Yellow Arrow (yellowarrow.net) was a mobile / online community and publishing platform that let users develop mobile maps of their own worlds. As an early (2004) example of location-based content, it was ultimately a mix of user generated content, content projects we developed and themes that we designed for users to participate in.


Yellow Arrow map content included both single points of interest input by users and professionally curated tours through cities. Arrows were ultimately placed in 395 cities and 37 countries, with a user base made up of designers, academics, developers, community organizers and urban explorers. Users marked locations using SMS text messaging and a Yellow Arrow sticker. The site then merged the entries with maps, photos and videos to create “geographical blogging," as the The Washington Post described it.

Originally conceived as a wide-scale art project, the site evolved to include many "curated projects" (developed by the user base, then shaped and edited by our content team), as well as several large in-house projects. The best-know project was called Capital of Punk and was made up of mobile tours and documentary videos about the early punk music scene in Washington, DC. It features candid interviews with Ian MacKaye (Fugazi), Dante Ferrando (Ignition, Black Cat), Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, Make-Up) and others.We also had a partnership with Lonely Planet, and developed a series of prototype concepts for mobile retail products. The idea was to allow people to purchase interactive mobile experiences that would serve as a guidebook. (Meaning, no more lame and bulky books to carry around.)