Newport Slang App

In July 2011 my team at University of Wales, Newport launched our first mobile app on Apple’s App Store and on the Android Market.  We created a light hearted concept to test out developing and publishing apps.  The Newport Slang Translator was born, and to our surprise it was very successful and generated local media interest.

The concept was not a traditional way to advertise a University, but it proved very popular with prospective students and the 13-17 year old age group.  This subtle way of increasing brand awareness in something that was fun and relatively easy to produce worked well.  We included banners at the bottom of the screen linking back to sections of our website to tie in with current marketing campaigns.

The app allows users to search and browse a list of important and sometimes bizarre Newport phrases in native accents with Queen’s English translations. It is an affectionate look at Wenglish phrases from around the region. I was then interviewed for The Western Mail and WalesOnline.co.uk to promote it.

Search “Newport Slang” on the iTunes AppStore or Android Market.

We created the Newport Slang Translator using the industry standard development tools; Xcode 4 for iPhone and iPad, and Eclipse for Android. The voice actors are members of staff and were recorded using a Shure SM58 microphone with a Roland Edirol R-09HR portable recorder. The comedy concept and script was written by Joss (Web Development Manager), Bharani (Web Developer) wrote the code and I (Web Multimedia Developer) recorded the actors and edited the audio.

This was a great cross discipline project for us to venture into mobile app development. Apps aren’t just about the code; it’s about a great idea that can often be very simple. Although it’s not a typical way to advertise a University, it proved that getting creative with technology and thinking outside of the box can produce great results.

Wales Online Interview (Western Mail)

BBC Radio Wales Interview