George's Secret Key

Profile:

Random House Children's Books is a company of the Random House Group Ltd. Merged with Transworld Children's books in November 2001, it ranks amongst the top 5 children's publishers in the UK.

George’s Secret Key To The Universe is the first in a series of three books, written by bestselling author Stephen Hawking and his writer daughter Lucy, collaborating on their first children’s book.

The Challenge:

To create a website for George’s Secret Key To The Universe, ready to launch on the same weekend as the book. The site needed to reflect the style of the book – interesting, informative and always engaging. In addition, the site needed to be adaptable to allow future books to be added by the client without intensive revisions.

What we did:

The style of the book was always at the forefront of designs for the website. A wide-open space-themed feel was the key to the design, and then we included beautiful images, reams of facts, downloads, a quiz and competition, and the chance to Name a Star. The Name a Star facility has a printable certificate and the ability to email a friend, a viral mechanism to spread the word about the book.

Visitors are encouraged to register with the site for the chance to win a copy of the book which has been thumb-printed by Stephen Hawking. At the same time, Random House can gather information on who is interested in the book and, if visitors opt in, add them to their mailing list for future publications.

Client feedback:

"George's Secret Key To The Universe is a wonderful book that blends a fun and exciting story with lots of interesting facts and information about our Universe. It is something that can be treasured by children and adults alike. Because of this we knew that the book would need an equally impressive web site that would look instantly appealing and contain plenty of eye-catching content that would keep visitors entertained on numerous repeat visits.

"Having worked successfully with Big Picture in the past, they were an obvious candidate to help us achieve these goals and they certainly haven't disappointed. The site is everything we expected it to be and then some and is a more than worthy accompaniment to (and extension of) the book itself."
Gavin Hilzbrich, Random House Children’s Books

"We're absolutely delighted with the website for George's Secret Key, which adds some brilliant interactive features to the book as a whole. The 'name a virtual star' is a particular highlight, and creates a great link between the online experience and the children visiting the site.

"Lucy is very pleased to have such a wonderful online presence."
Shannon Park, Editor