Axiom: An Animated Concept Landing Page

Why build this

Most of the work in my other case studies is built for clarity and conversion: fast, legible, low on decoration. That's the right call for the vast majority of small business websites. But it isn't the only kind of website that gets built, so it's worth being able to show the other end of the spectrum too.

Axiom is a fictional product, an autonomous AI runtime that doesn't exist. I invented it as a reason to build something visually ambitious: a mouse-reactive particle field, scroll-scrubbed pinned sections, scramble-in text, magnetic buttons, a custom cursor, and buttery smooth scrolling, all stitched together with GSAP, Framer Motion, and Lenis on top of Next.js.

View the live site

What this proves

That the animation and motion techniques you see on the flashiest product launches and AI startup sites, the kind that make people wonder how they were built, are learnable, buildable, and something I can bring to a project when it's genuinely the right fit. Pinned scroll sequences, physics-based hover states, canvas particle systems: none of it is off limits.

Where this style works, and where it doesn't

This is the part that actually matters. Heavy motion design is not a default. It is a tool, and like any tool it is wrong for most jobs.

It works well for:

• Product launches, AI or tech startups, portfolios, and anything selling itself on being cutting-edge, where the animation is part of the pitch
• One-page campaign or 'coming soon' sites where a strong first impression matters more than long-term navigation
• Audiences expected to be on a fast connection and a modern device

It's the wrong call for:

• Local service businesses (plumbers, consultants, clinics) where a visitor wants a phone number and trust signals in under five seconds, not a particle show
• Anyone whose customers skew older, less tech-fluent, or are likely on a low-end phone or slow connection: heavy JS and animation cost real load time and real battery
• Sites where the goal is a fast, obvious conversion path: too much movement competes with the call to action instead of pointing at it
• Anyone who hasn't budgeted for accessibility: motion needs a prefers-reduced-motion fallback, or it actively excludes people with vestibular disorders

The actual skill

Being able to build this is the easy part once you know the tools. The harder, more valuable skill is knowing when not to use it, and dialing the intensity to match the business and the audience in front of you. A £495 Starter site for a local tradesperson and a launch page for an AI product should not look, move, or feel the same, even if the same person built both.