Archive for the ‘Fun Educational Apps’ Category

App Production 101: Words from Our Art Director

Posted by ruckusholly on February 2nd, 2012

In the upcoming weeks, we are going to delve more into the process of App Production, as requested by many of you on Twitter and elsewhere.  First up, we have an explanation of who does what on each project by Pactrick Dorey, our Art Director, based out of our NYC office.  This is a very broad overview and we will try to get more into the specifics in the upcoming weeks.

 

my little pony

Here’s a break down of various peoples jobs that work on each app:

First, dancing pixies sprinkle fair dust on a iPad and speak some secret magic words and with a burst of light, an interactive story book app is born. (Just kidding!)

First,  a producer will work out with the client on the general concept of the app. For instance, if the story is based on an existing TV show episode or an original story, there are particular considerations.

Then a writer will write the original story or adapt it.

Once the story is ironed out, the producer will use it to create a rough storyboard which gets handed off to a few designers.

The designers will piece together story page art using existing images and digitally create some of the graphics from scratch and create animation.

Meanwhile, voice recording will take place and story’s narration begins.

When all the graphics and audio are complete and approved by the client, then everything will go to a team of developers to program the functionality.

At the end, the finished product gets delivered to Apple for their approval.

Once Apple approves it, then they will put the book in the iTunes App Store.

And voila, an app is born!


Day #3 of Holiday Free Family Fun with Tawanna Browne Smith

Posted by ruckusholly on December 15th, 2011

the chatty momma

We are continuing 12 Days of Holiday Free Family Fun with our friends at ZiggityZoom.  Our third guest blogger is Tawanna Browne Smith, a traveling mom of 2 who stays on the go and blogs at MomsGuideToTravel.com.  She’s a travel writer for a couple of publications, including NileGuide.com and 10Best.com, in addition to writing for The ExaminerDC and her own blog Mom’s Guide to Travel. When she’s not writing, traveling, chauffeuring or completing triathlons, you can find her on Twitter as @worldtravelmom.

Here’s how she’s keeping the kids busy through the holidays:

This is our first Christmas where the kids are eating gluten free so we plan to do a lot of baking and experimenting with recipes for cookies and cupcakes. It’s a lot of fun to watch my youngest explore the texture of cookie dough and help my oldest apply his math skills to the kitchen. In between baking new creations, and preparing for New Year’s Eve travel, we’ll be planning for the onslaught of birthdays in our household. The festivities don’t end for us on January 1st – that’s just the beginning. We’ll be partying on the 3rd, the 6th, and the 12th as we celebrate the birthdays of my sons and my husband. For three weeks, our house will be the one that never sleeps.

Visit ZiggityZoom.com for today’s 3rd Day of Christmas Free Family Fun Printable- Christmas Bookmarks to share.  Just print, laminate and give!  Also head over to Ziggity Zoom’s blog  for today’s Ruckus app giveaway!

Day #2 of Holiday Free Family Fun with Shari Simpson-Cabelin

Posted by ruckusholly on December 14th, 2011

Shari Simpson-CablinWe are continuing 12 Days of Holiday Free Family Fun with our friends at ZiggityZoom.  Our second guest blogger is Shari-Simpson-Cabelin of DustyEarthMother.com.   Shari writes and rants in her rowdy red-haired way at “Earth Mother just means I’m dusty”, Aiming Low and NJ Mommy Poppins.  You can also follow her over on Twitter at @DustyEarthMom.

When asked how she keeps her kids busy thinking about giving back during the holidays, Shari said:

I try very hard to keep my kids busy with thinking about giving back to others during the holidays: we are helping to wrap gifts at a food pantry, and making care packages for homeless kids. And it’s possible that a tiny bit of this is actually sinking it, as evidenced by my daughter’s funny letter to The Man in Red: “Dear Santa, please bring gifts to poor kids. And when you’re done, I’d like—“ and the list goes on and on, of course. Yes, maybe my kids won’t be winning any humanitarian awards any time soon, but at least they’re thinking about others! A little bit. A very little bit. Hey, I’ll take it.

Visit ZiggityZoom.com for today’s 2nd Day of Holiday Free Family Fun Printable- adorable  Trendy Christmas Cupcake Wrapper, and head over to Ziggity Zoom’s blog to win a free Ruckus app today!

 

Day #1 of Holiday Free Family Fun with Carissa Rogers

Posted by ruckusholly on December 13th, 2011

 

Carissa RogersWe are kicking off the 12 Days of Holiday Free Family Fun with our first guest blogger, Carissa Rogers of GoodnCrazy.com.  Carissa is a GoodNCrazy mom of 3, she writes freelance and actually gets paid to play in the social media sandbox when not carpooling and pretending to be a photographer.  She’s also @CarissaRogers on Twitter and a lot of fun to follow.

When asked how she plans to keep her kids busy during the upcoming holidays, Carissa said:

This year starting back in mid-November we decided to start up a weekly ‘Secret Sweets Delivery’ service! Every Sunday night we bake up a different fun and festive treat, then plot two different neighbors or friends to deliver the goodies on Monday night, we doorbell ditch and then run.

 Each week, we have more and more fun strategizing how to be extra sneakier than the previous week. And EACH WEEK, they always find out we were the surprise attackers? We can’t figure out how they always know—but they do!

We just keep on delivering anyway, (and pretending we are super-sneaky anyway!).

Visit ZiggityZoom.com for today’s 1st Day of Holiday Free Family Fun Printable and Ruckus app giveaway! These All I Want for Christmas Christmas Gift Tags are super cute and original.

12 Days of Holiday Family Fun

 

 

 

Announcing the 12 Days of Holiday Family Fun

Posted by ruckusholly on December 12th, 2011

12 days of holiday funStarting tomorrow here on our blog, we’ll be launching into 12 Days of Holiday Family Fun.  Each day between December 13th – December 24th we’ll be featuring a guest blogger who will tell us how she’s planning to entertain her kids during the holiday break.  Meanwhile, our friends over at ZiggityZoom, will also post about the holidays, while celebrating their new game app launch Feed the Monster and will be offering fun, free Holiday printables every single day!

Everyday you will see one of your favorite bloggers giving tips about what to do with the kids during the holidays.  The list includes Carissa Rogers from Goodncrazy.com, Galit Breen from TheseLittleWaves.com, Shari Simpson from DustyEarthMother.com, Angela Roy from MommyPR.com, Esti Berkowitz from PrimetimeParenting.com, Pauline Campos from AspiringMama.com, Tawanna Browne Smith from MomsGuidetoTravel.com, Imani-Powell-Razat as seen on NBC’s Moms & The City http://bit.ly/m36Mx0, Jenn Jacura from PrincessJenn.com, Tonia Sanders from TheChattyMomma.com, Ashley Saunders from TeachableMommy.com and Jeri Ann Reason from MomECentric.com.

Tune in tomorrow to the 1st Day of Holidays Free Family Fun and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @ruckusmediagroup, @feedmonsterapp and @ziggityzoom.

 

Black Friday Shopping to Support a Cause

Posted by ruckusholly on November 22nd, 2011

Ruckus Media St. Jude promotionThis Thanksgiving, we are giving back.  With EVERY Ruckus app sold, we are donating 100% of the net proceeds to the children of St. Jude Children’s Hospital®.  Not only can you get a head start on your holiday shopping  (apps do make great stocking stuffers!), but you will support a wonderful cause.  In addition, we are dropping the price of all our apps to $1.99 each.  It’s truly Black Friday Shopping to support a cause.

It’s the eighth annual Thanks and Giving campaign, a holiday campaign that asks shoppers to “Give thanks for the healthy kids in your life, and give to those who are not,” and we’re proud to be a partner to help make a difference in these children’s lives.

Beginning today and running over Black Friday and through Monday, November 28th, 2011, we  will donate to St. Jude 100% of the net proceeds ($1.39) of the company’s entire digital library including the iTunes bestseller MY LITTLE PONY: TWILIGHT SPARKLE, TEACHER FOR A DAY and Moms’ Choice award winner CHUCK AND FRIENDS: FRIENDS FOR THE LONG HAUL, both featuring beloved Hasbro characters; holiday Read-Play-and-Record-Along classics THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS and THE VELEVETEEN RABBIT, both told by Meryl Streep; among many other interactive storybooks. You will be supporting the hospital’s lifesaving mission of finding cures and saving children with cancer and other deadly diseases.

To learn more about the Thanks and Giving campaign and its partners, please visit www.stjude.org or call 1-800-4STJUDE. To purchase Ruckus’ interactive storybooks for iOS mobile devices and help support this campaign during the holiday season, visit the Ruckus Media Group page at iTunes.

Happy shopping!