Monacor Int. Animated Banner
Disco-tastic animated banners covering a full spectrum of products.
The client
A leader in the distribution of pro-audio technology with a product range of over 5,000 items, some serious design know-how was required and after an initial meeting with the MD of Monacor UK, it was only natural that Hatch became their agency of choice. This is where the story begins…
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A behemoth products range
With a product portfolio big enough to rival Argos and a catalogue the size of a telephone directory that boasts over 500 new products per year we certainly had our work cut out, and product cut-outs was eventually going to be the order of the day in this animated sequence.
Sitting down with the client helped to identify and group the products into the following five distinguishable sectors:
• Stage & DJ technology
• Public Address Systems
• Speaker Technology
• Cables & Connectors
With the sectors identified we chose five or six products from each that would best relay thier diversity.
In the Spotlight
Our primary objective was to promote the new Monacor printed product catalogue here in the UK, whilst reinforcing the companies positioning across europe as a monolithic supplier of solutions to the sound and lighting markets.
Let the show begin
A dazzling display
The background of the whole sequence shows an empty dancefloor, luminous with projected, multi coloured light patterns and disco lasers shining in from the top right of the banner. Highlighting an IMG Stage Line* wallpaper, the coloured lights and projections blend from purples through every colour of the rainbow, presenting a very cool and product-relevant basis upon which to set the sequence of frames.
With each new catagory-specific headline that seamlessly slides in from the right, comes its range of products, smoothly appearing moments later, either sliding into view, emerging from the nightclub background or in the case of the disco ball, rolling in, pausing in situ with it’s product range and then rolling off screen. Simultaneously, at the bottom of the banner, the range title slides in, pauses and pulses as if to a silent beat and then continues on it’s way off screen. There are five sub-categories of products in the animation, together with a slide presenting the brochure which boasts the headline ‘500 new products added each year’ and at the bottom of this banner an opportunity to ‘click here to order your FREE catalogue’.
Electrifying Flash
Clear & simple copy
The copy for this banner was just as much a part of the design as the imagery included in the animation, with important information contained within the header, emphasis was placed on key wording such as; 500 New Products, Excellence, Powerhouse and Specialists, yet kept simple so as not to distract and clutter the design.
On reflection, a glittering campaign
To add a little ‘disco’ to your online advertising, contact one of our design divas – 020 8297 1200
Arctic E461 Animated Banners
Sparkling animated banner with a fresh & funky vibe for Swiss heavyweight Arctic.
Cool Customer
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A Brief exposure
Having experienced the jaw dropping banners Hatch had already created for Adam Hall, GrooveGear, Faital Pro & Monacor, our friends at Arctic wanted us to raise the temperature of consumer awareness across Europe focusing on their E461 premium earphones. Having already booked the adjoined ‘L’ shaped banner position on Audio Pro’s site, Arctic commissioned Hatch to create a short animated sequence that highlighted their product’s rich dynamics, whilst offering a cool ‘must-have’ feel to a mobile device-using target market.
Scripting the snow story boarding
Sub zero concept sets the stage
A blizzard of animation
Ground Frost – Starting from the ground up we wanted to bring the wintery backdrop to life, but how to animate static snow?… the answer was in tiny twinkling sparkles that randomly appear throughout the sequence. Subtle and so simple you may not notice the glistening gems on a conscious level unless pointed out, but here at Hatch we concentrate on the minutest of details in order to magnify the overall experience.
Logo Reveal – We wanted to incorporate an interesting way of presenting the parent company logo with the use of rich media. As the Arctic logo and tagline were to appear in the lower half of the vertical banner as a sign-off, we needed to seamlessly melt the logo reveal sequence into the existing snowy background. This was achieved by cleverly incorporating the horizontal wave found in the logo. The shape is the first element to enter the stage thus sectioning off the area for the movie. Working from an Adobe Aftereffects template we see a gloved hand enter stage right and brush away the fluffy, white top-snow to reveal the frozen surface. Below the ice, an unidentifiable object ripples into clarity to give the second sequence reveal, that being the Arctic logo and the ‘Spirit of innovation’ tagline. This movie sequence has been strategically stitched into the banner.
Copy writing melts in & out
Just as much focus went into the written message, with our in house copywriters giving a distinctly wintery vibe to the snappy copy which thaws in and out of our animation.
Skating on thin ice
This is further complicated by the fact that when a web page loads it will load all of the elements in an order, which meant if our looping top banner loaded before its adjoining sister banner and started to automatically run, the animation would be out of sync. In order to zip things up this was overcome with a special piece of coding courtesey of Hatch’s egg-head programming team, who coolly built instructions into the first banner, not to autorun before the other banner had loaded.
Fresh outta the fridge
With much tweeking and testing, along with an equally impressive yet simplified animated banner gif version that would substitute for devices such as an ipad unable to view flash content, the banner ran live on the Audio Pro International website and received much deserved recognition, below the final animation in all of its glistening glory. Contact one of our alchemists to add some sparkle to your online presence.
