Kinetic Archive
A website where sound becomes the interface — type stretches, compresses and breathes with every recording.
The brief
Kinetic Archive is an imagined public collection of field recordings: rain on roofs, harbour ferries, night markets. It needed a home that made browsing sound feel as rich as browsing images.
The challenge
Audio is invisible. The site had to give every recording a visual presence without autoplay, and stay fast and accessible for people using screen readers or keyboards.
Creative approach
- Each recording generates its own waveform, which also drives the letter heights of its title. The identity is never static, but it is always legible.
- The layout puts the player first and the catalogue second, with filters for place, time of day and texture instead of genre.
- Motion is tied to playback only. Nothing moves until you press play, and reduced-motion users get the same information as still frames.
Press play, then everything moves.
The homepage is a single large player. Below it, the catalogue reads like a ledger: place, duration, time of day.
Outcome
A responsive prototype, a 60-component design system and a motion language documented as six key frames. The waveform title became the archive's logo.
Something like this, for you?
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