Responses by Comunika.

Background: The purpose is to present and showcase “book-objects” made by artist Michèle Provost as part of her Mashups & Remixes project, which recycles and transforms her collection of art books. The website provides online accessibility to the art exhibition, which was made possible in part through a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

Design core: The virtual gallery is designed like a library with each of the book-objects accessible to be admired with a single click or tap. It is formed using unique elements and animations created from scratch to not only highlight each of the works but also to promote an optimal, visually exciting UX. The design was created step by step through an exhaustive research and development process in partnership with the artist.

Challenges: Creating an online presentation of works of art—and, more particularly, books—is usually a major challenge. The medium does not lend itself easily to showcasing all their depth and beauty. Additionally, the site had to reflect the innovative nature of the works while providing a complete and accessible experience for the user, since the project would not be presented as part of a traditional exhibition.

Navigation structure: The navigation fosters a unique experience for users and a distinctive space for each work. We facilitated viewing with 3-D techniques, videos and collage pieces that can be moved around to encourage users to discover each of the book-objects individually.

Technology: The website was custom developed with Laravel, which is a PHP-language framework.