Bulletproof technology for Social Innovators

About us

What floats our boats

Design & Craft

We create websites human beings like to use: thoughtfully designed online tools, rich with functionality and finely crafted details. Our work speaks for itself.

Social Innovation

We're personally invested in our projects and inspired by the artists, innovators, and nonprofits who have great messages to deliver.

Partnership

We're more than a line item to our clients: from the first interview to the holiday bash, we share goals and work as one team, not two.

Measure Twice...

In order to tailor the right fit, we ask the tough questions to nail down what's required (and not required) for each project.

...Cut Once

Once we've defined the right approach, we collaborate to handcraft custom and flexible solutions – that people will actually use.

In Plain English

We work on a solid foundation of technologies, and believe that usability, accessibility, compatibility, and responsiveness transcend trendy buzzwords.

Under the Hood

Our clients command their content, sparking great conversations with their communities. We just develop the simple-to-use management tools.

Idea Incubation

Whether it's the start of something great or a revision of a concept, we'll be here to help keep your idea awesome… for years to come.

Our Work

Yes, we have been pretty busy.

One Yellow Rabbit

One Yellow Rabbit

One Yellow Rabbit is one of Canada's greatest performance ensembles and arts organizations. Creators of over 80 unique and inspiring productions, producers of the magnificent High Performance Rodeo festival, educators of the essential Summer Lab Intensive, and curators of the Big Secret Theatre, OYR required an innovative online presence to capture the breadth of their astounding activities. SA couldn't be happier to oblige. oyr.org
Theatre Calgary

Theatre Calgary

Theatre Calgary required a new site design and architecture to better promote their myriad of organizational offerings. The new platform utilizes the mesmerizing images available, while providing a clear and concise view of key production, education, development and marketing information. The site also sells tickets, and SA helped establish the ticket workflow and brand elements for their successful Tessitura integration. theatrecalgary.com
Be Local

Be Local

Respect for the Earth and All People (REAP) approached SA to re-imagine their online home for their Be Local movement, focused on businesses providing local goods and sustainable practises. The resulting Be Local website delivers a new web design and navigation infrastructure, along with a custom business membership directory and the Be Local Awards voting infrastructure. SA is proud to be a REAP member and advocate. belocal.org
SaskCulture

SaskCulture

Saskatchewan's largest cultural funding agency required a new marketing platform to connect with their members, funders, and the larger cultural community. SA created a new web design and architecture to house the extensive content available, while creating custom solutions including a Grant Finder Directory and a Success Story infrastructure. The result is a highly structured and adaptable platform that will easily grow to meet SaskCulture’s expanding needs. saskculture.ca
Oh, Canada!

Oh, Canada!

Oh, Canada! is the largest exhibition of Canadian visual art curated outside of Canada. This massive, innovative project required the active support of four leading Calgary arts institutions: Glenbow Museum, Esker Gallery, Illingsworth-Kerr Gallery, Nickle Arts Gallery. The site was optimized for a mobile audience to capture ‘users on the go’, corresponding with the exhibitions’ marketing campaign and multi-venue experience. Cool Canadian iconography too! ohcanadayyc.com
Calgary Opera

Calgary Opera

The Opera requested a platform that captures the majesty and epic scale of their productions, while making key information easily navigable for their multi-generational audience. Prominent images, large drop down navigations, and crisp content pages highlight the Opera’s many offerings. calgaryopera.com
Alzheimers Society of Calgary

Alzheimers Society of Calgary

ASC required a re-imagining of their online presence to align with their new strategic direction and role as Convenor. With a welcoming design and innovative navigation structure, SA was able to present the breadth of content to their varied audiences and stakeholders. An extremely satisfying project, it has been labeled ‘transformational’ by ASC leadership. alzheimercalgary.ca
Free and Easy redesign

Free & Easy : Redesign

An original SA partner, FnE embarked on a redesign expedition this year. Enhanced images, videos, and new destinations capture the imagination. But the Adventure Builder is the heart of the new site, allowing you to quickly identify the trip parameters that will feed your travel soul. freeandeasytraveler.com
Sled Island

Sled Island

Sled Island is quickly emerging as one of Western Canada’s most important music and arts festivals. The site functions as an ‘artist discovery’ platform, and includes an innovative new design, artist and venue information, and features a rarity amongst competitors — an intuitive schedule. To enhance the festival experience, the site allows users to create their own personalized schedules, and Sled staff to provide venue specific updates to attendees in real time. sledisland.com
Creative Kids

Creative Kids

SA’s first project in Saskatchewan is the online home for Creative Kids’ programs, donations, partnership promotions, and service providers. A relatively new organization with an important mandate to fund children’s participate in culture based classes, Creative Kids required a site that was accessible, highly credible, and extremely easy to use. The Service Provider Directory is a key outreach feature. creativekidssask.ca
Gauge Powered

Gauge Powered

SA’s labour of love, it is a side project that captures the passions of our game playing partners. Gauge provides individual Steam gamers with personal statistics and a highly visual interface to help evaluate their ongoing gaming purchases. A nice synthesis of mathematical structure and visual interpretation, the platform is actively used by 30,000 gamers worldwide. gaugepowered.com
CUFF

Calgary Underground Film Festival

Scan the film list, sort by preferences, watch trailers, and buy tickets on this rich site for our favourite groundbreaking film festival. calgaryundergroundfilm.org
HPR

High Performance Rodeo

This is Calgary's avant-garde International Festival of the Arts. The site features stunning design, a creative schedule, a personalized calendar and advanced administrative tools. hprodeo.ca
OCL Studios

OCL Studios

OCL Studios is an innovative and feature rich recording studio located just outside of Calgary, and the only residential studio experience in Western Canada. This online platform promotes their high-end equipment, multiple recording studios, residential live-work opportunities, and unique foothills location. By focusing on images and unique navigation, this site appeals to the varied audience of recording artists, touring professionals, and music executives. oclstudios.com
LAC

Leighton Art Centre

Leighton required a new design to showcase the gallery to artists and the general public, while including a comprehensive registration system for the myriad of classes available at the Centre. leightoncentre.org

the Team

Four guys, four kinds of sushi.

Lakin Wecker

Unagi Lakin's development skills were honed at large web firms. He travels extensively, participates in open source projects and enjoys wine, whiskey, sports and the company of good friends.

Leonard Nooy

Tuna Sashimi Leonard is a details-oriented software developer with a background in mathematics. When not on the job, he enjoys mountain biking and optimizing his life using technology.

Jay MacGillivray

Spicy Tuna Jay is our client strategist and connector. A leader in the local arts and non-profit communities, his passion for promoting these organizations inspires his work and play. Cape Breton roots; will travel for music.

Ian Russell

Salmon Nigiri Ian is our lead designer. Once a founding partner of iStockphoto, he runs the record label Flemish Eye, and plays a particularly poor game of tennis.

Structured Abstraction wouldn't be the same without some other alumni. Mike Simoens and Allan Hart were founding partners at SA who helped create the company we are today.

Contact us

Don't be shy, we'd love to hear from you.

Structured Abstraction is based in Calgary, Alberta. We’re small by design, and select only a few projects at a time in order to provide the best solutions. We’re always excited to partner with progressive organizations, so contact us today and tell us what you have cooking!

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