Stories with their own lighting

Noir publishes long-form photo essays. The brief was simple and difficult: make the web feel like turning a heavy page. We designed a system where each story carries its own palette, typographic voice and scroll rhythm.

Images load as they would develop in a darkroom, captions arrive only when you slow down, and the reading progress is a thin line of colour sampled from the photograph itself.

Results

Average reading time tripled in the first quarter, and the site was named Site of the Day by Awwwards.