Overveiw
In 2009 a game called Minecraft was created by Markus Persson. Minecraft is a sandbox building video game which allows players to build constructions out of textured cubes in a 3D world. A unique feature of Minecraft was the ability to customize player “skins”. A skin is simply one's avatar appearance within Minecraft. The game imposes unique limitations on how a skin can appear. A community of artists arose that worked within these limitations to create completely original skins or skins based on already beloved characters (such as Spiderman or Spongebob).
Project Description
In response I created MinersNeedCoolShoes.com, a site where people could create and share Minecraft skins. 'Miners Need Cool Shoes' featured an online editor. Users could create skins directly on the site and preview them in 3d. Users could then download the skin to their computer, upload it to their Minecraft profile or upload it to the site and share it with others. Users of the site could browse other profiles, rate other player skins, or edit skins other users created.
Iphone & Ipad App
Later that year I created the Cool Shoes 2 Iphone and Ipad app. It mirrored the the same functionality as the web app. It has been a success, selling over a thousand apps in the first month. It has been featured in The Shaft(a Minecraft related podcast) and numerous other blogs.
