Since invading London in 1998 we' ve pioneered innovative web solutions that have helped evolve our industry. Our reputation for intuitive design and smart technology has won clients such as Microsoft, British Airways, HP, Nokia, and The Guardian. We' ve also set-up and incubated several successful technology start-ups including Semetric, Tweetminster and the Cookie Collective.
Codegent is an award winning digital agency specialising in beautifully designed, content managed websites, campaign microsites and e-commerce solutions. We've developed a thriving mobile apps business, achieving millions of downloads. Our clients consist of BBC, Channel 4, Nestlé, the British Library and Skechers. We are based in Shoreditch with offices in Bangkok.
Now we start a fantastic new voyage together. Get in touch
portfolio hightlights
Over the years our work has won many accolades and Thin Martian has steadily climbed Design Week's Top 100 UK design agency list.
Here are some of our favourite prieces of work:
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British Airways
Thin Martian has created an iconic style guide and designed the interface for a suite of innovative customer service and flight operations apps.
To provide an exceptional solution we interviewed pilots, cabin crew and ground staff. We went 'airside' at airports and sketched early designs in BA's Speedmark Museum.
The designs operate under a range of lighting conditions with an interface that is task-orientated, intuitive and enjoyable to use.
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Microsoft VISIO Promotion
Microsoft Visio simplifies complex real-time data into user-friendly diagrams, enabling effective project management.
When Microsoft asked Thin Martian to find an engaging way to promote its software to consumers and resellers, we knew the key was to highlight how it solves problems.
We tell the story of a target user, bringing Visio to life with humour, engaging design, and a blend of live action and illustrated characters using 3D physics-driven model animation.
The result is a compelling narrative of our fictional "Mbot Corp's" evolution from chaos to success, all thanks to Microsoft Visio.
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The Guardian Zeitgeist
WebOS App
Guardian Zeitgeist is a live visual snapshot of the most popular content on guardian.co.uk.
For the launch of the mobile edition on TouchPad, Thin Martian worked with HP and The Guardian to produce an app harnessing the unique algorithm which powers the Zeitgeist.
Built on the WebOS platform, the app surfaces the most influential Guardian Zeitgeist content in a playful interface, meaning users can catch-up and 'snack' on the most popular and relevant stories of the moment.
Using a combination of HTML, CSS and JavaScript, we quickly built a beautiful user experience that we are justifiably proud of.
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Bloom Website
Bloom, one of the UK's leading brand agencies, chose Thin Martian to create a "beautiful", engaging website to describe their unique approach and present their world-class packaging designs.
We present them using innovative digital tools to inspire their audience. Our design approach used an "aesthetic DNA" employing structured layout and typographic rules to allow the site to gracefully react to any platform or device.
Our solution beautifully showcases Blooms' identity, work ethic, current clients and importantly their intuitive use of technology to convert customers.
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British Airways - Windows Phone 7 App
British Airways teamed up with Thin Martian to design and develop an iconic Windows Phone 7 (WP7) app.
The beautiful and engaging app focuses on your up-coming flight and getting you to your seat in style. Developed in consultation with Microsoft and Nokia, it features flight status updates directly from BA's internal flight data, online check-in, interactive airport maps and QR codes that turn the phone into a boarding pass.
And if that's not enough, It gets you access BA's executive lounge. Drinks are on you then!
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Fishticuffs Game
Based on a simple 'Paper, scissors, stone' mechanic, we created this now famous two player game to enhance the interactive experience on Windows Messenger.
The slapstick game allowed friends to challenge each other while chatting online, and slap opponents with a big fish. Winning enough rounds unlocked upgrades to bigger, more exotic fish with celebrity names such as Jean Claude Van Clam and Christian Whale.
Together with a companion Facebook app and global score card, the game spawned a massive community and drove decades of time online for Messenger in months
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MSN Space Race
As the first of our major campaigns, Space Race has a special place in our hearts. Microsoft selected us to promote their Spaces blogging product and in pure Thin Martian style we devised a solution around UFO sightings.
With our signature humor we show users how to simply fake a UFO photo and called for blog submissions.
The response and quality of entries stunned us. The Sun newspaper even suggested a conspiracy theory: The campaign was an effort to cover up real UFO sightings.
Maybe that's why some of the entries were so good?
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Big Snap
To promote Microsoft's pre-Bing search product, Thin Martian engineered a groundbreaking awareness campaign called "Big Snap".
Each search carried out could win a prize. A pair of cards would flip over beside the search results. If they matched - Snap! You won the prize shown on them. Easy! We gave away a prize every hour for 8 weeks. Partnering with Virgin Experience Days, the main prize on offer was a trip to Necker, Richard Branson's private island.
The promotion turned out to be one of the most successful we ever made, attracting millions of new searches each day. Big Snap 2 followed shortly after with John Lewis providing prizes.
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MSN Buddy Blaster
"One of the most fun and addictive mini-games ever" was Microsoft's comment about our game, made exclusively for their Messenger instant chat program.
Simple game-play was the key, together with cool graphics and a tactile interface.
Playing alongside a friend, you shoot your character from a cannon, timing it to achieve the best trajectory and power. Then you must maintain enough speed to fly around the world.
Fans of the game even created their own forum and posted videos of their flights on YouTube.
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Shoreditch Grand Prix
Stepping outside the realm of our normal day-to-day business, Thin Martian was proud to organise, present and sponsor the inaugural Shoreditch Grand Prix.
30 teams of heroes blasting around the streets of Shoreditch raising money for charities, worthy causes and social entrepreneur projects that benefit the community… it was a pedal powered race of epic proportions, mixing the glamour of Monaco, the endurance of Le Mans and the lunacy of adults attempting a street race on children's toy tricycles. The event was covered on national TV and local press.
The CO-FOUNDERS
James Clarke
James' first post-graduation job was as a Web Designer, designing sites for international brands. He soon forged a reputation for innovative interface solutions and creative layouts.
Formerly Microsoft's Head of Design (MSN, EMEA), he co-founded Thin Martian in 1998, to build a digital creative agency with a better workplace philosophy. Working with clients such as British Airways, Microsoft, The Guardian and Oxford University Press, his focus is interface design, typography & online campaign mechanics.
James also spent 2 years as CEO of Musicmetric, one of our startup companies, leading it to raise venture finance, enabling global expansion.
Bradley Martin
Since Co-Founding Thin Martian in 1998, Brad has worked extensively across many areas including Design, Copywriting, Coding, Management, Creative and Operations Direction.
Prior to Thin Martian, he spent five years as Design Lead at World Careers Network, where he created websites for many global blue chips, which in many cases represented their first presence on the web.
Brad has also been focused on Thin Martian's sister start-ups, Tweetminster, Semetric and Cookie Collective, for whom he has provided creative, operational, financial and legal support.
His creative focus includes UI design, visual design, games mechanics and typography.