Allens 200

Celebrating 200 years

Founded in 1822, Allens is the oldest law firm in Australia. From playing a pioneering role in the development of legislation to acting on numerous landmark cases, Allens has played a significant role in shaping the social, political and economic landscape of Australia for 200 years. 

To mark this milestone in July 2022, the firm sought to create an immersive digital experience that would showcase its history and capture how its story has mirrored that of the nation’s key moments over this time. The digital experience – which would be created as a microsite linking from the main Allens website – was part of a broader campaign celebrating the firm’s history, including a coffee table book, major events with clients and staff, and content on social platforms. 

The brief was to design a digital experience to bring to life the firm's 200 year history - commemorating the role Allens has played in the history of Australia and positioning the firm for the future. The experience needed to be immersive and engaging, featuring multimedia such as audio, animation and video, to become a flagship piece of the 200 year celebration suite, and highlight key stories from the coffee table book.

What we did

Luminary brought Allens’ celebratory microsite vision to life using Optimizely as the CMS, with a React layer for the front end. The experience was structured around four key themes:

• Moments in time: Presented as an interactive timeline, the aim of this section was to show how Allens’ history weaves through many of the key moments that have shaped Australia.
• A lasting legacy: Demonstrating the contribution the firm has made to shaping the business and regulatory landscape to create a more just and equitable society.
• Beyond 200: Looking forward through the lens of Allens’ people – via video interviews, written reflections and thought leadership pieces – to share aspirations for the firm’s future.
• In good company: An exploration of Allens’ people and partnerships, with the objective of showing that the firm has worked with some of Australia’s greatest icons.

The centrepiece of the experience is the interactive timeline, which features layers of content, starting with ‘bubbles’, which are used as teasers to entice a user to read more about a topic. The bubbles then link to modals that display short snippets of content, which in some cases connect with a deeper layer of content. A navigation bar at the bottom of the timeline also lets the user browse by eras, beginning with the firm’s early days (1822-1845), up to the present (2000-2022).

To move around the experience, the user can scroll with a mouse, use a trackpad, or tab through the bubbles. The home page is the main entry point and the jumping point to all the themes, however the experience is designed to be explored from any point, with visual cues to guide the user to related content. Targeted social sharing is facilitated by each bubble having its own unique URL.

The result

Allens 200 is a unique digital experience that takes the user through a journey of the history of Allens over the last 200 years. The digital experience will also serve as a lasting historical record for the firm, including photographs of important physical artefacts, reinforcing Allens’ market positioning as one of the leading law firms in the APAC region.