Ardent Interactive: Portfolio

Systime Website Concept Design

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +1300

Systime Computer Company is part of a group of three companies that were formed on the basis of systems saving time. Systime caters to this requirement for efficiency by providing proven computer systems with dedicated support to the New Zealand motor industry. We have the ability to supply a computer system for the smallest workshop through to the largest multinational franchise dealership. Our 20 years experience in developing, installing and supporting computer systems in the New Zealand market, make us the ‘One Stop Shop’ for the New Zealand motor industry.

Alexander Balanoff designed a stunning visual designs that reflects the new website for Systime, using a brochure style website concept technique.

Living Foods Website Design Concept

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Living Foods a licenced grower for genuine broccoli sprouts with a guaranteed level of SGS in Auckland, New Zealand.

SGS (sulforaphane glucosinolate) - supports the activity of the body's phase II Cleansing enzymes that help neutralise harmful chemicals as well as free radicals before they can damage DNA. This indirect antioxidant triggers an ongoing process that continues its beneficial effects for days - much longer than direct antioxidants such as vitamins C & E.

Alexander created a website concept design which is fresh, engaging, and user-friendly, whilst maintaining a good minimalistic approach to layout and colours. The purple tints of the logo are used throughout the website concept showing interactivity.

The choice of images is loosely based on the fact that green is the complimentary colour of purple, so the focal point being the purple logo and interactive elements, supplemented by the green colour scheme of the photos and images of the products, against a while background creating a visually engaging user-experience.

Product Finishers Website Design Concept

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +1300

Product Finishers Ltd is a New Zealand based company, in the timber finishing business for over 30 years, they are specialists in all timber coatings such as kitchens, partitions, flush and louvre doors and shutters. They also we specialise in applications of polyurethane, Lacquer, oil based and water based enamels and acid catalysed finishes.

Alexander Balanoff designed a website concept to reflect a visually engaging brochure website, with a simple user interface and flow of navigation. The website design is based on web 2.0 look & feel whilst still appealing and aimed at a broad target audience, keeping in mind that most of the potential users might not be internet savy.

Output Images Website Design Concept

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +1300

Output Images Ltd is an Auckland based company specializing in screen-printing, their differentiator is that they do not have a limit on the amount of printing that they will do.

I have not really seen a really ridiculously visually apealling printing company website in New Zealand (or perhaps I didn't look hard enough). I took it onto myself to design an extremely colourful and visually engaging website design for Output Images and really push the boundaries of my design skills. It really is all to do with colours and colour matching, the navigation design is all pretty much based around a simple, user-friendly interface.

Basing the colour scheme on the colours of the Output Images logo, Alexander images which had a similar 'bright-colour' approach, whilst keeping the background to a dull grey, which would effectively really make the bright-colours stand out. The elements used in the background are to suggest an obvious printing-theme/ printing company.

The end result was a very visually stimulating website design!

Cigaroo Web Design and Web Development

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +1200

Cigaroo is a new venture selling the popular electronic cigarettes in South Africa. The Electronic Cigarette looks, feels and tastes exactly like a cigarette. However, the reduced health risk, freedom to smoke anywhere, no second hand smoke and lower cost makes it better than a cigarette. The non-flammable Electronic Cigarette is driven by modern microelectronic technology, a small rechargeable battery and a unique, safe replaceable cartridge containing water, propylene glycol, nicotine, a scent that emulates a tobacco flavor and a membrane to suspend the ingredients.

When using the Electronic Cigarette, the act of inhaling or smoking it produces the tactile and craving satisfactions traditional smokers seek, and triggers a vaporizing process that releases a simulated smoke that is actually a vapor mist that harmlessly evaporates into the air within a few seconds.

Ardent was engaged in the design of the corporate brand, the logo, an appealing colour scheme, the website design, the website development, as well as the CMS integration.

We also designed some general/ handout business cards, and an email flyer.

HaveYourSay Concept Design, Web Design, and Web Development

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +1200

HaveYourSay is a New Zealand based start-up business, accommodating to the voice of the nation. We are all exposed to thousands of marketing messages, current affairs and media commentary everyday. We are told what the big corporations, government and media want us to hear. We are constantly offered products and services by companies telling us how good they are. But do we really know the truth? This is your chance to be heard New Zealand. HaveYourSay.co.nz gives you a voice to tell the nation what you think about literally anything. Now you can share your experiences and give us your perspective on a wide and varied range of issues. We want to hear what Kiwi’s really think.

HaveYourSay was built from the ground up, wireframes, logo design, concept design, HTML Email newsletter, ... basically everything.

The web site sports a custom Content Management System designed for the usability of the admins which manages all aspects of the website. The front-end of the website is designed for the website user to input a discussion, a compliment, a complaint, or vote and comment on a admin-generated poll. This website is all about getting the little person in front of the bigger companies, so that they may voice their matter.

There are quite alot of companies who don't do their jobs properly and a mass of consumers suffer because of it, which unfortunately goes unheard. This is a website that consumers can vent ... about whatever!

Abes - Real Bagels

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +1200

Abes is a New Zealand owner and operated business, making genuine American-style steam-baked bagels, made with just the good stuff - no artificial flavours, colours, preservatives or GM products. So they're good for you. And now the wickedest, crunchiest bagel crisps, with hardly any fat. Ahhh. And new ABE’S Bagel Bites, for your lunch-box, glove-box, handbag or top drawer. Healthy eating should always be this good.

Ardent was involved in the clean up of HTML code, addition and modification of flash and HTML elements, and short-term management of both the Abes NZ and Abes AU websites.

We were also involved in the creation of an interactive as well as animated Javascript-validated survey, linking to a back end database, registering users who would like to receive Free Bagel Crisps. The survey captured their personal information and stored it in the database.

Gymboo Conceptual Web Design

Thu, 15 May 2003 00:00:00 +1200

Gymboo is a web-based interactive system that helps you stay in tune with your exercise or fitness program. Gymboo had already designed it's logo and established an idea of what sort of colour schemes were best suited to the brand.

Gymboo contracted Ardent Interactive, a leader in web design from Auckland, New Zealand to design an attractive and intuitive look and feel, that captures the essence of Gymboo and its functionality.

The focal colours of Gymboo as shown in the above concept are complimentary to the Gymboo logo and the background colours are only supplementary to the logo. While designing the Gymboo concepts, we kept in mind an intuitive and interactive front-page. The Gymboo logo on the top left, balanced out with the navigation items on the right hand side, below the navigation is the interactive/ animated flash banner promoting and clarifying what the business is all about.

Below the flash banner, we have three main feature links portrayed by images and supplementary text, which help users click-through to featured pages of the website. This is followed by a paragraph of text and sponsor/ affiliate logos.

Please have a look at the following concepts all based around this same model, applying different colour schemes.

Pokerstars Video Commercial

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:11:45 +1300

PokerStars is most likely the most popular online poker gaming platform, used widely by people throughout the world. After having a look at various poker video commercials we started filming bits and pieces of chip tricks & techniques, poker cards being laid out on the table, eye movements, etc. Then all compiled into one sequence using Final Cut Pro, and added a custom-soundtrack using SoundTrack Pro. The whole process took around 4-5 hours in one day, mostly focusing on using depth of field whilst filming, camera movement effects, etc. Hope you enjoy!

Fisher and Paykel Interactive Flash Banner Development

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:00:00 +1200

The interactive department of TVNZ engaged Alexander from Ardent Interactive to work alongside the TVNZ Interactive Designer, Raakhee and produce a high-level of interactivity for the latest Fisher & Paykel interactive Flash banner.

We started off with a few conceptual storyboards and an idea of how the users would interact with the banner.

The basic idea of the interactive flash banner is that the user clicks on the basketball which sits at the bottom of the banner and it flies up to 'dunk' into the washing machine which moves from side to side.

The user will have three tries to get the ball in the washing machine. So if the user wins, then the click here screen will show which takes you through to the F&P latest promotions. If the user fails to get the basketball in the washing machine then the screen will show regardless. We also designed the whole flash banner into a seamless loop, so that it plays over and over again.

We wrote the whole interactive flash banner using web-industry standards Flash Actionscript 3.0.

Adrienne Winkelmann Interactive Flash Website

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 23:50:36 +1200

A legend in Auckland style circles, Adrienne Winkelmann is the closest thing Auckland has to a couturier a fine designer of wonderful day and evening wear with prices to match! Adrienne engaged Ardent Interactive to design and develop an interactive flash website whilst also sporting really intuitive but appealing navigation to simply display her past and current fashion portfolio.

Adrienne's suits are as legendary as her reputation, recently translated into evening wear as diamante-encrusted, tuxedo-style jackets and pants. Her designs can be bought off the rack or made-to-measure, fitted expertly to your shape and style. All of her staff are highly trained in fitting and advising clients of current trends and developments in fashion.

For the last 27 years Adrienne Winkelmann has been dressing New Zealand's top women. She is renowned for her classic tailoring and clever use of colour. From exquisite evening-wear to her timeless business suits Adrienne's distinctive style transcends the generations.

Whilst going through the current website we found that Adrienne's website was not optimised to the best of it's potential for Search-Engines, as the home page was mainly images.

We designed and presented a concept in which we captured an intuitive way to display the fashion photos that Adrienne wanted to show the public. We basically built the website in Adobe Flash, using web validated and industry standard Actionscript 3.0. All of the images and text are externally loaded which means that Adrienne or one of her staff (who is a non-web developer or non-technical) easily update the website, even though it is built using Flash.

Clooney Interactive HTML Email Campaign

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:13:49 +1200

Clooney, one of the top rated restaurants in Auckland, New Zealand, has been founded on the ambition of offering diners an unrivalled, all encompassing, dining experience. Clooney embraces the European tradition of constantly changing menus, which reflect the use of seasonal produce, both familiar and rare. Clooney engaged Ardent Interactive to design, develop, and manage part of their online marketing strategy through interactive HTML emails.

Alexander (creative & technical director at Ardent) had received an email after signing up to the Clooney email newsletter. After having a look at the Clooney website we thought the Clooney's Email strategy had was quite plain compared to the website, as well as the dining experience, and could be greatly improved within a reasonable budget.

We expressed our interest in helping Clooney brand its interactive HTML email, as well as be able to intuitively add content which includes headings, body copy, links, and images. The Ardent Email Marketing solution allows the user, even if they are a non-web developer to be able to easily add/ modify/ remove content, manage their subscribers (even if they are within different mailing lists), as well as ultimately track which subscriber has opened, clicked, or forwarded the email on what particular date.

Tony Stewart (Clooney owner) got in touch with us a few weeks later in regards to our offer, and approved our suggestions. We then setup the Clooney account, designed a template which reflected the Clooney brand, and provided a bit of support and training so that Tony could use the system to create monthly email campaigns which would keep him in touch with his clientele.

The analytical tracking system is quite sophisticated and provides immediate results from the moment the interactive HTML email has been sent.

Transfield Services Recruitment Website Design and SilverStripe CMS Integration

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:22:06 +1200

TMP Recruitment Services in Auckland, New Zealand contracted Ardent Interactive as the creative designer and the technical developer of the new Transfield Services website for recruiting in the Pulp & Paper Maintenance Careers project that launched early 2009. We worked together with TMP from concept to finish to design and develop a fully-functional, very intuitive, and visually appealing website.

The process was quite straight forward in the sense that we were given a brief, a cup of coffee, and a deadline.

This was a new venture that TSNZ was launching, and TMP felt that we needed to create quite a visually intriguing website, which we felt the main target audience would be engineers. We both felt making the right connection between the user, the venture, and the kind of lifestyle this particular job offers was essential to this website as it would set the mood and create expression of interest.

Ardent went on to design one concept, following certain guidelines from the main TSNZ website, and the TSNZ brand, which after a few iterations was pretty much a finished concept (see below).

We moved on to making a choice for an intuitive CMS (Content Management System) solution which could be used to easily manage the content on the website by a non-web developer or non-technical person. Conclusively we thought Silverstripe was a good choice and made a start on the development process.

Once the website concept was coded and integrated into Silverstripe we then coded an XML Flash presentation which included images, text, and links, all of which were externally loaded through the XML file. This flash object was placed on the homepage in order to entice, we felt that if the user clicked past the home page into the inner pages that would've meant they were interested in reading further, so we replaced the Flash slideshow with a static image, so that it would not distract the user whilst reading.

We ended up with a well executed website with heaps of visual appeal, expressed interest and an intuitive CMS (Content Management System) solution for the client to be able to make further text and image changes as they need to.

EIF Website Design and Silverstripe CMS Integration

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:31:55 +1200

EIF is an independently New Zealand owned company based in Auckland, New Zealand. EIF is passionate about their commitment to providing a range of international transportation solutions, at a cost effective price with friendly, courteous, prompt and efficient service at all times from all staff members. Ardent Interactive won the web design tender and proceeded to re-design the current website, which was out-dated and under-selling the company brand and ethics.

A major part of the website re-design process was to re-develop the code for searchability reasons, as well as the obvious improvement of the visual appeal.

Ardent initially created static concept web designs, which were presented to EIF directors - after a series of iterations, a final web-concept design was approved.

At Ardent we hear the word Silverstripe a fair bit and so we decided to use the SilverStripe CMS solution, which has a really intuitive interface for content management. We integrated our templated CSS & HTML into the SS CMS and then added a customised 'Request a Quote' form which notifies EIF staff via an automated email, which they then can reply to.

Web Design and Development of Media 5 Web Site

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:36:20 +1200

M5 is a billboard company with an extensive portfolio of quality locations throughout Wellington. The company is independently owned and operated by a team of media professionals with years of experience in the industry. Ardent was commissioned to design and develop their website which would apart from the obvious web brochure also contain a database display of physical billboard site locations.

Ardent was provided with a specification document by the directors of the billboard company. They then brainstormed and conceptualized a layout which suited an intuitive 'look & feel' and came up with a few various colour options.

These concepts consisted of a clean, simple, easy-to-navigate layout. Please click on the following links to view our concepts, concept 2, and concept 3.

We created a MySQL database to hold all of the billboard locations and photos, and then created a custom admin area which contains all of the billboard location records. This allows the administrator to add/ remove/ modify any of the records.

Our final concept design revolved around a strong, bold colour, which was supplemented by a white background. This helped all of the colours stand out further. We also added some eye-candy such as a flash slideshow which controls images through an XML document.

It was a pleasure to have worked with the guys from Media 5, apart from maintaining their brand direction, they were also very open to new ideas.

Real Estate Portal Website Design CSS HTML

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:47:10 +1200

A Russian company based in the UK commissioned Ardent Interactive to create the front-end design and development of their real estate search portal website. We at Ardent worked under a tight deadline and delivered a unique website concept design utilizing the colours of the Russian flag.

We had a pressured project commencement as we were competing with another design company that proceeded to present a concept design along with their cost estimate. Initially there were 5x companies in a tender, 3 of which were eliminated for different reasons. Once we understood that the design company we were competing against were taking their time to provide the client with a rough concept design (that was not actually paid for) we stepped up our game and delivered the same. Naturally our design was the favorite and the project was commissioned to us.

We made a few rounds of changes and refinements, including colour and layout, and had the main-page template approved by the client, ready for CSS & XHTML templating. As we began the CSS templating, we went on to working a secondary page design, which would act as a search-results display page, with numerous filtering options, as well as some SPRY animations.

Ardent had successfully templated and delivered the rest of the project to the client, who then passed the project onto their back-end developer for integration. Another job well done, and another client on-board!

Content Management System GUI Concept Design

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:06:00 +1200

A web development company in America engaged Ardent to re-design a GUI (Graphical User Interface) for their in-house custom-written CMS (Content Managament System) solution. At Ardent we visualized an intuitive manner in which to display the usability, this required we have constant communication with the client in order to understand the functionality of the CMS application.

Ardent aimed at providing an user-friendly and intuitive design, as this is a Content Management System that will be used by designers, developers, web-site owners, content writers, and others across the board, we really researched into GUI and Friendly Usability design.

Cards4Kids Web Design & Development, SEO, & Flash

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:11:15 +1200

Cards4Kids is a Kiwi owned start-up business which is aimed at providing a service to parents for the personalisation of their kid's birthday card invitations. Ardent, working closely with the Cards4Kids, created a playful website design which suited the brand.

The design process consisted of initial 'look and feel' designs with client approval. After 'look and feel' design approval, Ardent used web standards compliant, cross-browser compatible, SEO-semantic, CSS & HTML for the templating of the website design.

The Cards4Kids website also required a custom Content Management System (CMS) solution which would easily allow the Administrator to upload new templates, or FAQs. Within the rest of the requirements at Ardent we integrated a payment gateway system that allows users to purchase the service using their Credit-Card using an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) Certificate.

The administrative area also required a tracking system for pending orders as well as completed orders. The whole system links in to a MySQL database. We felt the whole website was challenging and interesting to design.

Web Design and Development of New Rakinos Web Site

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:14:34 +1200

Ardent re-designed the website of Rakinos, a classy and elegant bar and restaurant on High Street. Its online facade now contains the same flare and vibrancy that you may find at Rakinos, also making available downloadable menus, a gig guide, a photo gallery, and a simple and easy to use CMS for the Rakinos staff to update and manage their content.

Rakinos' previous web site design contained a lot of what the atmosphere and mood was all about.

Ardent added a bit more romance and flare to the look & feel, after adding softer, more elegant colours, gradients, and blurs.

Our process consisted of doing a concept design, which we hit spot on from the first go, and then cutting-up the Photoshop concept into a web-standards compliant, cross-browser compatible, SEO-semantic CSS & XHTML web template.

Then having met all the necessary requirements for the web templating, we integrated a Content Management System (CMS) solution, so that the client can easily add, remove, and modify any of the web pages content.

We separately developed a few custom-modules which we're not provided by the CMS. Ardent developed an AJAX carousel gallery which is easily managed through an administrative area, with a cool photo-enlargement based on the Lightbox plug-in.

Ardent also separately developed a custom-module for the news items, based on a WordPress news module.

Maia Host Web Site Interface and Layout Design

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:21:15 +1200

Maiahost, a large and popular web hosting company in USA engaged Ardent to design an unique and visually attractive look and feel, web interface design for their web presence. The web design was based around their current Information Architecture which Ardent displayed in a really intuitive manner.

Maiahost, a hosting company based in USA has over the past 4 years has shown massive growth and because of this required a refresh on their web design presence. It is important for online businesses to acknowledge that the facade of their business is based on the first impression from the web design presence. The web site of any businesses that rely on making online sales should have a visually appealing web design, with an intuitive and legible user interface.

Ardent analysed and evaluated the best suited content layouts whilst working closely with Maiahost, the client, and created a web design that was fresh, unqiue, and intuitive.

The conceptual stage involved trying out a few different colour variations. We felt creating a dark and light version would give us a good base for comparison on the most well suited colour-scheme.

The visual appeal of any web site design really depends on the use of colours and graphics.

We designed a make-over which incorporated a similar colour-scheme to the original design but changed the theme/ focal colour to green as we felt this would contract the dark background. Ardent's design kept consistent with the use of colour for links, headings, and body copy.

Overall we felt we had achieved a web design which is visually appealing, with an intuive interface, and legible content.

Web Site Design, Web Development of Flash Web Site

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:28:53 +1200

JaxonMarc engaged Ardent to apply content to a flash website template bought online. Ardent talked through the specifics of flash design and flash development with Jax and ended up creating a 'look & feel' concept web-design from scratch. At Ardent we will suggest the most suited option for your project or web site.

We were initially contracted by JaxonMarc to add content to a flash template, but ended up creating a brand design for web that was unique, held flare and its 'look & feel' was well-suited to the vibe of the artist.

After refining the online brand facade, and having gone through around five short-listed concept designs, (click to view) logo concept #1, logo concept #2, logo concept #3, logo concept #4, we ended up with the final logo concept #5.

We worked closely with the client, and went on to creating a 'look & feel' concept web design for the web site without limiting any of the web design since we were developing in Adobe Flash.

We took the concept designs for the 'look & feel' and developed them as they were designed. We developed custom-modules for all major flash assets, so that the content is easily editable.

The flash photo gallery is really dynamic in the sense that the client only needs to upload the files for them to show up on the web site. This way the client, us, and/ or any future developers will never need to edit the original Flash files in order to add or modify any of the content including text and images.

We based the image viewing on the Lightbox plug-in, only we wrote a custom version in Flash, click here to view.

All elements are externally loaded images and graphics. Some of the text is loaded from an HTML file and some of it from an XML file. We have also provided training to the client on adding/ editing/ and removing content.

We developed a custom MP3 and video player with audio and video playlists which loaded MP3s and FLVs externally through the use of XML.

We also applied the Ardent Email Marketing Management Solution, which allows Jax to easily keep track and keep in touch with his fans. This system is really intuitive in the sense that it has automated subscriber management, automated reports, intuitive fill-in-the-content yourself, visually appealing email which is the facade of your brand.

Ardent also wrote a custom-module through PHP which acts as a booking-form for any Gigs for Jaxon Marc.

Ardent again delivered a very technically dynamic and flexible web site design and web development through the use of Adobe Flash that was with flare and appeal.

Web Application User Interface Design

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:44:28 +1200

This web application user-interface design was created to suit an online CRM (Client Relationship Management) software solution. Similarly to any user-interface design the brief was to create a visually appealing and intuitive design that is easy to look at over time, whilst still maintaining an attrictive interface design.

We followed a layout which was pre-determined by the progress on the development of the web application, so we worked within the guidelines that we were provided by the client, and designed around a neutral colour scheme reserving warning/ success colours for functionality. (click above image design to see large)

The informative content that we worked with we decided to keep on a white backing for easier legibility, and contrasted to the informative content. We thought best to design a darker navigational menu for keeping the navigational element to the informative content separate. We kept consistent with the use of the hyperlink colours, as well as separating the headings visually using a contrasting colour to the links.

We felt we achieved an attractive and unqiue user-interface design within the timeframe and constraints we were given.

Psionic-Studios Web Design of Look & Feel

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:48:58 +1200

Ardent designed a mint-fresh look & feel for the Psionic Studios web site. They were looking for a refreshing web design that reflected upon their current brand, whilst also still maintaining the content structure.

The look and feel of the initial concept (above) was based more around a Web 2.0 'look & feel' that would've been developed using AJAX. The concept web design had definitive elements and subtle disadvantages. We felt the need to further refine the web design's focal points - as the white text was very obtrusive, it also confuses the main focal point, the overlapping element which was to be the RSS newsfeed added a visual focal point as well.

The clients also identified that they would like to have a lot more information on the landing page, which concluded with a 2nd concept design that accommodated for a better navigational system allowing the user to have access to a lot more information and click-through links on the very first page (see concept below).

We felt the 2nd concept felt more complete than the first and also containing more flare and variety.

Psionic were very happy to have re-freshed the facade of their business as well!

PAA Web Design and CSS Templating

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 02:02:50 +1200

The PAA web site design was in need of a breath of fresh air. Its look & feel was dull, monotonous, and fatigued. PAA engaged Ardent to analyze and re-design the look & feel, evaluating the current web design functionality, usability, and demographic of the web site.

We came up with a few different concept which we presented to the PAA Board of Directors, and then worked to refine the concept to a point where both Ardent and PAA were happy with the final look & feel.

The first concept demonstrates a big step forward with the look & feel, whilst still keeping a conservative and well reserved contained content.

The PAA Board of Directors were really fond of the blue skies and visual images of people. The general design process was executed beautifully, Ardent definitely took the PAA website through a journey, and came up with a new, and vibrantly fresh look & feel.

R Records Web Design & Web Development with CMS

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:10:46 +1200

R Records philosophy as an independent label in New Zealand is to provide a nurturing environment for talented artists who wish to create records with maximum freedom and support. They had an existing CMS website but the user-interface was unintuitive and its functionality did not serve as required.

It offered only limited content-management facility and zero SEO capability. This interface did not, in Ardent’s opinion, reflect a young and vibrant independent record label.

So Ardent met with R Records and brainstormed their needs, especially in regard to the functionality that they required. This gave us a detailed understanding of what the label would need from their site and enabled us to develop our proposal.

After some consultation our proposal was approved and we set to work designing concepts for the look & feel. We always involve the client in the design process to ensure that they are totally happy with the final look and feel of their new site and this was no exception.

The R Records Concept Designs Process

We had two goals for RRecords. Fist we wanted to improve the visual appearance over the existing site. Second the user interface needed to be streamlined to make it easy to use. This meant re-writing and reducing the amount of text on screen and providing better access to key areas.

We prepared two concepts. The first had two additional colour themes – one light and one dark. The main navigation had a double level structure using tabs to high level links and text for secondary ones. The header image incorporated a brief introduction to RRecords on the left and a Featured Band area on the right, which could showcase a selected band each week.

The rest of the layout was divided into two columns. The largest was centred and took up two thirds of the page showing listed bands and news, while other links (New Artists, Submit a Demo) occupied the rest of the page in a banner-like format.

The next step we took was to template the concept. Using web-standards compliant cross-browser compatible CSS & XHTML, we translated the concept to web. We then applied our own premium CMS product, with Automated Search Engine Optimization, to the R Records CSS & XHTML template.

The CMS solution features a custom hand-written online store with artists & bands filed by genre. We also added an extra feature in the form of a flexible MP3 player, created with Adobe Flash and coded with Actionscript 2.0.

The end result was a highly-intuitive user-interface coupled with a flexible CMS solution. The site allows a non-technical administrator the ability to add, modify and remove all of the content on the website. So any member of the R records team can now edit or erase headings, body copy and images if and when the need arises.

Most importantly of all we have a very happy client.

Electronic Greeting Card Designer Web Application

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:27:37 +1200

Ardent Interactive have developed our very own seasonal e-card designer. This is free to use and openly available to the public.

This application was designed and developed using Adobe Flash, Actionscript 2.0, PHP and a MySQL database. It enables people to design their own e-cards for Christmas, New Year, or any other occasion.

Screenshot of the Electronic Greeting Card Design Application in Action

There is a library of images which the sender can choose to use for the front and the back of the electronic card. - (click below to enlarge the screen-shot)

Alternatively there is the facility for people to upload their own pictures and illustrations if they prefer. There is also a feature which allows the user to type in their own personalised heading and message text, complete with custom colour selection.

The electronic greeting card once designed can be sent automatically via email to the recipient on Christmas Day, New Years Day, or send one now. It also sends out an email notification to the sender and recipient to say that the e-card has been sent.

Yamaha Grizzly Viral Campaign

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:33:20 +1200

Barnes Advertsing supplied Ardent with the static creative concepts, and required us to develop a landing page with the use of validated, web standards complaint, cross-browser compatible CSS & XHTML, including SEO friendly tags.

The landing page was to show off the new Yamaha Grizzly product for sale by automatically playing a Flash Video advert compressed by Ardent.

This was all part of an integrated multi-media campaign running across New Zealand, which included a witty award-winning TV commercial.

Natcoll Interactive Flash Game Course and Actionscript Tutorial Assets

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:58:20 +1200

Natcoll Design Technology is a leading New Zealand specialist provider of NZQA-approved creative digital design technology courses. In the beginning of 2008, Natcoll introduced a new course; the Diploma of Interactive Design. Ardent's role was to structure the Interactive Flash Game module, and to create a few functional but basic Flash Actionscript 3.0 exercises that the students are able to learn from and further expand in order to create an interactive flash game.

Headspace Auction Web Design and Development

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:07:18 +1200

The Advertising and Illustrative Photographers Association (AIPA) were presenting Headspace 07, a week long exhibition of personal, non-commissioned works by AIPA members. The exhibition would display personal work from over 50 photographers, representing their own direction, thinking and creativity.

Ardent was required to design and develop the Headspace online auction site where users would register for free, then bid on their favourite artworks during exhibition week. At the end of that week the highest bidder would win the artwork. The system Ardent developed was extremely flexible and extensive.

The website functionality sported basic-intermediate auction functionality, with register now, reserve-price bidding, highest-bidder wins, and email notifications on being outbid, leading the auction, and newly registered users.

The look & feel of the website design was used consistently from printed advertsing materials and translated to suit web. The subtle background colours brought out all of the photographs displayed on the page. We aimed at creating a clean and crisp look & feel.

Ardent used standards compliant and validated CSS & XHTML for the look & feel templating, we also tested the web site for cross-browser compatability, making sure the web site design looks the same across all internet browsers. We created and stored user details, photographer artworks, and registrant bids in a MySQL database. We developed the back-end functionality of the auction using PHP.

We also developed a custom-written (CMS) Content Management System that would allow non-technical users to submit their artworks, with a title, description, and reserve price.

Ardent delivered promptly and also attended the exhibition which was a huge success, having sold over 50 artworks.

Interactive Slide Puzzle Flash Game

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:13:55 +1200

Grownups is a free-to-use online community for those over 50. The site helps members find and share information with other grownups across New Zealand. Part of their offering is a range of games to stimulate the mind and even challenge other grownups in open competition.

Ardent developed this slide puzzle game in Flash Actionscript 2.0. The grownups of the online community wanted the game to have a similar look and feel to their jigsaw game, as well as some common functionality. We designed their solution using a range of externally loaded assets for flexible customisation.

A recent addition to the flash game is a high-scoreboard functionality. An in-game stopwatch will track the amount of time that a player has played and finished the puzzle. The player's username and recorded time are stored in a MySQL database through Flash and PHP communication.

If the player's recorded time is in the top 10 it will be displayed in the visual scoreboard interface of the game. This functionality really contributed to the user-experience of the flash game, Grownups has only received positive praise on the topic.

Andrew Bowker Web Design and Development

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:20:57 +1200

Andrew Bowker is a renowned laparoscopic surgeon based in Auckland. He enjoys a high profile in his field so required a website that showed up quickly in search engines.

His original site had been constructed in such a way that it was invisible to search engines, like Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc. This was clearly impractical for his business needs.

Ardent took on the project and with a energetic approach and not only designed a fresh, vibrant, web standards compliant re-design, but we also positioned his website on the forefront of the laparoscopic market through focussing around search engine optimisation.

Andrew also takes pride in the variety of artwork on display at his clinic so we made this an integral part of the new design, featuring pieces from his collection throughout the site.

Interactive Flash Banner Advert

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:34:19 +1200

The new Audi S5 Coupe was launched to the public Aug/ Sept 2007. Audi required an online marketing campaign to follow this launch and engaged BlackwoodKing Advertising to find and manage the best suited media space online. BlackwoodKing Advertising then engaged Ardent to help develop the interactivity and flash assets of the campaign

The requirement of the campaign was to be able to drag the scrubber as shown in the image above, and the image of the new Audi S5 Coupe would scroll across relative to the scrubber. The wording is faded out and upon dragging the playhead , the wording's visiblity would progress to fade-in.

BlackwoodKing supplied Ardent with a brief, and a few creative stills. We then started development of the required interactivity using Flash Actionscript 2.0, afterwhich we spent a bit of time optimizing the required Flash assets including a fire animation.

Ardent takes pride in delivering on time with quality assurance, time and time again.

Zorb Promotional Video

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 03:03:15 +1300

Interactive Memory Card Flash Game

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:38:45 +1200

Ardent developed this game as a classic version of the memory card game, using Flash Actionscript 3.0 and again utilizing externally loaded assets for added customization and flexibility.

To have the full experience, please click on the 'Launch Project' link below.

Vodafone NZ Animated Flash Screensaver

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:50:28 +1200

Vodafone NZ's miscellaneous projects included an in-house screen-saver for all of the computers at Vodafone offices around NZ. This particular project was managed by the digital department of Colenso, Colenso .99 Digital

Ardent was contracted by Colenso .99 Digital to deliver an installer file, which automated the screen-saver installation for Vodafone, and was intuitive for a non-technical person.

Ardent developed the screen-saver using programmatic transitional fade effects using Flash Actionscript 2.0 and packaged the file into a screen-saver compatible file using third-party software, delivering the project within a matter of days.

Ardent takes great pride in delivering functionality as well as quality within the necessary turnarounds that the client requests.

Interactive Jigsaw Puzzle Flash Game

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:55:12 +1200

The brief on this project was to build a game that community members could use themselves or with their grand children. The old jigsaw puzzle was to be reinvigorated for the virtual world, with new features that would make the game more interesting and a greater challenge.

Ardent created the interactive jigsaw puzzle game using externally loaded assets, including the puzzle image to ensure that every day the puzzle would be different.

We also added three modes of difficulty, of which the hardest sports randomly rotated jigsaw pieces for added complexity.

The newest addition to this game is a time counter as well as a high-score board which stores all of the players' times in a MySQL database, which helps the Grownups webmaster to hold competitions on who completed the puzzle in the quickest time, and also hand-out prizes.

Exposure Website Custom Flash CMS

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:09:03 +1200

Exposure is a communications company that makes programmes for advertising, documentary and humanitarian purposes. They have a unique style which focuses on people and their stories. Sometimes these people are famous and sometimes they aren’t, the stories are compelling regardless. The company is Auckland based but works on a range of projects around the world.

Their previous website was designed and built using Flash through 'hard-coded’, non-flexible Actionscript. Although the Exposure team were happy with the look and feel of their website, they required a CMS that would allow them to easily update the content themselves. They wanted to manage all text, images and flash video without having to brief an external resource.

Ardent understood their requirements and came up with a compelling solution; a custom-built Flash CMS system, coded in Actionscript 3.0 and dynamically generated using a live XML feed of the content present on the client’s web-server. We also replicated this content in HTML to give search engines access to the website’s content.

Grownups Interactive Life Scoreboard

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:14:26 +1200

This was Ardent’s first project for Grownups and the start of a long partnership. We worked closely with them to design and build a fun game with a serious background message – healthy living.

The Interactive Life Scoreboard is designed to make users think about their lifestyles and how healthy they are. Through asking a few simple questions the game delivers a 'score’ which the user can try and beat every month. We focussed on creating a look and feel which portrayed a light-hearted interactive 'survey’ using Flash.

Ogilvy Maggi Theme Templating CSS XHTML

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:19:28 +1200

Maggi a brand that falls under the Nestle umbrella is handled by Ogilvy. The Maggi website re-design was handled by Ogilvy, which is a full service advertising agency and account holder of many famous domestic, Australasian and global brands.

Ardent was sub-contracted by Ogilvy to develop the front-end look & feel, by using the creative still we were supplied with.

We go through great lengths to ensure the templated cut-ups reflect quality hand-written mark-up, using web-standard compliant, cross-browser compatible, and validated CSS & XHTML.

Ogilvy Holden Commodore Flash Game Asset Design

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:25:33 +1200

Ogilvy is a full service advertising agency and account holder of many famous domestic, Australasian and global brands including Holden NZ. Ogilvy managed a viral online marketing campaign for the new Holden Commodore.

The viral campaign consisted of a flash game with personalization and interactivity. They developed the functionality of the game in-house annd sub-contracted Ardent to assemble Flash assets for the viral campaign.

This included the creation of optimized seamless background and foreground elements, animated background, animated car launching, animated game endings, explosions, etc.

Ardent then worked together with Ogilvy's Flash Developer who had written the physics engine for the game-play and functionality to integrate the flash assets. Ardent provided effective communication throughout the project and delivered as scheduled.

Ogilvy Sanitarium CSS & XHTML Web Templating

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:28:44 +1200

Ogilvy contracted Ardent for the speedy development of a few web-standards compliant, cross-browser compatible, validated CSS & XHTML web templates, these included Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) friendly tags. The web-templates were to be used as part of the complete re-build of Sanitarium’s corporate website

Ardent was provided with the website stills designed by Ogilvy in-house. Ardent delivered the web-templates coded using web-standards compliant, cross-browser compatible, and validated CSS & XHTML, including custom written Javascript code for added interactivity and animation.

Our execution was efficient, delivered with quality assurance and on time.

Zorb Website Design and Development

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:32:51 +1200

Zorb is the next adventure activity from New Zealand the nation that developed bungee jumping and a host of ever-more-outrageous thrill pursuits. Zorb was at a point where a few franchise physical sites had been developed around the world, and required a visually appealing website brochure design which could direct the users to the appropriate world locations where they would experience the Zorb.

Ardent's relationship was formed within the early days of Zorb's brand entinty had not yet been solidified. We had worked closely with the Zorb team in order to create a fun and exciting brand name, that reflects fun.

Zorb contracted Ardent to create a website brochure design which was visually appealing. The website's requirement was to create functionality around the ability of directing users to the appropriate franchise website, in order to gain more information about the desired location site.

Ardent's concept consisted of an interactive 'hidden' map using Adobe Flash and hand-coded Actionscript 2.0, which gets called by Javascript.

The flash interactive works predominantly with the Tween(); class, creating a zoom in and out effect that allows the user to zoom-in on a specific continent and highlights the various Zorb franchisee sites of that continent, country specific.

Ardent applied web-standards compliant, cross-browser compatible, and validated CSS & XHTML mark-up with SEO friendly tags. Since the design and development of this website, Zorb has been getting hits and is being found by people around the world, it's popularity and brand awareness has increased tremendously!

TalkingTech itiva Interactive Demo

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:37:19 +1200

TalkingTech is a provider of automated phone messaging systems. They required a rebuild of their in-house Flash-based demo promoting the i-tiva product. They also required the tool be easily extended in-house with additional voice prompt options, textual changes, and graphical elements modification.

Ardent created an extensible framework using Flash with ActionScript 2.0 - This loaded all assets of the demo externally, allowing non-Flash savvy persons to easily modify the text content, replace audio prompt files, and change out images. All of the asset references are stored in an XML file.

Zorb Kiosks Interface Design

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:40:48 +1200

Zorb® is the sport of rolling down a hill inside a giant inflatable ball while you're on vacation.

Zorb's requirement was to create an user-friendly, intuitive interface design for ride-registrants. Ardent conceptualized back and forth with the Zorb® team, after many rounds of changes, and many rounds of coffees, we reached a conclusive interface design.

Audi - Flash Banner Campaign

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:45:45 +1200

A series of Flash banner ads created for the online component of Audis' campaign to promote its new product ranges.

Ardent worked closely with the media provider and Blackwood King to turn the creative stills and story-boards into functional, sometimes interactive flash banner ads, while staying under the file-size required by the media provider.