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Running the gamut from corporate web sites to public service pages, we have experience in nearly every area online. For more information on what we can do to help put your web site to work, check out the services area. Otherwise, feel free to email us about any of the projects we have showcased. We are always happy to hear what others have to say about our work.

Winnipeg Art Gallery

Winnipeg Art Gallery

Overview

The Winnipeg Art Gallery’s homepage is a microcosm of the cultural institution. Vibrant, modern and diverse, wag.ca is a portal into the various collections, shops and programs that inhabit this local organization.

Committed to the task of rebranding it’s web presence, the Winnipeg Art Gallery recruited Visual Lizard and Space Cadet Design to produce one of the most intensive collaborative web projects the local arts community has seen. The result is an absolutely spellbinding web site that lets visitors cruise through current and upcoming exhibitions, scan through the gallery’s expansive archives, sign up for programs and learn about scheduled classes and workshops.

Details and technical challenges

Drawing from such influences as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Art Institute of Chicago, the Winnipeg Art Gallery wanted a website which let the art speak for itself.

The most prominent feature of wag.ca from an aesthetic standpoint is that it incorporates the architectural shape of the Winnipeg Art Gallery building itself. As viewers navigate through the site, background images of the gallery’s interior and exterior appear throughout, providing a connected feel which transports the viewer through a virtual tour.

A primary challenge in programming wag.ca was creating the administrative tools
to allow the interconnection of three sections: exhibitions, programs and events. Using Visual Lizard’s Catalyst 4 Content Management system as the basis for administration, an exhibition module was created to allow the interconnectivity of the three sections, allowing content to be updated easily and frequently by contributors.
A second significant challenge for Visual Lizard was creating a collections module which allowed WAG staff to provide public access to items not always available to view at the gallery.

The layout of the landing page presented quite a significant display challenge. In order to produce a multi-window, fade-in, fade-out image effect, a lot of ingenuity and brainwork had to be applied. Through the combined use of cascading style sheets and Javascript, images can now be changed frequently, which keeps the site looking authentic.

A final challenge was programming an events calendar that integrated four sections: exhibitions, events, programs and entertainment. Using another customized module, the section was programmed to feature a small built-in calendar that users can easily access. The calendar section also provides icon links to iCal and RSS, feeds which the viewer can subscribe to. These feeds will populate the viewer’s calendar and news aggregator programs with WAG related events.

Features

Exhibition module (four separate layouts with photos, personalized audio tour)
Collection integration (library of items)
Events, programs and entertainment
Visual Slideshow

Timeframe

When all was said and done, it took eight months to complete wag.ca. After initial discussions centered on functionality and requested design items, Visual Lizard spent several months programming the main features of the site. The next couple of months were spent programming the various modules for the events, collections and programs sections of the website. The last couple of months were spent configuring the homepage and making final adjustments.

Partners

  • Winnipeg Art Gallery
  • Visual Lizard
  • Space Cadet Design

Launch Date

September, 2009

 

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