No. 035, in ten platesKarateroo

Karateroo has the look of faded 35mm film: soft grain, sun-bleached skies, and the mustard, olive and eucalyptus tones of a family photo album from decades ago. Every frame plays it straight. Two kangaroos face off, one in a karate gi tied with a belt and one in nothing but its own fur, and the camera treats the bout with all the seriousness of a club newsletter.

The settings do half the comedy. There is a dojo with a wall clock and a spare gi on a hanger, a hall with timber wainscoting and fluorescent tubes, and a lounge room with net curtains and a split-system air conditioner. Outside, the bouts move to a grassy foreshore with apartment towers across the water, the gravel yard of a weatherboard clubhouse with a green tin roof, and a dry paddock under a lone gum. In one, a second student in a white gi watches from the sideline.

The indoor plates carry ceilings and windows at the top, so the clock sits over a light fitting or a pale wall and reads best in a darker colour. The two parkland plates are the gentlest Lock Screens, with an empty overcast sky across the upper third. The fighters stand in the middle of the frame, well clear of the dock, and the pale, low-contrast palette suits a light Home Screen more than dark mode.

It suits Australians abroad, martial arts students, and anyone who believes a phone should raise a smile on a Monday. The park bout below the hills is free to download in full resolution; the other nine plates are premium, unlocked individually for 10 credits each or together with a pxCream Unlimited subscription.