Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge recently interviewed us about our design process. Check out the full interview on iLounge.com!

spent two fantastic days at the Dust or Magic AppCamp in Asilomar. I talked about “How We Turned a Nursery Rhyme into a Best Selling App” (check out our 2009 presentation), and spent two enlightening days with some of the best and brightest in children’s interactive media – child development experts, educators, other app developers, reviewers, writers, and some of the legendary veterans in children’s software. We spent time reviewing dozens of apps, brainstorming new concepts, and talking to kids who came to participate.

Highlights include:

• Ann McCormick’s story about founding the Learning Company: “Apple gave me a computer and $1000 in 1979, and that’s how we started the Learning Company. The best work was done early when we had three or four people and were very light on our feet.” In reference to the iPad, she said, “It’s the computer we’ve been waiting for since the 70’s… Finally we can do what’s needed for kids.”
• A Panel of Legends from the children’s software industry, including Mark Schlichting who told his story about starting the Living Books series at Broderbund. He talked about how he created “shared vision within the company… As I was building my first prototype, I needed voices and sound effects. I had everybody be a voice. My boss was a barking dog…” He also mentioned how now with the new app market, there is the “opportunity for a garage band to happen again.”
• Warren Buckleitner’s Child Development 101 for Software Designers
• Darren Carstens’ talk on “How I Made an iPhone App” and how he learned about the iPhone SDK from YouTube videos created by 12 year old kids!
• Mandeep Dhillon’s (CEO of Togetherville) presentation on the Economics of the AppStore. He talked about how distribution changes the game. With the AppStore, developers can sell directly to consumers. He mentioned “the rise of the little guy” and how little startups (like us!) can compete with large companies.
• Tips on how to get PR for apps by Robin Raskin, former editor of PC Magazine and Founder of Living in Digital Times, and Reyne Rice, Trends Specialist for the Toy Industry Association – including how to talk to editors, send press releases, enter awards, and use social networks.

And of course, AppCamp had a bonfire by the beach, complete with S’mores! We had aspirations to create an AppSymphony but perhaps that will have to wait until next year…

Caroline

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K, I have to admit that this is a bit of a shameless plug, but we are kind of over the moon excited about being nominated for the iPod/iPhone Developer of the Year Award! (!!!!) If you have enjoyed our iPhone apps, please consider voting for us online (click the button below to vote). It takes less than a few seconds and will bring you loads of good karma!

When we started our little company over a year ago we began with nothing more than a strong desire to create quality products and a keen excitement to work with each other. In the past year we have learned a lot, our ambition has grown as has our dedication to developing high quality and engaging products. The most rewarding aspect of our our work at Duck Duck Moose has been working with children.

Thanks to all those who have helped us along the way and to the parents and educators who have contacted us with feedback and praise. Keep it coming, we love to hear from you!

We have had a lot going on at Duck Duck Moose in the past two months. C and M’s older daughter recently turned 4 years old (how fast time goes) — Happy birthday Elizabeth! Michael has been burning the candle at both ends by juggling his job at a start-up, concerts with his trio and a full time job at Duck Duck Moose. Caroline has been handling a full schedule with her usual grace — raising two little ones by day and working on DDM at night (sometimes until 2-3am) and I have been freelancing and illustrating combined with a 6 week trip to India (you wouldn’t believe the scarcity of working wifi!). Amid all this craziness (and with little sleep) we somehow managed to create Itsy Bitsy Spider — a new musical iPhone app for kids.

Itsy is a bit different than our other two apps. The illustration style has more depth — the artwork was drawn in Illustrator and all of the gradients, textures and shadows were added manually in Photoshop. In addition, Itsy functions more like an interactive movie of sorts with panning from screen to screen that is initiated by touching the star character — the spider, all to the tune of the popular children’s classic.

Everything on the screen is interactive. We added many new elements to engage little ones in a variety of learning activities:

- Count from 1 to 10 as a squirrel builds his house
- Find hidden eggs on a scavenger hunt
- Make music with musical eggs that play 12 notes
- Stack hats on the spider’s head
- Listen to classical music with violin and cello
- Record your own singing!

For more screen captures and information on our new app, please visit our website: duckduckmoosedesign.com

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, please try it out and let us know what you think. We have gotten so much great feedback (and creative ideas) from our customers!

ccording to Greystripe, a mobile ad network, 29.5% of all iPhone users are “iPhone Moms”. It is no wonder, when there has been an explosion of apps marketed towards Moms from educational apps for kids to apps that help you track feedings, diapers and sleep schedules. Read the original article on Tech Crunch: Is The iPhone Mom The New Soccer Mom?

Brought to you by the creators of Wheels on the Bus (that’s us!), a top educational iPhone app for kids which was featured in The New York Times, USAToday, San Francisco Chronicle, Discovery Channel, Daily Candy Kids, Wired.com and MSNBC.com, we are happy to announce that we have just released our second interactive musical adventure for the iPhone and iPod touch — Old MacDonald!

Get it on the iTunes appStore

More than a year ago the three of us put our heads together and came up with an idea for a musical iPhone app. Caroline and Michael have backgrounds in classical music and so it seemed fitting that we should do something musical. The music for our first (and second) app was recorded by Michael’s trio and by our friend Brennan. The app, Wheels on the Bus, far exceeded our expectations by rising to become the #1 educational app.

Our second app, Old MacDonald, is a unique rendition of the classic song with some new surprises: Pig-casso, a philosopher cow reading “The Moo Yorker”, alien spaceships and mid-century modern furniture (I draw what I wish I had!) Check out the Duck Duck Moose Design website for some more screenshots or get it on the iTunes appStore. If you like it, write us a review — we’d love to hear from you!

A few months ago Duck Duck Moose put out a call for entries for our Kid Talent Contest. The rules were simple, make a video of your little one singing Wheels on the Bus. We received entries from all over and have really enjoyed watching them. Today, we are proud to announce a winner to our contest!

Congratulations to Misty Griffis and her son Ethan for Ethan’s rendition of Wheels on the Bus. Check out Ethan’s video below or visit the Duck Duck Moose website to see some of the Runner-ups for the contest. A big ‘thank you’ to all who participated!

Duck, Duck & Moose

Calling all Wheels on the Bus fans – submit your videos for a chance to win $250 and be featured in our iPhone app!

Submit your video of Wheels on the Bus on YouTube. We’re looking for ALL renditions of the Wheels on the Bus song. We want to see your little musicians, clowns, pranksters, dreamers, actors, dancers, magicians, comedians, poets, and more!

Enter contest for a chance to win $250 and have your video featured in the Wheels on the Bus iPhone application, one of the most popular children’s applications on iTunes. Thousands of children and parents around the world will see the winning video.

Ends April 30, 2009.

For more information on the contest, what we are looking for and how to submit your videos, visit our contest page: http://duckduckmoosedesign.com/kid-talent-contest

Duck Duck Moose was founded by three friends who share a passion for children, music, education, design, and play. We observed that our young children loved to play with our iPhones – a perfect form factor for small hands and an interface that is intuitive for even toddlers. We also noticed that there were very few fun, educational apps designed for children.

We created our first product, Wheels on the Bus, with help from many friends. We produced all the music, illustrations and interactions ourselves. Our own children, their friends, and other parents tested the Bus for us, and gave us very helpful feedback.

After launching Wheels on the Bus, we at Duck Duck Moose were inspired to start a blog to showcase some of the many exciting things that are happening in the world of design for babies and young children.

We hope you enjoy our blog!

Caroline (duck), Nicci (duck) & Michael (moose)