The Poets Are Among Us - GPS launches close

At Codegent we love a ‘big idea’, so when The Southbank Centre came to us with a new brief it was an ideal opportunity to get creative.

The concept behind GPS (Global Poetry System) was to enable people from anywhere in the world to discover the poetry around them, record it and add it to a map so that it can be found and enjoyed by others. The poetry could be anything, from graffiti on a wall to a couple of words scratched on a park bench. 

The whole premise of the site is about making poetry available. We therefore wanted to make it as easy and intuitive as possible for people to add their finds. Offering multiple upload options including audio, webcam and mobile & iPhone gives users a variety of ways to get involved, share their experiences and create a site that has rich and varied content because an empty map is no fun at all.

A cheeky Google Maps mash-up lets users pinpoint their poem against a specific location, zoom in and even use satellite to see exactly where it is hidden away. As the content builds and the virtual streets fill up with poems, the experience is becoming even better as areas rich in poetic form fill out offering the opportunity to create mini tours of urban literary gems. The long-term plan is to use the mapping tool to build and develop local communities looking to discuss and share poetry.

So you're cruising around the map and you come across something that takes your fancy. It might be a poem that reminds you of your mum or the love of your life and you want them to see how they inspire you. Simple; we added a whole host of social media tools to enable you to spread the word.

The site was officially launched on the 8th October and it has already received some great feedback. We can’t wait to see how it grows.