vacature’s advertisers decided to dive into this adventure as well. We started off by giving a group of around 30 interested marketeers a 3-hour workshop, talking about all the possibilities this new platform has to offer. A succes it seemed because every ad in the magazine offers a lot of extra background information about the brand, using integrated video or links. Interested job-seekers are even able to browse different vacancies inside the ads and apply immediately via email! Exciting stuff!

Interested in this mad iPad adventure? Or just looking for a cool job? The magazine just became available in the App Store. Don’t hesitate, it’s free!

About Vacature
Vacature is a permanent source of qualitive carreer information and job oppertunities. With a passion for recruitement and self-development, they are constantly looking for the best way to connect brands and companies with talented people. Using communication channels such as print, events, databases and internet driven channels like websites and the iPad, Vacature offers a multimedia-driven platform that suits their leadership in the market.

To celebrate the 65th anniversary of Suske en Wiske, Standaard Uitgeverij decided to launch a special edition called “De Stuivende Stad”. But that’s not all. For the first time they wanted to bring one of Belgium’s most popular comics to the iPhone and iPad. And that’s exactly where Gladiator and the lovely colleagues at Little Miss Robot came in.

A wonderful storytelling

After getting to know each other it became obvious that the people from Standaard Uitgeverij were looking for a creative and reliable partner. One who was able to walk every mile, aiming for the best result… A role that suited us perfectly! We took off with a creative workshop, guiding their creative team into the world of iPhone and iPad experiences. After this boost of excitement we started with the first (and biggest) challenge. With detailed wireframes and prototypes we defined and optimized the user experience of a mobile comic. Mobilizing a fysical comic is more than squeezing things into a tiny screen. When we sorted all of this out we opend up Photoshop and designed an interface for both iPhone & iPad, fully Suske en Wiske branded. After that, the development team brought this experience to life and after 2 weeks we saw the first beta versions running on our devices. In the meanwhile we were also combining a wonderful set of audio material (made by the talented people at Het Geluidshuis) with all the visual material we received. A unique initiative where audio and visual elements were combined into a wonderful storytelling.

Available in the App Store

We finetuned the designs and ux, implemented these latest updates in the applications and we invited Mrs Vandersteen over for a first premiere. Together with the Standaard Uitgeverij she took a look at all of this iPhone and iPad madness and said.. Let’s do this! And now it’s your turn. You can find more information about this project at www.suskeenwiske.be/iphone.

The past 2 months I have been working closely together with Little Miss Robot, bringing their portfolio to the iPad via a fully custom-built interactive magazine. We combined all our talents in order to get the job done, walking every possible mile. Photo-shoots, design, ux, collecting project information and visuals, writing articles, development, testing, … yes indeed: the full monty!

The main intention of Little Miss Robot was to practice what they preach themselves: digital innovation. What better way to show your love for design, ux and new technologies then creating an interactive iPad portfolio magazine? Designed and built from the ground up we worked hard on creating an experience worth showing to clients, marketing managers and the many iPad enthusiasts out there. And so we did. Check the video below to see the result!

Available for iPad

After a very rough submission proces, for more info check the Little Miss Robot statement, this magazine was added in the App Store! It’s waiting for you to be downloaded: have a go!

Gladiator is proud to announce that it is asked to present a keynote at the upcoming International App Development Conference & Appjam 2010. The conference takes place between November 8th and 10th in Dundee and is bringing together the very best in professional mobile app development from around the North Sea Region. Platform providers, developers and other industry professionals will provide industry insight & knowledge centred within the mobile development industry.

The Session

My session I like them smart, lightweight and sexy! will focus on mobile user experience and designing for smaller screens. I will share my insights and provide quality tips and tricks for optimizing your mobile design and usability. An amazing idea should come with an even greater interface!

The Conference:

If you are already an app developer, or someone who is looking to get into app development, this conference is for you – with a program of essential information to get you developing that killer app and connect you with all the people to make it happen!

As part of the Interreg funded Creative City Challenge project, Dundee College, along with key project and other industry partners, are holding a 3 day International App Development Conference. The event is taking place from the 8th to 10th November 2010 in Dundee, Scotland, as part of the week long NEoN Digital Arts Festival.

Tickets for sale!

Ticktets are for sale and going fast. In order to provide a high quality conference there are only 100 slots available. Be fast!

£99 + VAT Early bird special available until 4th October
£125 + VAT There after
£30 + VAT Special student rate (limited number available)

More info on this promising initiative can be found at appjam.eu. I’m already looking forward to coming over, if you are planning to attend make sure to come up and say hi!

Gladiator is proud to announce that it is one of the speakers at Appsmarathon, September 27th. We will be showcasing some of the work we have done together with the guys from Little Miss Robot.

The session is called To infinity, iPad magazines and beyond! and, suprise surprise, the topic is iPad magazines. There is a lot of stuff going on and we probably won’t be the only ones talking about this. Nevertheless we believe we have a unique vision and approach on the digital magazine experience and by next Monday you can find out what we have been building over the last 2 months. And for those who think they know where this is heading to: No, we did not created a publishing platform, but yes we already have mature iPad magazines to showcase… If you want to find out more, make sure to attend! More info on this promising initiative can be found at www.appsmarathon.eu

Have you ever wondered how it feels to create a number 1 iPhone application? After seeing Jupiler Bartender hitting the number 1 position I finally knew!

When I launched Gladiator I must say it was kind of a step into the dark. I noticed lots of people talking about how popular mobile would become. We all saw the slides “This will be the year of mobile internet” passing by ( yes, every year ). But when it came down to actually create mobile experiences, not even to mention doing this full time.. That seemed quite tricky, as there were not many people in Belgium doing so. I talked to several people before I gave birth to Gladiator and while some were very positive, I noticed lots of doubts too.. “I think it’s too early” was one of the popular quotes flying into my direction. Nevertheless, I believed in my vision on mobile and I decided to go for it. If the market was not ready, I would do my very best to help open it up.

The time is now!

The last couple of months were a combination of investing time in upgrading my skillset, educating clients and most of all, working very hard to deliver high quality, on time. I saw lot’s of opportunities and cool projects coming my way. Together with Bluetalk, Gladiator delivered mobile design and ux optimalisation for Audi A5 applications. In order to promote the Belgian Beers at the Shanghai World Exposition, Gladiator worked together with The Creative Stores, building several iPad apps. Jupiler Bartender, created together with Famous, became the number 1 free iPhone app in a few days.. That being said I think I can honestly ( and proudly ) say that it was not too early. As mentioned in my opening post:

I noticed that in a world full of innovation, creativity and mind-blowing digital experiences, I still feel like something is missing. That’s why I think the time is now!

Let’s Talk!

So what about Little Miss Robot? Well, they are an interactive agency creating engaging digital experiences, focussing on design, usability, new technology & innovation. They got in touch with me a while ago with a catchy email: “Thomas, let’s talk!” We quickly noticed that there were several matches in both our visions on digital and mobile experiences. After a few good meetings they asked me if I wanted to work together with them, implementing mobile as part of their concept & creation service. They were not looking for someone to employ in-house, they were looking for creativity, passion & ambition. It’s a request for collaboration, no need to give up my own brand, and that’s exactly what teased me. I took a few days to consider their offer and I quickly ran into some pretty interesting advantages. Moving into a very impressive studio based in the middle of Ghent, working together with experienced and talented people, more focus on creativity and innovation.. and last but not least: an active vision and ambition to create stunning mobile experiences! Besides that, this collaboration would allow me to work on bigger projects too.

Gladiator says hi

After a while I noticed more and more excitement on my side. I tried looking for reasons not to dive into this adventure and I must honestly say.. I did not really find any. That’s why I decided to go for it and say hi to Little Miss Robot. I truly feel this is a win-win situation for all parties. I feel that I’m able to offer a more professional service and environment to clients, which can only increase the quality of my work. And for Little Miss Robot, focussing on creative & digital innovation, it’s a big advantage to have mobile expertise and experience by their side too!

We have been working closely together for a couple of weeks now and we really started some exciting projects. If you want to know more about digital innovation and the things we are currently working on, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are always happy to have you over for a chat!

Together with the talented digital addicts at Famous, Gladiator worked on a must-have iPhone application for all the party people out there: Jupiler Bartender. Have you ever found yourself wondering at the bar.. 2 beers and euhmm.. It might be the 8 beers you already had, or it could be the cute blond girl next to you. Either way, with this application you can start focussing on what’s important: bringing the exact amount and types of beers to your friends!


With this brand new iPhone application you have the perfect assistent to help you manage your order. Simply tap one of the icons and you will find yourself creating a list of drinks in no time! You can add your own custom drinks and arrange their position according to your standards. If you use the autoplay-feature, it will save you from screaming your order multiple times. No longer will you be fighting the pumping disco-beat sound at the bar!

With over 200 festivals and millions of people ordering Belgian beers, the application is becoming more popular every day. It took only a few days for this application to become the number 1 top free iPhone application in Belgium! It may be a big surprise, but Gladiator likes a Belgian beer too every once and a while. At this years edition of the Lokerse Feesten the application already helped ordering quite an amount of Jupiler!

Never order a drink without it!

Interested in this application? Want to be the cool guy who manages the large orders for all your friends? The Jupiler Bartender application is waiting for you in the appstore. Search for ‘Jupiler Bartender’ or just download it here.

As always, Gladiator is happy to hear your feedback. Don’t hesitate to give us a shout in the comments but for now… go order a beer!

When we decided to organize Slide To Unlock, we already knew we were not the only ones waiting for a decent iPhone and iPad development workshop. Nevertheless, we sold out only 10 days after launching the website.. blazingly fast indeed!

So besides bragging about the success, we also want to address people that were too late or missed it.. feel free to get in touch, we would love to find out if a second iPhone development workshop in Belgium would sell out too!