Bitter creek is a visual production studio shaped by culture, built to influence.
Our goal was to redesign their website and portfolio into a more immersive experience that truly connects with their audience. With their wide range of services and deep creative expertise, we wanted to craft a digital space that not only showcases their craft but encourages exploration through thoughtful interface design and expressive motion.
At the core
The rebrand shaped both the visual and motion language of the site, which we translated into a minimalist, editorial-style experience. A strict grid system anchors the layout, creating balance between clarity and energy. Subtle micro-interactions and responsive details add movement and rhythm, giving the site a sense of depth without ever feeling overworked.
Typography carries a lot of weight here, it’s bold and contrasting, making space for Bitter Creek’s visuals to take lead.
“It’s always the small details that make the experience more memorable. The scrolls, transitions, and hovers that bring everything to life”
In the details
The portfolio section was one of the features that stood out for us. From early conversations, we knew there’d be a wide range of projects, so we built a smart indexing system with project codes to make navigation intuitive. Combined with asymmetric layouts, filters, and hover states, the archive became a space for exploration rather than just a list of work.
Our favorite touch is the hover mechanic on the index screen, it breaks convention. As users move through the list, dynamic thumbnails appear in randomized positions across the screen, turning a simple interaction into something playful and unexpected.
Navigation was designed to feel effortless, simple, smooth, and direct. But we also wanted to create a sense of discovery.
“A moment of delight that rewards curiosity.”
Between the lines
Beyond functionality, we wanted to introduce a layer of discovery. Working closely with Bitter Creek, we created an easter egg triggered by clicking and holding your cursor anywhere on the site. When activated, the screen inverts to reveal an anchored 3D element that responds to your movement. A moment of delight that rewards curiosity while maintaining full access to the site’s content.
Reflection
This project became an exercise in finding beauty in structure, energy in motion, and depth in simplicity. For Bitter Creek, the new site captures not just their work but their creative ethos: culture-driven, collaborative, and built to move.
The build itself went smoothly, but managing video content across devices was our biggest challenge. With so much video work, we had to plan carefully to handle both quality and performance.
Hosting through Vimeo worked well, but it also showed us how complex large-scale video delivery can be, and how much room there is for a more efficient, future-facing solution that keeps things simple to maintain.
Here are some of the tools we used in this build:
Webflow, GSAP, Lottie, Vimeo
Credits:
Creative Studio: Malvah Studio
Client: Bitter Creek
Developer: Geoff Dawes
Malvah Studio
We’re a design studio based in CT-SA. Crafting distinctive brand experiences for businesses ready to rise above the ordinary.
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