With a rich history that began back in 1976, the Malthouse Theatre is a key cultural institution in Melbourne. While the public may generally see the Malthouse as a theatre with a season of 10 shows, there is much more beneath the surface. There is a richer backstory to how these shows got to the stage, and where they go thereafter - and it’s time for those stories to be told.

Working collaboratively on this innovative project, Bravo and Malthouse conceptualised and developed ‘Stories of M’ - an interactive archival website. Stories of M is dedicated to ​​chronicling the history of the Malthouse Theatre, showing the connections between the stories, people and shows that have taken place over the last 45 years.

Visit the Stories of M website

We created a brand new, user-centred website that creatively captures the history of the Malthouse Theatre. Key features of our stunning solution include:

• A creative, future-proof, mobile-responsive website built on the easily editable Umbraco CMS.

• An explorable interactive timeline on the homepage that leads users to highlighted shows, people or stories in each decade.

• Simple but powerful filtering capabilities that encourage users to explore and discover content, and spend more time on the site.

• A well-considered navigation that offers a user-friendly way to explore all the content on the site, including via search and filtering.

• Third party integration, syncing and pulling through data from AusStage (an existing digital event database used widely in the arts and education sectors for researching live performance in Australia).

• Appropriate visual design that reflects Malthouse’s inventive, distinctive and authentic approach.

• Our thoughtful and considered design of imagery, concise copy and facts makes the historical content compelling and attractive to a wide range of users.

• WCAG2.0 AA accessibility compliant

Bravo's research-led approach and stakeholder facilitation quickly drew out the key requirements and goals for this digital project. Equipped with a deeply aligned understanding of their vision, we partnered closely with the Malthouse team to bring Stories of M to life - and we couldn’t be prouder of the result!

Stories of M cements the Malthouse Theatre’s position as an important cultural hub in the Melbourne arts scene. It sets a benchmark for the presentation, sharing and celebration of historical arts institutions (and their shows, people and stories) in Australia. The solution has been incredibly well received by peers in the arts industry who were consulted in the UX development and testing phases. 

And it’s award-winning! Stories of M was recognised by the Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA) and awarded Best in Show: Design in the 2022 Australian Web Awards. It has also been awarded the prestigious Platinum award at the 2022 AVA Digital Awards, and the top award for Performing Arts Excellence at the 2022 Communicator Awards. Bravo!

Stakeholder facilitation
Discovery and digital strategy
User Experience (UX) design
UX Prototyping
Information Architecture
Art direction
Visual design
Mobile responsive front-end website development
Back-end application development (Umbraco CMS)
Testing
Accessibility compliance (WCAG AA)
Project Management