Michael L. Lawson

Project case study

Creative engineering / 2026

Kindred Fire

Every ember has a voice.

An audio-reactive band experience where synthesized sound drives a living Canvas flame system, expanding the Evergrace universe through motion and atmosphere.

Explore live project
Project
Self-initiated concept
Role
Creative Engineering + Art Direction
Built with
Vanilla JS · Web Audio · Canvas 2D
Kindred Fire launch artwork reading Every Ember Has a Voice above a field of ember shapes
Kindred Fire launch artwork from the implemented microsite.

01 / The brief

Give a fictional band a living stage.

Kindred Fire is a self-initiated launch concept for Evergrace Music’s featured fictional band and its album Kindled. The project extends the label world while establishing a darker, ember-led identity of its own.

It was deliberately built without React or Three.js to demonstrate a different creative-engineering toolkit.

02 / Art direction

Every ember has a voice.

Evergrace gold and charcoal provide continuity with the parent label. Ember red becomes dominant, supported by film grain, fire-gradient typography and a field of varied flame forms.

The visualizer evolved through three iterations. Gaps between individually shaped flame tongues, a restrained ember bed and varied curl and height produced a more convincing sense of fire than a connected horizon.

03 / Interaction

Sound becomes the visual system.

  • A synthesized Web Audio source feeds an AnalyserNode, avoiding borrowed recordings or licensing questions.
  • Canvas 2D redraws the flame field from live frequency data rather than relying on a prerecorded animation.
  • View Transitions move between the hero and content panel with an instant fallback where unsupported.
  • Tour, album, lyrics and mission views share a keyboard-operable tab interface.

04 / Access & resilience

Atmosphere with a quiet mode.

A native dialog handles the lyric excerpt. Visible focus states, a skip link and larger targets support keyboard and touch interaction.

Reduced-motion preferences settle the visualizer into a static glow and remove transitions and scroll-driven reveals. Audio and Canvas work pause when the hero is no longer visible.

05 / Scope & result

A focused creative-engineering demonstration.

The band, album, lyrics, venues, tour and release information are fictional portfolio content. Streaming links, audience metrics, testimonials and sales claims are intentionally absent.

The finished concept demonstrates Web Audio, Canvas animation, progressive enhancement and vanilla JavaScript within a distinct music experience. Desktop and mobile layouts, keyboard tabs and both motion modes were checked during the original project review.

The technical idea and the visual idea are the same: live sound data continuously gives the fire its shape.

EXPLORE THE WORK

See the experience
in motion.

Open Kindred Fire