R&C has a new address!

Same building, MUCH larger office: Robots and Cupcakes has grown out of our office space after just 2 years (!), and we're now located one floor down, in Suite #402.

Please take note of our new address:

 Robots and Cupcakes

 42 Newark Street, Suite #402

 Hoboken, NJ, 07030

Everything else is still the same:

 Give us a ring!  201-706-8888

 Send us an email!  hello@robotsandcupcakes.com

Robots and Cupcakes is located just 10 minutes from NYC via ferry and PATH. Our office is one block in from Hoboken Terminal, in the historic Clam Broth House building.

Cheers!

The Robots and Cupcakes Family

Junior HTML coder position open at Robots and Cupcakes!

Robots and Cupcakes is a leading creative print and digital development team in Educational Publishing, located in Hoboken, New Jersey, just 10 minutes from New York City via PATH or ferry.

We are looking to hire a junior front-end developer on a freelance basis for a project that will run for two to six months. We need someone with strong HTML and CSS skills who is familiar with code version control systems like Git and Beanstalk. Some experience with Javascript/JQuery would be a plus, as would experience with Illustrator and/or Photoshop (but these skills aren't required).

Responsibilities will include:
 • Input of text content and image elements into existing HTML template and product pages
 • Applying some basic and some css style tagging to text input elements
 • Timing image slideshows to existing audio files, and applying time values to a code line
 • Possibly creating slideshow images based on client storyboards using Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop
 • Uploading and downloading code from a repository, and being careful about revision tracking

Please send resume with experience and links of any samples (if available) to jobs@robotsandcupcakes.com, attention Eric Murray. (No calls, please.)

Kid's YoPower! is here for iPad!

YoMagination and Robots and Cupcakes has finally gotten the green light to release an introductory story app based on the YoPoweR! printed curriculum:

Kids' YoPoweR! Journey, now available for iPad!

This is YoMagination's very first iPad app, which introduces the Island of YoMagination and the characters that live there. The app is a WONDERFULLY positive story with a warm, calming voice that walks kids through how to recognize anxiety and stress, how to focus and breathe in order to take control and manage their emotions. "That's YoPoweR!"

There are two activities within the story that also introduce and visually explain the negative and stressful feelings (called Ooglily Booglies) and the positive, energizing feelings (Tiggly Wigglies). Kids learn they can replace negative feelings with positive ones when they focus and breathe, the YoPoweR! way! There are even shortcuts on the Main app page that can take kids directly to those activities in times of need. (We think EVERYONE can benefit from this app!!!)

The music (performed and produced by our friend Rob Warren of Rob Warren Music), and illustrations (by our very own "Mixed-Up Wacky Zoo" and "A.J.'s Big Adventure!" artist Phil Jones), brings full life to this delightfully written, rhyming story lesson by Heather Quillen, founder of YoMagination.

A little about the printed curriculum:

We also like to add that we especially (and wholeheartedly!) believe in the YoPoweR! curriculum. The programs have already been integrated into current classroom systems, as well as after school programs and camp activities. In addition, Heather Quillen has traveled to troubled schools in poor neighborhoods to teach YoPoweR! classes to teachers and troubled kids, bringing benefits to many who may need it most! We've seen video and photos of these events. It’s AMAZING how the kids respond!!

The program provides a comprehensive, whole child approach to health and wellness. Including a fitness component that engages both teachers and the students to do stretches and basic yoga poses together, as they understand what each pose represents. Anxious, angry, even autistic kids are able to have instant structure and focus, and brreeeeeathe it out… A wonderful, wonderful program.

Heather Quillen developed the full classroom programs along with the help of a team of children's psychologists, education and curriculum advisors, wellness doctors and even yoga masters. The programs are in alignment with national learning standards and frameworks, Head Start/Body Start and several other health and pediatric recommendations.

…PUBLISHERS, teachers, therapist and parents looking for a new, incredible, stand out health and wellness program that has already been shaped and approved by doctors and psychologists: TAKE NOTE!!!

Visit www.yomagination.com for more information.  =)

Look for our work at IRA, 2013! (April 19-22)

We’ve been working hard on so many large programs this year– and you can find two of them being shown off at this year’s International Reading Association Convention in Texas (April 19-22)! If you're attending, be sure to check out these fine products...

Pearson’s “I See I Learn” at booth #3125:
We created the ISIL animations and digital story sort games that are being sold on DVD for classrooms- and what a GREAT TIME we had doing it! You should be able to get a sneak peek of a few of them there… Also check out the ISIL animated product commercial we created for them, which should be running at the booth as well.

Booth #3125

Mondo Publishing iExplore and marketing pieces, booth #2609:
We were given the great opportunity to brand, design and produce 60 print magazines for Mondo’s new iExplore program, for print and online use! The magazines are an engaging mix of Science and Social Studies, filled with articles, facts and activities. ...And they are beautiful, if we don’t say so ourselves...  ;)

We also created the marketing materials from the catalogs, to the brochures, even the large signs hanging on the booth walls!

Booth #2609

Pearson's I See I Learn Story Sort game peek

We'll be showing off more of our work on our website in the next 2 weeks! In the meantime, here's a sneak peek at 1 of the 16 "Story Sort" games we created for Pearson's I See I Learn new product DVD. Kids read the book, and then try and remember the order of the images from the book.

Story Sort game for "Freda Stops a Bully"

Psst! For those of you who haven't read the book, 
here are the answers!  ;P

R&C’s "I See I Learn" product commercial is up!

We just finished up a product commercial for Pearson’s I See I Learn products, and it’s already up for viewing on Pearson's ISIL website! We were given the products and a script, and we took it from there. Enjoy!

www.iseeilearnatschool.com (Look for "Take a Tour!")

Update: The video will also be shown at the International Reading Association Convention (April 19-22) along with our animations and digital games, at the Pearson booth, #3125!

You may even catch author Stuart J. Murphy there! If you do, please tell him Robots and Cupcakes sent you!  =)

R&C gets mentioned (and praise!) at the Bologna Children's Book Fair

Over the last few months, R&C has worked closely with Pearson and author Stuart J. Murphy to bring 8 supplemental animated stories and 16 digital Story Sort games to schools everywhere on DVD.

Last week, Stuart traveled to Italy to speak at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in front of large groups to discuss best practices and writing for digital content for kids. He spoke about both his printed and digital books, and showed off some of the digital products we had produced, making specific mention of Robots and Cupcakes several times.

Stuart demonstrated the illustrations, icons and graphs from his books, and showed off the story animation “Write On, Carlos!” (which is one of our favorites!). He was given great feedback on the animations and songs performed in them… and of course, everyone loved the green pet dog named Pickle. (Especially his singing part!)

Thank you, Stuart!!! ♥

Stuart J. Murphy is a visual learning specialist, author and consultant. He is the author of the award-winning MathStart series, which includes a total of 63 children’s books that present mathematical concepts in the context of stories for Pre-K through Grade 4.  He is also the author of Stuart J. Murphy’s I SEE I LEARN, a 16-book series of storybooks for children in Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Grade 1 that focus on social, emotional, health and safety, and cognitive skills. The series is also being published as Stuart J. Murphy’s I SEE I LEARN at School by Pearson Education. Stuart is on the authorship team of a number of mathematics programs published by Pearson Education. These include enVisionMATH, digits, and Pearson Prentice Hall High School Mathematics.

R&C completes digital products for Pearson's "I See I Learn" DVD

Coming soon to a classroom near you...

Robots and Cupcakes has just completed 8 animations and 16 digital games for Pearson's “I See I Learn” book series by Stuart J. Murphy! They’ll be available on DVD for classrooms, along with digital versions of Stuart’s 16 main storybooks.

The animations are supplemental stories to the main storybooks; After the kids read the stories, the animations have a similar storyline that refer back to the icons, graphs, and lessons learned in the books. R&C handled the storyboarding, art direction, music and voiceovers, animations and video production.

R&C additionally built 16 “Story Sort” digital games in HTML which are played from the DVD, one game for each of Stuart’s books. The children pull the images from each of the stories from memory into the correct order. Lots of sounds and rewards with wonderful design!

Here’s the announcement of the products:

PublishersWeekly.com article

These will also be shown at this year’s Educational conferences, so be on the lookout for a sneak peek!

Robots and Cupcakes is THREE!

Haaaappy Birthdaaaay, dear Teeeaaaaammmmm…..

What a family we've grown into! We have a triple-threat production team, we have designers and animators singing together in harmony, and a development team that never seems to flinch. The year brought us tons of growth in new and exciting areas (just when we thought we had covered them all!), and technology in education is finally beginning to take more of a solid shape. Publishers are gaining more experience as they stick with a small, but strong handful of technologies, and they're growing bolder in how far out they want to push their products to make them different. Competition is stiffer than ever, and uber-creativity has been the key!

That's where the team at Robots and Cupcakes has been at it's best. Thinking from outside education and bringing it in, and applying and defining new ways of thinking to the educational market. Developing, designing and adding different ways to interact. Pushing the limits of seamless code to cover any digital platform. Building activities in new and creative ways that still stay true to the standards of education. ...And the positive responses and praise we've received makes us even more excited about reaching further!

Here's our updated list of services for this year!
• FULL whiteboard development from beginning to end: Using Notebook and ActiveInspire, Flash and HTML, as well as customizable code

• HTML online websites for student and teacher books: Lessons, activities and ebooks, created with responsive design to cover online or mobile platforms, as well as mobile-specific sites

• Storyboarding, character design and full animation for lessons and stories in any format

• Music composition and Voiceover artistry (all styles and ages available!)

• Storybooks and activity apps for all mobile devices built in IOS, Android and iBook applications

• Searchable, interactive Flash or HTML catalogs

• Rebranding, logos, icons

• And of course, we're STILL popular for our original expertise: Print Production for any type of product—brochures and marketing materials, trade books, educational products of any type—we've done it all!

We also officially offer EDITORIAL SERVICES to deliver FULL SERVICE on projects through our partnership with TSI GRAPHICS! We've already completed a number of large, extremely successful projects together, and we look forward to even more growth as a team!

We're currently in the middle of revising our website to bring you all the different types of work we've accomplished. Stay tuned...

The Robots and Cupcakes Team

R&C is now an Elite-accredited Notebook Developer

Robots and Cupcakes has just been added to a very small list of companies with Elite accreditation status from SMART™ Technologies for developing IWB activities!

We’ve been working in SMART’s Notebook software since the day we opened our doors. We’re even often hired directly by SMART™ Technologies to create and deliver lessons and widgets for their Exchange Forum, as well as being asked to help beta test their newest software.

Congratulations, Team!!!

And thank you, SMART™ Technologies: You are ALWAYS a pleasure to work with.