Another year has come to pass and it would be hard ignore the fact that 2009 has been year of the Tweet. From politics to pop stars, Mojave looks at the biggest Twitter moments of the year.

1. The King of Pop dies
- 30% of all Tweets at the time were in regards to Michael Jackson
- The massive amounts of data that swarmed in allegedly shut down the microblogging platform

2. The Iranian Election
- State Dept requested that Twitter delay scheduled maintenance in order to continue receiving coverage
- Revolutionized news reporting and real-time information availability
3. Moonfruit Twitter Promotion
- Beat out Michael Jackson and the Iranian Election as a trending Twitter topic by randomly giving out an Apple Macbook Pro every day, for 7 days.
- Brought social media marketing to the forefront of advertising industry

4. Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN
- Ashton (@aplusk) challenged CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) to a Twitter popularity contest in a race to be the first to collect one million followers.
- Kutcher promised to donate 10,000 mosquito bed nets to charity for World Malaria Day if he won the contest and 1,000 if he lost. CNN would match the wager if they won.
- Ashton celebrated a victory with CNN trailing only 30 minutes behind.

5. Twitter’s value set at $1Billion
- Twitter received 4th round of investor funding for $100Million, who are valuing the company at a hefty $1Billion.

Mojave Interactive designed and implemented a very fun and interactive brand-shop in partnership with CafePress and Summit Entertainment for the highly anticipated film “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” which arrives in theaters on November 20th.  Traffic is driven to the shop through direct marketing and social media. Visitors are awarded with a free gift from CafePress and are able to purchase both official and custom merchandise (designed exclusively by fans alike).

In addition to providing a delightful e-commerce experience, the site definitely puts a spin on the traditional official merchandise licensing model. This new shop gives movie fans a way to express themselves by allowing them to effortlessly personalize their own Twilight Saga-themed products.

Visit the CafePress Twilight:New Moon store here (use code CPNEWMOONGIFT10 to claim your free gift)!

The highly anticipated movie version of a long time favorite has finally hit the big screen. In the past few weeks, fans and critics alike have been at the tips of their toes cranking up a “Wild Things” storm in social media. Mojave took a look at the conversations revolving around the new movie.

Looking at mentions in the blog world, numbers began to climb as release date got closer and supplemental promotions began to sprout, like the Wild Things iPhone app, behind the scenes footage, etc.

Twitter took center stage around a majority of the buzz creation and syndication. Numerous hashtags were generated by people eager to share their thoughts and experiences. One thing very notable about this particular movie and social media, is the reliance many parents had on user reviews. Moms and Dads researched appropriateness by using tools like YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook; all of which were able to provide valuable insight. So how did people feel about the Wild Things?

Most people felt very positive, while a few felt a bit disgruntled. Biggest issues were parents (with younger children) claiming the movie was boring, and that unlike the original book, is not meant for kids. As for us at Mojave, we’ll have to assess the situation for ourselves, perhaps this weekend?

A wireframe is basically the skeleton of a website, kind of like a blue print for the site that’s being built out. Wireframes are a very important part of the design process, as key page functionality and elements are sorted out in this phase of development.

Here are some nifty tools & resources worth checking out that will make your process of connecting boxes, buttons, and arrows a lot more visually pleasing and a lot less tedious to create.

Omnigraffle

A great application designed specifically for interface design. Easy to navigate, easy to customize and an overall winner. (Also has a log of great plug-ins, which I’ll get to later).

Balsamiq

Another cool tool that allows you to tweak designs in real time, kind of like real-life drawing, only with a mouse instead of a pencil.

Gliffy

Free tool that allows you to create, collaborate and share with anyone who has an internet connection (and they won’t have to install any additional software).

Graffletopia

My absolute favorite resource for pre-made templates for Omnigraffle. Tons of stencils, icons, and miscellaneous web-dingies to pack a little more punch into your wireframe. (Below is a Facebook plug-in to help you design apps, awesome!)