Fresh From the Field — Wonder Horse, PAN and Blutui
Hello Friday! Feeling Parched? This Fresh from the Field features University of Waikato Design student Ruslan Courtman’s mahi to create the perfect cocktail site wonderhorse.co.nz during an internship at Hamilton-based digital agency PAN® The Love Agency™, some spectacular digital design brought to life with Blutui, PLUS a refreshing signature cocktail recipe to start your weekend off right!
The Brief:
With a reputation for beautifully crafted cocktails Hamiltons Wonder Horse is tucked away down a narrow alleyway in central Hamilton. A magnet for the discerning palate seeking an after-work Mojito or a late-night nightcap. Bar owner and award-winning mixologist Alex Williams wanted to create a connection with his customers beyond the bar, asking the team at PAN® to help him create a website that put the user at ease with what to order on-premise and how to make a little Wonder Horse magic at home.
The Response:
With all the staple recipes and a few Wonder Horse specialties the PAN team got to work, engaging the talents of Mark Hamilton, photographer to capture the goings-on as well as the perfectly mixed drinks.
Ruslan Courtman (pictured head of page) is a graduate of the Bachelor of Information Technology and currently completing his Masters of Information Technology (MInfoTech) at the University of Waikato. Ruslan was thrown into the deep end on the first week of his industry internship when he was asked to master a new design program and deliver the Wonder Horse website. Ruslan set to work and learned the brand new web development platform plus the culture of a digital marketing company.
With the site completed in a little over a week Ruslan’s studio manager Kenny Harrison is delighted. “Not only did our intern pick up Blutui in just a few hours but the levels of intricacy in the user experience, which sees images of delicious cocktails softly settling on each new page, means the site behaves beautifully”, said Kenny.
“In the past we would put a project like this to the market and expect to deliver in several weeks but to be able to turn quality sites around quickly, and to be in control of the process in the studio is a double win for us”, Kenny says.
“Blutui’s a breeze to work with”, says Ruslan. “I’ve had experience with self-hosting sites and WordPress in the past. The Blutui platform is much easier to customise and you don’t need to go through the bullshit of customising themes or managing plugins”.
“I’m stoked to have mastered the Blutui platform so quickly and to be making a positive contribution to the studio team”, said Ruslan. “Plus we get to launch the site with an espresso martini”.
Ruslan is equally delighted with his first role out of Uni, PAN hired him straight out of his internship with The Love Agency™ — cheers to that!
The Recipe:
The Wonder Horse old fashioned is a cunningly curated classic made by muddling sugar, bitters and water, then drowning a perfectly singed orange peel in the glow of a top-shelf bourbon.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 oz Gentleman Jack Bourbon
- 1 Sugar cube
- 2 splashes of Angostura bitters
- A few splashes of plain water (Alex made me do it!)
Place sugar cube in old fashioned (a.k.a. rocks) glass and saturate with bitters, add a splash of plain water. Muddle until dissolved. Fill the glass with ice cubes and add the bourbon. Peel an orange segment and singe the outer skin. Present with orange, (no cocktail cherries need to die for this number).
