Nationally acclaimed documentary and production studio Earthcare Films desired a minimal contemporary look for their existing company website. Three sub-sites content had to be accommodated within this structure, each with their identity catering to a different audience.

Our first decision was to de-clutter the existing website and only emphasize information required to choose a direction. The next big move was to liberate the stunning visuals created by Earthcare, bound from being a thumbnail to a full (web) page bleed. The resulting new site is almost entirely visual and relies on images and videos created by Earthcare with minimal accompanying text to help navigation.

The camera and lens act as motif for the filming company throughout the site - to frame projects, as catalysts for hidden interaction and as a directional guide. On each section homepage, the camera lens offers a view into the projects in progress and acts as a visual anchor across the three sub-sites, while background texture, type and colour are used to differentiate between the three services offered by Earthcare. A similar spatial framework and navigation system inside each section familiarizes users and eases wayfinding within the larger website.

Backgrounds offer a clue to internal content from the homepage itself. ‘Filming’, which focuses on discussion around tactile ‘earthy’ topics uses brown paper earth to display content, while ‘Fixing’ which relies on technology embraces the visual of online collaboration. ‘Outreach’ is wholly informed by the storyboards of the children who participate in the program and uses line drawings and a blackboard as a tool of communication.

The challenge throughout the design of the site was to find a way to present the vast array of visual and technical information in a simple easy to use format, accessible and interesting to producers of large networks and children alike.