We're extremely proud to launch our third site for Thomas Tallis school. Follow the link below the screenshot to read more about Tallis Shorts.



Up until now, media that teachers and pupils made at Thomas Tallis would not be shown to the rest of the school or further. Typically the media would gather dust in a cupboard and slowly be forgotten. Tallis Shorts was an idea born out of the desire to share and broadcast this media to the school and beyond. Our brief to us was to create a platform to allow the upload of films and audio for subsequent distribution in a fast and fun way.



Our approach was to create a site which champions exploration and discovery through a highly visual interface — we didn’t want to create another ‘YouTube’ clone. At the same time we wanted to create a site which feels friendly and simple to use and hide all the technical complexities away from the user. Our ultimate goal was to get pupils to get involved — whether watching films, leaving feedback or uploading media.

Naturally we chose Flash to do this. Flash delivers great quality video and allows the creation of an immersive environment. Flash is also a standard within (and outside of) the school. Flash also helped solve the problem of creating a site that needed to work on 800x600 monitors. Tallis Shorts design adapts to fit whatever monitor it is viewed on.

When browsing the desktop, coloured lines connect media together based on keywords that are assigned to media on upload. This creates a simple visual language show ing related media. Recently active media can be opened directly from this desktop whilst older media can be accessed through the main navigation. To encourage discussion, feedback can also be left on media. Media with new comments are promoted back onto the desktop homepage. This refreshes old media and keeps hot topics at the front of the site. Movies can be viewed full screen so teachers can broadcast in class on projectors.



Behind the scenes a series of tools developed in–house process a large variety of media formats on the fly on upload and a bespoke content management system allows full control of media, comments and keywords.

We are already in talks with the school to build in new features to allow further exploration of media in the site.

“We are committed to creative learning and teaching at Thomas Tallis School. Our ongoing creative partnership with TAK! has enabled us to create some fantastic web based resources which enable students and staff to engage with new media technologies, making them accessible and inspiring tools in the classroom.

Tallis Shorts, the latest addition to the web site, is a brilliant design solution which will help promote the use of audio and video as learning and teaching tools, providing us with a way to celebrate the creativity of our students and staff. The response so far has been hugely positive.” Jon Nicholls, Arts College Manager

Tallis Shorts is the 3rd project we have created for Thomas Tallis school. Previous projects include a mobile photo gallery and the Webby Honoree and SXSW finalist Tallis Talk. All 3 projects highlight the schools commitment to creative learning and demonstrate our unique approach, creative design skills and technical expertise.

Click here to view Tallis Shorts