For this online exhibition, US photographer William Boling presented 'uncannily paired images' from US auction website, eBay, and it's New Zealand counterpart TradeMe. Toward's the end of the month project, Boling flipped the process again, re-auctioning prints of these works.

Werkhaus worked with Boling and TradeMe, setting up accounts, promoting the sales via special text-ads, running the auctions both online and on-site at a gallery, and distributing the final works when they closed. Coverage on prominent blogs like Rhizome.org eventually resulted in Boling showing work at the New Museum, New York.

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Unveiling the new mobile network meant communicating the rich-media and new possibilities available through the service.

I worked with Visual New Media, to design and develop a series of 'experience' interactives. Using real video and music media available online, and models of 3G capable handsets, we stepped users through features like Mobile TV, Video Calling, and Music Store downloads.

Later, I built rich banners which pointed users to these movies - splicing music artists, video and mobile game footage into optimized animations with a tiny footprint.

For this arts and cultural organisation, the challenge was showcasing how their four historic venues worked together with their services. Bringing together 3d models from an architectural agency, 360 views from a photographer, and a huge amount of imagery and text content, I worked with Visual New Media to produce a CD-ROM which clearly brought this across.

I designed and scripted a responsive, colour-coded navigation system which made it easy and intuitive to browse sections. I also developed a bespoke content management system, allowing new images, layout and copy tweaks to occur with a few mouse clicks.

Cosmoblondes recent Islands project for Malibu lets users create and customise their own island, earning points in games and using them to kit out their pacific paradise. I worked with the studio, developing a new minigame which challenges players to mix up their own drinks. With 6 levels, intuitive gameplay, and bonus decoration rounds complete with tiny umbrellas, the interactive is a light new addition to the project.

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Contemporary art gallery ARTSPACE is commissioning a series of innovative online work, and needed a interface and presentation system that was equally alternative.

Werkhaus created a unique interactive, with an organic feel that uses code in subtle ways. Each visitor sees a different layout of elements, which are pulled and pushed on interaction. The work of artist Andrew McLeod was also integrated, a sequence of cohesive icons representing works and sections. Behind the scenes, a structure built on standard frameworks like XML allows new artists, projects, and links to be easily added in the future.

Coming soon

Enter through a run-down shed door. Flip through dusty plans to create your own electric guitar, skate ramp, or bottle rocket. Operate a conveyer belt to view other users backyard projects. Explore a lunchbox, play minigames, and watch videos from the experts. Luke's project for Publicis Digital and client Nature's Fresh centres around a range of DIY projects in a rich workshop environment.

In phase 2 of the popular project, Luke expanded the world, bringing an illustrators environments to life by letting kids push around a swing, throw a rugby ball, and use secret passwords to get into a clubhouse. We collaborated with development firm TouchPoint, communicating via Flash to the backend to make it easy to login, redeem points and spend them on toys and prizes.

Ready, set, go! Kids around Melbourne dropped into tents HP set up, had their photo taken, and were given 2 minutes to let their imagination go wild: from pirate swords to punk hair, rabbit ears to sparkling jewelery - each child could create a character using dozens of body parts, objects, and backgrounds.

Bubbly and fun, the interface was designed specifically for a touch screen, with a focus on simple and intuitive user interaction. Every action is 'recorded', so friends and family can visit the gallery and see the masterpiece recreated in real time.

Interact with the 'lite' Web version

A 2 day sound and new-media festival at the iconic Ausland venue in Berlin, Process focused on artists working with systems - from live performances using breath, to software that generated rhythms from architecture.

The web was vital to the festival; from the minimal, content-focused website which kept visitors informed, to the use of social media like Facebook and Twitter to spread the news. Arts magazines, events guides and television picked up the interest, resulting in packed audiences and interest in staging of further festivals.

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Can school kids with mild depression re-think it? Working with a psychologist, illustrator, and sound composer over 8 months, Werkhaus created a series of 16 interactive lessons that aimed to do just that. Capturing thoughts with a net, growing a flower, relaxation exercises, a custom meal creator and some mini art projects were just some of the activities.

Each lesson was rewarded with videos, illustrations and a game which brought their custom character closer to the goal. A workbook continued the unique visual style and allowed participants to track their progress.

Exploring the ideas of time, decay, and failing technology, Werkhaus worked with Annie Bradley, producing screensavers for PC and Mac platforms from sequences of video footage. These were distributed via the gallery's website and run on-site via laptop, as well as making their way onto computer's in offices and businesses. Springing to life when the system shuts down, the software provides a compelling reason for letting the computer sleep.

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For this space for the méthode traditionelle house, I worked with Publicis Digital to tell two surprisingly dramatic stories - how the company came to be, and how the champagne is crafted.

Methode describes the meticulous process of vine to wine. I abstracted a grape vine, twirling it up through the page with hotspots for each stage of the journey. Rich golds and slow, organic motion bring life to the piece. L'Histoire narrates a fascinating journey from Deutz's beginnings in France, through wars, riots, and celebrations, to present day. Behind the scenes, historic photographs, dates and text are loaded externally for a quick loading, responsive interactive.

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The projects of prolific hip-hop artist Coco Solid quickly extended beyond the single-page site originally built for her.

I worked with Coco and team, designing a flexible WordPress powered site that lets her easily add new posts, imagery, video clips and other media whenever she drops a new track.

Much work was done to ensure that the site felt unique and simple to use. Bright pastels, heavy custom typefaces and hand-drawn icons depart from the usual blog aesthetic. The structure was stripped down to a minimum, removing extraneous functionality, and putting the focus firmly on the content.

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Media professionals need to propose focused campaigns quickly - e.g. something that targets Aucklanders on the North Shore around Supermarkets. Campaign Creator makes it easy - users can filter by locations, format, and keyword to quickly build a smart campaign.

Other industry tools were complicated, slow to use, and often lead to dead results. Werkhaus designed a clean, intuitive interface with large buttons and a fast, simple workflow. Instant feedback is key - users know how many results they'll get before they even hit View. Smart functionality gives users a live Google Map view of their campaign and lets them e-mail or export the finished campaign in Excel, PDF, and PowerPoint formats.

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To link the iconic brand with film, Publicis commissioned a series of short films from noted directors, to be shown as teasers on TV, with full versions on localised websites across Eastern Europe. Luke brought static designs to life, creating glowing neon, flickering lobby lights, theatre curtains drawing back, and ambient soundscapes. Users can 'order' cocktails from the bar, view films in a darkened theatre (shhh!) or visit the ticket booth to get email notices about the next showing.

With an average session duration of 7 minutes and 30 seconds, the site has enjoyed further success less than a month after it’s launch, winning both the jury and the public first place for Multimedia site at the NIS Petrol Web FEST in Belgrade, Serbia.

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