On Recruit

The ON Recruitment Website is a digital platform created for the hiring activities of ON, a company based in Japan. It combines dynamic visuals and user experience storytelling to challenge the norms of traditional recruitment websites, aiming to inspire potential applicants through culture-driven design and interactive experiences.

The website was designed by S5 Studios, led by art director Shogo Tabuchi, in close partnership with the internal creative team at ON. The collaboration focused on fusing cultural storytelling with digital expression, resulting in a visually immersive experience.

Unlike typical recruitment sites that prioritize functional listings, this site incorporates danmaku visual effects, street photography aesthetics, and interactive storytelling to express ON’s culture. This unconventional approach invites users to emotionally engage with the brand’s identity and values.

The visual concept was inspired by Japanese street culture and anime aesthetics. It explores the theme of "releasing potential" by visualizing personal growth, curiosity, and discovery through bold typography, expressive animations, and culturally resonant motifs.

The danmaku (bullet-hell) effects serve as a metaphor for overwhelming information and simultaneous emotional signals in career decisions. By incorporating this uniquely Japanese visual language, the site connects to local culture while delivering a fresh and memorable UX.

Yes, the ON Recruitment Website won the Silver Award in the A' Design Award (2024–2025) under the Website and Web Design category, recognizing its innovation and cultural relevance.

The main audience includes younger professionals and job seekers who are drawn to creative environments and culture-forward companies. The design is also aimed at design-savvy viewers and students interested in modern UI storytelling.

The site was built using Pixi.js for animation rendering. A multi-threaded offscreen canvas rendering system was implemented to handle complex danmaku effects. The backend connects to a CMS that stores visual elements and manages updates dynamically.

Pixi.js was selected for its ability to handle rich WebGL-based graphics in a performant manner. It enabled seamless integration of motion-heavy elements, including real-time danmaku effects, while keeping the page responsive across devices.

The design process utilized Figma for UI/UX prototyping, in-browser interactive prototypes for motion planning with adjustable parameters, and hand-drawn sketches for structural planning. Early ideas were explored through analog drawings before digital development began.

The site features rhythmically structured layouts, engaging entry animations, layered scroll effects, and smooth transitions. These elements were designed to mirror emotional tension and curiosity, guiding users through an intuitive storytelling flow.

Animation is used to express psychological movement—hesitation, excitement, discovery—through microinteractions and macro visual transitions. It elevates the static structure into an emotionally immersive experience.

The site translates ON’s brand ethos—embracing potential and transformation—into interactive expressions. The combination of expressive visuals, raw photography, and poetic copywriting encapsulates the company's vision.

In addition to engineers, the project featured illustration work by SEVENZEL, an in-house artist at ON. His pop and dynamic anime-style visuals played a crucial role in defining the site’s distinct tone and cultural resonance.

Balancing high-performance rendering with emotional storytelling was a major challenge. Technical limitations in browsers, especially on mobile, required iterative testing to optimize animations without sacrificing visual impact.

User feedback highlighted how the site felt more like an artistic experience than a corporate platform. Many appreciated the cultural references and animation flow, noting it made the company feel more relatable and inspiring.

Yes, the ON Recruitment Website remains live and regularly updated. Thanks to its CMS-based structure, content and visual components can be revised flexibly while maintaining performance.

The ON Recruitment Website is publicly accessible and optimized for both desktop and mobile browsers. Visitors can explore its interactive features, animation layers, and embedded team interviews freely through the homepage.