Active Theory

Active
Theory v5

Technical Achievement / Nominee

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Active Theory

Technical Achievement

Nominee

Since we were our own "client" for this project, we were free to push the boundaries both creatively and technically. Our website is always a great way for us to flex and show off things that don’t always make it into client projects. - Active Theory Team

Q: Can you briefly describe your project and the concept behind it?

A: Active Theory v5 is the fifth rendition of our studio’s website. We really wanted to make this version of our site an evolution from the previous ones, and show off our current skillset and portfolio. The site design is largely a result of the personal influences of two of our cofounders. The landing experience takes users through a series of environments, all inspired by the Active Theory company as a brand. These include Venice Beach and the Amsterdam Canals (the location of our offices), as well as environments from significant projects in our company’s history. The fonts and flickering lights give the whole site an alien, other worldly feel.

Q: Talk about your initial prototypes. How did those ideas change throughout design and execution?

A: From a conceptual standpoint, the site stayed pretty much the same from inception to final product. However, we initially were only going to include three 3D environments and in the end created eight environments instead. This allowed us to have more fun with the cool transitions between scenes, and made the site feel less repetitive. With only three environments the site ran the risk of appearing to have a short ceiling--with eight, it stays fresh and interesting with each visit.

What breakthrough or “a-ha” moment did you experience when concepting or executing this project?

Transitioning the landing environment from a single scene to multiple really adds to the storytelling of the site and our brand. For our previous execution (ATv4), the main scene took users down a single dark, neon alley, showcasing our work on flashing screens on each side. Dialing this up to multiple environments in ATv5 meant we could capture this same overall ambience, but also visually communicate more company values through the differing scenes.

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Q: What influenced your chosen technical approach, and how did it go beyond past methods?

A: Since our inception in 2012, we’ve constantly been building on internal development frameworks and pipelines that ensure our projects can be produced quickly and to the highest quality possible. As ATv5 isn’t one of our client projects, we had full creative freedom to use all our latest techniques, ideas and pipelines within the framework. With each new ATvX build, we approach it with this angle, meaning the creative tech is always pushing the boundaries of what’s possible at a given point in time.

Q: What web technologies, tools, or resources did you use to develop this?

A: The site is built with WebGL using an internal JavaScript framework, Hydra.

Q: How did you balance your creative and technical capabilities with the client’s brand?

A: Since we were our own "client" for this project, we were free to push the boundaries both creatively and technically. Our website is always a great way for us to flex and show off things that don’t always make it into client projects. As a result, our site both houses our portfolio and becomes part of our portfolio itself, fully encapsulating our brand.

Q: Why is this an exciting time to create new digital experiences? How does your team fit into this?

A: By developing builds using web-based technology, we are able to roll out the final product across any device, making our work extremely accessible to all sorts of audiences around the world. Given you can load up a web link quickly on your laptop, phone or even in a VR headset in a moment, we believe that these digital experiences will continue to become more and more integrated and ubiquitous in everyday life.