Ranger's Apprentice
| Client: | Random House Children's Books |
|---|---|
| Project: | Ranger's Apprentice |
| Skill base: | website development, design, game design and development, database management |
| URLs: |
Ranger's Apprentice
Ranger's Apprentice (game) |
Profile:
Random House Children's Books is a company of the Random House Group Ltd. Merged with Transworld Children's books in November 2001, it ranks amongst the top 5 children's publishers in the UK.
The Ranger’s Apprentice series follows the adventures of Will, a small and lively 15 year old boy living in mediaeval Castle Redmont. The series has been a big hit in the author’s native Australia and is newly available in the UK.
The Challenge:
To create a website for the UK launch of the books, with engaging information and a fun game. The site needed to be ready to launch the first book in the series, The Ruins of Gorlan, but be easily adapted by the client when adding later books to the site.
What we did:
We modelled the look of the site on the visuals from the book, maintaining the profile images of Ranger’s Apprentice Will, and added sound and movement to bring the books to life on the screen.
We developed the website to include information on the characters, author and a section where books can be added as they are published in the UK.
An archery-themed game lets readers find out how they measure up as an apprentice. Registration is key to capture the audience and promote the new publications. The registration is cross-promoted with the competition and game, to ensure maximum exposure.
Client response:
“It’s fabulous! Congratulations to all concerned!"
Ranger's Apprentice author John Flanagan
“When briefing the Ranger’s Apprentice web site we set out to achieve something that would take John Flanagan’s wonderful vision and really bring the series to life. Big Picture readily accepted this challenge and delivered a site that not only met, but exceeded our expectations. The look and feel of the site perfectly compliments the books, adding real tone and depth, and the archery game is as fun and addictive a challenge as you could wish for. The site will expand and grow naturally with each new book in the series and is something that we, the fans, the author and indeed Big Picture, can all be proud of.”
Gavin Hilzbrich, Random House Children’s Books
