Description:

Honolulu-based Elemental Excelerator are on a mission to redesign systems at the root of the global climate crisis.

In 2009 they launched a new non-profit ‘cohort’ model for funding climate tech deployment, breaking down barriers to innovation and investing in the tech needed to build systems to uplift people and communities around the world.

To celebrate the tenth cohort (“Cohort X”), made up of nineteen diverse, innovative start-ups chosen for Elemental Excelerator investment, we were asked to create a playful digital experience that told the story of Cohort X, uplifted the individual cohort companies and encouraged visitors to take action to support the cause that resonated with them most.

Elemental Excelerator are a positive, mission-driven not-for-profit. They tell positive stories about the incredible change driving by the climate-focussed start-ups in their portfolio. We wanted the design of the microsite to lean into this feeling of hope and positivity for the future, using the client’s vibrant brand colours to create an optimistic, joyful digital home.

To hero the people and founders behind each company we placed them and their stories front and centre in the design, creating a distinct concept for the cohorts based around shareable ‘collector cards’. On the front of each card, we foregrounded the inspirational human stories behind each start-up by featuring the founders within a coherent design universe that extended the Elemental Excelerator brand.

To bring the cards to life as an interactive experience, a physics engine was developed for the page. As the user scrolls, cards slide onto the page as if tossed physically onto a tabletop. We manipulated Elemental Excelerator’s beautiful visual assets to create a set of parallaxed backgrounds, above which each cohort’s carefully designed card manoeuvres into view with a natural, fluid motion.

To encourage user interactivity, we sought to create gorgeous, easily-shareable content that made it easy for users to share through their chosen networks, as well as foregrounding the people and stories behind each cohort participant.

In development, we brought playfulness and joy to this design through harmonious transition animation and micro-interaction work, including using triggered scroll-jacking to move between the introduction slides and cards in the body. It was particularly important to us to bring natural mimetic action to the card movements, which took considerable prototyping to perfect.

At launch, the site gathered considerable momentum, with around 6,000 votes cast via sharing within the first two weeks.