Halloween is upon us, and here at Kooba there is chatter around the office and quick peeks over shoulders at computer screens trying to steal a glance at a neighbour’s Mocktober. Make no mistake: Mocktober is a very real, and very competitive, event here at the Kooba offices.

For those unfamiliar with the term, Mocktober was started by Elegant Seagulls four years ago and is a design competition, specifically one in which all entries are based around Halloween themes. At Kooba, this is an opportunity for our team to let their hair down, get their creative juices flowing and think as ‘out of the box’ as they please. Not to mention a year of major bragging rights for the in-house winner.

We know we have exceptional designers and developers here at Kooba, but we also know that designing to commercial objectives is paramount. Mocktober is an opportunity to highlight their abilities when there’s no guidelines or brief holding them back. For your reading and viewing pleasure, below are the Mocktober entries from each of our designers and 2 developers (yes, they’ve shown they can design with the best of ‘em) plus some short notes about their respective designs.

Amy

Mocktober name

Ted Bundy website

In her own words:

“A landing page concept to promote the infamous serial killer ‘Ted Bundy’ and his new documentary on Netflix. The focus of the concept is showing his case files and bold demeanor with the use of typography and crime case charts.”

Andre

Mocktober name

IT, the 'stand dead' comedian.

In his own words:

“Everyone deserves a second chance. Even the ones that spent their existence hunting and killing innocent kids in the countryside. It wouldn't be different for Pennywise.

After his clown-killer-monster career was ruined by The Losers in IT, Chapter 2, Pennywise decided on a fresh start as a stand-up comedian. But there are a lot of people out there doing very well in this industry, and since making people laugh was not Pennywise's strongest trait, the legend himself decided for another approach that, maybe, brings back some memories.

And that's how he decided to go on the road with the first 'stand dead' comedy show. Have a look at his brand-new website and you might even consider buying a ticket for one of his gigs. No one has complained so far!”

Christian

Mocktober name

Monster mash

In his own words:

“Inspired by surf-punk and fun times had while playing with my food as a kid, the Monster Mash design ditches generic Hallowe’en gore and goes for luminescent slime to brighten up your darkest nights. The visual experience is enhanced by a soundtrack of ‘Man or Astroman?...Destination Venus!’

Cormac

Mocktober name

Voldemort death eaters recruitment

In his own words:

“For Mocktober 2019, I decided to take on a Voldemort Death Eaters recruitment website design! Since in the Harry Potter books/movies the main focus is on the good characters.

I wanted to focus on the world of the villains and really wanted to bring the field of the Death Eaters within Harry Potter to life. My process included researching various modern day army recruitment websites, to get a better idea of how and what messages are communicated through their websites and how they convince prospectus soldiers to recruit.

I then searched the web for assets, of which I knew there would be an endless selection to choose from. I have included as many Harry Potter references as I possibly could, this process has even taken to Harry Potter forums to gather as much information as possible on Death Eaters and their recruitment process.

This was quite the challenge and time-consuming enough. but I had a ball as I have never designed something like this before and I am already looking forward to taking part in next years Mocktober Challenge.”

Duncan

Mocktober name

Joker Casino

In his own words:

“I wanted to create my Mocktober based on the recent release of the Joker movie, while taking on the overall theme of a Casino. The concept displays popular games, live broadcasts, hot players & provides the opportunity for the user to win the ultimate jackpot!”

Dylan

*Dylan was so enthusiastic about Mocktober that he created 2 Mocktober entries

Mocktober name (1)

Modernising Hawkins County Starcourt Mall

In his own words:

“Taking inspiration from the recent season of stranger things on Netflix (season 3), I decided to base my concept on the key location in this season, the fictional Starcourt Mall in Hawkins county. The idea was to visualise this 80’s shopping mall for modern times. The concept focuses on highlighting all the key areas of the mall with the focus on the user. This user focus is shown throughout via wayfinding, latest products & movies and an online cinema booking system.

The concept features all era-appropriate content, with logos, shops, products and even movies that were out at the time, but I gave it a modern feel with an 80s vibe. For all Stranger Things fans I also included lots of hidden references as a nod to the Netflix show. From the Russian employee login area to the characters clothes available to buy and even the exact shops shown in the show.

As the user scrolls further down the page the storyline of the show starts to take over, changing from an innocent 80s mall, to one being controlled by the creatures from the Upside Down. The website slowly starts to become ’taken over’ by the creatures from the Upside Down, just as in the series. This is visualised through the clear flip of the content wherein the text starts to change and all content slowly shifts to match the show's storyline until it’s finally taken over by the creatures form the Upside Down.”

Mocktober name (2)

Air Force 1 - Skeletal Edition

In his own words:

“I wanted to create a landing page concept design to celebrate the new Halloween release for the classic Air Force 1 (now in a slick skeletal edition). With the recent addition of the black colourway, I wanted to bring both of them to life representing both shoes as the dark and light side of the moon. The colour pallete arises from the glow-in-the-dark aspect of the sneaker: each has its own unique glow colour in the sole.”

Elena

Mocktober name

Camp Redwood - American Horror Story ‘84

In her own words:

“To me Halloween is all about horror, and this year I was inspired by the new season of American Horror Story. The concept for the show is 80's slasher movies. Taking that as the main inspiration I created a vibrant palette and sourced some whopper imagery. The concept idea is a website for a sinister summer camp called Camp Redwood.

The AHS (American Horror Story) soundtrack is the perfect amount of cheese so I wanted to add another dimension to the design by creating a playlist that would sit within the design as an embed.

Kooba's design team usually create websites using Sketch, but I went back to using Photoshop for this particular challenge. The concept required a lot of photo masking and editing to create that layered effect.”

Kevin

Mocktober name

FR. 13 Films

In his own words:

“My Mocktober submission is based around the idea of hosting a Film Festival in the ruin of a former chemical factory deep in the Brandenburg woods, about an hour east of Berlin. The venue itself has a shady past. Today the abandoned factory serves as an escape for street artists, film makers, curious passers-by, vandals and a whole host of other wildlife. All films shown at the festival would deal with stories centred around apocalyptic catastrophe, be it through war, natural disaster or a good old fashioned zombie apocalypse. Fun stuff.

Visitors to the site can buy tickets to attend the festival, view clips of some of the films being shown at the festival as well as read a little about the history of the venue and the festival itself. The design also features artwork by Ken Plotbot, a Berlin street artist known for creating dystopian murals and paintings in abandoned factories around Germany.”

Ross

Mocktober name

The Overlook Hotel

In his own words:

“My design takes inspiration from The Shining, and specifically how the Overlook Hotel’s website may look if they decided to change the hotel's image. I tried to theme this around a 70’s look, as the film is set during that period. This was my first time entering Mocktober and was a lot of fun. It gave me an excuse to get back into Photoshop and Illustrator as I haven’t touched them in quite a while. Can’t wait for next years!”

*Check our social media on Halloween to find out which entry won our in-house competition.

Journal full list