When your client is a leader on the independent film scene, their website needs to look every bit as crafted and engaging as one of their movies. This is where Subism’s design skills came to the fore, honing the layout, typographic system and use of colours and imagery so that the new site would push visual boundaries and captivate visitors.

One of the main challenges was defining a colour palette that would subtly convey the Celluloid Dreams identity, without allowing the colours within the imagery used to overwhelm it. We developed a system for treating each image with a subtle red overlay, but this introduced another challenge. The folks at Celluloid Dreams couldn’t be asked to open Photoshop and edit every image they wanted to upload. To solve this problem, we designed an automated, server-side solution that processes each image with a colour overlay and blending modes so that it perfectly sits within the overall palette.

We love working with anything film-related, and have a real appreciation of this artform, perhaps because it chimes with our love of design and interactivity. On top of the technical and creative challenges of this project, communication was the key and what this project really boiled down to was working with stakeholders in several cities and countries so that the site would meet all their visual and functional requirements. We met the client’s firm deadline on this project, and we’re still working with them on phase two which will introduce more dynamism and motion to the site for an even richer user experience.

The new website has totally repositioned Celluloid Dreams with a contemporary look and feel that has changed its perception with customers. It looks fresh, with a vibrant choice of fonts and colours, and has a new sense of authority in its market.