Canva initially requested several 15-second YouTube pre-rolls, but it soon became clear that the brand's entire sonic identity needed to evolve. The platform had found its look, but not its sound.
For the next three years, we worked as an extension of the Canva team, crafting a unique sonic language. One that could be deployed across product, campaigns, motion-systems and live events.
Canva's sonic palette needed to be simple and organic, like the platform itself. Not minimal, but not overly produced either. After a thorough audit of existing collateral, we began experimenting with subtle compositions and melodic hooks: a simple idea the brand could use as a calling card.
To shepherd Canva through the process, we first stripped the platform down to its basic aural components. What does a mouse click sound like? What does a drag-and-drop sound like? Eventually we engineered 10 original demos. These raw tracks were refined over time, until we landed on a core matrix of bespoke sonic guidelines.
Canva was the perfect example of patient, collaborative sound design. A fluid relationship that evolved over time. Instead of engineering sounds for existing visuals, or one-off tactical campaigns, we guided and shaped the entire sonic direction of the brand.
Canva now sounds the way a global enterprise creative platform should sound: organic, human and always evolving. Connected to their roots, but unafraid of change.
Tennis in Australia is unlike anywhere else in the world. Even the most serious players lighten up at the Australian Open. The fans feel it, and it lifts everyone on waves of excitement.
In 2023 Tennis Australia launched its new brand platform ‘Hits Different’, created by BMF Australia. The platform celebrates the unique way Aussies play and watch tennis, and was in need of a soundtrack to bring its playfulness and wild intensity to life.
'Hits Different' launched for AO 2024 and its hero TVC featured thrilling live rallies combined with bespoke eye-catching animations for the featured players. To encapsulate the AO's energy and excitement, we explored several beats across various genres before collaborating with Australian MC, Kween G. The result was “My Reign”, an explosive anthem pared with modern yet nostalgic sounds full of confident, pulsating beats with swagger, energy, and tension.
After running 'My Reign' for two straight years, the AO wanted to build on our existing palette for AO 2026, but to mix it up with something raw.
A sound that captured our national grand slam’s rule-breaking spirit. We composed a gritty, bass-heavy track, blending voices from a bygone era with driving modern beats.
To pair with the bespoke animations, sound design needed to elevate the sound while not overpowering the music. Using unconventional techniques, we transformed the ordinary into something cinematic. A tennis net, stretched and layered, became Novak’s racquet warp. Grunts, growls, and hissing steam evolved into Nadal’s bull roar.
Tennis Australia has seen record-breaking success for the AO for its first three years running 'Hits Different'
AO 2024
+27% media mentions
+30% year-on-year revenue
Highest-ever attendance
AO 2025
+15% AO social follower increase
+11% year-on-year social channel impressions
Highest-ever attendance
AO 2026
Results incoming
Following four successful seasons, Stranger Things' highly anticipated Season 5 had to be bigger than ever. And what better way to showcase this monumental achievement than with a portal into the Upside Down opening up on the backdrop of the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge.
We partnered up with Netflix and Amplify on this iconic activation, to bring the immersive and unsettling soundscape to life.
Our brief was to bring the Stranger Things universe to life through a layered, cinematic soundscape built from the show’s most recognisable audio DNA. This included an atmospheric entrance soundtrack, a tension-filled ambient “holding state,” and a three-minute hero show synced to animation, lighting and pyrotechnics.
When we scouted James Squire’s Landing, it was clear the site could support a fully immersive experience. This led us to a spatial-audio approach, with speakers distributed across the space and an additional array installed in the control tower above. By allowing sound to move and descend from overhead, the environment reinforced the illusion that the Upside Down was breaking through.
The challenge then became integrating this bespoke speaker array into a seamless, believable experience. With a clear understanding of where sound would originate across the space, we turned to Dolby Atmos to design a custom spatial layout that mirrored the world we were creating. That framework guided many of our creative decisions, shaping how we told the story and how audiences would enter and inhabit the Stranger Things universe.
From there, we developed a suite of sonic options, blending iconic assets from the show with additional sound design to build out key narrative moments. These were first rendered in stereo and binaural to preview how each idea translated in an immersive context.
Finally, we moved into a Dolby Atmos mix stage, where we refined and balanced the full experience within the exact spatial environment it would later occupy.
The activation saw thousands of people line up to feel this entire experience, resulting in a truly immersive audio experience. Paired with strong visuals, lighting displays and pyrotechnics, the Stranger Things world was truly brought to life in the sky of Sydney Harbour.
Following its success, the activation crossed the pond for the London premiere of ST5.
Our task was clear: compose a new sonic identity for the Algorithm of Disrespect (TM), the Australian Government’s interactive simulation of a young person’s lived online experience.
In Australia, one woman is killed every 11 days by a current or former partner*. Disrespect is on the rise, fuelled by an invisible web of algorithms and online misogyny.
To create the utility's sonic identity, we needed to build a suite of user interface sounds that reflected the discordant, visceral nature of social media. We had to capture, in essence, the darksound of the internet.
These new forms of disrespect are hidden from view, so our solution was likewise invisible. We turned to the sounds of electromagnetic fields (EMF). The background hums, clicks and whines of laptops and modems. EMF noises have a dark, unsettling vibe, which suited the shadowy corners of social media.
After sourcing and recording an EMF library, we crafted a sonic palette that captured the experience of being young and online. These textures were used to alert parents and guide them through the platform, but also to establish an aural pocket of menace, discord and angst.
The overall experience was engaging and immersive. Website traffic jumped 400% and the platform saw a 9500% increase in downloads. More importantly, it prompted meaningful conversations that could shape the future of Australia.
*Information sourced from: The Issue Explained Understanding violence against women in Australia (respect.gov.au)/.
As part of the Australian Defence Force Careers Discovery Hub, we were tasked to design the soundscape to pair with this digital immersive experience.
Being targeted at 18-24 year olds exploring career options in the ADF, the experience needed to sound tactile, precise, and also optimistic as users explore the 3D topography terrain.
With the visual environment taking an abstract form, the approach of sound had to ground the experience. It also needed to provide a local connection to the real world environments that ADF members would experience.
Sound had to provide audio feedback to complement visual feedback, form part of the reward system in completing tasks, and reinforce that something was done.
We explored the use of organic textures paired with futuristic stylised sounds, sounds that met the crossroads of immersive, realistic, inspiring, gaming and optimistic.
Along with a suite of bespoke UI sounds, we also developed an array of true Australiana soundscapes that showcased the beautiful sounds of nature. These provided a sonic backdrop to the journey users would go along, without overwhelming or distracting the user.
This led to careful cleanup and curation to the many recordings we worked with, from removing birds in the Forest Stream terrain and balancing heavy wind noise in the Mountain Air recordings.
OTIS has been collaborating with award winning design studio Amigo & Amigo across a growing body of experiential sound works and touring artworks. What began as individual projects evolved into a long term creative partnership, one that treats sound not as an accompaniment, but as an architectural material. Together, we compose for space, movement, and interaction, creating works designed to adapt across festivals, museums, and public environments while maintaining a clear and recognisable sonic identity.
ChronoHarp reimagines one of the world’s oldest instruments as a large scale public artwork. A monumental, four pillared harp invites audiences to play sound directly with their hands, transforming physical gesture into music.
The work begins in the organic, drawing from the resonance and harmonic behaviour of stringed instruments, before evolving into digital and synthesised textures. Each interaction shapes the composition in real time, allowing sound to move fluidly between the ancient and the contemporary, the tactile and the electronic.
ChronoHarp debuted at VIVID Sydney 2022 and continues to tour internationally as part of major light and public art festivals.
Dandelion is an immersive light and sound artwork designed to feel like entering a cocoon. Kinetic lighting responds to movement, surrounding audiences in a calm and enveloping environment that encourages exploration and curiosity.
The soundscape is composed as a fully spatial work, mixed in Dolby Atmos to precisely place and animate sound throughout the structure. Organic tones merge with evolving electronic textures, creating a sense of being suspended as the experience unfolds.
Together, these works demonstrate an approach to sound as a touring and adaptive artwork, composed to evolve across spaces while preserving a clear sonic identity.
For GLOW, a large scale light and sound experience at Sydney Zoo, we collaborated with Amigo & Amigo to create an immersive nighttime environment inspired by the natural elements.
Using fire, water, and air as creative starting points, the sound design shifts from subtle ambience to moments of energy and surprise as audiences move through the site. Sound and light work together to guide flow, build anticipation, and reward exploration.
Technically, the experience was delivered via a multi zone spatial sound system, with bespoke compositions layered and triggered across the park, allowing the soundscape to adapt dynamically to scale, distance, and audience movement in an outdoor environment.
Extending the work beyond the installation, the GLOW soundscape was released as a standalone album, enabling the music to be experienced independently of the site on selected streaming platforms.
For over 90 years, LEGO has been a universal tool of creativity and imagination. With this project, LEGO and Akcelo were looking to push the limits of sonic engineering, online world-building and Google Voice Assist. In fact, the brief was more ambitious than we realised. What began as a few sound queues ended as a carefully choreographed sonic library.
LEGO Playwaves was an audio-only experience, so the sound design had to be spot-on. Not just immersive but technically seamless. It would also require pioneering integration between a custom-built effects library and LEGO’s system, queuing an auditory adventure that kids could follow in real time.
We recorded more than 2500 sound effects and 11 ambient tracks, all synced to 200 individual voice commands. The next step was figuring out how to package sound files that could be queued in Akcelo’s backend system. Physical sounds. Ambient spot effects. Bespoke music beds. It was the biggest library we’d ever built, and a world-first for Google Voice Assist.
“Hey Google, talk to LEGO Playwaves.” With this voice command, children could enter an entire universe of story. From the emptiness of space to the rustling grass of an African safari. Each adventure featured over an hour of cumulative sound design, with every effect and ambient track synchronised perfectly.
LEGO and Akcelo knew what they wanted to make, but not how to make it happen. Our job was to scale up the systems, overcome technical hurdles, and translate their vision into sound.
LEGO Playwaves received the following recognition:
Merit - The One Show 2022
Radio & Audio Shortlist - Cannes Lions 2022
Shortlist - Spikes Asia 2022
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WE ACKNOWLEDGE THE TRADITIONAL OWNERS AND SOVEREIGN CUSTODIANS OF THE LAND ON WHICH OTIS WORK, LISTEN AND CREATE: THE GADIGAL PEOPLE OF THE EORA NATION. WE EXTEND OUR RESPECT TO THEIR ANCESTORS AND ALL FIRST PEOPLES AND ELDERS, PAST, PRESENT AND EMERGING.