Website Design
For Hand Crank Films- TEAM: Variant
- ROLE: Lead Designer
- YEAR: 2021
Hand Crank Films is a video production company based in Northwest Washington. With more than 20 years in business, they had built an extensive catalog of engaging work. In 2021, they set out to create a new website to showcase it. I served as lead designer on the team tasked with building a site that made it easy for audiences to find and enjoy their films, while also providing a prominent space to share their perspectives on entertainment and film.
Lights up or Lights out?
We approached the design such that a viewer can have two separate experiences on the site. They can turn down the lights and immerse themselves in the full library of Hand Crank’s work (above), or put on some music, pour a glass of wine and peruse Hand Crank’s musings on everything from film techniques and the production process to A Song of Ice and Fire and Harry Potter (below).
Watch-from-Anywhere Widget
To keep films as the primary focus, We created a widget that allows viewers to watch a film placed anywhere on the site without leaving the page they are on or choose to go to the film’s landing page for more details. The widget is used to recommend relevant films on each top-level page. It can be placed within articles in the Read section and also appears with recommendations at the end of each film, offering the viewer a curated tour through the full Hand Crank experience.
Mission Accomplished, Repeatedly
In the years since its launch, the site has proven to be very effective in communicating Hand Crank’s commitment to creativity and quality and is a regular mention in conversations with clients about how and why Hand Crank Films was chosen for the job.
