Atomicdust Designs Voltron Website in Preparation for New Series on Nicktoons
So, if you haven’t heard of Voltron, you might not have been around in the 80’s. It certainly played a large part in my childhood. Everyday around 3:30, I would run home from school to tune into the cartoon about giant lion robots coming together to form one giant robot, conquering evil, and saving the planet. I was obsessed with Voltron, and would get in ‘Voltron drawing’ contests with the kids at school. And sometimes, I even won.
So in 2006, when we began working with World Events Productions, the St. Louis company that created Voltron, to develop a website and promotions around the launch of Voltron on DVD for the first time in the US, we were thrilled.
However, working with Voltron is exciting and daunting at the same time. On one hand, you have this brand that you know and love, and want to pay tribute to. On the other hand, the rest of the world knows and loves the brand too, so the pressure is on to really impress.
This year we came together once again to build a new website in preparation for a new Voltron television series on Nicktoons: Voltron Force.
Our approach was to ditch traditional web linear navigation and try to imagine the site as more of a magazine about Voltron and pop culture. Our favorite part of the Voltron brand was our memories of the brand, and the little snippets of nostalgia that come rushing back when you see something from your childhood.
In the magazine world, content is separated by full page ads. We wanted our content to be separated by nostalgia. So we created what we refer to as ‘dreams’; huge expressions of the brand and used a parallax scrolling effect to bring the sections to life. Without flash. The result was an immersive Voltron experience that visitors could explore and get lost in. Check it out here.
To top it off, the entire site is based on the Expression Engine content management system so our friends at Voltron can add their own news, video, and fan memories, or any other content they see fit, quickly and easily.
All and all, the site will act as a vehicle to deliver the brand to audiences young and old, allowing new fans to discover Voltron and old fans to relive a part of their childhood.
Here’s a screenshot of the website in it’s entirety, but to experience the full effect, check out the Voltron website.
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