Interaction design

Make the Month

United Way of Calgary and Area wanted people to understand what living in poverty demands. Make the Month takes a visitor through a month in that position, deciding how to spend a limited income while dealing with food insecurity, unstable housing, health problems and family obligations. Each choice affects their money, their relationships and their wellbeing.

We let the choices make the argument, so a visitor meets each trade-off by making it. United Way supplied the research and lived experience behind the scenarios, and the tool has been adapted for nine regions across Canada, for people exploring on their own and for facilitated group sessions in workplaces.

Animation for an animation society

Quickdraw Animation Society came to us with new in-house branding and a platform that could not show the animated work defining them. We built a site where video plays smoothly and their team still controls the day-to-day copy and imagery.

The homepage cycles through animated introductions commissioned from community animators. Link cards play a short animation on hover, and on a phone they play as the cards scroll into view. We build and adjust motion like this in the browser, since timing and easing only show their faults on a real screen.

Moving through a place

In the C+E Access Map, visitors move through a 3D model of the Culture + Entertainment District and follow Stories that CMLC writes to guide them through it. On the Transit-Oriented Communities pages, a phase tracker shows where each planned community stands, and the six-step planning process runs as a carousel whose progress bar doubles as the section divider. In both, the movement carries the information, so we design it with the same care as the words.