Deepend Launches New App For National Gallery Of Victoria

A creative collaboration between independent agency Deepend and the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) saw the launch of the integrated multimedia smartphone app named ‘Tromaramix’ on Saturday.

The App is an integral part of NGV’s experiential exhibition titled Open House: Tromarama for Kids; enabling visitors of all ages to create their own artwork in the artists’ chosen medium of stop-motion animations.

The exhibition has been created by contemporary art collective Tromarama, featuring panoramic screenings of stop-motion films. The work is inspired by the interior of a typical Indonesian home and is showcased in the dedicated children’s galleries in the NGV International building.

Visitors are able to physically interact with the experiential exhibition as they move through the various rooms; NGV wanted to extend this interaction to last beyond the in Gallery experience and engaged Deepend to facilitate this by building the imaginative and user-friendly Tromaramix App.

The App enables visitors of all ages to create their own stop-motion animations on tablets provided in the Gallery.  The App ‘s easy-to-use interface allows the user complete creative control; they can take and edit a series of photographs, then transform these images into a stop-animation film.  These animations can then be shared with family and friends via email.

The App will be available for wide-spread download from the iTunes Store within the coming weeks, enabling the wider public to easily create their own stop-motion animations at home.

Tromarama specialise in producing stop-motion animation art works featuring everyday objects as metaphors for their ideas.  Specially commissioned for the exhibition, Deepend developed the Tromaramix App as an innovative digital solution that brings to life Tromarama’s ‘kidult’ philosophy and passion for stop-motion animation; allowing the artists to reach, engage and inspire people via mobile technology.

Deepend built the Tromaramix App via an extensive test and learn development approach; keeping the end user’s experience a core focus of the design process, it combines intuitive gestures with seamless functionality to allow the user complete creative control.

Deepend worked closely with NGV and Tromarama to ensure that, alongside the fundamentals of an instinctive piece of software, the bright visual aesthetics of the App encapsulate the essence and wonder of the Tromarama world; appealing to children of all ages and bringing out the ‘kidult’ in all users.

Deepend managing director Kath Blackham said: “The Tromaramix App was a real team effort between Deepend, the NGV and Tromarama. We are genuinely thrilled to be part of such an imaginative and creative project. My family and I can’t wait to see the exhibition!”