Chems.Studio is a artistic route and movie apply based mostly in New York Metropolis. Its work strikes between style, tradition, id and motion, all the time looking for trustworthy photos and significant tales.
I used to be invited to design and develop a brand new web site for the studio.
The problem wasn’t to showcase new work, however to organise years of various initiatives right into a single visible language. Campaigns, movies, set design, artistic route — each undertaking had its personal context, rhythm and goal. The web site wanted to convey them collectively naturally with out flattening these variations.
Quite than designing a portfolio, I needed to design an archive: a spot the place each undertaking might exist with the identical significance, the place guests are free to wander, uncover surprising connections and construct their very own studying of the work.
A Quiet Construction
Your complete web site is constructed round a easy three-column grid. Quite than strictly defining the format, the grid establishes a rhythm that carries via the expertise.
On the homepage, it turns into a full-page vertical sequence. Within the archive, it turns right into a three-column assortment of initiatives. Particular person undertaking pages rework the identical construction right into a horizontal narrative, permitting photos and movies to unfold naturally throughout the display.
The system by no means actually modifications; solely its tempo does.
That consistency creates a way of familiarity, whereas the other ways by which the grid is used permit every part to retain its personal character.
Navigation as Motion
I needed navigation to really feel much less like transferring from one web page to a different and extra like transferring via a bodily area.
The homepage and data pages share the identical stage, whereas the archive sits barely apart, nearly like one other room. Getting into it turns into a small shift in perspective slightly than merely one other click on.
Swup.js permits these transitions to occur nearly invisibly, creating a way of continuity slightly than interruption. The web site can change context with out making the consumer really feel as if they’ve left one expertise and entered one other.
Constructing an Archive
Archives often develop over time, and this one was designed with that in thoughts.
The visible system is deliberately restrained, permitting new initiatives to naturally discover their place with out requiring the id of the web site to vary with them. The interface acts extra as a framework than a composition: it gives sufficient construction to attach every little thing, whereas leaving sufficient freedom for every undertaking to retain its personal voice.
This grew to become an vital distinction all through the method. The web site shouldn’t compete with the work or continually redefine itself round no matter was most just lately added. It wanted to have the ability to soak up change whereas remaining recognisable.
Picture First
Little or no textual content seems all through the web site. The intention was easy: let the photographs create the rhythm.
Pictures, movie and nonetheless frames develop into the first language, whereas textual content solely seems when it’s wanted to supply orientation or context.
In that sense, silence grew to become an vital design device. By eradicating pointless data, the interface leaves more room for the work itself and for the customer to resolve the place to look subsequent.
Movement
Motion exists all through the web site, but it surely not often asks for consideration.
Web page transitions stay fluid, photos seem with out urgency, and small scramble-text animations quietly accompany navigation and interface components. Collectively, these particulars introduce a delicate sense of motion whereas reinforcing the archival character of the undertaking — as if data have been continually being reorganised and rediscovered.
Nothing loops merely for adornment.
Each animation has a job, whether or not it’s supporting navigation, establishing rhythm or serving to the work unfold.
Typography
A monospaced typeface runs via all the interface, bringing a technical high quality that recollects catalogues, manufacturing notes and archival references.
It creates an intentional distinction with the expressive nature of the visible work, whereas giving the web site a peaceful and constant voice. The typography doesn’t attempt to compete with the imagery; as a substitute, it quietly holds the system collectively.
The web site was developed utilizing a light-weight stack targeted on efficiency and continuity.
Tech Stack
The web site was developed utilizing a light-weight stack targeted on efficiency and continuity.
- Webflow
- Swup.js
- Vimeo API
- Customized Vimeo Participant
Webflow permits the archive to develop over time with full enhancing freedom. Swup.js retains navigation steady, whereas the Vimeo API and a customized participant be certain that each movie feels totally built-in into the expertise slightly than handled as an exterior piece of content material.
Designing for Time
One thought stayed with me all through the undertaking: artistic work is all the time altering. New campaigns change outdated ones, references evolve, and the visible language of a apply naturally shifts over time. The web site, nevertheless, shouldn’t want to vary with each new undertaking.
Quite than following visible traits, I needed to construct one thing quiet sufficient to age nicely — a construction that would welcome new work for years whereas remaining coherent with what got here earlier than. The purpose was to create a system that would adapt to the altering nature of the studio with out continually redefining itself.
For me, that’s what an archive ought to do. It shouldn’t merely protect the previous; it ought to create sufficient area for what comes subsequent.
