Yann Martel

Author

Hoss Gifford and (producer) Peter Collingridge combined exceptional creativity and technical skill with a sound understanding of the book. I was not the only one pleased with the result; the tens of thousands of hits speak to the fact that many, many other people were too. I can’t imagine a better team (besides two nicer guys) to translate written words into virtual images. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write to me.

---

Victoria Jones

Great Ormond Street Hospital

Hoss really blew our minds, he took the brief and ‘ran with it’… further than we could have imagined, out of the box, off the field, up the flag pole and beyond. What he delivered was brilliant and has continued to be brilliant and loved by our audiences. He’s your man if you want to throw the box out and think beyond any boundaries what so ever, a really inspiring guy and so easy and professional to work with - truly a pleasure.

---

Jen Davies

Glasgow Film Festival

Hoss created a cinema trailer for Glasgow Film Festival 2011 which was, frankly, epic! This trailer screened at cinemas across the UK and, on the big screen, those huge polished slabs gliding in and beaming light onto a city growing out of the darkness is incredible. It’s dark and luminous and strange and it works. The process of developing the trailer with Hoss was great. He’s a fantastic collaborator, he’s creative, imaginative, challenged us with wild, conceptually smart ideas and created something original and awesome. The whole process was a delight from start to finish.

---

Lionel Wong

Church+State

Hoss is the perfect balance between Creative and Technologist. Not only is he always up on the latest trends and innovations, he’s always thinking about how to use them creatively to solve client problems. He loves to tinker and try new things, in fact he’s constantly making prototypes for things i’ve never heard of before. Which both drives me crazy and inspires me at the same time. Hoss is also one of the best presenters / speakers I’ve had the pleasure of working with. He’s intelligent, witty, and always brings a new perspective to the table. And on top of all that, he has that cool accent that just makes everything sound so much better. I hope to have the pleasure of working with Hoss again one day.

---

Richard Baker

Edinburgh International Film Festival

I met Hoss when I was Head of Marketing at Edinburgh International Film Festival. He’s a lovely, energetic man filled with ideas and I liked him immediately. I had a vague notion that I wanted to make some web based animations for the Festival and Hoss brought me Boxman. He’s a true collaborator and I thoroughly enjoyed developing the idea with him from inception right through to winning the EPICA Viral Advertising Award for Boxman. Highly, highly, highly recommended. Make nice things with Hoss, but only if you’re a nice person.

---

Jamie Byng

Canongate

Hoss Gifford is one of the most imaginative and brilliant designers I have ever come across and his work has consistently pushed the boundaries of what the web and designers can do in tandem if they think out the box. What he achieved with Life of Pi was simultaneously in keeping with the book and yet a work of art in its own right. Yann Martel adored it as he felt, like we all had, that Hoss had retained the essence of the book’s feel and mood and meaning. But Yann also loved it, like we all did, because it is sublimely beautiful and proof of what books can inspire in other people in terms of activating their imaginations and creative juices. From a publisher’s point of view working with Hoss was a treat because he didn’t need to be briefed other than in the most general sense - we wanted him to make a short film in Flash that would make people curious to check out the novel but which they would enjoy on its own terms even if they had never heard of Life of Pi and had no subsequent desire to read it. We scored big time. Hoss delivered the film 2 weeks after Yann won the Booker. And I think there is no question that he helped fuel the buzz around this wondrous novel and its sales.I can’t wait for to see the results of the next collaboration which is already underway. Long live King Hoss.

---

Peter Collingridge

CitiVentures

I met Hoss in 1999 and asked him to make me something nice. That something was Life of Pi, which was seen by over 2m people and won lots of awards. Since then we’ve worked together on loads of projects, won a few more awards, and generally had more fun and creative highs than should be called work. If you’re lucky enough to be able to get him to work with you, you’ll never look back.

---

Felix Velarde

Underwired

Hoss Gifford. He’s a nice guy. He makes really nice things. He goes above and beyond the call of duty. If you want a nice guy who can really cut it, who gets it bang on, and who doesn’t let you down, Hoss is the right nice guy to do it. And if we could afford to keep him handcuffed to a Mac in London, we would.

---

Mike Kinsella

Weeworld

Hoss Gifford convinced me that Flash was the future in 2001 when most people thought it cleaned floors without scratching ..a pioneer in the true sense of the word. I couldn’t recommend him highly enough. Weeworld would not exist if it wasn’t for Hoss.

---

James Clewett

Picsel Technologies

Hoss Gifford is a man of epic talent, combining intrinsic understanding of the Flash format, with a very genuine and heartfelt concern for the health and happiness of his clients. He is the doctor of love, the master of disaster, the coyote of cunning. He stands astride the twin virtues of kindness, and expressive ActionScript coding like a colossus. He is truly the Mohamed Ali of Flash programming. Hoss Gifford is silicon valley chic. If you need more programmer cool, linen shirts and open sandals, he is the man. Voted 4 times NBA MVP, he has talent pouring from every orifice, I envy this man, no, I worship him, I fall at his feet begging to spend more time in his hallowed company. He gives, then he gives again, this man is a hero - love him!

---

Victor Brierley

Cullenskink

If there’s such a thing as a ‘Digital Industry Luminary’ in Scotland it could well be his chap. I’ve not worked directly with Hoss but it’s very clear from what your hear and glean, from respected Industry pros (and from what he tells you!) that’s he’s a very clever chap. A Scot who’s talking with authority about his subject, on the World stage is something of a rarity. Hoss will admit he’s opinionated and perhaps eccentric but he’s actually a great guy as well. He’s also nearly as funny as me. Or so he thinks.

---

Kenny Shaw

Screenmedia

Most interactive projects could do with a bit of Hoss magic – something inspiring, that’s a step beyond your original conception and hopes of what might be achieved.

---

Ewan Colville

s1

I called in Hoss, then the creative force behind web agency Flam Jam, to create a viral for entertainment website s1play.com. The resulting viral was exactly on-brief, and thanks to Hoss, just a little bit subversive. This was a good thing. The viral was a massive success, was listed in FHM magazine’s top 100 online games in 2002, and two years later it’s still played more than 500 times every week. At its peak, ‘takeaim’ was played 47,000 times in a week. We then asked Hoss to develop viral solutions for s1jobs, Scotland’s No.1 recruitment site. These too did exactly what we wanted - massive referral and advocacy of s1jobs. If you want to promote your brand on the internet, try talking to Hoss Gifford.

---

James Jefferson

Equator

Hoss, I am writing to thank you on your input in the ITC Classics project, recently completed. The balance of unbeatable skills and an unusually high level of professionalism that you brought to the project was a huge asset to the team at Equator. It was a vital element in delivering our high hopes on budget and in a timely manner, without headaches or sleepless nights. I am looking forward to working together on similarly challenging projects in the future.